Lorelei072
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 10, 2019
- Messages
- 110
- Reaction score
- 6
I’m thinking about bidding on an government auction ambulance
https://www.govdeals.com/asset/1/27907
(Pls don’t be rude and start bidding against me. My finances are in poor shape & I’m barely hanging on.)
What I hope to find is another rig that’s 1) not so far behind on maintenance and repairs and 2) comes with a lot of cabinets and built-ins. But is that even knowable with auction vehicles? And I’d have to remove some hardware and fashion a bed as a bare minimum, then move on to establish a kitchen space.
I’m currently in a 1994 Ford E150/Mark III conversion van with under 140k miles.
I’m in a really weird place: Over the summer I worked on building storage to organize my belongings better but now everything is more disorganized than it was before. Winter clothing takes up more space and takes more effort to cram everything in. I have tools, toiletries, and food in multiple places. I have ideas to build more storage but I have multiple projects that I’m working on so my time is limited (especially after working 40hours/wk).
Edit: Issues with my current rig are some electrical problems, battery, tires + spare wheel & tire, no horn, no heat/AC, no radio, wires falling out of dash, needs brake work, shocks, fuel tank, fill neck, fuel pump, fuel filter, and if that doesn’t fix the check engine light & sporadic hesitation with acceleration & going uphill then more investigation & work. It does start & run reliably otherwise.
My mother and I have 4 acres that I try to work on at least once/week except during the heat of the summer. I’m mentioning this to account for the time, tools, and materials associated with wood clearing, gardening, chainsaws, PPE, Alaskan sawmill, burn barrel, and a gas pony for shou sugi ban. I’m trying to make a side hustle out of lumber. Most of those tools are stored on-site but I keep a couple things in the crammed van after spiders decided my steel-toe boots made a nice place to live
I think if I had a lighted & powered garage I could get more done but I don’t. So I’m limited to working within seasonal daylight, temperature extremes, precipitation, and dealing with too much clutter which has to be moved out of the way and restowed for me to do anything. A garage would facilitate if I didn’t have to restow everything every time I can’t finish a project at the end of a day or have to leave and go do something else.
My financial situation has been abysmal for the last 2 years and I haven’t had funds to maintain her. I’m making a little more $$ now but it’s a slow process to earn enough for another repair bill. I feel like I’m on living on borrowed time before another breakdown
It’s especially bad because my job is very remote and I have no means to get to work when the van is in the shop. It’s just so disruptive. I stay in my mother’s apartment when there’s an extended repair and sometimes she has had to pay the bill 
She’s has had to step in & bail me out several times.
I’m working full time making fair but not great wages in the commercial plant nursery industry. I’m hoping to stay with this company for the insurance, employee stock options, and achieve state certification for arborist. Consulting arborists can earn six-figure salaries so there’s my literal pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I was “part-time/seasonal” with the company for my first 15 months and the job I held before that (almost 8 months) was FT but low wages.
Food is eating up most of my earnings (no pun intended). I end up dining out a lot. I have breakfast & lunch stored, prepared, and consumed at work but dinner is about $15-$25 at an affordable yet better-quality establishment. About once a week I get a Little Caesar’s pizza for $7.50 & make 3 meals out of it.
Sorry this is so long. I organized this post so my most pertinent issues are at the beginning.
Please let me know what are your thoughts.
https://www.govdeals.com/asset/1/27907
(Pls don’t be rude and start bidding against me. My finances are in poor shape & I’m barely hanging on.)
What I hope to find is another rig that’s 1) not so far behind on maintenance and repairs and 2) comes with a lot of cabinets and built-ins. But is that even knowable with auction vehicles? And I’d have to remove some hardware and fashion a bed as a bare minimum, then move on to establish a kitchen space.
I’m currently in a 1994 Ford E150/Mark III conversion van with under 140k miles.
I’m in a really weird place: Over the summer I worked on building storage to organize my belongings better but now everything is more disorganized than it was before. Winter clothing takes up more space and takes more effort to cram everything in. I have tools, toiletries, and food in multiple places. I have ideas to build more storage but I have multiple projects that I’m working on so my time is limited (especially after working 40hours/wk).
Edit: Issues with my current rig are some electrical problems, battery, tires + spare wheel & tire, no horn, no heat/AC, no radio, wires falling out of dash, needs brake work, shocks, fuel tank, fill neck, fuel pump, fuel filter, and if that doesn’t fix the check engine light & sporadic hesitation with acceleration & going uphill then more investigation & work. It does start & run reliably otherwise.
My mother and I have 4 acres that I try to work on at least once/week except during the heat of the summer. I’m mentioning this to account for the time, tools, and materials associated with wood clearing, gardening, chainsaws, PPE, Alaskan sawmill, burn barrel, and a gas pony for shou sugi ban. I’m trying to make a side hustle out of lumber. Most of those tools are stored on-site but I keep a couple things in the crammed van after spiders decided my steel-toe boots made a nice place to live
I think if I had a lighted & powered garage I could get more done but I don’t. So I’m limited to working within seasonal daylight, temperature extremes, precipitation, and dealing with too much clutter which has to be moved out of the way and restowed for me to do anything. A garage would facilitate if I didn’t have to restow everything every time I can’t finish a project at the end of a day or have to leave and go do something else.
My financial situation has been abysmal for the last 2 years and I haven’t had funds to maintain her. I’m making a little more $$ now but it’s a slow process to earn enough for another repair bill. I feel like I’m on living on borrowed time before another breakdown
It’s especially bad because my job is very remote and I have no means to get to work when the van is in the shop. It’s just so disruptive. I stay in my mother’s apartment when there’s an extended repair and sometimes she has had to pay the bill She’s has had to step in & bail me out several times.I’m working full time making fair but not great wages in the commercial plant nursery industry. I’m hoping to stay with this company for the insurance, employee stock options, and achieve state certification for arborist. Consulting arborists can earn six-figure salaries so there’s my literal pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I was “part-time/seasonal” with the company for my first 15 months and the job I held before that (almost 8 months) was FT but low wages.
Food is eating up most of my earnings (no pun intended). I end up dining out a lot. I have breakfast & lunch stored, prepared, and consumed at work but dinner is about $15-$25 at an affordable yet better-quality establishment. About once a week I get a Little Caesar’s pizza for $7.50 & make 3 meals out of it.
Sorry this is so long. I organized this post so my most pertinent issues are at the beginning.
Please let me know what are your thoughts.
Last edited:
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) buyers to bring their own trailers to pick up lumber from the property. At this stage of the game I can’t take on any additional expenses of having to provide commercial trucking & business insurance. Plus living out of a vehicle is quite restrictive in available space. I like the idea of a sawmill trailer but they cost thousands. My Alaskan sawmill was <$1500 for the rails, 2nd-hand chainsaw, chainsaw tune-up, and 20’ 2nd-hand aluminum ladder. This is only a hobby until I can establish viability of the marketable endeavor. But these are great points to flesh out!
