Our startup costs for full timing
We've been in the RV full time for a bit over a month now and retirement is tomorrow. As we prepared to go full time I kept pretty good records and I've now shared them in our Here and There Blog. I...
Forum Discussion
Nazpaz, I enjoyed reading your blog and perusing your budget. I make up a yearly budget which for more than a decade now I’ve handled very well. I put it on a spreadsheet with 12-monthly columns showing my estimates and then each month I put in my actual spending and compare it to the monthly estimates.
Averages are good but they are very general because one month I may have to renew my insurance, or have some other bill come due, which would mean spending more in that month than I would in other months. So while averages show “normal” expenses they do not show accurate expenses that are specific, like paying for insurance, which is not a monthly occurrence.
I think you are on the right track; each person that makes up a budget does so with consideration for what is germane to their particular situation, and their understanding of cash flow, etc. I don’t think that there is any right or wrong in this. The budget I make up for myself is germane for my situation, i.e. I do not use diesel, camp for free at State Parks, and use space heaters instead of propane to heat my 5th wheel during cold weather.
Being a full-time RV’er is a culture unto itself with very flexible parameters. In the few years that I have been full-timing I refined my budget many times to better have it reflect the scheduled RV stops I may have planned for a given year. Little things have made themselves known to me, like if I plan on dry camping I will budget money for generator gasoline, unlike if I was going to be at a place that had full hookups. So I would guess that as you go along you will refine your budget as well.
Averages are good but they are very general because one month I may have to renew my insurance, or have some other bill come due, which would mean spending more in that month than I would in other months. So while averages show “normal” expenses they do not show accurate expenses that are specific, like paying for insurance, which is not a monthly occurrence.
I think you are on the right track; each person that makes up a budget does so with consideration for what is germane to their particular situation, and their understanding of cash flow, etc. I don’t think that there is any right or wrong in this. The budget I make up for myself is germane for my situation, i.e. I do not use diesel, camp for free at State Parks, and use space heaters instead of propane to heat my 5th wheel during cold weather.
Being a full-time RV’er is a culture unto itself with very flexible parameters. In the few years that I have been full-timing I refined my budget many times to better have it reflect the scheduled RV stops I may have planned for a given year. Little things have made themselves known to me, like if I plan on dry camping I will budget money for generator gasoline, unlike if I was going to be at a place that had full hookups. So I would guess that as you go along you will refine your budget as well.
