cheeky question

[Tiamaria589]

have any of you let your family or have you taken your friends up to the caravan for the weekend and have you charged them? if so, roughly what?

my sister in law said that i should always ask for some sort of contribution, as this could go towards the gas, electric and also the site fees,

i would find it embarrassing to ask but some of my friends and family are asking to stay there and how much it would be and i haven't a clue- i wouldn't know where to start

so awkward but if i made myself some sort of chart/ timetable thing then i could show them and then it is up to them...

[Teakbank12]

have any of you let your family or have you taken your friends up to the caravan for the weekend and have you charged them? if so, roughly what?

my sister in law said that i should always ask for some sort of contribution, as this could go towards the gas, electric and also the site fees,

i would find it embarrassing to ask but some of my friends and family are asking to stay there and how much it would be and i haven't a clue- i wouldn't know where to start

so awkward but if i made myself some sort of chart/ timetable thing then i could show them and then it is up to them...

If they are joining you i wouldn't but they may offer to take you out for a meal.
If they want a short break on there own, ask them to pay for a bootle gas as a token payment.....or if they are key peak weeks then near on full price.
It's up to you & how they treat you when you visit them.
If the boot was on the other foot.... :)

[keira]

my daughter in laws mam and dad had 5 days in our van a few weeks since i would,nt have charged them but i would have been disapointed if they did,nt leave anything towards a gas bottle or something but as it happens they left me £50 :D

[Lazybum]

My sister has been in ours a week at a time and I have asked her to put £25 aside to cover gas and electric, may as well have family in while it stands empty during the week.

[biddybayjulie]

my parents came with us for a week in august, they paid for my brothers family to stay in another van and wanted to pay us something too, i refused as they are my parents ! but bless em, they kept buying us dinner or jumping in with their money if the kids wanted something, it works both ways, my mum and dad feel they should be paying and i feel they shouldnt !
next season i am going down with the kids and a friend with her kids, i have asked her to pay the diesel to get there and split the shopping bill, i think thats pretty fair.
if any friends want to book the caravan for themselves then they pay the going rate i'm afraid xx

[Tiamaria589]

thanks for all your replies so far, i dont mind people being in my van with me and contributing but i dont really want friends in my van when i am not there to be honest( i am becoming possesive i think!!- cos it is a new venture for us and we are loving it)

possesive over my van- hmm- who else feels the same??

i am taking some friends with me this weekend for a break and so i will ask for petrol off them cos i am driving and if they offer me anything then i will take it and put it in my tin!! this is what i have decided to do and i will put the odds and sods in it and then open it near when the site fees are due and put it towards the fees, after all- every little helps..

[Goldixpcx]

Hi I am possesive over ours too lol hate the weeks its rented out but it was only 8 and the money paid the fees so it was worth sucking it up after all we can't be in it every minute and to be honest it makes you appreciate it even more when you get back :)

I have often had people in it while we are there and dont ask for anything apart from a bit extra hot water theres no extra cost. Did offer my brother and his family to have at May half term as I knew they were struggling a bit and couldnt afford a holiday and I cant help them out with money so thought that was a way I could help, let me down though 2 days before decided not to come and when I was angry and said I could have rented it 3 times over that week as it was school holidays I got accused of only being bothered about money....well yes I was a bit I lost £350 which is a lot to us but oh well wont be so nice next time learnt my lesson there! If other family members wanted it as long as it was out of season I wouldnt mind as long as they contributed to the gas/electric but I dread anyone wanting it as it means we cant be in it lol ;)

[Tiamaria589]

Hi I am possesive over ours too lol hate the weeks its rented out but it was only 8 and the money paid the fees so it was worth sucking it up after all we can't be in it every minute and to be honest it makes you appreciate it even more when you get back :)

I have often had people in it while we are there and dont ask for anything apart from a bit extra hot water theres no extra cost. Did offer my brother and his family to have at May half term as I knew they were struggling a bit and couldnt afford a holiday and I cant help them out with money so thought that was a way I could help, let me down though 2 days before decided not to come and when I was angry and said I could have rented it 3 times over that week as it was school holidays I got accused of only being bothered about money....well yes I was a bit I lost £350 which is a lot to us but oh well wont be so nice next time learnt my lesson there! If other family members wanted it as long as it was out of season I wouldnt mind as long as they contributed to the gas/electric but I dread anyone wanting it as it means we cant be in it lol ;)

that's a bit wrong isn't it? letting you down 2 days beforehand,

i am looking forward to going up this weekend as we couldn't go last weekend!, infact i think I-and whoever- will be going up there every weekend from now until it closes in november, may as well make the most of it x

[chelseagirl]

Dont plan on charging for family (3 sons and accompanying wife, girlfriend and partner and 2 kids) (But not all at once!) but will charge for friends but dont know how much. Enough to cover gas electric etc, cant ask for a bottle as we have the humungous ones, so will be a contribution. And it will be outside school hols as I get them off so will be in it myself!

[Goldixpcx]

that's a bit wrong isn't it? letting you down 2 days beforehand,

i am looking forward to going up this weekend as we couldn't go last weekend!, infact i think I-and whoever- will be going up there every weekend from now until it closes in november, may as well make the most of it x

I know family eh!! :rolleyes: we didn't go last weekend but but school hols start this Friday for 2 weeks so back up on Friday night through til Tuesday then home til Friday and back up for 9 days can't wait last long breakl til next year in it so will enjoy every second be great if the weather stays like it is too!!

[Tiamaria589]

I know family eh!! :rolleyes: we didn't go last weekend but but school hols start this Friday for 2 weeks so back up on Friday night through til Tuesday then home til Friday and back up for 9 days can't wait last long breakl til next year in it so will enjoy every second be great if the weather stays like it is too!!

i am well out of the school holiday loop!! 2 weeks off already? doesn't seem two mins since they went back,

i am looking forward to March ( yep i know!! ) and then it wont be long before hubby has a week off and we can go to the van for a whole week of relaxation,

i am there this sat-sun with 'girls' and then the following weekend with hubby and then the following weekend with my daughter- i am soo looking forward to all 3 weekends and then at the end of the month we have friends coming to stay with us up there ( wont be charging- lol) as frinds huby is quite handy with a screwdriver etc so i will find a few jobs for him to do!! he wont mind :D

[Maddy]

Its not our intention to ever let ours. We bought it because we have four grown up kids all parterned off and two grandchildren with more to come I guess. So with their four families, him and me, his parents and my mother I think we will get enough use from it. However you never know what life brings so I wanted a site which allowed sub letting if you wanted. If Johns parents were ill I could see we could be stuck home for a whole year or even if one of us was ill so I like the security of knowing we can cover the ground rent through letting if need be.
If our neighbours of 26 years asked to use it I would say yes and expect a contribution so we weren't out of pocket on electricity but I wouldn't ask them for money. If I wanted to make money I would prefer to let through the site and have nothing to do with it.

[Goldixpcx]

i am well out of the school holiday loop!! 2 weeks off already? doesn't seem two mins since they went back,

i am looking forward to March ( yep i know!! ) and then it wont be long before hubby has a week off and we can go to the van for a whole week of relaxation,

i am there this sat-sun with 'girls' and then the following weekend with hubby and then the following weekend with my daughter- i am soo looking forward to all 3 weekends and then at the end of the month we have friends coming to stay with us up there ( wont be charging- lol) as frinds huby is quite handy with a screwdriver etc so i will find a few jobs for him to do!! he wont mind :D

lol sounds like my Dad whenever he visits he gets a list of odd jobs as my OH is hopeless! so far he has rewired the lounge/outside light so we can have them on independantly, fixed the dressing table drawers cos they were all wonky, fixed the toliet seat and a broken catch! this time he has a few to do the heating needs sorted as one radiator doesnt heat up and the extractor is broke so only a couple ;)

Schools went back here middle of August so bit longer ago than the English ones! hope you have a lovely few weekends in your van I'm sure you will! :)

[springhay]

Hi, Can I just ask everyone how they are keeping warm in these colder nights? I know there are masses on oil filled rads etc., in other threads. And yes, I have two myself but can easily overload the electrics before I am even warm....Investing in an electric blanket before we go back next time. But like you, I also want to use it to the very end of the season. Why get a bolthole otherwise??

[Tiamaria589]

Hi, Can I just ask everyone how they are keeping warm in these colder nights? I know there are masses on oil filled rads etc., in other threads. And yes, I have two myself but can easily overload the electrics before I am even warm....Investing in an electric blanket before we go back next time. But like you, I also want to use it to the very end of the season. Why get a bolthole otherwise??


i have bought 3 hot water bottles to put in the beds before we get in them, i also bought a pair of fleece pyjamas and some bed socks, and threw extra b;ankets on the bed!! as i said before- i went up a couple of fridays ago and i woke up in the night and i was l;iterally dithering!! i couldn't get back to sleep and i couldn't be bothered to get out of bed to put more blankets on the bed either- my own fault i left the loo door open too and i think that there was a hell of a draught coming up through there too!! so the next day is when i went for the 'warm bed gear'- when hubby is there he is my hot water bottle but he wasn't there that night- boy i was so cold and i was so tired the next day...

[keira]

i leave my oil filled rads on all night ime never cold :rolleyes:

[Tiamaria589]

i leave my oil filled rads on all night ime never cold :rolleyes:

which ones did you get?? i have been looking in Argos, so much choice and hardly any in stock!! my friend got one that has a timer and frost protection thing on it- mind you- it was nearly £70

[keira]

hi tia we dropped on in a sale but in argos you can get good ones not too dear it took ages for hubby to convince me they were safe to leave on as they have a cut off switch i cant imagine getting up in cold weather without them on brrrrrrrrrrr

[Lazybum]

We use one of these:-
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/4159201/Trail/searchtext%3ERADIATOR.htm

Our bedroom is full width of van and we only have it on half power as bedroom gets too warm if its any higher - only down side is we are on our third one in 2 years.

[Tiamaria589]

i dont know wether to get one with a timer on it so we can set it to come on before we get up!! so much choice!!

just spotted one on e-bay with timer- will look again tomorrow

[springhay]

Should put an agenda on this reply!

Tia - how miserable, dithering?? This is a leisure industry dont ya know!!:)

Oil filled rads. I got one from Ebay then found one in my garage! Forgotton it was there. But too silly to know about watts, and it was too high for our amps (or sumthin). Now only dare use it on minimum. So get the cheap argos ones! (£15) Even fan heaters for a tenner.

Timers: There are fanastic things on the market for a tenner! Put them into the socket and set up to eight on/off periods a day.

Lazybum: Stop showing off about your fab bedroom! What do you do with rads? They cant wear out can they???

Consumption: I know this is anork time but there are even things to see the wattage and can even calculate the cost (if you know the park's hiked up rate)

But finally - after I see this upgrade on Saturday I might not have the problem anymore!!!!! Will let you all know the outcome. Cheers everyone.

[Goldixpcx]

We have central heating so luckily we dont have the problem with a cold van but with regards to being warm in bed we always had an electic blanket you can leave on low half the time you find yourself too toasty lol but this year we got a new mattress with a memory foam top and the man said not to use a eletric blanket with it, I was like oh noooooo but if you jump in quick and get over the first few cold seconds it warms up very quickly as it uses body temperature and can honestly say once in and warmed up its cosy all night so maybe if you like a warm bed you could invest in a memory foam mattress topper they have some very reasonable ones in poundstretcher. :)

[Tiamaria589]

anyway, took 'the girls' and they asked me how much they should give me ( so embarrasing) so i just said petrol money, which they did and a bit more which i put in my pot,, sorted!!

had a fab weekend, lovely weather and they loved my van:) and i put hot water bottles in each of their beds and it was lovely and snug and we slept like logs- mind you- the drink certainly helped... haha

[arronbrook]

Hardly dare post this but talk about vansessive I'm sure I have to be the worst. We have only had ours a few short weeks and although its a 2002 model its really looked after - hardly a mark anywhere. So this weekend for four days my son and partner have asked to use it - how could I refuse - so mean - I had to say yes - so I will spend all 4 days worrying about them leaving the gas fire on all day long and condensing it till its a sponge, then putting cups and stuff without protectors onto my lovely polished cabinate, and leaving the blow heater on in the bedroom all night long so my leccy bill will go through the roof. I don't want to be a nag or spoil sport so can't say too much but its so different living in a caravan to a bricks and morter house with proper insulation etc - and no they won't go out all through the day they are of the age where they think a walk is to get to the car. No need to say I could never rent it out even if we were allowed !

[Tiamaria589]

Hardly dare post this but talk about vansessive I'm sure I have to be the worst. We have only had ours a few short weeks and although its a 2002 model its really looked after - hardly a mark anywhere. So this weekend for four days my son and partner have asked to use it - how could I refuse - so mean - I had to say yes - so I will spend all 4 days worrying about them leaving the gas fire on all day long and condensing it till its a sponge, then putting cups and stuff without protectors onto my lovely polished cabinate, and leaving the blow heater on in the bedroom all night long so my leccy bill will go through the roof. I don't want to be a nag or spoil sport so can't say too much but its so different living in a caravan to a bricks and morter house with proper insulation etc - and no they won't go out all through the day they are of the age where they think a walk is to get to the car. No need to say I could never rent it out even if we were allowed !

my nephew and partner and two kids asked to spend a few days in my van- i said no!! haha
my mind was imagining the kids running round and knocking things over, the water being left on, the gas not turned off, basically everything!!
so NO he not having it xx

not going to happen

ever!!

[keira]

know exactly how you both feel my son and wife usually go about once a year with there 3 kids and ime on edge all week more protective of my van than my house