We have planned this fulltiming lifestyle for somewhere in the neighborhood of 5 years. We have now been fulltiming for 8 weeks and are already wondering if we were crazy to retire and hit the road. I'm just wondering how others are doing with their choice of lifestyle.

There have been several discussions about this topic recently. The common thread running through all of them is that fuel prices are not going to stop anyone who is serious about full timing. It may slow us down a bit, but the alternatives are not better options. The cost of purchasing, maintaining and operating a sticks and bricks home almost always outweigh the cost of full time RV'ing.

Since you have only been at this for 8 weeks, you may still be in the "gotta go all the time" mode. That is a common experience for many full timers until they realize that they have all the time in the world to see things. Then we just slow down and enjoy.

Figure out how much money you are willing to spend on fuel per month. Then calculate how far you can go for that much money at the current cost of fuel. That tells you how far you can travel that month. Staying put longer also results in lower weekly and monthly rates if you are paying for sites. Some of us have also equipped our rigs for extended boondocking which gives us even more flexibility.

Don't give up. Just slow down.

Slow down and park for a while. It lets you get to know the area and the local people a bit and it sure saves on fuel costs.

We tended to park for two to three weeks in our membership parks and a week to two weeks in boondocking sites. We did violate this when we were headed for an activity of some sort but we looked to stay close by before and after.

I project all of our expenses out on a spreadsheet and track every penny we spend on anything to validate my projections. Even with the high price of diesel, we are nowhere near what we spent when we were bricks & sticks.

No more than 25% of our total monthly expenditures are for diesel, even during heavy travel months. In July, we will spend nothing on diesel and a total of $80 in August (I used a projected $5.00/gallon diesel to make those calculations). We will spend quite a bit in December/January when we go to Texas, but will sit for three months when we get there.

That having been said, it is likely, as has already been mentioned, your first year or so will be the most expensive. After that, your expenses will probably drop dramatically.

Don't get discouraged yet. It's a great lifestyle.

We had been considering buying a house and just part timing, but the house is far more expensive than fulltiming. We're staying in full hookups with a great view in a quiet rv park in Colorado Springs for $375/month. The taxes, insurance and maintenance on the vehicles & fiver is very reasonable when compared to a house anywhere.

Like other have already said, don't stay on the road all the time or the fuel costs will get to you. If you stay in places for months at a time, you will find the fuel costs are manageable.

Everyone has to learn a few lessons and figure out what works for them. I don't see us stopping fulltiming for a long time.

Remember when you compare prices to include your heating cost in a house. Fuel is fuel so heating oil,etc is going up just like diesel.
We are getting more inquiries from northeners saying it is cheaper to come to Fl for the winter.

Wife and I been fulltime since o4/02. Won't go back till forced to, by health. We have kept cost down by volunteering at state and natl. parks, vending at rallies, cave guide, sold advertising, worked as cashiers, and been a watchman. We spend time at each of these and get to know the country and the people. Remember, when parked it doesn't matter how high the fuel gets, you ain't buying. So much to see in this country of ours but you have to slow down to see it. We spent 5 months at Bryce Utah and that was just about right.

Like you, we have been fulltiming for only 8 weeks and were a little suprised at the cost - especially camping costs, and then there's the fuel costs that wasn't there when we "planned" our escape from our day jobs 2 years ago.

We HAVE been traveling a lot ( 1000 miles a month) because this was new to us, but we knew our 1st few months were going to be over our budget. Go see one kid in SC, another in TN, visit friends in NH, then MA, then back to NH, etc. Of course there's the caverns to see, the train to ride, the river boat ride tourists too! That adds to the budget quickly.

We wanted to spend our first summer in the New England area (ME or NH) and that's where we are now. Of course, since it's "in season" up here we pay premium rates for camp sites when we can't find a cheaper place through Passport America.

Here's what we have decided to do to help lower our costs:
1. Our next "summer" will be spent in the ND,SD,MT, WY area as I think camp sites are cheaper there.
2. Less driving and more parking for sure. We have YEARS to see this country and there's no sense in being in a hurry. You get better rates if you stay a week or a month.
3. If we find good spot that's cheap ( like $15-$18 a night) we extend our stay as much as we can to lower our average costs of camping. Even though PA rates are usually applied sun.- Thurs., we have found that if we talk to the camp host and ask for PA rates through the weekend, they will give them to us IF the camp ground isn't a popular place for locals and they'll have vanancies anyway.
4. Our first "winter" will be where we used to live in Jacksonville, FL and we have a spot for $700 a month. We have family there and will probably stay for a few months before heading out west via I-10 towards CA.

We kinda "average" our costs. If we spend $2K on fuel and camping costs one month, we might get lucky and spend half that the next. If we look at it that way, it's not so bad! We lucked into a deal in NH where we will be staying at a friends apartment for 3 MONTHS until Oct. for next to nothing - and we can park our RV across the street in an adandonded warehouse parking lot. THAT will really lower our "average monthly cost!"

What I don't get is where people think they can live a fulltime RV lifestyle on $1000 or less. HOW do they do THAT???? Wow.

We are also considering getting a club membership in RPI, 1000trails, or C2C or something ( you know - stay for $10 a night or 2 weeks for free after you pay $1,000's for the membership of course so it really isn't FREE) but I don't know enough about the "systems" yet. I DID just join Escapees, and my info book is in the mail Looking forward to seeing that!

Does this fulltime RV'ing cost more than we thought? Yep. Will we go back? Nope. Are we sorry we sold everything for this lifestyle? Nope. Just did some minor adjusting is all. You can too!

Thanks soooo much for your post; it is very encouraging. We are still in the vacation mode, and we need to change that. We have spent a month in Southport, NC near the beach; one week in NY near Niagara Falls; One week in Acadia Nat'l Park, ME, and now we are spending some time further North in Maine in a town called Millinoket. We have had lots of fun, and spent a lot of money. We only have a small nest egg, and I don't like spending it. We do intend to workcamp, and get part-time jobs soon. My husband retired early at 57 so his pension won't cover everything. We are taking lots of pictures and keeping a journal so we can look back and remember our travels. Thanks again for all the encouraging posts.
Nancy

quote:

What I don't get is where people think they can live a fulltime RV lifestyle on $1000 or less. HOW do they do THAT???? Wow.

Here's one way:
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Expenses 9/15/05 to 9/15/06, one person in a small Class C, mostly boondocking:

gasoline $3,132.71
groceries $1,455.03
vehicle expenses $722.75
entertainment & tourism $647.06
RV insurance $522.00
camping & water/dump fees $375.95
sundries (clothes, toiletries, drugs) $297.88
mail forwarding & postage $240.00
eating out $164.63
propane $139.59
memberships $94.00
laundry $38.75
Grand Total $7,830.35

Also, there was a one-time cost for solar panel & controller of $580, well worth it.
I need to spend a little less money if I can figure out how. That's where I need the advice. Where can I cut corners?
What I already can see on my own: by driving less! Anything else?
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This was taken from This Thread.

There are many other threads on this forum with cost saving ideas. One of the big ones is to cut your campground costs as near to zero as possible. With some of the camping clubs, it is possible to have only your yearly dues as your costs, which can be less than $700 a year, and give you full hookups every night of the year. Boondocking will also cut those costs to zero for those nights.

It is possible to live on $1000 a month, but every expense has to be examined, and cut where ever possible. Just like a commercial from a few years ago "Think Different".

Membership camping -IF- you use it can save you a bunch of money and get you into some very nice campgrounds. We paid a bunch for our Western Horizon's membership and to pre-pay the dues but over the years it averaged out to a lot less than we would have spent on public campgrounds and we found the parks to usually be nicer.

Getting a spot for three weeks for $42.00 is hard to beat but in the spring and fall when we weren't heating/cooling we used 30 amp hookups and only spent $21 for the three weeks. If you are out of the busy season (or have proved to be an asset to the staff) you can buy your out week and grab another three weeks after that.

We added on stuff that got us more camping in areas where we spent more time like ROD for the northwest and saved even more money.

We rarely stayed anywhere but our membership parks, rallies and events or out in the boondocks.

fulltimin,

I'm remember the thread you quoted, and I still am trying to figure out how one can spend only $1455 for groceries for a WHOLE year. Yes, I realize that this is for just one person, but that is just over $100/month or $25/week. Sure can't get a lot for that, especially in the way of fresh fruits and vegtables.


Stan,

We also belong to Western Horizon - and find that we spend over 180 nights per year in membership parks. Love ROD - the $0/night is really great. BTW - WHR went to the energy fee based upon length, rather than amps, so doesn't matter whether we have 30 or 50 amps, we now spend $3/night. Still much less than most other places. We payed for ours in two years.


Barb

Based on length??? Guess I'll get out the decal scraper and buy some stick-on numbers and see what they charge me for my next "28" foot rig. Hope they don't have a tape measure!

We intend to fulltime, and to use our TTN membership to the fullest extent possible. I figure it will take us only 300 nights (minus all the nights we've used it and will use it between now and then)

It is so good for fulltimers that we may even join some other membership clubs. We will definitely set up the rig for boondocking, which we'll use to fill in gaps in our membership stays or to hang out in Quartzsite/Yuma, etc, now and then!

Can't wait!

Roy

We have attended several membership park presentations over the years as friends have spoken very highly of them. After 8 years full-timing we still haven't signed up because we rarely go to the same place twice and there weren't any membership parks in the area we were going to be traveling the following year we attended the presentations. In our case we couldn't get it to pencil out financially with our travel style.
Our goal when we started was to spend 20 years on the road and find a place to eventually settle after the 20 yrs or when we could no longer drive. Since we probably will not have any family living by then (we are only children and have no children) we don't have a "hometown" we have to return to so our options are wide open.

quote:

What I don't get is where people think they can live a fulltime RV lifestyle on $1000 or less. HOW do they do THAT???? Wow.

I think it is the interpretation of "RV Lifestyle". No two people have the same picture of what a "RV Lifestyle" is.

To me the term conjures up traveling down the highway footloose and fancy free, parking anywhere, anytime just to enjoy the view, or explore State or National parks, historical sites, go from ballpark to ballpark, the list of interests to travel to are infinite.

Some people just choose to live in an RV/RV park instead of a sticks and bricks, whether it be economical or convenience or something else.

There are individuals that have seasonal work or contract work and living in an RV is easier than buying and selling a house or working with lease commitments after each job is completed.

Some people enjoy the challenge of either "living off the grid" and/or "testing the limits of their self sufficiency".

And sadly some have no choice and are doing the best they can and being pretty darn creative at it.

Enjoy your journey.