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How large/small is your fulltime budget?


Kirk W

How much does it cost you?  

213 members have voted

  1. 1. What is the typical total amount of all living expenses for a year on the road?

    • less than $10,000 per year.
      7
    • $10,00 or more but less than $20,000 per year.
      27
    • $20,000 or more but less than $30,000 per year.
      35
    • $30,000 or more but less than $40,000 per year.
      53
    • $40,000 or more, but less than $50,000 per year.
      31
    • $50,000 or more, but less than $60,000 per year.
      21
    • $60,000 or more, but less than $70,000 per year.
      14
    • $70,000 or more, but less than $80,000 per year.
      11
    • $80,000 or more but less than $90,000 per year.
      4
    • $90,000 or more but less than $100,000 per year.
      3
    • $100,000 or more annual expenditures.
      8


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Take above vehicles out, then my average for 16 years would be $20,556 a year. Which includes 7 months a year every year of no campground fees.

It's really difficult to find a way to level the expenses with our different styles of RV living, but the reason I chose not to include vehicles is wide difference in amounts spend for RVs and other vehicles. It was an attempt to let others know what our average expenses run for daily living of the lifestyle. I'm sure that even things like food budgets vary quite widely but there is a clear pattern to the typical costs as you look at the results. While that won't tell anyone exactly what they must have to survive, it should give some targets to work with, or at least I hope that it does.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

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From the responses, including the good article Kirk referenced, it seems we are in a target of high $30's-low $40's for an average.

 

Then, an entirely different topic is "how low can you go?" and some have stayed well below that average.

Our "Here and There" Blog

 

2005 Safari Cheetah Motorhome

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

When I saw the mention of clothes I had to snicker. In over 5yrs. it's been shorts, T-shirts, sandals or flip flops for me. The last thing I bought to wear was a suit this past June for my granddaughters wedding. And then I had to buy shoes, socks, shirt & tie to go with it. After retirement, and spending so many years in coat & tie, I swore "never again". But for my beautiful granddaughter, I made an exception.

Fulltiming since 2010

2000 Dutch Star

2009 Saturn Vue

Myrtle Beach, SC

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The last thing I bought to wear was a suit this past June for my granddaughters wedding. And then I had to buy shoes, socks, shirt & tie to go with it. After retirement, and spending so many years in coat & tie, I swore "never again". But for my beautiful granddaughter, I made an exception.

I think if Dave ever again needs to wear a suit, we'll see if he can rent one. :)

 

Linda Sand

Blog: http://sandcastle.sandsys.org/

Former Rigs: Liesure Travel van, Winnebago View 24H, Winnebago Journey 34Y, Sportsmobile Sprinter conversion van

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We're heading out in April, debt free and hoping to get by on 40k or less, it will be interesting to see how we do.

If you don't go for the expensive resorts you'll do just find. Best of luck to you!

Full-timed for 16 Years
Traveled 8 yr in a 2004 Newmar Dutch Star 40' Motorhome
and 8 yr in a 33' Travel Supreme 5th Wheel

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We're heading out in April, debt free and hoping to get by on 40k or less, it will be interesting to see how we do.

We are also debt free and have been fulltiming for almost 16 years. This year will be our most expensive year on the road, and we will come in at just around $34K We have never exceeded $31K in the past and have usually been in the mid-upper 20's. And we don't feel we skimp. It does depend somewhat on how you live, though. Our most expensive single expense has ALWAYS been insurance, and health insurance is by far our biggest expense at the moment.

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

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We really do not know what that number is .When we started this adventure 10 years ago we determined we had the financial

ability to do what we do. We use Quicken and all expenses are in a category so we could pull that data out. We still have a couple of bucks left over at the end of every month and no bill collectors are looking for us. We are good.

 

I just realized we are not full timers and may only be on the road 8 t o 9 months a year. We usually get at least 3 months " off the road" at our S&B.

 

What do you call it when a "Full-timer" parks it for 3 months at a campground or at a "lot" they own somewhere.

Edited by richfaa

Helen and I are long timers ..08 F-350 Ford,LB,CC,6.4L,4X4, Dually,4:10 diff dragging around a 2013 Montana 3402 Big Sky

SKP 100137. North Ridgeville, Ohio in the summer, sort of and where ever it is warm in the winter.

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What do you call it when a "Full-timer" parks it for 3 months at a campground or at a "lot" they own somewhere.

I just wait to see what the person I'm speaking to calls his lifestyle. Much less conflict that way. :P

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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I just realized we are not full timers and may only be on the road 8 t o 9 months a year. We usually get at least 3 months " off the road" at our S&B.

 

What do you call it when a "Full-timer" parks it for 3 months at a campground or at a "lot" they own somewhere.

I like your term long timers for your situation. It is very clear. If you still lived in your RV while parked at your S&B I would call you full timers but since you move into your house for those few months, I like long timers. As I said, that term makes it very clear how you live.

 

Linda Sand

Blog: http://sandcastle.sandsys.org/

Former Rigs: Liesure Travel van, Winnebago View 24H, Winnebago Journey 34Y, Sportsmobile Sprinter conversion van

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My definition of a full timer is and always has been a person who has a Rv and lives in it 24/7/365 you can have a lot somewhere with a shed or a barn on it but your home is the RV. We have full timers here who own a lot in our park and will be on it for the winter but they live in their RV. We are here for 6 months and may be on the road for another 2 or 3 months but we spend some time out of the Rv and in the S&B. There are BTW many,many Rv'ers that do just that.

Helen and I are long timers ..08 F-350 Ford,LB,CC,6.4L,4X4, Dually,4:10 diff dragging around a 2013 Montana 3402 Big Sky

SKP 100137. North Ridgeville, Ohio in the summer, sort of and where ever it is warm in the winter.

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There are:

  • touring fulltimers
  • workcamping fulltimers
  • point to point fulltimers (winter in one place, summer in another)
  • working fulltimers
  • stationary fulltimers (in a RV, permanently parked)
  • seasonal fulltimers (a bit iffy, but fulltime just part of the year)

And likely several other flavors. Then, to complicate things a bit more, many of us flow between two or more through the year (like workcamping only in the summer, etc.)

 

At least that's my view of it.

Our "Here and There" Blog

 

2005 Safari Cheetah Motorhome

 

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Wow, great thread. Looking at the results gives me additional confidence about our early retirement in 2016! Mariner's post above provides me even more confidence. I'm fortunate to have a company pension plan that includes medical from age 55 to Medicare. We've been debt free since 1999 and plan to stay that way. That we are both frugal and find prices of most goods absurd is what has no doubt aided in meeting our goal to retire early.

 

Having met yearly with a financial planner, going back about 10 years now, and his numbers showing us "good to go"... there is still always that doubt that your overlooking something. One thing he's had us do a couple times is to list your total living expenses (soup to nuts) as that is a critical piece of running any analysis. Having done that and even padding the numbers up a bit, the numbers work. Certainly new expenses will come into play associated with RV travel and I've tried to account for that (primarily RV site fees and fuel). Like many I suspect, we'll travel a lot the first year or two, seeing the great USA, then throttle back to more regional travel and snowbird... at least that seems to be the trend based on others.

 

No guarantee's on anything (except death and taxes) and you don't get the years back... so here we go :lol: .

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A couple of things when you look at your budget. Often your grocery budget will go up because you will be shopping in new stores, seeing new products in different areas, which often means spending more - - but that's ok, because that is part of the adventure in traveling. On the other end, you may find that eating out goes down because you have more time to cook, or you like the grill & graze style of eating at home that the lifestyle sort of encourages.

 

Barb

Barb & Dave O'Keeffe
2002 Alpine 36 MDDS (Figment II), 2018 Ford C-Max HYBRID
Blog: http://www.barbanddave.net
SPK# 90761 FMCA #F337834

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I'd be interested to hear back from the forum as to how this calculator reflects realties of their retirement budget. The tool was developed by an economist that looks at the history of the markets and, based on your starting nest egg, annual draw for living expense, and expected lifespan, determines how many market scenarios in decades past you would have been in the "black or red" so to speak. Naturally, for those who have a defined pension as part of their income, the market aspect is less a factor.

 

http://www.firecalc.com/index.php

 

Let me know what you think.

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I finalized our 2015 expenditures and was pleased to see that we had finally dropped below $40K for the year. Our first two years out we had, not only the much higher fuel prices, but a lot of repairs as well. For instance, in 2013 we ended up buying new tires for everything - 12 new tires. We also had to buy new batteries for everything - 5 batteries! Ouch!

 

We had similar expenses in 2014. Both of those years came in at just over $41K each.

 

This year, thanks to lower fuel prices and only one bigger repair, we came in at $36K on the year.

 

My annual budget info is here.

Our "Here and There" Blog

 

2005 Safari Cheetah Motorhome

 

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I finalized our 2015 expenditures and was pleased to see that we had finally dropped below $40K for the year. Our first two years out we had, not only the much higher fuel prices, but a lot of repairs as well. For instance, in 2013 we ended up buying new tires for everything - 12 new tires. We also had to buy new batteries for everything - 5 batteries! Ouch!

 

We had similar expenses in 2014. Both of those years came in at just over $41K each.

 

This year, thanks to lower fuel prices and only one bigger repair, we came in at $36K on the year.

 

My annual budget info is here.

 

 

 

Based on the poll results thus far, that has you almost dead center in the bell curve. Thanks for sharing the information.

Edited by freestoneangler
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Interesting calculator. This is something that should be introduced to those in their prime earning years. In fact, I just sent the link off to our three sons. For me it is just a little bit late since we are already into the required withdrawals. Even so, it is kind of fun to play with.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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We had similar expenses in 2014. Both of those years came in at just over $41K each.

 

This year, thanks to lower fuel prices and only one bigger repair, we came in at $36K on the year.

 

My annual budget info is here.

I had speculated that we would be in the $34K or maybe even 35K area this year, since insurance for us is ridiculous. In all of our previous 15 years fulltiming we have been mostly well under 30K. Our numbers came in at a little over $33K for the year. This is the first year substantially into the 30's....I expect it will stay that way going forward.

Edited by Jack Mayer

Jack & Danielle Mayer #60376 Lifetime Member
Living on the road since 2000

PLEASE no PM's. Email me. jackdanmayer AT gmail
2016 DRV Houston 44' 5er (we still have it)
2022 New Horizons 43' 5er
2016 Itasca 27N 28' motorhome 
2019 Volvo 860, D13 455/1850, 236" wb, I-Shift, battery-based APU
No truck at the moment - we use one of our demo units
2016 smart Passion, piggyback on the truck
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
See our website for info on New Horizons 5th wheels, HDTs as tow vehicles, communications on the road, and use of solar power
www.jackdanmayer.com
Principal in RVH Lifestyles. RVH-Lifestyles.com

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By the way, our out of pocket expenses are actually a bit lower than I report. We volunteered for a campsite for three months of the year. To better give people doing research I give those months a camping cost of $325 each. If we weren't volunteering at east one of those months would be spent at Thousand Trails paying $5 or $10 a night so I think the $325 figure is pretty reasonable.

Our "Here and There" Blog

 

2005 Safari Cheetah Motorhome

 

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Also something that's important, especially in our case, is that when we went full time we were debt free. The only bills we have are for healthcare, long term care, insurances(Car & MH), and cell phone. That was our plan when we hit the road over 5yrs. ago, so we would have plenty of flexibility to do just about anything we might want to do. And I must say it's worked out great. Although sadly it's coming to an end since we're having a home built here in S.C. so we can do some overseas travel before we get too old & decrepit. But it's been a great ride, and I wouldn't change a thing.

Fulltiming since 2010

2000 Dutch Star

2009 Saturn Vue

Myrtle Beach, SC

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  • 1 month later...

In 2015, my cost of living was $15,693.48 as a full-timer. I am solo, still working (work-camping and writing), and in my 3 years on the road have consistently spent less than I did living in an apartment. I hit the road without any debt and am considered frugal by many full-timers.

 

My budget info for every year I've been on the road (and my last year living stationary) can be found here: http://www.interstellarorchard.com/2016/01/29/2015-full-timer-cost-of-living-and-income-report/

Becky

Life is too short not to spend it doing something you love.

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  • 4 weeks later...

We are debt free and will stay that way in retirement since we will pay cash for the MH and toad. Most expenses are fixed like health ins, insurance, prescriptions, food, etc. the biggest expense drivers seem to be the variable expenses like fuel and campground fees. They can be managed by slowing down and not driving so much every month and staying in campgrounds for a month at at time, boondocking, plus work camping where you get a "free' site and you won't be driving much. There will always be unexpected expenses that you have to plan for and have money set aside for.

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