We hit the road full-time on June 15 and I thought I’d share with you the budget for those last two weeks of June.
As a reference, I had created a tentative budget back in May, of what I thought we might spend each month – and I plan to update that later this week based on what I’ve learned so far about our habits, needs and choices.
June 15 – 30, 2015 expenses
Camping/Resort fees – $457.91
Groceries – $322.39
Gas – $314.19
Vehicle/Trailer Insurance – $100
Dining out – $193.66
Cell and internet – $150
RV maintenance/supplies – $97.44
Entertainment/Museums – $53.39
Toiletries – $32.04
Laundry – $24.75
Showers – $11
Propane – $0 – we haven’t had to refill yet!
June costs TOTAL – $1,731.77
Estimated MONTHLY expenses – $3,462 (if doubled)
Here’s a bit more detail on June expenses:
Camping and resort fees was our biggest expense. Due to the extreme heat wave in Eastern Washington/Idaho we skipped our stay in Hells Gate State Park and headed north to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho a few days early. This meant spending three nights in a premium RV spot because it was the only spot available in town. The state park would have been much cheaper but we wanted to head north because there was a lot more shade, lots of family to hang out with, and more things to do inside – we are so glad we did this!
Groceries/Eating Out – We left town with an almost empty fridge. We were so busy getting the trailer ready that menu planning and having groceries in the fridge just didn’t work out. We also ended up eating out a bit more than we had planned – but primarily because it was SO hot that we didn’t feel like cooking in the trailer or grilling in the hot sun.
Diesel Gas – We drove about 900 – 1,000 miles during those two weeks. We are using a free app called Fuelly to track our miles per gallon and we seem to be averaging about 12.9 miles per gallon (as low as 11.4 towing through hills and as good as 14.8 not towing). On average we’re paying $2.98/gallon for diesel fuel.
Entertainment – We did a LOT of free activities in June. Geocaching, visitor’s centers, state park programs and playing outside. Our limited costs were movies in Walla Walla, the Fort Walla Walla Museum and a local theater program.
Cell phone and internet – This is going to be way more than we expected initially. I was hoping to use the FREE wifi in the campgrounds – but it’s essentially useless during the summer months when the campgrounds are full of families streaming videos. In order to keep working and running my business (I blog over at QueenBeeCoupons.com), I’ve had to rely a lot on cellular data. This gets EXPENSIVE fast. Walla Walla Blue Valley RV park was really the only place with good free WiFi so far. We’ll see how this shakes out.
Laundry – Many folks commented on my low laundry budget and I can see why now – we’ll probably have to double our laundry budget to be realistic.
I want to point out that this budget is for full-time TRAVEL. You can save a substantial amount of money if you stay in an RV park long-term . . .especially if you get weekly and or monthly rates (big savings here). You can also save a lot by having a Thousand Trails membership – but this limits where you can stay and we wouldn’t likely take advantage of their best promotion of buy three (3) weeks, get one FREE. You can also save a lot by boondocking – which means camping in free spots without hook-ups. We hope to try this more after our comfortable level increases.
Health insurance – We have health insurance covered through Jeremy’s work until the end of September – so this is not an expense now, but will be down the road. More on this later.
Bills we are NOT paying traveling full-time – We are no longer paying a mortgage/taxes ($1,500/month), garbage, water, electricity, cable, internet, alarm system, HOA dues, daycare/preschool, insurance on second car – and we are CONSUMING so much less because we don’t have the space to store clothing, toys, games, kitchen gadgets, etc.
We also do NOT have a trailer or truck payment – This was really important to us, so we purposely paid cash for the trailer and the tow vehicle. For families considering full-time travel, if you can avoid a monthly payment by saving up and paying cash I feel like it eliminates some of the pressure to earn on the road.
Looking forward. . .I can tell you already that July is shaping up to be a ridiculously expensive month. It just is. State and national park campgrounds are full, private RV parks are charging a premium and we spent 10 days in Coeur d’Alene at an expensive RV park because of it’s prime location to family and activities. I expect our summer expenses to be higher than the winter – but we will have to see how that all shakes out.
What do you think about this RV budget? Is it less or more than you’d expect? How does it compare to your expenses in a regular or typical housing situation?
We’re doing a 3 month trip staring in October. You should take a look into this and see if one of the zones would work for your plans. Pay attention to the expiration dates though. 🙂 http://local.amazon.com/tacoma/B00WV80400/camping-pass-with-14-nights-of-camping-more
I’m enjoying your advent with your young family! We are taking our soon to be 4 year old granddaughter and her 6 year old brother to Silverwood in August for her 4th birthday. Thank you for some ideas and how to’s about the park. Enjoy you travels!
I really found your post very interesting! Just think what stories your kids can tell when they grow up. What a great experience for all of you! We belong to Passport America which gives you 50% off a night at their participating RV parks. It costs $44 for 1 year membership, so you stay 2 nights somewhere and it pays for your membership. You can cruse their website and click on every State that you are traveling thru and see what parks are available. Click on the parks name and it will highlight all about them and most important the “Park Notes” tells you if there are any restrictions. We find it to be great for quick overnighters to our destination and has saved us a lot of money. We try to stay away from KOA’s (“keep on adding”) due to their expense. Besides Good Sam, Passport is the only campground membership I belong to. If Passport America is of any interest and you decide to join, please use my name as a referral Teresa Kittleson. Happy travels!
We used to figure $100 a day for vacationing. This covered motel, gas, meals and fees. That was 20 years ago and didn’t cover insurance, internet, and cell phones. Now we would probably have to figure at least $150 a day or more for the same level,
Could you not have parked at a family members home while visiting ?
Glenda – My grandma is in a Senior Living Center and my aunt/uncle live in a community with a pretty strict HOA. No place to park with family here – but we hope to do this when it’s available.
I think that with the situation you are in, you are doing great. If this isn’t too nosy a question, how much were your monthly expenses with a real house? I’m not asking for specifics, just wondering how it would compare because I bet it’s much less than before (or will be in a “regular” month). Plus, you are acquiring priceless memories and knowledge for your children and that’s worth a great deal.
Good information. We will be hitting the road after my retirement (10/25/2016) so gleaning any and all information is great!
12.9 is about right for the mileage on the truck. That is what I get with our ’13 F250 6.7L with a ’12 31′ Classic.
We have a thousand trail membership and they have a ton of different options and even a monthly payment plan. We joined when they had a buy one zone get one free deal and we pay $39 a month to be able to pull out RV in one of the parks and camp whenever we want. No extra fees. Maybe they have something that would work for you.
We just stayed at an Army Corp of Engineers campground that was very nice, and inexpensive. Maybe there are facilities on your route.
Is your husband on a leave for a year from his teaching job? What are your plans after this year of travel ends?
Wow. I did not expect your candid discussion of expenses. Thank you for sharing and providing these “learning curve” details to the general public for us to learn from. I am not as brave, so kudos to you for your brutal honesty. As far as wi-fi, when I recently traveled to, Japan, everyone had portable wi-fi. It’s an expensive investment, but if your business depends on being connected, it may be something worthwhile in investing in. Other than hotels, the free wi-fi areas there did not pan out at all, and the portable wi-fi kept our sanity in check.
We just went full time June 21st so I feel a kindred spirit. There’s definitely a learning curve. Best of luck and hope to see you down the road!
I wonder if you have looked into the Thousand Trails Zone Pass Membership? They offer 5 Zones and during the RV Trade Shows you can buy 1 Zone for $545.00 per year and get the 2nd Zone for free and keep it as long as you renew each year? Also, they discount that Zone Pass $100.00 down to $445.00…pretty good deal. I also know they have other Passes that include the entire US you might want to look into. They have 80 parks Nationwide and you also get discounts at their other 280 Encore Parks. Their Zone Pass offers you to stay in any of the Zone Parks for your first 30 nights a year for free and after that each night is only $3.00. They do require you to only stay in 1 park for 2 weeks max and you have to be out of their Park system for 1 week before coming back in. However, you can stay only 2 to 4 nights in one of their Parks and continue to go to another Park in that Zone continuously forever. This is something maybe you should look into. Me and my husband will be doing this when we go full time and feel it’s a great value.