Our startup costs for full timing

I don't understand how you could average $29.60 a month for gas. How do you do that? I don't understand how you traveled over 2,000 miles but only spent about $500 for diesel. When we pull 2,000 miles our diesel cost is at least $600, or more.

For those who care about such things my 2014 mid-year expense sheet is now posted. Not surprisingly, the numbers are tracking pretty much with last year.

Larryzv7 wrote:
In early 2012 I was here at RV.net complaining about Camping World RV sales at one of the Camping World links on this website. The CEO of Camping World chimed-in and told me that he would get me a deal on an RV that I would be happy with.

He connected me with the Regional Manager in my area who connected me with the Business Manager at my local Camping World. They gave me a great deal on my trade-in and I purchased a brand new 2012 Heartland Prowler 5th Wheel, listed at $32K, but I got it for $16K. I’ve had it a couple of years now and the loan is paid off.

Great story! Glad you shared it and congratulations on getting such a good deal.

For used prices I suggest the PPLMotorhomes site. They sell hundreds of RVs on consignment and if you look around their site, there's a listing of recent sales and prices. Since these are real world prices I think they give you a good idea of what to ask for a camper.

When I sold a travel trailer through them I just trusted the salesperson to tell me what it would sell for. Three weeks later it was sold. Then, when I bought our Hitchhiker I got it through them. I think we got a terrific deal.

There is a “NADA Blue Book” value for RV’s just like there is for cars, trucks, and vans. (see link below)

http://www.nadaguides.com/RVs

But I don’t think that the majority of people buy a vehicle thinking about it’s resale value. I find it interesting that a lot of people think that leasing a car is better than buying a car, but it is just the opposite for houses, i.e. buying a house is better than leasing a house.

In early 2012 I was here at RV.net complaining about Camping World RV sales at one of the Camping World links on this website. The CEO of Camping World chimed-in and told me that he would get me a deal on an RV that I would be happy with.

He connected me with the Regional Manager in my area who connected me with the Business Manager at my local Camping World. They gave me a great deal on my trade-in and I purchased a brand new 2012 Heartland Prowler 5th Wheel, listed at $32K, but I got it for $16K. I’ve had it a couple of years now and the loan is paid off.

I also purchased a new 2012 Ford F-150 with Ecoboost at the same time I got the 5th wheel and that will be paid off in a year or two. I expect to keep these purchases at least 10-years.

SkiMore wrote:

Agreed, what you paid for your RV is your business. The rough cost of your rig isn't a big mystery. You have a model XYZ and the price can be looked up. You may have gotten a great deal or a crummy one, but if someone is interested in what your rig is worth they can find out pretty easily.

I guess I was saying that if you plan on trading in your RV in 5 years and think the upgrade will cost $30K dollars you could add a line to the expenses titled something like "RV upgrade fund" of $6K/year ($30K / 5 ). It may be better than waiting until year 5 and have your expenses jump up by $30K for that year. It doesn't matter much if you don't do it in exactly 5 years or don't spend the target amount.

People need to factor in cost of RV, RV replacement, depreciation or something similar if they are trying to figure out their cost to fulltime.

On second thought I suppose that you could live the way you do in a $15K RV or a $500K RV. The fuel and maintenance costs would be different, but everything else would be the same. Maybe the cost of the RV shouldn't be in the public spreadsheet.

Good post and excellent points. When I posted about our startup costs someone commented that they noted I hadn't included the cost of the rig itself. I didn't include that information because I doubted that what I spent for a rig would be particularly helpful. Right here where we are right now there are FEMA trailers and high end motorhomes and everything in between so the rig costs are all over the place.

I really like your thinking about paying yourself by putting money aside for a replacement rig. We're doing something like that, knowing that the day will come when we'll have to replace our rig.

Anyway, thanks for the conversation. I appreciate your clear thinking on financing the fulltime lifestyle.

nazpaz wrote:


Thanks. Doing depreciation is beyond my capabilities and while I know people do it, I can't imagine being fulltime while making RV payments.

I do agree with preparing for a future RV update. We're doing that but I'm expecting it to be several years before we have that expenditure. (I kind of doubt that I would show what we paid in my blog though :) )

Agreed, what you paid for your RV is your business. The rough cost of your rig isn't a big mystery. You have a model XYZ and the price can be looked up. You may have gotten a great deal or a crummy one, but if someone is interested in what your rig is worth they can find out pretty easily.

I guess I was saying that if you plan on trading in your RV in 5 years and think the upgrade will cost $30K dollars you could add a line to the expenses titled something like "RV upgrade fund" of $6K/year ($30K / 5 ). It may be better than waiting until year 5 and have your expenses jump up by $30K for that year. It doesn't matter much if you don't do it in exactly 5 years or don't spend the target amount.

People need to factor in cost of RV, RV replacement, depreciation or something similar if they are trying to figure out their cost to fulltime.

On second thought I suppose that you could live the way you do in a $15K RV or a $500K RV. The fuel and maintenance costs would be different, but everything else would be the same. Maybe the cost of the RV shouldn't be in the public spreadsheet.

In my opinion they also need to figure out the kind of fulltime RV lifestyle they want; as I’ve already mentioned, there are a lot of cheap and free campgrounds around, but some prefer expensive private campgrounds, memberships, etc. I think that’s great if you can afford it but if we’re talking about whether a person can afford to embark on a fulltime lifestyle or not, how they design that lifestyle has a major bearing on their budget. My biggest expense is gas so I try to use, Pilot Flying-J, and gas buddy, when the cheaper stations are not too far out of the way. This lifestyle does not have to be expensive; in fact it can be cheaper than maintaining a house.

http://freecampgrounds.com/

i havent had to do a spreadsheet in so many years guess i better brush up before we go fultimng

SkiMore wrote:
nazpaz: Thanks for taking the time to post your expenses.

One thing I've noticed in a lot of these expense postings is that people don't factor in the cost of the RV or an estimate of the RV depreciation. I know this is hard, but if someone is using these numbers to figure out if they can afford to full time they need to factor in saving for their next RV or the monthly payments for their current RV.

Thanks. Doing depreciation is beyond my capabilities and while I know people do it, I can't imagine being fulltime while making RV payments.

I do agree with preparing for a future RV update. We're doing that but I'm expecting it to be several years before we have that expenditure. (I kind of doubt that I would show what we paid in my blog though :) )

nazpaz: Thanks for taking the time to post your expenses.

One thing I've noticed in a lot of these expense postings is that people don't factor in the cost of the RV or an estimate of the RV depreciation. I know this is hard, but if someone is using these numbers to figure out if they can afford to full time they need to factor in saving for their next RV or the monthly payments for their current RV.