Question How expensive is it to RV?

[Neal]

The question came up in another thread recently but it's probably a good discussion for us to share for others coming here learning about the RV lifestyle and what it may cost to travel the open roads. Let's share our stories and for those that actually track it feel free to share any real numbers.

So you're interested in RV'ing, what will it cost?

The main expenses you'll have are fuel and campgrounds, I see no need to get into maintenance or repair costs, let's assume all is working as we hope.

The easy part: Fuel

Obviously fuel costs depend on what type of fuel, gas or diesel. I can only speak for the diesel and motorhome side, expect an average mpg of around 7, yes 7. You'll hear various numbers but there are so many variables such a whether the fill up is done at a high flow rate such as a truck stop or a lower fill rate of a local gas station. Foaming can be a problem thinking the tank is full when it could be closer to only 80-90% full. This throws off the mileage gonculations so I take with a grain of salt the numbers people share when they think they're getting something much better. I don't know how much diesel is affected by road conditions like a car such as hills, etc. But a typical fill up of a 100 gal tank which is more like a fuel stop of around 50 gals is going to hit your wallet at around 150-200 per fuel stop. There are some travels where you may hit the fuel stops every 1-2 days.

Campgrounds:

Think of paying for a hotel room each night even though you're going to a campground to park on a piece of land and plug in. This one is still the hardest one for me to digest that I own my own "home" on wheels and I'm still paying for a hotel room every night. "On average" I'd say a half decent campground is going to run you around $50/night. That's probably on the low side. I've seen as high as $160/night for owner type resorts where RV owners "own" their site and lease it out when they're not using it. Then there are state parks and other government type parks which can be as low as around $18/night and these are actually really nice parks with some of the nicest sites but some amenities may suffer such as you may not have a sewer connection and have to use the dump station, etc.

The duration of your stay can affect rates, longer stays such as weekly or monthly are typically discounted. For example, staying in Casa Grande, AZ for monthly comes out to around $33/night but you will have to pay for the electricity based on usage and it can be around $150-200/month I believe. Overall it's still an affordable stay.

Summary:

If you do the math such as $50 x 30 nights and then add gas, depending on if you're moving frequently or staying put, this can change quite a bit, you can derive basic costs of RVing. People RV differently. Some are fulltimers, living in their RV without owning a home to go back to, some like me are "most timers" that do around 150 days a year, some are weekenders that have fulltime jobs and can't get away as much as they may want.

That's my story, let's hear from others to share your lessons on what it costs to RV for the newcomers seeking this great lifestyle.

 

[MemoriesByTheMile]

Fulltiming only 9 months, looking for a S&B to transition to 1-2 timing or mostly timing.

I agree with Neal’s avg fuel MPG, but there is a huge factor to take into consideration — your style of traveling. Some people travel every few days. This will cost you more, BOTH on fuel and on nightly stays.
When you stay longer, many campgrounds provide weekly or monthly rates. Weekly rates are typically the same price as 5 or 6 nights. But monthly rates can be even cheaper, closer to 2 weekly stays!
We tend to stay in an area for 1 to 3 months, allowing us to explore and take in the area. This reduces the fuel cost substantially and also allows us to use monthly rates.

Canpground costs - we have paid anywhere from $60/night on the high end (which if extended out for 30 days would be roughly $1800 a month) down to the low end of $450 a MONTH (around $15/night, including electric). As you can see, when we park it for a month to have fun exploring and hiking, our fuel costs drop dramatically and our campground costs also drop significantly.

Maintenance costs are something that cannot, IMO, be ignored. These costs seem to surprise many new RVrs. RVs are not cheap to purchase, run or maintain. And each individual brand, model and unit can be better or worse. Fortunately we have been blessed with relatively low maintenance costs so far, but that is about to end as we have scheduled some maintenance work for Sept that is beyond what I want to do.
We save every month for future RV maintenance knowing that maintenance can be volatile and also pricey. Counting the years/months before we have to replace the 10 tires on our rig and 4 tires on the trailer.

 

[Old Bubblehead]

Brave lads, discussing the true cost of a hobby

I actually recently had this chat in a CG. Young couple, no children (yet), currently using in laws TT to try out camping. He was eyeing six very nice coaches lined up on a trip. Multiple manufactures. She asked to take a look inside, several wives gave her tours of their rigs. Both of their eyes glazed over.

We gave them ball park numbers on cost to own, operate, and use. Lost them at the cost to purchase.

First hurdle to any hobby, price of admission. Sure, each case will be individually specific. Where are you in the continuum of life and career. Many ways to crack the nut, but you have to obtain some type of RV from somewhere, and it has to fit into your budget. From there the fun just starts. All the things you guys mention, and (as we all know) many more.

Some folks do it on a shoestring budget, others are born into resources we all would enjoy to have. But, if you have to ask..... it's likely more than you want to hear.

j

 

["EZ"]

I think it would scare most people if they actually kept a journal of their expenses for a 5 yr period.

 

[Joe Hogan]

Interesting topic. Some folks can camp for practically nothing. There are many on the Internet that claim to show you how to camp cheap.
In my opinion it is up to the camper to control costs and expectations. If you want cheap campgrounds, as mentioned above, State and, National Parks are a good choice. If you are flexible and like to plan, you can get some fabulous camping spots for cheap at government run camping venues. But remember you will be among many trying to do this cheap.
Search for a used truck and TT in good condition, be prepared to do your own maintenance, and your largest expense will be fuel. OR get a van, good fuel economy, and less maintenance.

Home

Then there are folks that want to be very comfortable, very nice surroundings and convenience. Most of these are available but tend to be expensive to very expensive. Also, moving quickly from place to place is also expensive.

Our last coast to coast trip was done in 6 weeks. FL to CA to FL. Way too fast but schedule dictated speed.
Not surprising, even with extensive planning, boondocking and State Parks along the way, It was not cheap.

 

[Tip&Tina]

As we recently began full-timing, (we are in month 3) we have a budget and stick to it. Keith, the numbers guy, keeps track of every expenditure, every single day. He puts every item we purchase on a spreadsheet and tracks each item in a category. He takes every receipt and separates each item into food, clothing, household, rig related etc.

We have a maintenance account for short term issues and long term issues that will come up over the years.

Before we started this adventure he had watched YouTube of full timers and looked at their various budgets and frankly we decided that we were going to create our own budget and see if we can make it work.

Being below Medicare age means having to purchase medical insurance. We priced Obamacare in Georgia, where we had lived and Florida and SD and Tennessee as possible domicile. Florida was the clear winner because we were able to purchase Florida Blue Cross Blue Shield which gives us coverage nationally.

Campground costs are a big cost. Even though we are planned out one year, we are still staying at places only 1-2 weeks. This does make the cost higher. We have reservations at campgrounds and had to put deposits down. We are using Harvest Hosts in our planning more now.

Full timing costs can be as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be. We have recently met some folks who are FT and are living much more expensively than us. They have a Tiffin Zephyr and two different lots in resorts. They travel all over and use their lots as needed. They are in their 70’s with no signs of slowing down. They have been FT for over 5 years.

Fuel is what Neal said-7 MPG. Using the TSD card helps, but still…??‍♀

The husband is pretty reserved so I know he will never allow our budget to be put out there. Just know there is someone out there tracking every expense. ?

 

[Gronk]

I can tell you that my wife and I full time and travel in the cooler months. By staying a month at a time and also at campgrounds that are owned and run by a club we are members of (where possible) we live quite reasonably comfortably on an annual income of about $50k. This is just to show you it can be done.

 

[FL-JOE]

As we recently began full-timing, (we are in month 3) we have a budget and stick to it. Keith, the numbers guy, keeps track of every expenditure, every single day. He puts every item we purchase on a spreadsheet and tracks each item in a category. He takes every receipt and separates each item into food, clothing, household, rig related etc.

We have a maintenance account for short term issues and long term issues that will come up over the years.

Before we started this adventure he had watched YouTube of full timers and looked at their various budgets and frankly we decided that we were going to create our own budget and see if we can make it work.

Being below Medicare age means having to purchase medical insurance. We priced Obamacare in Georgia, where we had lived and Florida and SD and Tennessee as possible domicile. Florida was the clear winner because we were able to purchase Florida Blue Cross Blue Shield which gives us coverage nationally.

Campground costs are a big cost. Even though we are planned out one year, we are still staying at places only 1-2 weeks. This does make the cost higher. We have reservations at campgrounds and had to put deposits down. We are using Harvest Hosts in our planning more now.

Full timing costs can be as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be. We have recently met some folks who are FT and are living much more expensively than us. They have a Tiffin Zephyr and two different lots in resorts. They travel all over and use their lots as needed. They are in their 70’s with no signs of slowing down. They have been FT for over 5 years.

Fuel is what Neal said-7 MPG. Using the TSD card helps, but still…??‍♀

The husband is pretty reserved so I know he will never allow our budget to be put out there. Just know there is someone out there tracking every expense. ?

When she said "full timing costs can be as expensive or as cheap as you want it to be" that pretty much sums it up.

Over the years we have saved on CG fees where we can but we have never modified our travels around CG fees. We record them all and at the end of the year we average it out. We have been anywhere from the high $20's per night to the high $30's per night. We might have a few dry camping nights, a couple weeks of $80 per night stays, and/or some monthly stays of $400. Heck, the last two years we have leased an RV lot for the winter in Florida for $287 a month. But it is the total annual average that really matters.

We full timed in both fivers and a DP. Due to reduced maintenance costs and increased MPG it is much cheaper to full time travel in a fiver.

Here is the way we have always looked at it. When we had a sticknbrick up north the taxes, maintenance, and utilities cost us above $8,000 per year. Medical, food, recreation, and all other living expenses have to be paid no matter if you live stationary in a sticknbrick or you travel full time in an RV. Since 2011 we have traveled all over the U.S. and it has cost us anywhere from $7,000 to $12,000 per year to be full time RVers.

 

[gibsito]

For the past 12 years or so I have been camping every winter for 5 to 6 weeks down in the Southern California desert or in AZ. Ninety-eight percent of the time I boondock in areas where it's free to do so. Eliminating the campground fee goes a long way toward making RVing very inexpensive. In fact, when I first started doing this I was still tracking all of my expenses (something I started doing 30 years ago) and the time I was camping in the Southwest was always the least expensive part of the year for me.

The rig I take down there is an old truck camper - specifically, a 1987 Six-Pac camper that sits atop a 1993 Dodge D250 with 5.9 Cummins 12v diesel engine. I paid a grand total of $8,100 for the truck and camper 14 years ago, then spent another $900 adding solar to the camper (which could be done for quite a bit less now). Five or six years ago I renovated the interior of the camper, which cost me around $600 or so (paint, vinyl flooring, fabric, labor for the guy who sewed the new upholstery together, etc.).

These trucks are known for their excellent mpg, and depending on the number of hills, the winds, etc., I get anywhere from 13 mpg to 18 mpg, with the camper loaded and while towing a Corolla behind. While there, I drive about once a week to dump tanks and refill fresh water and propane, a 20-mile round trip or so. For sightseeing, shopping, travel to trailheads, etc., I drive the Corolla which gets 30 mpg in the city and 36 on the freeway.

I like my little old truck camper quite a bit and have no desire to replace it with a big fancy rig, even though I could easily do so if I wanted to. I enjoy repairing my own rigs and I enjoy living frugally. And I especially enjoy boondocking in areas where the rigs are spread out a hundred yards from each other. And with solar, there's no gas or oil to buy or carry around. And there's also no noise associated with it, which I love.

As others have already said, Rving can be very expensive or very inexpensive, depending on your preferences.

 

[STANDERSON]

1. Fuel and maintenance costs: Fuel you can't avoid. Preventative maintenance can be delayed to save $$ but it usually costs you more in the long run.
2. Campgrounds: Think your estimate of $50 is low by at least 50%. We save money by dry camping ($10 a night at the local Air Force Base) or using Harvest Host. Downsize to Harvest Host is you spend more at the host that you would have spent on a campsite.