RV Expenses

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I would have to ask why you bought an RV and especially a MH. When I was working an older co worker said he was going to retire and pull his 16' TT to Arizona for the winter. Some of the others laughed and sort of considered him a dirt bag. As I got about 5 years from retirement and started researching I visualized hitting the road from Wisconsin and mapped a days travel and searched fro an RV park in that area. To my surprise it was about $30 a night. At that rate it is obviously about $900 per month to pay by the night. At that point I concluded that anybody who can retire and do that and pay for everything else probably isn't a dirt bag.

I also explored mobile and modular homes in retiree parks down south and out west and figured it would run about $500 to $600 a month even when we are not there and that did not include the purchase price. That would solve our winter snow problem but we were still 1000 and 2000 miles from our kids so back to the RV scenario and the discovery of boondocking and dry camping. For us that solved three problems, it got us out of the snow, let us visit our kids and cut the costs substantially.  Two of our kids have a couple acres more in the country so we are able to spend a good deal of time with them. We also spend a few months on BLM and other free land.

If I average out a 7 month season that includes BLM, city parks, COE and RV parks such as $45 a night places in Moab I probably spend $5 or so per night. If we add in dump fees and propane I might be closer to $10. I have never tracked it closely and it varies with the weather and the availability of free spots and the areas we pass through.

With a MH and using it at by the night prices you are probably doing it as expensively as possible. I assume you have street bikes so you are probably not into dirt roads and camping areas. I would guess that a cheaper option would have been to own a pickup which could be used as a daily driver and a toy hauler. To keep the TH from being huge you do compromise on space and comfort but it is also cheaper and easier to store and maintain. A tow behind RV does much better when stored for long periods too. At this point about the only thing you can do is try to cut your nightly cost and you may be able to do it by checking out boondocking options or renting a seasonal site. 

You cant just go on sites like freecampsites.net or Campendium and pick a spot and expect to drive in there with a MH and trailer. Some of the reviews that people leave tell you how wonderful the flowers are and not what size rigs can access it so you have to use things like Google Earth and street view to plan it out. On the other hand you may be able to come up with a few places that will work for you and maybe end up enjoying it more than RV parks. A good point that you made is that you love to work on it and that can be not only a huge savings but also much less hassle from incompetent and lying dealers.  Good luck to you, maybe you will be back here asking about solar options :)

https://freecampsites.net/#!Georgia&query=region    https://www.campendium.com/georgia



 
Unfortunately, many people still take the leap into RVing first,and do the research later. This does not work any better than it would in any other area of endeavor.

If you spend years working up from small RVs or even tents, as many people do, you already know the answers you need. But there are still those who sell their house, put the money into their first RV and hit the road.

Good luck to them!

 
Wonder if the OP hasn't listed his RV at this point.  Hopefully not.  But as is evident by the various responses, the cost of RVing is highly variable.  For example, a Long Term Visitor pass at a Bureau of Land Management location is maybe a bit more $1.00 a day.  $180 for about 7 months.  But then there are propane and fuel costs which are dependent on location.  Too cold = lots of propane to heat the RV.  Too warm = run a generator to power the AC.  That takes gas. 

I like privacy and prefer not to watch my neighbors TV while camping.  Therefore, I avoid RV parks if/when possible.  That reduces RVing cost since the places we visit are less costly than RV parks.  Think Walmart, rest areas and many other free or very low cost places to spend a night.  If I had to spend $40.00 a night to camp, I'd very likely quit RVing.  At least until my wife got her $.02 in.  Then we'd pay the $40.00.  But I'm cheap and I don't like to spend money.  At least not when I can accomplish the same thing for less or sometimes nothing. 

I'm a senior and have all the various discount cards.  So National Park entrance fees, $.00.  BLM, Corp of Engineer Parks, National Forests, Bureau of Land Management and more are half price.  Example on last trip.  BLM land along hi way 395 in California.  Senior rate, $2.50 a night.  It's gone up to $4.00 since our last trip. On that same trip, we paid $46.90 for two nights to park at an RV park in Mendocino, CA., on the coast.  It was hands down, one of the worst RV parks we stayed at.  A year ago, we camped at a County park on Lake Superior in Minnesota.  $50.34 a night.  We'll do that one again.  But just like real estate, Location Location Location.  And more importantly, that's where the wife wanted to stay. 

I like tracking expense.  Here are the actual expense dollars from a 103 day trip we took last year.  Camping, average paid per night, $22.43.  Fuel, average paid per day, $27.03.  Here's another.  Note it's much shorter which can impact fuel costs.  Camping, average paid per night, $17.36.  Fuel same trip $56.05 (per day).  Both trips were since we purchased the motorhome in April.  We like driving and usually don't stay at one spot long.  That causes the cost of fuel per day to increase.  So if you plan on driving a lot, think the cost of fuel not campgrounds.  You'll never get free fuel or even half price.  ;)

Other variables, amount of time we run the generator.  On our last trip we encountered both high temperatures and lots of smoke from area fires.  Consequently we used the generator quite a bit.  That increases the daily fuel costs. 
 
If you get into RV'ing because you think it's affordable, you better find another hobby.  Of course it can be very affordable if you dry camp. 

Oh and 10-12 mpg with a motorhome?  Come on did you even do a tad bit of research?  I'm happy with 10mpg avg with my PU pulling a mid size trailer.

Rving is a choice.....a lifestyle......a preference.  I could hitch hike and travel super cheap, but that come with different risks. 
 
I think another factor here is amount of expected use per year, for people with 2 weeks of vacation time per year cost of ownership (insurance, storage, etc.) will be a much higher burden, than for retirees, snow birds, and full timers.    Personally I am somewhere in the middle of that specturm, semi-retired, but my wife still works full time, but gets a good many vacation days per year (over 30 days per year, and growing by a bit over 1 day per year).    In my first year of  motorhome ownership I have spent about 50 nights in my motorhome, about 1/3 solo, about 1/3 with my wife, and about 1/3 on weekend trips with my college age son.

In my first year of ownership of a 15+ year old coach, I have spent something over $6,000 on maintenance and upgrades, plus about $1,200 on insurance, and road side assistance plans, and group memberships (good sams, america the beautiful pass, FMCA), thankfully I have free storage in a shed on the family farm about 15 miles from my house.  Of the $6,000+ I would categorize only about $1,800 as absolutely necessary  (brake repair, dash air conditioner repair, fluid change, new spark plug wires, marker lights ...)  The rest I would consider optional upgrades of varying levels of importance, TPMS system, new shocks, sumo-springs, SeeLevel 709 Tank Monitor, LED headlights, spare tire and hitch carrier...    I am hopeful that year 2 will be cheaper, as I now have most of the major upgrades I want to do done, though I will likely need new house batteries before long, and new tires in 2 or 3 years, so there is always some ongoing expense.    As to daily expense on the road, it will of course vary, but so far I am averaging somewhere between $25 - $30 per night, with $10 (well $0 for a few nights in truck stops, or on private land) being the lower end and $125 per night being the highest, but that was for the big solar eclipse, otherwise $55 is about the most I have spent for a single night in tourist areas.

 
I loved camping as a kid growing up in WV, I love the outdoors and I am fortunate or should I say blessed with enough retirement to be able to continue my love of the outdoors even though at my age I don't believe I could tent camp anymore, I will continue to pay the  price as long as I am able. It is all about what you hold dear to your heart.
 
Sun2Retire said:
Gary, which park in Mendocino?

Casper Beach RV Park.  The beach location is the biggest plus.  Another plus is the management and their store.  Great people and good selection of stuff.  Unfortunately, the park is old and has not been updated.  The electric utility for our site was a disaster. 
 
We've been part-time RVing since 1998. The last long trip we took, our average daily expense was $100. That included food, which we would have purchased anyway. When you add the licensing, insurance, maintenance costs, your per-month expenses tend to get large.

In March 2016 we sold the motorhome, thinking that, at age 80 it was time to hang up the keys. Problem is, we discovered we were RVaholics, and bought it back! Seriously. Yesterday I paid the bill for a transmission overhaul. $6440  So, sometimes it seems like RVing ain't too cheap!  :-[ 

Are we continuing?  YEP! 
 
Living in general isn't cheap.  Figure out what your sticks and brick cost you. What you pay in real-estate taxes alone can cover campground rentals, figuring weekly/monthly rates.  Frankly, I've noticed that we spend less money snow birding, then when we stayed home.  4 months, water and sewer, 1st part of Jan through end of April in AZ, $1,500.00 plus electric (averages $60.00 a month) CableTV/Internet/Phone pkg. ($95.00 a month).  Under $20.00 a day and this is in a pretty decent park.

Wi1dBi11
 
QZ said:
I would have to ask why you bought an RV and especially a MH. When I was working an older co worker said he was going to retire and pull his 16' TT to Arizona for the winter. Some of the others laughed and sort of considered him a dirt bag. As I got about 5 years from retirement and started researching I visualized hitting the road from Wisconsin and mapped a days travel and searched fro an RV park in that area. To my surprise it was about $30 a night. At that rate it is obviously about $900 per month to pay by the night. At that point I concluded that anybody who can retire and do that and pay for everything else probably isn't a dirt bag.

https://freecampsites.net/#!Georgia&query=region    https://www.campendium.com/georgia

There definitely are "dirtbags" out there but I infrequently find it is due to the amount of money they have.  It does seem to be related to the amount of work they do and their integrity!
 
We also tend to look at the cost of buying your own food and cooking it in the rig vs going out to eat. We think, on average, you'll save money by eating in instead of having to eat all your meals out. A bowl of cereal in the morning, for example, costs next to nothing. Plus, no wasted gas to go and find a restaurant somewhere. Regarding lodging. We have estimated our lodging costs for this 7 week long trip at around $1200. Note that we actually only paid for about 4.5 weeks of actual lodging with the remaining 2.5 weeks free. So, 4.5 weeks at $1200. Yeah, I know, boondocking can save even more. I dare anyone to beat that at a decent hotel. And, then restaurant costs on top of that.
I think our biggest cost will be fuel. Anywhere from $50 to $85 per fillup depending on how far we drove that day. But, there were days where we didn't drive anywhere so no fuel was used or purchased. We'll have to figure that one out once we get home and look at all the receipts.
A few repairs to the trailer are awaiting us for when we get home, but I look at that the same as a house. Things break, or age, and need to get fixed. We've put this rig over some seriously bad stretches of road. Memphis, TN highways for example. Yikes was that ever a washboard of a road and we've come out fairly unscathed. Still a few more days on the road, though, so I hope I didn't just jinx it. LOL
 
b737doc didn't get much sympathy here, but his expense report should be instructive to others considering the "RV good life".  Thanks for providing your real life expereinces!
 
After reading all of the responses it would appear the OP is not getting much sympathy.  I knew that buying a 12 year old Class A motorhome would result in what some call a Money Pit but it was what we could afford without monthly payments and it was in outstanding condition and had been well maintained as evidenced by its service records. 

My money pit forecast has come true in the past 3 years.  New tranny, ac compressor, side awning, new set of tires, water heater repair, towing equipment, etc, etc have not come cheap.  In fact they are approaching the initial cost of the coach itself but every time we step in it we fall in love with it all over.

  Every time we pull into an interstate rest stop and know that we don't have to use a filthy restroom and can have a nice meal or snack right out of our own refrigerator we remember why we bought it.

Every time I look at our two cats and one dog who travel everywhere with us I know why I bought it.

  Every time I hear the wife say how much she enjoys not having a ton of housework to do every day I know why I bought it.

Every time I park it in a campground near one of my sons or daughters homes across the country I know I will have a decent bed to sleep in and a safe place to stay at a very reasonable price.  Again, another reason why I bought it. 

As I age and develop more and more medical issues like COPD and arthritis I know it will be a challenge to keep it another year - then I step inside of it and instantly know why I bought it.  It is truly our home away from home and that is really another benefit.  It can be used as a second residence if something should happen to our primary home via weather, fire or any other disaster.  It is an expense but one we have learned to accept as the price of the enjoyment it provides.

Bill
 
Sometimes buying an older "bargain" is a false economy, but it does have the advantage of allowing the cost of ownership to be spread out. At a loss of convenience, of course, since everybody hates roadside breakdowns and interrupted trips.

The biggest concern is for a newbie to buy an older rig and get surprised that repairs are both frequent and expensive. Especially at RV dealer prices.
 
Bill N:  Your post pretty well describes us with our coach. Though it is hard not to get discouraged at times.

The failures have been coming faster than I anticipated but thankfully I've been able to deal with them at home and do all of the labor.

It's certainly been a learning experience and tuition is never free. 

Tom
 
Yes, owning and maintaining an RV can be expensive..this year ran me 4500.00 and haven't used it yet. It is a second home on wheels in my case it's in front of my house ready to go as I'm in evacuation mode where I live.
I have 2 dogs and a wife that cannot get around and most of the shelters do not really want to see pets and finding a hotel is all booked.
My RV value just went up saving me the grief of where I can get to safety .
I have my valuables loaded and when it's time I have my wife, pets and valuables in a safe and cozy structure.
Thank God I have an RV, I have another home in SF but unfortunately I have people staying in it because they have lost their home.
Yes expenses may be high or normal to some the cheapest campground I have rented is 40.00
A night and I continue to look for those nice campgrounds.
Good luck and you know you only have one life so enjoy it.
 
Bill N said:
every time we step in it we fall in love with it all over.

Every time we pull into an interstate rest stop
Every time I look at our dog who travel everywhere with us I know why I bought it.

  Every time I hear the wife say how much she enjoys not having a ton of housework to do every day I know why I bought it.

Every time I park it in a campground near one of my sons another reason why I bought it. 

It can be used as a second residence  It is an expense but one we have learned to accept as the price of the enjoyment it provides.

Bill

Well said Bill!!
 
I think the important lesson to take from this thread is when we have people asking about the cost of older motorhomes, it is important to point out the costs in owning any coach of any age, both the fixed cost of insurance, storage, age related maintenance (tires, batteries, etc.) as well as cost to travel, fuel, camping, etc.

As to older coaches being money pits, I am sure some are, and am sure there will be maintenance with all of them, I paid just over $20,000 for a 15 year old class A coach last year, and in the first year of ownership I have spent around $6,500 on maintenance, updates, and upgrades, of which I would say $1,500 or so was mandatory and another $1,000-$1,500 was good idea for preventive maintenance.  The coach I bought had an original MSRP of $109,000 in 2001, inflation adjusted that is about $151,000 today, assuming 30% discount off MSRP for a new coach and we get about $106,000 in todays money, taking a difference from what I paid, we get $86,000 financed at 4% over 15 years, that is roughly $650 per month or $7,800 per year in value depreciation evened out over 15 year.  So as long as I can continue to operate the coach with an annual maintenance of under about $7,800 per year I see it as the better option than having bought new, though one must factor in something for general wear and tear, continued residual value, ....
 

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