Cost of RVing

Super_Dave wrote:
Our summer season campground was sold to new owners this past winter and the rates immediately went up 25%.

Looking at the total cost of camping, my wife and I figured that we would save about $500/month if we gave up camping in the RV.

Agreed, but compared to the conventional methods of vacationing/travel, camping is much, much cheaper. It's not just CG's going up in price, hotel prices are insane. Small town where I grew up used to cost $80 for a nice hotel. Now it's $180/night. That was in the span of 3 years.

There are so many variables. The fact is, most of us are not doing hundreds of miles a day, let alone 500 mile marathons. Most of us are not eating in restaurants 3-4 times a week. Many of us do not need FHU sites in CGs with 'resort' tacked on to the name to boot up the price. Most of us are not rolling around in a RV that costs as much as a house.

Keeping it simple makes long trips at a reasonable cost possible.

way2roll wrote:

Super_Dave wrote:
Our summer season campground was sold to new owners this past winter and the rates immediately went up 25%.

Looking at the total cost of camping, my wife and I figured that we would save about $500/month if we gave up camping in the RV.

Agreed, but compared to the conventional methods of vacationing/travel, camping is much, much cheaper. It's not just CG's going up in price, hotel prices are insane. Small town where I grew up used to cost $80 for a nice hotel. Now it's $180/night. That was in the span of 3 years.

Way2roll, I see you are in Wilmington NC, try MB in SC and you will find you have a bargain for Hotels and campgrounds.

25 yrs ago we paid $180 per night for Ocean front Hotel rooms at MB, I am sure that is much more than $180 per night now..

15 yrs ago we started camping at MB, $40 per night..

Today, that same campground is now $103 per night..

Just another expensive pleasure. I'm just glad I didn't borrow money to pay for it. I'm still willing to pay some more cash for it.

Cloud Dancer wrote:
Just another expensive pleasure. I'm just glad I didn't borrow money to pay for it. I'm still willing to pay some more cash for it.

Correct!

I consider camping in a RV to be a "hobby" and as such with all hobbies, it costs you money to participate.

But, I keep my costs to a minimum by not buying a new expensive RVs, old used RVs have saved me tens of thousands of dollars even when taking repairs into account.

If you are buying a new expensive RV and thinking you are going to save money camping, you will be disappointed in the end.

Gdetrailer wrote:

Cloud Dancer wrote:
Just another expensive pleasure. I'm just glad I didn't borrow money to pay for it. I'm still willing to pay some more cash for it.

Correct!

I consider camping in a RV to be a "hobby" and as such with all hobbies, it costs you money to participate.

But, I keep my costs to a minimum by not buying a new expensive RVs, old used RVs have saved me tens of thousands of dollars even when taking repairs into account.

If you are buying a new expensive RV and thinking you are going to save money camping, you will be disappointed in the end.

Hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later for all the newbies that are clogging our campgrounds. ;)

We have been full-time for 11 years and have never paid over $38.00 for a night of camping with our motorhome. We use Passport America for 50% discounts, have used the Good Sam discount, stay in Corp of Engineer parks, county, city parks and smaller mom & pop campgrounds. We seldom park at a Walmart and have never parked at a truck stop. There are plenty of less expensive places. Of course rates would be higher for a vacation to a special place, but I'm not on vacation. We have full-hookups 99% of the time.

I think people are wishful thinking if they think CG's will be less crowded than they are now in the future. They were crowded before the Pandemic. Even if many of the newb Covid campers drop out, there's still the regular influx of people that really want to go RV'ing. And not all newb Covid campers are going to drop out. As long as new CG development stays dormant things will never get better.

doxiemom11 wrote:
We have been full-time for 11 years and have never paid over $38.00 for a night of camping with our motorhome. We use Passport America for 50% discounts, have used the Good Sam discount, stay in Corp of Engineer parks, county, city parks and smaller mom & pop campgrounds. We seldom park at a Walmart and have never parked at a truck stop. There are plenty of less expensive places. Of course rates would be higher for a vacation to a special place, but I'm not on vacation. We have full-hookups 99% of the time.

:R

Not "everyone" fulltimes.

Not "everyone" likes to "limit" their camping lives to Corp Engineers, county, city or small mom and pop camps.

Corp Engineer, county and city parks tend to not be available "everywhere" let alone where popular attractions are..

My county has no Corp Engineer parks.

No County parks you can overnight or camp in.

No city parks you can overnight or camp in.

Many city and county parks are not designed for overnighting or camping and gates close at dusk and open at dawn and folks are expected to leave before gates close.

Besides, your fulltiming at $38 per night, that is $13,870 per yr!

I live for free compared to that as I own my home and property and it has been paid off for the last 20 yrs and has gained equity.. My local taxes cost me $800 per yr and gas for heat and electric costs on average $100 each per month.. So, my sticks and bricks costs me an average off about $3,200 per yr or $8.80 per night!

Beat that..

Gdetrailer wrote:

I live for free compared to that as I own my home and property and it has been paid off for the last 20 yrs and has gained equity.. My local taxes cost me $800 per yr and gas for heat and electric costs on average $100 each per month.. So, my sticks and bricks costs me an average off about $3,200 per yr or $8.80 per night!

Beat that..

We boondock 90% of the time and have a Thousand Trails membership for when we're wanting to go to parks or are on the east coast. We'll occasionally go to a park we actually pay for, but that's a rarity.

No property taxes, no heating or electric bills. Thousand Trails membership costs under $700/yr. Even counting the parks we stay at and pay for, and a considerable amount of fuel, we come in under $3,200/yr for accommodations.

Of course, we're not counting insurance and up-front purchase costs, but neither are you.

You couldn't sell me on a sticks and bricks at this point - going back to living that way sounds terrible. Even if your costs are zero, I don't consider that to be freedom.