How to calculate the cost of RVing

Cloud Dancer wrote:
Yes, the cost of the depreciation is easy to figure out, and to most people it makes us look like dumb lousy money managers. If it's true, I don't want to hear about it.

I agree.. I don't care how others spend their money, and I don't care about others opinions on how I spend mine.

Mike

Simply going cross country from A to B, even if it's 1,000 miles,...for my wife and I, and 2 small dogs,... the ONLY way to go is in our motorhome. If it takes 3 days, who cares,...after all we have everything with us, for our comfort and convenience. It's priceless, so why spend time doing the math?
Yes, the cost of the depreciation is easy to figure out, and to most people it makes us look like dumb lousy money managers. If it's true, I don't want to hear about it.

We bought our first camper, a pop up for $800. We stayed at mostly state parks and made our own meals. We usually took our 2 boys and my 2 nieces so with 2 adults and 4 kids ,camping was a bargain. Even today,I have the senior pass so get 1/2 price at any Federal Campground and we still make most of our own meals. But the best part is staying in your own camper at a place with views you will never get at a hotel.I remember in the late 80's we went to Disney World,stayed at Ft Wilderness.Our cost for gas,campground fees, food and park admission was about $1300. A friend of mine flew down with wife and 3 kids, stayed at a motel in the park,ate every meal out and their cost was $2500 so we saved about half of what they paid.

Hotels vs Camping

I just found this, and it's relative to what we've been talking about.....LOL!

Whether it's meditation, a painful medical procedure, stress overload, etc - there are times when we need to mentally go to a "peaceful place" or "favorite memory".

Thanks to RVing, I have plenty of those to draw from; and I'm not sure how one could ever put a price on that? Some things just don't have a slot on a financial page :-)

Camping on top of the Bighorn Mtns with nobody in sight. During the night listening to wolves and elk. Get up in the morning after sleeping in MY bed, get up in the morning to cook breakfast for the wife and I, sit outside watching a light fog lift. PRICELESS.

If I have to justify evely expense, I don;t think that I can afford to live.

Motorcycles, Street Rods, Muscle Cars, Airplanes, Race Cars, Boats, Motorhomes......and still managed to send my daughter to private schools. I also taught her camping and fishing. I made money owning/operating a racetrack and also became a commercial pilot (yeah, got paid for it). I'm months from being eighty,....working on the Dutch Star, and still trying to have a good time. I never put a pencil to how much my hobbies cost. All I know is that I can't afford what I want NOW.

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.

jdb7566 wrote:
It costs nothing to stay home and do nothing. I have a brother-in-law who did a "cost analysis" in regards to RV'ing. My first sentence is what he does now.

Sad way to go through life.

It costs nothing to stay home and do nothing. I have a brother-in-law who did a "cost analysis" in regards to RV'ing. My first sentence is what he does now.