One of our first mistakes with RV living costs – and it was a pretty big one at that – was a budget. Well, I should say, lack of a budget.

We had just sold our house and since we had built up plenty of equity over the years, we did all right with our RV living costs despite the fact that the house might have brought a lot more just before the big bust a few years ago.

With those proceeds and our retirement incomes as well as Social Security, we were able to get the Winnebago Adventurer paid off before we ever left town.

That left us pretty clear.

Our only monthly outlay now was low credit card debt that we normally paid off each month.

At first, seemingly without a financial problem, we got carried away just a little.

Then we slowly began to realize that life on the road was not free by any standard.

Many of the RV resorts and campsites cost as much as a good motel, and fuel!

Car related costs are big part of RV living costs

While fuel may be what we could call reasonable at home, the prices of fuel fluctuate all over the country and from city to city.

Car related things (fuel, wash, tires, repairs) make big part of RV living costs.

You can’t just sit down and figure the fuel cost for a given trip even though you pretty much know the mileage your RV delivers per gallon of fuel.

Food

Food prices too, vary not only from town to town but from store to store.

Often you find yourself out where there’s only one convenience store around, or you have to use the campground store.

Campgrounds

It’s all about supply and demand.

Campgrounds aren’t any more avaricious than any other business. In fact, they want you to be “happy campers”. Happy campers will tell your friends as well as come back.

The more isolated a campground is or a convenience store, gas station or any other business, the more you can expect to have to pay.

Daily budget

When it comes to daily expenses, a smart traveler would sit down and be realistic about a daily budget. It’s better to figure the minimum and then, if possible, perhaps double that.

A daily budget would include restaurants, fuel, any sight-seeing expenses, and souvenirs and so on.

Some families will save a considerable amount of money by avoiding restaurants.

Many not only save money in this way but have fun doing it. They get a nice fire going and cook out the old-fashioned way.

A pot of “cowboy” coffee starts the day followed by ham or bacon and eggs. If you’re parked near a stream, the head fisherman may bring some fresh trout for breakfast.

In an earlier blog, I mentioned corned beef and cabbage. Your dinner doesn’t have to be exactly that, but a boiled dinner is very easy to make.

It can be a bit of rump roast or just vegetables with some sort of Bratwurst or other fat sausages; even hot dogs thrown in at the last moment.

Parking expenses

And of course, travel itself can be expensive. If you’re a full-timer with no particular destination in mind at the moment, you may find a free, or almost free spot to park for a week, a month or even longer.

The farther away from large cities you get, the less expensive your experience should be.

Everything costs more than you thought it would.

Parking at the homes of friends and relatives can be great, but you certainly don’t want to overstay your welcome. Benjamin Franklin has been quoted as saying at one time, “Visitors are always welcome, but like fish, after three days, they begin to stink.”

We don’t want friends or relatives to breathe a huge sigh of relief after we’ve gone.

Bottom line here, as we’ve found it to be: Everything costs more than you thought it would, so be sure to take that into account.

That doesn’t mean you can’t get by on a tight budget, but you have to plan, check out pricing ahead of time.

You don’t want to arrive at some campground late on a cold rainy night only to find that your stop is going to cost three times what you expected to spend.

What is the Cost of Full-Time Living on the Road in an RV? It’s a lot more than we expected when we retired.

See detailed breakdowns of the costs here:
https://www.gonewiththewynns.com/rv-living-cost

Futher reading – Mr Money Mustache blogs about how we can all live a frugal life, and he writes about finish line and retirement.

Well, Bill and Debbie here repeating the old Roy Rogers salute: “Happy trails!”

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