In this article we’ll share our expenses for the year of full-time RV travel across three major categories: campgrounds, fuel, and entertainment. We’ll provide our average monthly costs and explain what occurred in the high and low months as well.
Campgrounds
We stay exclusively in full hook-up (water, 50 amp electric, and sewer) campgrounds. We read reviews and typically stay in those that have good WiFi (to save on our hotspots), pools, and fitness rooms. We are typically near cities with a major airport due to frequent work travel.
This year we stayed in 11 different campgrounds: 4 Military, 6 Private, and 1 State Park. We post reviews of our stays on our YouTube channel. We travel slowly and take advantage of monthly rates when we can.
- Average Monthly Cost: $575
- Highest Monthly Cost: $1500 This was at Fort Belvoir, VA in the Washington DC metropolitan area. While it was an expensive campground for us, we think it is worth it because our oldest son and future daughter-in-law live nearby! You can see our review of the campground here.
- Lowest Monthly Cost: $495 We spent the month of July at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, FL. You can see our review of the campground here.
Fuel
We pulled a 44’ Fifth Wheel with our Chevy 3500 HD Truck. We typically stayed in place 4-6 weeks before moving which helps keep costs down, but the truck is also our only vehicle for local drives. In addition, Sean has to travel quite a bit for work and we are typically about 1 ½ hour away from a major airport and have to drive there and back a couple of times a month. Next year, we plan to keep a separate log of mileage from moving with the Fifth Wheel, driving in the local area travel, and traveling to and from airports.
- Average Monthly Cost: $365
- Highest Monthly Cost: $793 This was in September when we had to evacuate southeastern Florida due to Hurricane Irma. We moved from Jupiter, FL to Valdosta, GA; Auburn, AL; Millington, TN; and finally back to Cocoa Beach, FL in that one month. Luckily we maintain an emergency fund as part of our financial strategy.
- Lowest Monthly Cost: $233 This was in October. We were exhausted from our adventures the previous month and stayed put. The weather was lovely and we road our bikes around the local area and hardly used the truck. We did have to make 2 trips to the Orlando airport.
We also spent $52.76 on propane for the whole year. We stayed at full hook-up campgrounds in warm climates and only used propane for cooking (stove top and oven) on a daily basis.
Entertainment
- Average Monthly Cost: $210
- Highest Monthly Cost: $294
- Lowest Monthly Cost: $119
Our highest month was August in Cocoa Beach, FL. We both went on a bioluminescence kayaking tour which was $84. Also Julie got the deluxe adventure package at the Brevard Zoo which included an aerial adventure obstacle course, zip lining and kayaking for $57. We discuss how much fun we had on the Space Coast and what 5 activities we recommend in this article. Our least expensive month was again at Fort Belvoir because there are so many free activities in the Washington DC area (i.e., Smithsonian museums, monuments, and hiking galore).
What’s the Bottom Line?
If you add together all of our expenses, our average monthly cost to RV Full-Time this year was $3,576. We are both working and are fortunate that we are able to live on one income and put the remainder towards debt and savings. Our savings is further broken down into categories for things like retirement, vacation fund, holidays, etc.
In December 2017, we set a goal of being debt free by the end of 2019. In addition to our income, we employed 3 other strategies to help us pay off $91,000 in debt in under 12 months.
We also created a program called Full-Time RV Finance to help others financially achieve their full-time travel dreams. Over 25 videos we help you chart your course towards financial freedom, create a realistic full-time RV budget, and learn how to make money & save money on the road.
Can you be more frugal?
Yes! It is possible to have a more frugal budget for sure. For example, we know folks who dry camp the majority of the year. This very low cost and sometimes even free. Many others that are trying to cut back on expenses will reduce their budget for dining out and cut out the streaming subscriptions and extra hot spots. You can read our tips for saving money here. And just remember, it is completely up to you and how you’d like to live.
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Thanks for the info but for those of us who are not military veterans a breakout of RV campground costs by those offering Military discounts and those that do not would be very helpful.
BTW, thanks to both of you for your past service to our country as veterans!
Thanks again and have a great day.
Thanks, Daniel. I’ll try to update the article to reflect that information soon. One thing that really helps when we stay at private campgrounds is the monthly rate. We stayed at a Jellystone in February and the regular rates were $55 per night, but using the monthly rate it only averaged $19.33 per night. That’s more than 50% off! And that was not using any type of military discount.
Thanks for the added comments Julie.
Appreciate it and have a great day.
What a great blog post. Thank you! We live inside our monthly budget, but we don’t keep detailed records. Only a few things did we keep track of, and in 2019 I wanted to be more detailed, so this really helped me know what I should keep track of. Thank you!
Thanks, Stacy! I’m a data geek so I keep track of everything.
So impressed with your aggressive debt pay down!! Kudos!
Thank you! It isn’t always easy, but we’re on a mission to get rid of this debt!
Julie,
Great Video. I am trying to get your budget worksheets, but when I click on the link I get a page that tells me to enter my email, but there is no where to enter the email. I have tried several different browsers.
Thanks
Elaine
Sorry about that. I’ll send the download link to you via email now.
Hi guys. I like your maintenance section. this can really add up! One other thing that some may not account for is mail service. For example, having a P.O Box and having your mail forwarded to where you are currently at.
Yes, we have our mail service listed on this budget. $16 per month under fixed expenses.
Thank you Jesus I was like OMG my expenses are around $1700 a month, minus my car. Good to know I’m not too overboard pn my cost. Always looking to save money where I can. Rving can be affordable if you know the ropes.