The true cost of owning an RV, 5'er or trailer.

  Seems like we are getting a bunch of inquiries lately with a common theme.  Dreaming about saving money by living in an RV.

  Some folks are "underwater" with their mortgage,
Others wishing to move from a stick-house..rental or otherwise hoping to save money.

  Other's dreaming about the lure of RV'ing, in this period of financial insecurity for most.

  Now if you have no money problems, do what you want. There is a misconception that living on wheels is the answer to solving your housing problems.

  Think carefully before you pull the plug. "There is no free lunch".

The expenses of owning any kind of RV can be staggering... Insurance, Licensing. Storage, Camping fees, RV maintenance costs/ Tires, Engine and Drivetrain Repairs, Road hazard expenses, Depreciation, Fuel costs, Utility costs and the list goes on. Add them all up and you may find them overwhelming.

  Perhaps a discussion here will help the dreamers avoid a disaster.

Remember, if you can afford it....go for it.

Carson FL

They aren't called the "bottomless money pit" for nothing.  Buy what you can afford.  Don't be enticed by luxury and allure if you don't have the income.  See what will happen with a payment if you lose your job, OR retire.  Can your finances hold up to it.  Start small or at least an older one, as for sure your first rv will not be your last.  Pay cash if you can, then you won't be in a fix like so many are today, with an upside down mortgage on their rv.  In times of crisis, they are harder to sell when you really need to.

Just my 2cents worth

Daisy

I figured our cost at about $275 per night out (based on 40 nights, 7500 miles per year).  Not including food and recreational activities.  About what we'd spend driving and staying in a rented condo.

And, if you have a large, uncovered repair expense...well, it isn't pretty.

Good thread Carson.  We too are seeing that many folks having a hard financial time are looking to "full timing" as the answer and it's often times not likely to be the answer for them.  Someone posted recently about their experiences and summed up the cost at $45K/year!  This was certainly on the upper end of the cost spectrum because he bought a brand new DP... stayed at very nice CGs... and sold the rig after four years but RVs aren't the answer to everyone's money problems!

Rick

The actual cost of owning a RV is quite high but does not offset the sheer pleasure of going where I want and when I want and sleeping in my own bed and not having to pack and unpack clothes. That being said, I would probably have a heart attack if I calculated the true cost of going so I am not going to do it. ;D

Since we have only been full timing for eight months, I still have a little time left to gather all the numbers ( and I have kept EVERY receipt) for the first full year. I, too, will be interested in what our figures show, and we may not be representative, either.

Even at this point, though, I would say that if you are "having" to be full time for whatever circumstance, you probably will have a tough time equating it to renting or owning a home, apartment, or mobile home. The RV life has a "free" connotation to it, but it is anything but that in terms of money.

We did it because we are at the age and financial place where it can make sense, but harbor no illusions that it is "cheaper".

I do have to echo the sentiments of others, though, about the intangible value of meeting some very interesting and nice people, seeing some great places, and having what appears to be tremendous freedom. That, in itself, is a powerful intoxicant, and we all know what the misuse of intoxicants can lead to.

My advice is to choose wisely and carefully and be sure that you can survive in your personal situation.

While I have no doubt the numbers are valid for your (and my) lifestyles, it presents too bleak a picture for those who are downsizing their home.  If  "fulltimimg" means parking an inexpensive trailer in a semi-permanent location, it won't be anywhere near as expensive as you folks are talking about.  No licenses or insurance, no tires to fail, no engine to maintain, no fuel & towing vehicle expenses, and no more repairs than any other home.

Gary RV Roamer said:

  If  "fulltimimg" means parking an inexpensive trailer in a semi-permanent location, it won't be anywhere near as expensive as you folks are talking about.  No licenses or insurance, no tires to fail, no engine to maintain, no fuel & towing vehicle expenses, and no more repairs than any other home.

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In that context, I absolutely agree.

The term "RV" has to be qualified in any discussion like this since so many people have such different usages, i.e. pull trailers, 5'ers, different classes of MH, all of which require a slightly different equation because of their usage and required upkeep.

I might have contributed to some thread drift, since I have recently had a discussion with someone who thought a large motorhome would be cheaper to live in than his stick house.

That's true, Gary.  Our incremental cost for staying out an additional week or a month would not be that much, especially if the distance didn't change much.  Most of our costs are fixed and just distributed over the nights we use the m/h.  Right now, with work and school, we're limited to about 40 nights, and that drives the per-night cost up some.

I'm guessing that the "true" cost of owning a motorhome is significantly more than that of any trailer.  After all, there's all the motorized "stuff" to consider as well as the other things already mentioned.  At least with a trailer, you don't have an engine, etc. to worry about.  If any of you who have owned both a motorhome and a trailer have kept track of expenses, it sure would be interesting to hear the differences.

ArdraF

Everybody has a good point. However; we must not mix apples and oranges.

  A small trailer or 5'er cannot be compared to a motorized RV over the long run. It depends on the intended usage. Some folks that I have lately run into are looking for inexpensive full-time  housing, people with children, people with little money and little if any experience with RV's.

  Certainly there are plenty of "Trailer Parks" suitable with  inexpensive parking fees, but certainly not suitable for folks with children over the long run. Many of the the parks are 50 years old. I have seen some that scared me.

  A motorized RV implies moving around occasionally, plenty of room for 2 people but not for a family of 5 or more. Seems a lot of younger folks are exploring the idea of "living in an RV" instead of a stick or brick house.
Moving around costs a lot of money now-a-days.

Any young or older family should think twice before committing themselves to a pipe-dream, an "intoxicating" pipe-dream.   

  I'll get off my soap-box now.

Caveat, again...if you have no money worries, ignore the above.

Carson FL  93.4?




 

carson said:

Everybody has a good point. However; we must not mix apples and oranges.

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Carson, with all due respect, we might want to start another thread, since your title appears to mix apples and oranges.  Or at least fruits.  ;D

I read the title as three distinct items, i.e. an RV, a 5'er, or a trailer. An RV to me is a motorhome, which is what I have, and shows my obvious bias.

If you just wanted a response on the 5'ers and trailers, I will bow out, since they are both outside my experience. I apologize if I contributed to thread drift.

Respectfully,

Kim

Thanks, Kim for pointing out a potential thread-drift. I disagree a bit.

My main point was to discuss expenses for folk's wishing to save money by abandoning conventional living and  maintaining a reasonable life-style during a difficult time in their lives.  My point is/was that there is no silver bullet...it ain't easy, as some people claim.

  RV'ing, any kind, (RV means Recreational Vehicle) could be anything from a pop-up to a small trailer, and also large 5"ers and of course Class A vehicles in any size.

No matter which type you choose, there are expenses involved that are never considered when buying.

  What exactly does it cost you to live where you are now??  Down- to the penny every month??

  If you try to duplicate that in going into an RV, you have the consider every penny as well.

  That is hard to do, especially if you have stars in your eyes.

No, I am not rich.. 1995, RV..1996 Minivan, Middle class home, retired, in FL
Carson FL

carson said:

My point is/was that there is no silver bullet...it ain't easy, as some people claim.

No matter which type you choose, there are expenses involved that are never considered when buying.

What exactly does it cost you to live where you are now??  Down- to the penny every month??

If you try to duplicate that in going into an RV, you have the consider every penny as well.

That is hard to do, especially if you have stars in your eyes.

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All excellent points, and I totally agree.

Getting back on point, then, for me, in a motor home the expenses are:

Motorhome                                                                                Conventional Home
=========================================      =============================
Coach payment (which includes a warranty)                            House payment
Insurance (which include casualty loss as well as liability)        Insurance (casualty and homeowners)
Diesel fuel                                                                                  Electricity
Propane fuel                                                                              Heating fuel (whatever type)
Routine maintenance items (tires, filters, oil changes, etc.)      Yard maintenance, inside/outside electrical, plumbing, etc
Licensing and registration fees                                                  Real estate taxes
Personal property taxes (it's complicated)                                Can be complicated
Space rent                                                                                  Not applicable
Unexpected maintenance items ( warranty deductibles or non-covered items)    Refrigerator goes out, new washing machine
Communications (cell phones, 3G internet)                                Land lines, cell phones, DSL or cable internet

I feel sure there are more, and others will have suggestions, too.

Are we heading in the right direction? Since I have no experience with the other classes of RV's, I am sure their lists will be somewhat different.

A small trailer or 5'er cannot be compared to a motorized RV over the long run.

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And, yet, just today on another thread someone mentioned that he lives "off the grid", parks on city streets, and moves every day.  I assumed he lives in some kind of motorized vehicle, whether a class B, C, or A.  Others talk only in terms of trailers, but there's also the park model which most of us do not consider an RV.  Where do those FEMA trailers fit into the scheme of things these days?  They're not really travel trailers and they're not park models.  Maybe a hybrid?

I do agree this is a timely topic based on the number of new RV Forum members who want to do this type of thing.  I also agree there's no easy answer and the RV route may not be a solution because of unanticipated costs.

ArdraF

I am very interested in this thread, since we are about 3 months out from full timing - and by full timing I do mean 100% living in our RV. We will both be retired then and all that implies. We are currently (and for the past few months) living in our RV parked in our driveway. We are doing this so we can adapt to living smaller before we have to, so we can spend time "fixing it up" and to see just how much it is going to cost - or at least get some idea.

Coach payment (which includes a warranty)

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Uh, nope, By the time we hit the road we will have about $13,000 cash (purchase plus repairs/improvements) in our coach. About as cheap as we could go - we could afford more - and planned to, but based on recommendations here to go cheap to start and trade up, we bought a 1983 Class A in fairly decent shape to "learn" with. It has no basement and that hurts and the bathroom is tiny - but we will make do -

Insurance (which include casualty loss as well as liability)

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We plan on legal requirements only - since we will have so little in this Coach we will pass on the loss coverage unless it is very inexpensive.

Diesel fuel

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Gas for us, but obviously a valid point. We are budgeting around $300 per month for fuel - that will take us around 600 miles per month based on current prices. We are not going anywhere in particular, just go a little ways and park and explore - then repeat again next month -

Propane fuel

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Yup, based on our current usage we are thinking between $50 and $100 per month.

Routine maintenance items (tires, filters, oil changes, etc.)

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Tires? While a budget line item for replacement cost, I hope I get at least 5 years out of a set, and 7 years if we are lucky - so, hardly "routine". We do have $3000 per year budgeted for maintenance - we have NO IDEA if this is reasonable - since we are in the "fix it up stage" and not the "maintain it" stage...

Licensing and registration fees

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Well, an advantage of owning a 1983 is we expect this to run less than $100/year in South Dakota - in CA (where we currently live) it is $150/year.

Personal property taxes (it's complicated)

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This caught me off guard - could someone explain what this is so I can determine if we need to budget it?

Space rent

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We are currently planning on a mix of boondocking and camp grounds - we have no need for the high price spread on CGs - so, we are budgeting 21 nights at $35/night average and 10 nights boondocking per month - this could vary a bit once we learn what CGs really cost.

Unexpected maintenance items ( warranty deductibles or non-covered items)

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Well, we have a contengency fund, but we hope the $3000/year about covers most items.

Communications (cell phones, 3G internet)

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This is a requirement for us, and is a $100/mth line item (internet access) - cell phones are not included, we will be using our iPods and VoIP (Line2) Apps.

There are other budget items, food, healthcare, laundry, entertainment, etc. But those are not much different than if we stayed in our stick home, so no point in listing them.

Everyone has different "needs" and desires. For us the freedom to go when and where we want is important, more so that having 7 slides and a 3 bedroom mansion on wheels (gross exaggeration, but you get the idea). This little (33 foot) Class A will be fine space wise for now. If we need something bigger, we consider this one to be a learning vehicle and we don't need to worry about getting a major investment back out of it.

The above is our current "plan" - we haven't done it yet, so, we could be all wrong - hope not -

If you see something wrong, PLEASE advise us - we are all ears...

Frank

Frank, It looks like you got it all planned out and it all looks good to me. It gave me a lot of ideas. The only thing I would question is the 300 a month for gas. I'm guessing you are not planning on driving very much. I went from Atlanta Ga. to Disney last year and used 300 dollars in gas in 5 days. The price of gas has gone up since then. I'm guessing you are planning on staying in one place for a while? maybe hosting or something like that

By the way I think the Personal property tax is added to the Tag.. It is here in Ga.

Taxes, if any, vary by state. Some have a very substantial personal property tax on rvs. May be collected at tag renewak time or otherwise. If your state collects a tax on your car, it will have one on the RV too.