Tag: RV Expenses

At the beginning of last month, I had said that May was the most expensive month so far. I guess June heard that and took it as a challenge.

Just so July doesn’t hear, let me whisper, June is now the most expensive month this year.

If only the insurance hadn’t come due! If you don’t count that, then you could say that June was the least expensive month. But, I guess I kind of have to count insurance.

Here’s the breakdown of where the money went:

Other (which includes insurance)                       $3,467.10
Gas                                                                                   523.90
Campsites                                                                       400.94
Groceries and such                                                       201.29
Eating out                                                                         85.35
Tourism and entertainment                                         56.55
Food and drink on the go                                              20.89
Laundry                                                                            16.50
Clothing                                                                               6.62
Tolls and Parking                                                              2.55
RV                                                                                         0.00
Truck                                                                                   0.00

                                         TOTAL                               $4.781.69        

Yikes!          

I drove 2504 miles in June and visited seven states. (Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Iowa, Illinois and Michigan) I stayed in ten campgrounds, and actually had ten nights of free camping. Six nights were while I was taking part in an HistoriCorps Project to preserve George Washington Carver’s first school in Neosho, Missouri, and the four nights in Branson, Missouri were courtesy of a sales pitch for a camping membership group.

In the words of Groucho Marx, “I wouldn’t want to belong to any club that would have me as a member.”

 

I alluded to the changes in spending that would be coming along in May. Yep, it has been my most expensive month so far this year.

Thank goodness for insurance, is all I can say. At the end of April, I punched a hole in the side of my Airstream. I was trying to back into a space and I think the tires slipped off the asphalt. Those gnarled old trees in Arizona are tough!

It kind of changed my plans, though. I needed to get things taken care of, and the only place that could handle me in a reasonable time frame was Desert Autoplex RV in Mesa, Arizona. So, the guys at Desert Autoplex got all the parts in, I got the claims filed and we got it done. I also got the dent I put in the back end in 2014 taken care of.

Incidentally, if you need Airstream repairs done, I highly recommend them.

Here are my expenses for May:

RV expenses                                         $1770.00
Gas                                                             403.08
Campsites                                                 316.84
Other expenses                                        306.25
Groceries                                                   163.86
Restaurants                                               133.58
Tourism                                                      111.50
Truck expenses                                           80.89
Laundry                                                        11.00
Tolls and parking                                        10.00
Food and drink on the go                            8.42
Clothing                                                           3.13

TOTAL                           $3,318.55

I drove 2,300 miles during the month. A good chunk of the driving was due to the fact that I had to change plans in order to get the repairs done.

I stayed at ten different campgrounds and I spent ten nights in a HOTEL while the trailer was in the shop. Insurance covered that expense.

I wish I could say that June was going to be better, expenses-wise, but I have the truck and trailer insurance coming due.

Oh, well…

That’s the way the money goes.

 

Well, March has been the most expensive month so far this year. But, sometimes things just need to be taken care of. Like tires.

Four of those bad boys set me back almost a grand. They did give me a break on the price because they took twice as long getting them on the truck as they originally quoted me.

In March, I spent $539.94 more than February and $351.46 more than January.  I visited two states – New Mexico and Arizona. I drove 1,688 miles.

So, here is the breakdown of where the money went:

• Truck Expenses                    $994.52
• Campsites                              $674.86
• Other Purchases                   $506.29
• Groceries                               $256.43
• Gas                                          $243.35
• Trailer Expenses                  $204.46
• Eating Out                             $178.95
• Tourism/Entertainment      $ 89.00
• Clothing                                  $ 64.94
• Food/Drink on the Go           $ 28.75
• Tolls/Parking                          $ 21.35
• Laundry                                  $ 10.00                   

TOTAL    $3,019.58

I had to pay $100 deductible on the water pump for Flo. Tolls from my travels in Florida in December finally came due, and I had to pay them.

What will next month bring? Well, I hope that I am done with truck and trailer expenses for a bit. I might be able to find some good boondocking, as I am heading west.

In the words of my brother, Scott, “It’s all good!”

 

The good news: I spent less this month! $185.48 less.

I drove 1,885 miles, visited three states, stayed in seven state parks, one Army Corps of Engineers park and two privately owned campgrounds. My nightly campground average was $18.91, which is $11.75 less per night than last month.

Let’s hear it for less!

Here’s the breakdown of where my money went in February.

• Other purchases                        $ 937.48
• Campgrounds                               548.50
• Gas                                                  308.50
• Groceries                                       272.41
• Tourism and Entertainment     126.64
• Truck                                              116.32
• Restaurants                                     71.56
• Trailer                                              69.96
• Laundry                                           12.00
• Food and Drink on-the-go              9.27
• Tolls and Parking                             8.00

                                                                              TOTAL      $2.479.64

If you care to compare with last month’s expenses, you will notice a big jump in the category “Other Expenses”. That is due to a few big expenses. I filed my income tax with H&R Block. They charged me $480.75 for their services. While I appreciate having someone else do it for me, now that my income is less variable, I might just try file my own next year.

The other big expense was applying for a passport. Sometimes you just have to take care of things like that. That cost $136.25. I also had my cell phone bill come due. $178.29. I have Verizon with 20 GB of data, unlimited talk and text.

I had to have my oil changed this month, which was $102.32, including replacing the air filter.

I also walked across the border to get my teeth cleaned while I was in southern New Mexico. That was $40, including the antibiotics I have to take when I have dental work done. I kind of wonder if that was the usual price…but it was cheaper than my co-pay when my regular dentist takes care of me. And now I have clean teeth.

Do you suppose going to Mexico for dental work and lunch should be classified under tourism?

Apparently it’s a thing. (I was in the desert, though.)

What’s up for the coming month? Well, my water pump on Flo the Airstream needs to be fixed. Since I purchased an extended warrantee when I bought the trailer, that should run $100. A big bite is going to be the truck tires. I am looking at them and they look to me to be running on borrowed time. I expect to spend in the neighborhood of $1000 for the new rubber.

That’s the way the money goes…

 

 

 

Pop goes the weasel!

I decided to track my expenses this year, just to see where the money gets spent. One of the questions that people have when considering whether or not to go full time in their RV is how much things cost, so I have decided to share this information.

So, now that I’ve closed the book on January, I’m ready to review how things have gone.

Campsites                                $950.43
RV Maintenance                     $737.06
Gas                                            $321.25
Grocery store purchases       $291.46
Eating Out                                $156.62
Other purchases                       $85.72
Tourism and Entertainment  $41.00
Tolls and Parking                     $48.25
Laundry                                     $23.50
Food and Drinks on-the-go     $12.83
Clothing                                        $0.00
Truck expenses                           $0.00
GRAND TOTAL                   $2,668.12

I am not including health insurance and medications in my records. Those items are not particularly negotiable and they would be the same if I were living in S&B. (S&B is RVer talk for “sticks and bricks” – a house.)

This month, I drove 2,168 miles and visited three states. I stayed in eight state parks, one national park and one RV Resort.

My average price per night was $30.66. I hope to get that down in February. I have no plans to book any nights in RV Resorts. I much more of a state park, BLM, boondock sort of person.

I also hope that I don’t have any more RV maintenance for a while. I have to start squirreling money away for new tires. But, I think I have enough rubber on them to keep rolling for a while.