full timing

majortwo wrote:
thanks guys, that info really helps a lot.
you know what they say, he who fails to plan, plans to fail.

Part of your plan should be an 'Exit Plan' for IF you should have to stop FT, for what ever reason.

I've recently posted a blog about how to use other people's fulltiming budgets. It might be helpful to you.

thanks guys, that info really helps a lot.
you know what they say, he who fails to plan, plans to fail.

Your annual budget might be more or less than ours.....figure about 1500-2000/yr for full timer insurance, another 1k for licensing, moho and toad and about $4k for maintenance...if you don't use all of it, bank it for the next year etc.......Dennis

We FT for 7 yrs.
Rarely stayed any place more than 2 weeks (we hit the road to travel)

We traveled secondary/back roads as much as possible to SEE/Experience small town USA

We used membership(s) Coast-To-Coast $10/night (bought really really cheap via Resale) & Passport America 50% off daily rate.
We also used city parks, Corp Of Engineer (COE), fairgrounds, public rv parks and boondocked.
We break camp at 10 am and are setting up by 2:30 pm each travel day.
Which campground......C2C directory, RV Park Reviews, drive by---that looks good.

We traveled on a budget of 2K/month cause we are debt free.

We had a full timers ins. policy (Same type/coverage we had on house) with National Interstate ($1500/yr.....5vr and truck. Low deductible/high coverage PLUS)

C Duck wrote:
Also, you might want to look at RV-Dreams.com

Yep - they have a budget section that shows monthly costs for low/medium/high budgets. We've spent from $1200 a month to $12000 (there was a remodel in there somewhere ;-))

How long in one place? We've stayed as little as overnight and as long as 4 months. Typically we stay 2 weeks to a month at one location.

How much does it cost? You can spend as much or as little as you have. From boondocking in Quartzsite for nothing to $1200 a month resort site.

How do you go about choosing where you stay? We usually have a general idea of where we are going ;-) and use rvparkreviews.com and reservaamerica to decide where to stay.

We are in our completing our 3rd year of full-timing and keep our costs down by working (mostly volunteer) at parks for site and utilities. We travel for a couple of months in between assignments. This winter we took a break and I have worked outside the campground at a paying job. We belong to Passport America also and have spent the winter at the gulf at a park that has no time limitation (unusual) and we pay $360 month that includes our electric and is a FHU site. You will find a wide variety of prices depending on the type of park you are staying in and where it is located.

I started full timing 3 1/2 years ago. My costs are:

Home base lot: $75.00/month, plus electricity that averages $36.00/month over a year average. My lot is owned by my brother in law and is in a very small town in a residential area. Water/sewer/garbage is another $60.00/month. I would encourage anyone to look outside established campgrounds if you are looking for a less expensive place to "call home".

I have an external propane tank, 150 gallon, that I use for heat in the winter. Propane usage this past winter was worse than normal because of the very cold periods we had during January and February, but it is cheaper and a whole lot easier using this large tank than the 30 lb tanks in my 5'er.

I also have high speed internet here on my home base and it is $38.00/month except during the summer months when I put it on vacation hold.

During the summer I volunteer at a state park in Florida which is why my monthly electricity average is so low. I do leave my electricity on at my home base when I'm not here because the minimum bill is $15.45/month and they charge $50.00 to turn it back on and I must be here when they turn it back on so it can't be working when I arrive. It costs me about $10.00 extra to leave it one when I'm gone, but a lot more convenient for me.

Insurance approx $800.00/year for the 5'er. I don't remember what my pickup insurance is, but I would have it even if I wasn't RV'ing so I don't count that.

I do have a cell phone, but no home phone so there isn't much difference here.

Executive wrote:

majortwo wrote:
while full timing how long to most of you stay in one place?

Fifth year full timing...first year we rarely spent more than four days at a park. Last year our average stay was 7 as many parks offer buy 6 get 7. Depends on where you are and what there is to see and do in the area. We like to spend two weeks in the north part of the State, two in the south and two in the middle. We rarely travel more than 3 hours between campgrounds and do not use the Interstates.

how much does it cost most of you per month to full time?

We average about $3-4k/ month which includes food/fuel/lodging. We don't eat out much and choose our CGs wisely.

how do you go about choosing where you stay?

We belong to GS, Passport America, Thousand Trails and RPI. Selecting a campground is a personal choice. We don't do too much boondocking and have never stayed at a WalMart. We prefer full hookups including sewer. YMMV....

i know this may be a touchy subject and i'm really only asking for ballpark figures. many thanks to all who feel comfortable answering.

Good answer, but could I ask what your yearly costs are? Such as, including any insurance and maintenance to the 3 - 4k? I've read your blog and have enjoyed it, but others show annual budgets, would you be willing to share this? DW and I are going FT in 2yrs and we're working hard at reviewing a number of others budgets to get a feel for what our cost could be on the road.

-paul

Howdy!

As a general rule we take advantage of the weekly rate but may stay longer see and take in things in the area and then we move on. We move during the middle of the week which means we don't have to deal with the weekend campers. We travel between 10:00am and 4:00pm which means we don't usualy travel very far. Early stops gives us easy checkin to a good site.

"Happy Trails"
Chiefneon