Trip cost planning

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RnMAdventures

RnMAdventures

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 4, 2011
Posts
87
Location
Texas
I have been cyphering on what it would cost us on a trip.

Here is my formula:

Miles on my trip: 2568 = cost is $1797
14 days out at an average overnight fee of $45 = 630
Spending money each day: $150 = 2100
Food is already in our budget so I did not add that in.

Total trip cost: $4527

Am I missing anything? or are my figures out of wack?
 
I have a 2,500 mile trip approaching and my cost projection is about 60% of that.  However, most of my trip is being made with the intent of arriving at one place and staying there for three months, so the costs along the way for entertainment, etc, are dramatically less than yours.  Also, I don't use a hard and firm budget as I always find something I want to see or do that I hadn't planned for.
 
You didn't mention how many people you will be responsible for (Number of adults and kids in your party) and that could make a big difference.

If you are figuring mileage for the coach........what kind of MPG do you average and is it a diesel or gas engine ? If you average 8 mpg....  2568/8  then assuming gasoline @$3.10 it comes out to a bit less than $1000. If you are pulling a car then you have to allot for that but I seriously doubt +-$800.00 for that

Camp ground fees can be a difficult one to guesstimate but if you have a long haul to get to your destination you wont need full hookups to overnight (Walmart or maby a state park close to the route you will be traveling on?). You can use this website http://www.rvparkreviews.com/search.php to get an idea of campgrounds and costs. The fees will also depend on if you are going to a place that's really popular (Camp wilderness @ disneyworld +-$100.00/day). If you are staying 14 days in one campground you should check to see if they have a weekly rate or in some cases a campground will give you a free day if you stay more that 3 days

$150 day spending money sounds a bit high unless you like to go to casinos (They offer low price or free camping/parking). Some days you might want to relax and enjoy the campground or close by free or semi free stuff (Museums, beaches?) and barbQ with your portable grill.
 
Even at current diesel prices I doubt if fuel would exceed $1200, and gas would be around $1000. Are you perhaps factoring in other vehicle expenses, such as maintenance costs on a per mile basis?

And $45/night seems high too, though there are certainly regions where that might be typical, and also a style of camping that leads to higher priced sites. Where are you headed, and do you require full service campgrounds with lots of amenities, or can you do with public parks and less fancy places?

Spending money is highly individual, but $150/day is not unusual for "vacation" spending, where you visit may attractions, buy souvenirs, take tours, etc. But if we are just traveling around, we average under $100 per day including campground and meals.
 
Thank you for your responses.

sheltie,
I used to not be into the hard budget, but for me I found it's better for me to plan. I have been hit with too many unforseens for my own comfort.


Bill,
I should have mentioned the number of folks sorry. The particular trip mentioned is me, my wife and 2 youngest (2 ? years & 1.2 years).  The MPG was also based on running the genset most of the trip since we will be and I was told that would make it get about 5 MPG since they use the same tank (75 gals). I figured the gas price at $3.5 since it tends to increase during the summer. So that?s 2568 / 5 * 3.5 = $1797.60. I prefer to error on the high side. The rvparkreviews.com web site is great and that is how I came up with the price ?average? for the 14 days. While we have an itinerary it could change along the way so I used the average price? probably should have used the high figure, but $45 was the average. The $150 a day seemed high to me as well, but that was a figure a friend of mine told me. I think if we were taking my middle two daughters (11 & 14) then the $150 a day average would be more realistic. The two boys are young and enjoy simple stuff like parks, water, beaches, and just playing in the dirt. My wife and I don?t gamble or anything like that. We enjoy the simple life.

Gary,
My initial figure (not the one I wrote about) was 50 cents a mile road cost. That was based on using a motor coach with an 8v71 getting 7-10 mpg. I have been considering the Coachman I mentioned in my other post and have to figure it little differently. You saying that $45 a night seems high is refreshing. When it comes to the food, we have to buy it whether we are on vacation of not and in a RV we can prepare it the same. I didn?t even figure that in on the cost of the trip. If you can roll on $100 a day with camp and food included, then we should be able to as well? since I wasn?t counting food.

Mike
 
Mike you are probably correct about gas prices...but it is not a given.....yet.  Last summer we had a 35' Winnebago  (Ford F53 V10 engine) and with the genset running (summertime for cooling) we averaged around 7mpg. It is always good to plan for the worse case senario and hope for the best. Above all have fun ;D
 
Not to high the thread but codgerbill what kind if mileage do you get without the gen running? My 36 foot with a v10 only gets about 6mpg,  I might need to get mine looked at
 
The only way I had to check my MPG  on the 2000 "Winnie" was with a calculator and gas pump receipts. The mileage hoovered around 7 mpg and the lowest I got was about 6.9-6.7 mpg.  I used the cruise control and set the speed at about 62 mph (using the GPS rather than the speedo). We always ran the generator in the summer  to keep the whole coach cool because DW wanted it ::). We will be leaving in March with the new to us Suncruiser and it has a workhorse chassis with the instrument cluster displaying the mpg figures. We had the brake recall done and will be replacing the fuel filter amongst other things and I am hoping for better than 7 mpg ;D.
 
Mike,

I think you have your trip well planned ahead of time - we share many of the same traits.  I always reckon on the high side of things as well.  As a matter of fact, I've figured on gas being $3.90 this May and this summer and have that factored in to Microsoft Streets & Trips with $100 a day for "normal" activities (CG fees, small extras).  I haven't figured in the costs of paid tours (Grand Canyon, Sequoia, Yosemite) as I already know the cost of those and have a separate line item, so to speak, for that sort of thing.  I always allow the first tank of gas that I get prior to leaving home to be a "free" one as I always gas up long before I leave.  May not make a lot of sense, but that money doesn't come out of my trip money.  We always stay in one place for a minimum of a month in order to take advantage of monthly fees, it makes a huge difference.  A big difference that differentiates me from many is that I don't drive over 60 (in fact, many go slower) and that helps a little, although I've driven at sustained speeds of anywhere from 55 to 65 to determine my "sweet spot" and it is 60.  It makes little difference if my generator is on full time of not (and it frequently is when I travel west), I get between 7.3 and 7.6 mpg.

It's nice to see someone besides me who plans ahead (I'm on the anal side!).  In my case, although we are gone for at least four months every year, my planning for the following year begins within a month after my return home, including getting reservations for the following year.  There are many decent software programs that will allow you to plan trips.  My primary is Microsoft Streets and Trips and the secondary is the Trailer Life CG Directory (it also includes a trip planner which isn't too bad). 

Good luck on your trip and I hope you have as much fun as it looks it will be.  If you go over your budget, just remember that especially with young kids, stuff happens, so just roll with it.
 
Sheltie,

Thanks for the luck  :).. I can always use that. I can see you have the RV'ing thing down good. I am hoping to learn a lot for yall before we hit the road.

Mike

sheltie said:
Mike,

I think you have your trip well planned ahead of time - we share many of the same traits.  I always reckon on the high side of things as well.  As a matter of fact, I've figured on gas being $3.90 this May and this summer and have that factored in to Microsoft Streets & Trips with $100 a day for "normal" activities (CG fees, small extras).  I haven't figured in the costs of paid tours (Grand Canyon, Sequoia, Yosemite) as I already know the cost of those and have a separate line item, so to speak, for that sort of thing.  I always allow the first tank of gas that I get prior to leaving home to be a "free" one as I always gas up long before I leave.  May not make a lot of sense, but that money doesn't come out of my trip money.  We always stay in one place for a minimum of a month in order to take advantage of monthly fees, it makes a huge difference.  A big difference that differentiates me from many is that I don't drive over 60 (in fact, many go slower) and that helps a little, although I've driven at sustained speeds of anywhere from 55 to 65 to determine my "sweet spot" and it is 60.  It makes little difference if my generator is on full time of not (and it frequently is when I travel west), I get between 7.3 and 7.6 mpg.

It's nice to see someone besides me who plans ahead (I'm on the anal side!).  In my case, although we are gone for at least four months every year, my planning for the following year begins within a month after my return home, including getting reservations for the following year.  There are many decent software programs that will allow you to plan trips.  My primary is Microsoft Streets and Trips and the secondary is the Trailer Life CG Directory (it also includes a trip planner which isn't too bad). 

Good luck on your trip and I hope you have as much fun as it looks it will be.  If you go over your budget, just remember that especially with young kids, stuff happens, so just roll with it.
Click to expand...
 
We were out for almost four months last year (our maiden voyage) in a 39-foot fiver pulled by an F250 diesel and really underestimated the cost of gas (drove 10,000 mi.)  We had estimated the amount of gas for pulling the fiver from spot to spot, but had seriously underestimated the amount of gas we'd use sightseeing (for example, stayed in Cody WY, but it was 102 miles one-way to Old Faithful.)  We compensated by eating in a lot more than we had planned and only ate out for special occasions.  We're leaving again May 1st and trying for six months this time, so we've bit the bullet and budgeted for an obscene amount of diesel.  Also, we're planning our trip more carefully to try to stay in campgrounds nearer to our sidetrips. What can I say?  It's a learning experience.  Maybe one more big mileage trip in 2012 and then we'll probably be going out for six months each year but staying some place for a month or two at a time.   
 
If you go to popular weekend destinations or resort type campgrounds, $45/night may well be average. Or possibly even low. But throw some state and federal campgrounds and/or use some less elegant private parks and you can bring that cost down substantially.  Longer term stays also helps - even weekly rates are lower in most cases. It's fairly typical to get 7 days for the price of 6.
 
Gary RV Roamer said:
If you go to popular weekend destinations or resort type campgrounds, $45/night may well be average. Or possibly even low. But throw some state and federal campgrounds and/or use some less elegant private parks and you can bring that cost down substantially.  Longer term stays also helps - even weekly rates are lower in most cases. It's fairly typical to get 7 days for the price of 6.
Click to expand...

I didn't realize just how high some of them are. We are looking at one in Destin Fl, peak season it is over $190 a night... it's on the beach. The fuel prices are getting crazy. I may have to refigure the cost on the trip.
 
Instead of trying to nail the numbers, use two numbers for every calculation. One is the low number, one is the high number.

When you look at the numbers that way, you can see how much leeway you have and whether that fits your budget. And then pad the high number a bit for off the wall things that happen or that you might want to do. That's a good way to avoid big surprises in the middle of the trip. And don't fudge! It's like any forecast, it's worth more if you are really honest with it!

But be sure to factor in fun!!!
 
When I sent out my last post on 17 Feb I mentioned that I'd planned on $3.90 per gallon for gas.  Now it looks like it will be closer to $5.00.  The difference between the two for an approx 5,000 mile trip is about $750.  Although I hate being screwed, it's hard for me to say that $750 is enough to cancel that long a trip. 
 
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