One of the things we see most commonly asked about full-time RV life is how much does it cost. Maybe it’s because we’ve both spent the majority of our careers working in government where our salaries were public information, but we don’t feel as taboo talking about money as a lot of people, so we’ll be sharing our full monthly budget break down. We’ve been using this budget roughly since October when we first started living in our RV full-time, but until this last month we were living stationary so it wasn’t quite accurate. The timing of our first month on the road worked out perfectly for looking at the budget- our first travel day was March 31 and our first real day camping as full-timers was April 1!
There was a certain degree of guessing when creating our budget, since we wouldn’t really know until we were on the road what all our expenses would be and how much everything would cost. So, without further ado, let’s look at how our full-time RV life cost, how much we spent, and how close our budget was to reality.
RV & Tow Vehicle Expenses
| Item | Budget | Actual | Difference |
| Insurance | $132.02 | $132.02 | $0 |
| Towing Fuel | $450 | $203.70 | $246.30 |
| Non-Towing Fuel | $200 | $205.34 | -$5.34 |
| RV Maintenance/Repairs | $75 | $0 | $75 |
| Truck Maintenance/Repairs | $50 | $0 | $50 |
| Other RV/Vehicle | (No set amount) | $25 | -$25 |
| Total | $907.02 | $566.06 | $340.96 |
This month we drove approximately 440 miles towing this month. We luckily had no RV or truck maintenance needs. The $25 Other expense was our I-Pass auto-replenishing. For many people, one of the biggest full-time RV life costs is RV and truck payments, but part of what made full-timing possible for us was already owning our rig.
Living Expenses
| Item | Budget | Actual | Difference |
| Campgrounds | $500 | $694.08 | -$194.08 |
| Internet | $130 | $100 | $30 |
| Cell Phones | $100 | $65 | $35 |
| Postage/Mail | $25 | $0 | $25 |
| Propane | $35 | $44.05 | -$9.05 |
| Other Living | (No set amount) | $0 | $0 |
| Total | $790 | $903.13 | -$113.13 |
Another major full-time RV life cost is campgrounds. We knew we had budgeted campgrounds too low, because we set it more as an average for the year instead of what we would actually spend in any given month. January-March were spent stationary at a family member’s house and we know we’ll be home for at least another month for me to attend some rehearsals this summer. We’ll also spend at least a couple weeks at home for holidays. So, the $500/month might end up being an accurate average, but we’re considering changing up how we do the budget to reflect what we actually plan on spending.
In April we camped 14 nights at the World Shooting & Recreational Complex for a total of $362.81 (for full hook ups!), 14 nights at Ferne Clyffe State Park for a total of $291.27, and two nights at Fort Massac State Park for $40.
For internet, we have both Verizon and T-Mobile home internet. For cell phones we have Verizon. Our phones and Verizon internet are both on a family plan with other family members, so we just pay a set portion each month. We budgeted originally to include a hotspot, but haven’t needed it.
Food Expenses
| Item | Budget | Actual | Difference |
| Groceries | $500 | $561.98 | -$61.98 |
| Restaurants | $200 | $242.29 | -$42.29 |
| Pets | $75 | $24.25 | $50.75 |
| Total | $775 | $828.52 | -$53.52 |
Groceries went a bit over budget since we had a big stock up at the start of the month before having friends/family camp with us for a weekend. We also had a big stock up on the 30th, which will mostly be eaten in May not April.
We did go over budget on restaurants too, but you’ll see that we’re very under budget on entertainment and we knew we could put some things in either of those categories.
Other Expenses
| Item | Budget | Actual | Difference |
| Medical | $75 | $8.96 | $66.04 |
| Clothing | $50 | $0 | $50 |
| Grooming | $20 | $16.09 | $3.91 |
| Household Products | $35 | $5.75 | $29.25 |
| Entertainment | $350 | $106.68 | $243.32 |
| Subscriptions | $50 | $108.92 | -$58.92 |
| Gifts | $50 | $23.48 | $26.52 |
| Donations | (No set amount) | $10 | -$10 |
| Other Expenses | (No set amount) | $0 | $0 |
| Total | $630 | $279.88 | $350.12 |
A lot of this month’s entertainment was hiking and other free activities. We spent money in this category on fishing license & bait, souvenirs at the Trapshooting Hall of Fame Museum, souvenirs at the Popeye Museum, entry to Mandala Gardens in Marion, souvenirs from 17th Street Barbecue in Murphysboro, and food and souvenirs at Timber Ridge Outpost at Garden of the Gods.
Regular monthly subscriptions include Hulu, Pandora, and Patreon This month was high because we also had to renew our Microsoft Office license which was $74.88.
April Budget Overview
Our total expenses for April were $2,577.59. This is $524.43 under our total budget of $3,102.02. While some individual lines were high, overall we came in way under what we budgeted. Again, we set this budget as an average across the year, so we know some months will be lower and others will be higher.
The other question that gets asked a lot in terms of money as a full-time RVer is how do you make money on the road? Part of what made full-time RV life possible for us was Josh finding a full-time remote job. He works as the development director for a national non-profit. I quit my job when we went on the road, and just bring in a little side money here or there, so our budget is based off of Josh’s salary. We wanted his income to be able to afford our basic living expenses (but without struggling), and then what I bring in is extra fun money and savings.
Weekly Breakdowns
Want to see an even more detailed breakdown of what we spent? I’ve been putting together weekly videos of everything we spend in a week:
