Sunday, July 1, 2012

Full Time RV Budget, Our 1st Qtr

 
I know it is taboo for many to discuss issues of money, but not us, we see it as education for others who may want to explore our type of adventure. We were blessed by other RVers who had shared similar budget info on their blog sites, so we are just returning the favor and paying it forward, pun unintended, for others who may want to pursue the full-timing RV lifestyle.

Background: Married for a quarter century, no children with us, no pets, no smokes, non-drinkers (Yes, insert No Fun Couple comment here). Our 2002 Ford F250 diesel and 2008 Jayco fiver are both paid off. We are living off retirement investments and do not have a fixed pension payout. There has been 0 "other income" during this period, as planned. We left April 5th, so the April budget was not a full month. Since leaving Austin, TX, we have amassed 5,000 miles and stayed at 25 different locations and crossed through 11 different states. We sold it all and agreed to travel for one year or when the money runs out, whatever arrives first. The Budgetsimple.com website is what we use to track our data.


The budget screen shot: The "Original" column was our forecasted line items along with anticipated expense next to the entry. The realities of each month are in the succeeding columns.

Yes, we only have 13 categories we track. "Incidentals" is more of a "catch all" and includes such items as laundry, LP gas, etc. "Aetna" is the wife's insurance plan ($5k deductible, 100% coverage) and I use a Christian health sharing ministry ("Samaritan") for my coverage. The "health" column is for other needs that arise (allergy meds, reading glasses, etc). "VSP" is our vision insurance carried through prior employer. "Cell phone" includes wife's I/phone+500 mb of data while I am still 'old-schooling' it with unlimited phone, but per item text and data cost, which is usually nil.

As for truck/RV insurance, we paid $810 up front to get the annual discount, which amounts to about $70 per mo., but since we aren't obliged each month, we removed it from the figures to simplify for us. So, in reality, budget is closer to $2900+ monthly.

Overview of 1st quarter: We had planned on $2,846 per mo., we are in at $2,768. Most would celebrate this result, but you know eventually "Truck-RV Maint" is gonna sneak up and yank on the testicles, see "June" entry (4 new RV tires + air filter/oil filter/fuel filter on the Junior Ark). Overall, having good fortunes with this column helped us with the overages on Groceries, Entertainment (mostly dining out), RV Parks and Entertainment.

Moving forward: I have predominantly been the one who takes care of the finances, but I let my wife suggest a July budget. Biggest change--STOP the 1-2 night RV park stops and convert them to weekly or monthly stops, thus reducing both the RV Park and Diesel spending. For example, at our current RV park in Ogallala, NE., the daily rate is $31, if you stay a week, it brings down the daily rate to $22, a 33% reduction. Yes, that doesn't change the 100 degree, corn field scenery in Ogallala, but there has to be a sacrifice. The savings there will help with the more difficult areas to reduce: rising grocery costs, fun money and miscellaneous/incidentals. And of course, the Ruffles and French Onion dip are non-negotiables. Oh, and the Diet Dr. Pepper. Oh yeah, the chocolate chip cookies, too. Let us not forget coffee and bacon either. Priorities.

Bottom line: We have met the bottom line for the 1st quarter of this adventure. If you have any questions, we are open for them.

20 comments:

  1. Good to see you have your priorities straight: chips, cookies, etc., make life worthwhile!!! Joy

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  2. It's a gift to share your budget. We are entirely too casual to be able to offer that gift.

    Are you guys set up to boondock? You might find it a nice change of pace, and a budget helper.

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    1. No generator, otherwise yes, and we have a few times. But with Summer heat, even as we move north, no genny=dealbreaker, so guess we will continue with budget-breaker camping :)

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  3. we are right up the road from you in bridgeport ne. hot every day and lots of corn. we fulltime and been sitting here 3 weeks to save money. will be in sidney ne july 21. been fulltiming sense jan 1

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  4. I hear ya, but I want to sit somewhere longer where there is something more to do and see, watching corn grow is not one of those :)

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  5. We use Passport America for the 1 or 2 night stays which bring the cost down to about 15 dollars or less per night.

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    1. Huge fan of PA, but they are a bit limited, and also restrictive during Summer peak months.

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  6. why not dump $200 of diesel in the tank and beeline it for the Oregon coast right now and enjoy 65 degree temperatures and $25 camping fees?

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    1. not a bad idea, but we just came from there 6 weeks ago :)...gorgeous state!

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  7. why not dump $200 of diesel in the tank and beeline it for the Oregon coast right now and enjoy 65 degree temperatures and $25 camping fees?

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  8. We have to stay put in Illinois for the year due to the unexpected loss of my mom - but in "normal" times, we choose places as a home base for sections of the year. We get to know those sites well (meaning, we know the most affordable place to park). We use free campground sites to plot our course and stay in super cheap places while en route.

    In addition, a portable generator could pay for itself quickly with your gas/rv park costs...just a suggestion! :)

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    1. Sorry for your loss. We are just doing the USA loop tour, if this continues for year 2, we will do a bi or quad seasonal approach, moving 2 or 4 times, to our fav places, and def save on money. Yup, genny is always an option, but only need it for A/C. Cheaper option is a place that has cool nites, no AC needed and if heat needed, it run on LPG.

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  9. We are new to the full-timing, too. Well, actually, my husband still works and we are just living in our RV as he is transferred all over. If we were doing this for "real", we would definitely stay in a place for a month to save gas money and and to get a better rate. It doesn't make sense to me to move constantly.

    We use Emeals for our groceries. They provide you with a menu, grocery list and recipes. It saves us about $50 a week in groceries.

    Happy Travels!

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    1. What are Emeals and how to you get them? Thx.

      Cat Lady

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    2. Here is a link cat lady:http://emeals.com/

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  10. Thanks for putting me on to Budget Simple. It's exactly what I was looking for, and is easy & cheap (free). We're on a 2 month trip and will do a little over 4,000 miles when we get home Sept. 1. Unfortunately, needing to get home to central FL every 2 or 3 months for grandson fix is going to be expensive. We've gone way over fuel budget for July. I'm going to have to figure out how to stay longer at cg's to save fuel & nightly fees but still see what we want to see in our short trips out. I'm not a boondocker type. That doesn't interest me at all, so no help there. Safe travels to you.

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    1. Your welcome Gayle, they have a wonderful site.

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  11. Thanks David.

    This was posted prior to me following you blog. I saw it referenced today on RV.NET.

    This was very useful to me.

    Your blogging friend: http://david-linda-new-life.blogspot.com/

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