Expense , money etc etc

The intitial purchase price for a new RV with taxes, DMV fees and insurance is $50-100K. You can save some money buying used. There is depreciation and recurring DMV fees periodic oil and filter changes and insurance and a new set of six tires every 4-5 years. These costs are there if the RV just sits in the driveway. If you have to put RV in a storage yard, there is a monthly charge. There is some cost to washing and detailing the rig. You can see that if you don't use the rig very much, ownership is expensive and a almost a complete waste. If you use the rig extensively for camping and touring and really enjoy the process,and don't mind the personal effort required to maintain the rig, get it ready to go and unpack when returned, the overall expense of ownership may be worth it to you. You may start out an avid RV'er and become less so as the thrill wears down, etc. It's all a personal thing with you, your spouse and kids and your disposable income at your current stage of life. If you are already living from paycheck to paycheck, you may not be able to afford an RV.

Generally speaking motor homes are the most expensive form of RV. Least expensive of course would be a tent. What do you call expensive? The RV life is not cheap by any means. You have to decide what it is worth for you and your family to make lasting memories.

We're planning something similar though we haven't yet decided on rig type.

Specific to actual on-the-road time and miles only: we've decided to budget a dollar a mile just for the rig. (fuel, maintenance, insurance, wear&tear, you name it). Excess if any to be reserved for mechanical emergencies.

Ours will be paid for, but if it wasn't we'd make the per-mile budgetary amount higher.

It all depends on what you do on the road and where you stay. I copied this from a blog where I had posted it before on a discussion of costs. ( Not sure of the forum rules here for links to blogs so I copied my part of the remarks.) The travel is for my wife and I, and we are Canadian, thus buy medical travel insurance for the states. These costs are from last winters trip to the much nicer weather of the southern states.

The Class C towing a Chevy Cobalt went 7733 Miles, used 1034.43 US Gallons, ($3475.71 at a calculated Average of $3.36 a gallon) I can then further determine that I get 7.48 MPG Avg. Accommodation Costs were $2590 for 160 days so 159 overnights for a 16.29 Avg overnight cost. We do boondock quite a bit thus the overnite stay average is lower then the $30-$40 a nite that is average for an RV park. I also use PA for discounts at parks.

From my US $ Mastercard I derived the following. Spent $2849 at Walmarts, $1232 at Grocery Stores(Albertsons, VONs, Bashas...) and $98 at Liquor Stores. The total for Groceries,incidentals, wine, beer and liquor would then be $4179. Eating outside of the RV showed $1096, while entertainment totaled $746. Spent $866 on gas for the car, $73 for propane, and Cell phone and Internet was $539.12.

Our travel Medical Insurance was $1305. I buy additional on top of my Mastercard yearly plan (first 30 free- for my wife who is still under 60), while mine is through Medipac where additional is purchased for the first 40 days (pension coverage) then full for the remaining 120.

So our total would be $14,869 or about $92.93 per day. Of course I did not include Casino gambling in the entertainment, which I purchase with cash. I replaced my RV tires this past year for $1400 and had a full brake job on the Cobalt for $642.

Hope this helps you. I certainly do not think my wife and I are monetary rich. We very much enjoy our time in the States during the winter, away from our house and the miserable weather we leave behind. The enjoyment of the time and the people we meet certainly enriches our lives.

We don't budget but we do watch costs. Since gas and CGs are the big expense we plan ahead before we pick a CG. ie if one CG is 5 miles off of our route but doesn't save us more than 4 dollars (todays gas price about) we won't go their.
For weekly or monthly sites, one thing we look at is how far to town to get groceries but there are other things to consider.
At 10 mph, and 3.50 or so for gas, we try our best to save some money. But at the same time, we knew going into this that those two items would be our biggest expense.

Wow! 5000 miles, Hopefully your retired. and time has no Limit.

a quick turn around trip, would be crazy.
because with gas prices, (8-10 mpg).

Camp grounds can run anywhere from about $15 for government operated, no hookup, usually in the west, to over $100 for some resorts. Usually $30- $50 for full hookup sites. Walmart is free if you stay out of the store.

Gas mileage will run from 7-8 mpg for larger Class Cs to about 15 for newer smaller units.

Repairs can be expensive. If you are a DIY person you can save big.

Meals, well, If you eat in restaurants a lot expect to spend $$$. Eating in may cost a little more than at home since you can't take advantage of the sales you would at home.

Figure it out for your camping style.

homer1959 wrote:
Its never cheap to travel we know that but....Let say a typical trip of 5000 miles, you budget how much per day on average ?

As a rule of thumb, and at US$3.74 / gallon or $1.35 / litre, simply budget US$0.50 / mile or $0.40 / litre for fuel costs.

As for campgrounds, the cost depends on when and where you're staying.

In my mind, gas and campgrounds are really the only costs....Whether at home or on the road, you have to eat anyways. I guess on the road, entertainment might be a factor as there is more to see

First what do you consider rich?

I would think you need to know the mileage you get on your vehicle. What type of CG you are staying at, the age and mechanical repair of your RV (you will have to anticipate repairs), groceries and eating out, and what places you are visiting, entrance fees etc.
We travelled years ago with friends in almost identical RV's. Our costs were quite a bit different. Their mileage was terrible, we preferred to cook our meals. I think if you gave more details it might help with answers.