How to calculate the cost of RVing

Jayco I think you made an honest attempt at categorizing the cost of your RV. The only thing I would add is maintenance insurance and taxes to your math. There are several other ways to look at it such as cost per night or cost per mile. There are a lot of other intangible ways that we all use to try to justify buying a depreciating asset but I think the math makes sense on a used MH that is in the flat end of the depreciation curve, the owner does most of the work himself, and the MH is used for extended trips. I tracked all my expenses over 100k miles of travels for the past 16 years of ownership and what I have found is a cost per day between $70-$100/day. On the surface that is not bad because that includes gas for MH and tow car, CG fees, food at campsite and restaurants, propane, laundromats etc. You would be hard pressed to find a hotel for that price let a lone food and fuel per day just traveling by car or plane and car rental. My maintenance ,repair and modification cost were about $20k added to the initial cost minus deprecation cost is another $20k insurance and taxes at another $15k. That adds another $55k or $3500 per year. I spend at least $3500 a year on a weeks diving trip to the Caribbean. The most expensive RV trip was to Alaska which was about $9,000 but that was for 3 months or $100/day. Could you fly there and back, rent a car, stay at a hotel and eat out for that? So I believe the math does make sense on a used MH down the depreciation curve with the owner doing most of the work himself. I have a friend that has bought 3 new MH's since I had mine and has lost more than $55k in depreciation alone just trading in on a new one each time. In this case the math will never work out and you have to go back to intangible ways to justify the expense.