We treat "rustic camping" (without hookups or dump station) like having a hard sided tent. Just limit the use of everything. Sounds like you basically did that.
The night before we leave I usually do longer showers and use a bit more battery power, knowing we are leaving in the morning.
The first summer we had our camper we stayed in a state park without hookups. Saturday night, I was surprised at how low the battery was. Turns out, while everyone else was at the beach, my daughter stayed at the camper reading and blasting music! (well, at least loud enough so she could hear it while outside under the awning - not loud enough for neighboring campsites to complain).
I very much prefer rustic camping over full hookup campgrounds. You usually get MUCH larger sites, and less in the way of rowdy partiers. (note: "party campgrounds" can be a lot of fun, if I am in the mood for that kind of thing)
