How Much does it cost to Fulltime? 2 great articles.

[Al F]

Below are two great articles on what it costs to fulltime in an RV from Wheelingit.

 

Part 1

 

Part 2

 

 

The nice thing here, is they don't tell you what "you" will spend, but tell you what they spend and different options and details about what others spend.

 

Some spend as little as under $1500/month ($30,000/year). Others upwards of $7500/month ($90,000/year).

 

On Edit: OOPS! I need to go back to math class! $1500/month is $18,000/year not the $30,000 I wrote.

[Kirk W]

Back when we were just getting started in the fulltime life, there was a column by Gaylord Maxwell that addressed this issue by far the best of anything that I have yet read. He didn't try to predict exact numbers for anyone, but rater pointed out the basics that will apply to all and that column is as applicable today was it was back in 2001, when it was first published. When it comes to the actual budget amounts people spend, it looks like they got their best guess data from a poll that ran on the Escapees "RVing on a Budget" forum a few months back.

 

They do a good job on the article and it is worth a read for those still trying to figure things out.

[GR "Scott" Cundiff]

Thanks for sharing that. It looks like a good article with lots of information for people doing research. I note that their numbers end up right in line with the thread Kirk mentioned.

 

I have a short text file with links to different people's budgeting information and I've added their link to it. I use that file on Facebook when people ask questions about budgeting.

 

I've faithfully kept an expense sheet since we began fulltiming in 2013 and publish it to our blog. 2016, though, was an exception because we didn't do any real traveling. Happily, we're about to return to our travels now.

[2gypsies]

'Wheeling It' is a favorite blog of ours. She's a detail person and her posts are right on be it financial, solar and other technology or her campground reviews, including boondocking sites - all with very easy to digest explanations.

[SnowGypsy]

$1,500 a month would be $18,000 not $30,000.

 

Since we have always budgeted our money, I never pay a lot of attention to the budgets of others. I have been following the blog of someone who refuses to decrease spending (entitled to things they cannot really afford) and is trying to make it on workamping jobs hoping to spend a few months every year not working. They are taking the better paying opportunities, but spending in excess of $3,000 per month are constantly in a huff about how the jobs should pay more, so it really pays for some to understand financial matters. Sadly, many people are not good with money in any lifestyle, and they will struggle. Struggling doesn't make for much of a pleasant lifestyle.

 

And, let's not forget advice for those that want to go bare bones or nearly so: http://cheaprvliving.com/

[Chris-n-Dennis]

I break our budget down for RV expenses and household expenses.

RV expenses budget (includes average amortized fuel expenses, propane, tires, batteries, oil changes w/filters, roadside assistance and warranties (if we have one, we don't currently), club memberships, registration, insurance, and a storage unit rental (going away this year) and lastly, a $100 miscellaneous fund). Monthly budget: $823.64

 

Household expenses (includes toad insurance, registration, amortized fuel and maintenance) in addition to food, clothing allowance, cell phones, entertainment (amazon prime) and an amortized park fee. Monthly budget: $1318.67

 

We also set aside $100/month for contingency to cover something unexpected.

 

Total monthly budget: $2242.31

 

Note: No outstanding debt and I am retired military so no medical budget needed. We do have a significant amount invested in funds to act as a catastrophic contingency. That puts us right in line with the curve graph Wheelin It has and I notice we do some of the same things they do to control costs such as volunteering.

[rnsmth]

On 2/26/2017 at 3:58 PM, Chris-n-Dennis said:

I break our budget down for RV expenses and household expenses.

RV expenses budget (includes average amortized fuel expenses, propane, tires, batteries, oil changes w/filters, roadside assistance and warranties (if we have one, we don't currently), club memberships, registration, insurance, and a storage unit rental (going away this year) and lastly, a $100 miscellaneous fund). Monthly budget: $823.64

 

Household expenses (includes toad insurance, registration, amortized fuel and maintenance) in addition to food, clothing allowance, cell phones, entertainment (amazon prime) and an amortized park fee. Monthly budget: $1318.67

 

We also set aside $100/month for contingency to cover something unexpected.

 

Total monthly budget: $2242.31

 

Note: No outstanding debt and I am retired military so no medical budget needed. We do have a significant amount invested in funds to act as a catastrophic contingency. That puts us right in line with the curve graph Wheelin It has and I notice we do some of the same things they do to control costs such as volunteering.

So, it sounds like maybe you are not traveling a lot (consuming a lot of fuel).  Is that correct?  It may not be.

[Kirk W]

5 hours ago, rnsmth said:

So, it sounds like maybe you are not traveling a lot (consuming a lot of fuel). 

When one is full-time in the RV, fuel budget is one of the most controllable things in the budget. Nearly all types of RV are more fuel efficient when traveling more slowly and all of them are most fuel saving while sitting still. You just make your travels fit the fuel budget. Most places that fulltimers stay will cost less per night if you stay longer and there are ways to spend time in places that do not charge you by volunteering for a site or by dry camping. There is also the 2-2-2 travel plan that BarbOK suggests which can save fuel as well.(200 miles a day, in the park by 2:00 pm, stay 2 days)

I think that you would find that most who are full-time travel fewer than 10,000 miles per year once they have adapted to the way of life. It is a lifestyle that allows you to take the time to enjoy every stop, rather than just seeing things go past your windshield. 

[hdrider]

And we take that 2-2-2 thing a bit further, we normally travel under 200 miles and stay a week in most spots. When we first hit he road over 4 years ago we said we would budget 1 tank of fuel a month in the motorhome but have actually very seldom ever use a full tank.

 We have done our own write ups in our blog each year for our expenses and it's always fun o compare.

[MadeItToFT]

Any of you looking at RVing budgets should seriously check out Dave and Diane's annual write ups and comments from forums they've posted on in relation to them.   They are awesome, entertaining and great to compare similarities and changes of thoughts year over year as time has rolled by.    We've followed these guys since they first hit the road, and anxiously when they were awaiting a "looooooong" delivery of their current rig in Fla for useful and great write up information.

Sorry Dave, not meaning to have your halo slip, but I don't think you truly know how great your write ups have been over the years     Happy Travels, Stay Safe and Keep Having Fun to both you and Diane :).

PS:   How's Jack doing?  

[hdrider]

8 hours ago, FULLTIMEWANABE said:

Any of you looking at RVing budgets should seriously check out Dave and Diane's annual write ups and comments from forums they've posted on in relation to them.   They are awesome, entertaining and great to compare similarities and changes of thoughts year over year as time has rolled by.    We've followed these guys since they first hit the road, and anxiously when they were awaiting a "looooooong" delivery of their current rig in Fla for useful and great write up information.

Sorry Dave, not meaning to have your halo slip, but I don't think you truly know how great your write ups have been over the years     Happy Travels, Stay Safe and Keep Having Fun to both you and Diane :).

PS:   How's Jack doing?  

 Well thanks for the flowers and I'm happy you enjoy it. Jack is doing well and we will be paying him a visit in just a few short weeks, really looking forward to it.

[Chris-n-Dennis]

On 4/14/2017 at 11:25 PM, rnsmth said:

So, it sounds like maybe you are not traveling a lot (consuming a lot of fuel).  Is that correct?  It may not be.

I don't know, I'm currently budgeting $300/month for fuel in the rig regardless if we are parked hosting or not. Don't feel restricted in our travel,

 

[Barbaraok]

I always budget X amt for fuel, whether we use it or not, I have enough years to have a good handle on how much we will spend during the course of the year.  When not moving, I 'move' it into a Quicken account so it is not in the checkbook to see.   I separate things in Quicken so I can see that we have enough set aside for bills before they come do.  Helps to make life eaiser for us as we go along. 

[BlueLghtning]

I've been budgeting for years in our S&B home and I think that will help greatly when we get on the road to start full timing. I use an online program called YNAB (You Need a Budget) and I love it. https://www.youneedabudget.com/ 

Originally they offered YNAB as a one time purchase program you loaded on your PC and you needed your PC to do most of the features like importing from your bank account, but it synced to your phones through dropbox so you could always see your budget on your phone.

Then they rewrote the program from the ground up addressing some issues even they had to learn the hardway and now it's a subscription based web based platform (although very reasonable) and you can run it from any web browser plus any phone/tablet/chromebook, etc through the app or web page. I had held out for as long as possible on the classic version, but I'm really enjoying the revised version and like the changes they made. They give you a 34 day free trial and it's well worth it. If you like to budget, this software is amazing and even if you don't like to budget, you might really enjoyd this. 

[Kirk W]

Whether you are in a stick house or an RV, or probably even if living in a tent, the key to managing your money is good records. I took over our family books from Pam about 25+ years ago and set off to be able to account for as much of our total spending as possible. In intermediate accounting class, the professor said that no set of books should ever allow the miscellaneous or unrecorded part of total spending to reach 5% of spending and that a good target is 1%. We record every receipt for purchases whether cash, credit, or debit. Just knowing where all of our money was going made a huge impact upon our budget control. 

While a budget plan is important, it serves no purpose if you do not track your spending. 

[Bill Joyce]

X1 on what Kirk says.  When I was in college I kept needing money.  My father handed me a notebook that could fit into my pocket and said to write every expense down, including quarters for a parking meter.  It really helped me and I still track cash transactions the same way.

[2gypsies]

For the past 52 years we've recorded everything... we began with our own version of accounting by hand and quickly changed to Quicken which we still use.  We've always stayed within our income and either have the money to buy something or we don't buy it.... never paid interest on a bill.  It's a nice feeling not to owe money.

[JCZ]

This has been a great topic for us.  We plan to go full time in just a few months, when I retire and these kind of topics help to "plan".  Thanks everybody, for your comments.

[Kirk W]

The key to living well on the financial resources that you have is not having enough money to enjoy life. The key is learning to live happily on the money that you have.