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However, we do miss out on some museums and events that charge an entrance fee. Commercial washing machines are hard on clothes and they wear out. Our biggest clothing expense is shoes. We replace our hiking shoes and running shoes regularly, and we buy high quality, expensive shoes. As a side note, if you get a credit card from Cabellas, REI or another outdoors store, and put all your living expenses on it, and pay it off each month to avoid interest charges, you can use the points each year to get your hiking shoes or other camping gear for free.
Mark loves to try new products and has a growing collection of tools in his toolbox. Before we left, he made the mistake of selling almost all of his tools. We also subscribe to several magazines. In addition, full-time RVers are a broad mix of people with a wide variety of tastes and preferences. From May to October, , we did not pay for any overnight camping, and that is the norm for us. However, although we did not pay for camping over the summer season or in January, , the months of February, March and April, , were unusually expensive for us.
Many people boondock to save money, and we started that way too. However, we have found that it is by far our preferred way to camp. That said, it is not for everyone. We have met very few full-time RVers who boondock as much as we do. For full-timers who work, it is hard to find a boondocking location near most jobs, and you have to pack up and go to the RV dump station every 10 days to 2 weeks, disrupting your life.
Even if your work is location independent, and you work out of your RV, finding good boondocking locations that have adequate internet access to do that is not easy. During the summer of we spent 5 weeks camping in places that were 10 miles or more from the nearest internet access. There are many ways to save money on overnight camping costs, and those are covered on our Full-time RV Lifestyle Tips page. An area I completely overlooked before we started full-timing was the cost of our personal interests and hobbies. This was an important oversight that we came to recognize only after we had been on the road for a few years.
Like the cost of RV repairs or the difference in price between when you bought it and what you could sell it for now? If you have the cash lying around you may wish to spend it to buy a motorhome upfront and not have to deal with an additional overhead. State Parks. Thanks for including the photo — blue hair and all : You certainly stayed at a beautiful place. Little Buffalo.
Before starting a life of adventure, it may be hard to imagine that you will need or want to have any hobbies. Sightseeing ought to be enough! After a while, you will want to have pursuits that complement your travels in one way or another or that perhaps are not even related to your travels at all. Our hobbies are photography , writing and mountain biking, and these all cost money. Since we started full-timing, we have upgraded both of our DSLR cameras twice and upgraded both of our pocket cameras twice. As for biking, we started out with cyclo-cross bikes but sold those when we found we were almost always camped near very rugged dirt roads.
We replaced them with mountain bikes in March, We also upgraded our bike rack a few years ago. And back in we splurged on a fabulous Hobie inflatable kayak that we loved for several years but eventually sold because we needed more room in the basement. Even my writing has its expenses. Keeping a blog can be free, but hosting, backup services, firewall services and other things add up. Writing also requires a computer.
After four years, this became impossible because we always wanted to use it at the same time.
So, we replaced that one MacBook Pro with two newer ones in and Then, in we replaced the older one of those with yet another newer one. You may not know exactly what your hobbies will be when you start full-timing, but put some kind of figure into your budget that allows for replacing your computer and phone as often as you have in the past if you plan to use them as much and for buying the various things that will make your favorite pastimes possible.
Budgets and actual expenditures vary over time. Most fulltimers find that they spend a lot more in the first few months of travel than they do once they have been out for a while. It takes some time, and quite a few purchases, to make an RV a home, and most of those costs come at the beginning.
These are things like patio mats , camping chairs and grills , tools your suddenly discover you need, area rugs , throw pillows, kitchen gadgets , campground directories , travel guide books , and all those funky gismos they sell at Camping World that are just so perfect for the RV lifestyle. Also, it takes a while to figure out how you want to live this lifestyle.
RVers that stay in RV parks and campgrounds with electric hookups use a lot The figure here is our average monthly fuel cost for a six month. In my experience, an average camper trailer spot with power and water costs ( April 1st through November 1st) with a amp full hookup; Doc's RV Park; Gulf.
What kinds of campgrounds do you like? Are you okay with overnighting in a parking lot? How much do you want to drive each day? How long do you want to stay put in one spot? Most new fulltimers dash all over the country in the first year, and we were no exception. The exhilaration of having the whole continent to yourself, with no one tapping their watch and expecting you home, is such a thrill that we all run around and try to see as much as possible.
Only when we are utterly exhausted do we start to slow down. It also takes a long time to let go of old living patterns and establish new ones. When we first started fulltiming we were accustomed to one- and two-week vacations, and we lived as though we were on vacation. We could stay three weeks and see them only when it was sunny and when we were in the mood for sightseeing. This change in the rhythm of life ultimately affects how you spend your money. You begin to slow down and appreciate the truly priceless pleasures, like a quiet morning reading a book, or an afternoon hike that has no other purpose than to smell the fresh air.
Over time, both lifestyle changes and inflation have affected our monthly expenses. Studying the expenses we published on this page after our first year of RVing as compared to the costs for the current year , it seems that, as expected, our fixed costs were most influenced by inflation.
As mentioned above, we barely ate out in the beginning and we splurged this past summer. The biggest difference in costs between living in an RV full-time and living in your own stick-built house is that the RV will depreciate very quickly while the house will appreciate over time. The recent real estate collapse notwithstanding, housing prices always increase as the decades go by. The only way to know what the full-time RVing lifestyle really costs is to know both what you paid for your RV at the beginning and what you sold it for at the end.
The difference, divided but the number of months you lived in it, is the true cost of ownership. No one should ever give up their dream of RVing full-time because an RV is a bad investment. At the same time, no one should go into RVing full-time because buying an RV is a good investment. I hope all this info helps you out as you plan your full-time RV adventures. Despite all the words on this page, your future full-time RVing costs can be approximated fairly easily, and planning your budget involves just three steps:.
Quite a few RV bloggers share their budgets and their thoughts about the costs of the RV lifestyle on their blogs. The following links offer itemized expense lists and excellent insights into creating a full-time RVing budget:.
A final note — I posted this image in a Quick Pic post the other day, but I think it bears repeating here:. Spice up your life, take the plunge, and go have an unforgettable RVing adventure! New to this site? Visit RVers Start Here to find where we keep all the good stuff!! Excellent data and analysis. With this write up, and all of the others, I feel a Beth Leonard-type compendium in your future.
Thanks for the great expenditure report. I am getting our home ready for sale and heading toward the full time lifestyle. It honestly scares me because I am on fixed income of much less than shown in your totals. I will find a way! You might check into a company called Bestmark.
Having a Chevrolet you can sign up for oil changes, tires etc. And get paid plus reimbursement. All you have to do is tell them how your visit was. Plus free service or parts. Just thought that may help you. Thanks again, looking forward to your next post. Thanks for the tip about Bestmark for Chevy trucks ours is a Dodge , and good luck in your travels.
Hi guys love your site. I was looking for a way to work and travel across Canada in May I want to travel with a companion. Im not interested in the dating scene, just meeting someone that would be interested in work and exploring their way through Canada. Do you have any advise on where I could locate this information? I heard of a solo RVing woman who uses match.
Other than that, I would suggest you try joining various online travel and RVing groups and pose your question there. Forums RV. The first thing that caught my eye, other than how frugal you guys are, is the calculator. My late Dad had the exact same calculator. I mean he had that thing for as long as can remember, one day I came home went to the office to get his calculator and it was gone!!!! How cool is that!! We love that calculator and hope it works forever. Mark got it when his kids were young a long time ago!