![\"19](\"https:\/\/mobilehomepartsstore.com\/latestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/X-expert-rvers-BANNER-infographic-1.jpg\")
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Well, one of the questions. Actually, the main question is, How much does it cost?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s no secret that the RV lifestyle is growing in popularity. Between 2010 and 2014, as the economy began to recover from the 2008 crisis, the RV industry grew by a whopping 115%.<\/a> From Millennials to Baby Boomers, people all over the US are saying YES to a life of adventure. But for those who haven\u2019t taken the plunge yet, one question often remains: How much money will I need to become (and stay) a fulltime RVer<\/em>? <\/em><\/p>\n While there\u2019s no simple answer to that question, there are<\/em> different answers for different lifestyles and goals. If anything, the range of answers means RV beginners need to start their adventure with a plan. Things like RV size and type, amount of travel vs. parking, and intention to telecommute will all influence a new RVer\u2019s budget. A new RVer needs to determine these things ahead of time.<\/p>\n This article isn\u2019t personal financial advice, but it does <\/em>show you how a wide range of RV experts handle the financial aspect of their lifestyle. We\u2019re grateful to all the experts who responded\u2014especially considering the fact that we asked for personal financial information. We really appreciate the sincerity, transparency, and humility of everyone who took part in this survey. Thanks, guys!<\/p>\n We\u2019ve numbered these responses to make the article easy to read, but please take note\u2014these experts aren\u2019t listed in any kind of order. Each one comes from a different background, and each one is living a different life. We hope that by surveying all of their responses, you\u2019ll be able to craft your own RV adventure on solid financial footing.<\/p>\n Remember–Mobile Home Parts Store sells all the RV parts and accessories you’ll need<\/a> to support this wonderful lifestyle.<\/p>\n INFOGRAPHIC: The Low-Down on RV Finances<\/a><\/p>\n EXPERT INTERVIEWS<\/a><\/p>\n <\/a> Source: 19 RV Experts Talk RV Finances – Infographic<\/a>. These folks come from all walks of life, and each one has a unique RVing lifestyle. You’ll find a wide range of tastes, styles, and budgets here. We hope you can use the experience of these experts to plan an RV lifestyle that fits your personality. And, of course–a BIG shout-out to all the experts who participated. Thank you! If they are new to RVing and unsure if the lifestyle fits, they should go cheap but functional. I have Airstreamed all my life, but our first trailer was a 24\u2019 Nomad that cost $3000. We learned a LOT in that trailer. Lots of what to do, and even more of what NOT to do. We had repairs and enhancements to do. We sold it 1 year later, but that was due to my parents giving us their Airstream.<\/p>\n I think it depends upon their other income(s). Many younger people we have met and follow on blogs are still working, albeit from the road. This would require little savings as you are not without income. We will live on a retirement that I have accumulated over years of working. It will turn out to be about 2\/3 of our normal salary.<\/p>\n Not including the payment on the rig (for which the interest is deductible), I would guess that we are spending about $500\/$1000 annually. But our trailer is still relatively new (2012).<\/p>\n Roger grew up traveling in Airstreams. He has passed that legacy on to his family, and he blogs about his experiences at his website. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Search for a good used model that will hold its value, and spend no more than you can afford to pay cash for. There\u2019s a learning curve with RVing and a good chance you will want to change to a different RV in the next few years.<\/p>\n Our RV maintenance costs average $500.00 per year. But remember, it\u2019s not on the road full time.<\/p>\n Marianne travels the country with her partner, Randy. What began as a one-time adventure in 2000 has become a sustainable lifestyle. Marianne blogs about their travels at her website. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n It varies, of course, but these expenses average $15,127 per year over 12 years. Add that to the other RV\u2019ing expenses, and it ends up at $19,407 per year.<\/p>\n I did earn money here and there on the road over the years… didn\u2019t really try too hard, but that came to average around $3500\/year.<\/p>\n As much as possible. They\u2019ll adjust somehow. It\u2019s said that you should buy your last RV first.<\/p>\n If your readers are in the 25-35 age range, they will be looking at having to work on the road (most likely) and it\u2019s doubtful they\u2019ll have much equity in a home. So, I\u2019ll make some assumptions and throw some thoughts out there.<\/p>\n Will they be traveling a lot, or will they settle in an area for extended stays? Can they work from their RV on the road? Do they have skills (like nursing) that are in demand everywhere and can lead to temp jobs? Have they investigated (and plan on taking advantage of) volunteer opportunities with RV parks, state or federal volunteer positions available that provide free RV space? Will they be taking jobs at commercial businesses on public lands? Will they be selling a home with equity?<\/p>\n All these questions factor in. I\u2019d say if they can buy the RV outright, if they\u2019re knowledgeable and handy so they can fix or direct the repair of most things on an RV after some study, they could make it with $30,000 in the bank. That would give them close to 2 years to learn the ropes of the road. If they\u2019re frugal. No eating out. No $100 concert tickets. No spurious or unessential purchases. No staying in expensive RV parks. Not too much travel. And assuming they work part time while on the road for either cash or a free RV spot whenever possible.<\/p>\n Full disclosure: When I went full timing in \u201804, I had the proceeds from the sale of my house & belongings, so I bought my RV outright, but also had over $100K in the bank plus a retirement fund to fall back on. I volunteered for a free space or earned money for fun, not because I had to. I also am healthy and had NO health insurance for nearly 8 years. Paid cash when necessary. I know how to be cautious. I eventually signed up at the VA as I\u2019m a veteran.<\/p>\n Some years are worse than others, but it averages $1791\/year, which includes optional equipment, maintenance (tires, oil changes, batteries, etc.). Also includes roadside service insurance payments, vehicle insurance, registration, specialized and optional RV expenses (club memberships), paint & body work, and the expense of two major breakdowns over the years. This was for a \u201894 36 foot, Class A, diesel, RV.<\/p>\n Jim@HiTek is a retired full-time RVer. He runs a fantastic travel blog over at Chaos Leaves Town. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n When I travel on a 6-8 week roadtrip with two people, my expenses average about $100\/day. That includes food, fuel, and lodging. I drive a lot (20,000 miles\/ yr), so my expenses are high. When I stay at an RV park in FL for the winter, my expenses are lower because I have little to any fuel expenses. Lots of RVers spend less than I do because they drive fewer miles and often do free camping on Federal land. Also, some don\u2019t include food expenses because those expenses would be the same if they didn\u2019t do RV travel.<\/p>\n What someone should spend on an RV is dependent on their needs, travel lifestyle, and budget. There is no definite answer. Each person\u2019s needs and financial situation is different.<\/p>\n Well, that depends on how long they want to full time. Let\u2019s say the RV travel costs are $2,000 per month. That\u2019s on top of whatever other costs they have (Insurance, repairs, clothing, cell phone, etc.). Then a person needs an income to support that level of spending for as long as they\u2019ll be full-timing. If they want to try it for a couple of years, don\u2019t want to work while traveling, and have no other source of income, then my guess is a couple needs around $100,000 saved up to live off.<\/p>\n For my RV (motorhome) and travel schedule, my RV vehicle maintenance costs average $1,700 per year. That doesn\u2019t include insurance and excise \/ personal property tax for the RV.<\/p>\n Dawg worked in technology at a Fortune 500 company for over 30 years. Once he had saved up enough money, he quit the job and hit the road. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Currently we are not full-timing it, but we are on the road for up to 6 months straight. For those extended periods, monthly expenses can vary depending on what campground or resort we are staying in. Campground prices vary widely. If you are staying in one area long-term, your best bet is to pay a monthly rate for your campsite. That will give you a deep discount, but in most cases you will be responsible for the monthly electricity (and sometimes water usage) for your campsite. Depending on the area you are staying in, monthly rates could be as low as $300.00 a month plus electricity. In more popular areas, the cost could exceed $600.00.<\/p>\n In our case, depending on how often we eat out, how often we have to refuel our motorhome, perform required maintenance on the RV, insurance, etc. our monthly costs have been as low as $1000.00 and as high as $2100.00.<\/p>\n The bottom line is that the most expensive part of full-time RVing can be fuel costs\u2014especially if you do a lot of traveling on a monthly basis.<\/p>\n First and foremost, not all RVs are ideal for full-timing. The most common types of RVs that full-timers use are Class A motorhomes (which can be powered by gas or diesel fuel), Class C Motorhomes, Fifth Wheel Trailers (including Toy-Haulers), and lastly, Travel Trailers. Truck Campers, Class B motorhomes, and Tent Trailers are not traditionally good choices for full-timers.<\/p>\n How much you spend depends greatly on the type of RV you choose that matches your particular lifestyle and whether you buy it new or used.<\/p>\n See Al\u2019s stats broken down in the infographic at the top of this page<\/a>. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n The fact that they already own an RV is a plus. If they are currently renting an apartment or a house, that is an even bigger plus. The minute they stop paying their monthly rental payments and start full-timing, they will immediately start saving money.<\/p>\n The key to maintaining a comfortable full-time RVing lifestyle is how they plan to earn money on the road. If they have an online business, then they are in luck, as it is very easy to run an online business from your RV. I easily run our website while traveling for several months in our RV. In some cases, I am sitting by a pool with my laptop and an adult beverage, writing articles and answering Rving questions and uploading them Everything-About-RVing.com.<\/p>\n If the couple wants to supplement their income while on the road, there are plenty of part-time and full-time workcamping job opportunities available. Depending on the workcamping job they choose, it could include a small salary with free space rentals. In fact, there are seasonal jobs at amusement parks such as Adventureland Resort in Altoona Iowa that offer jobs exclusively designed for workcampers. These jobs provide a free hook up campsite that includes electric, water, and sewer and an $8.50 per hour wage. There is no contract or time commitment required.<\/p>\n The bottom line is if you are currently doing OK financially living in an apartment or a house, you will do better financially the minute you start living and working out of an RV.<\/p>\n On our current Class A motorhome, we spend an average of about $600.00 per year on maintenance, but that is because I do a lot of the routine maintenance and repairs myself. Annual maintenance on an RV varies by type. A Class A or C motorhome will cost more annually than a Fifth Wheel or Travel Trailer, because they have engines to maintain. But even with the trailers, you have to include the maintenance cost of your tow vehicle.<\/p>\n An older RV is going to cost more to maintain than a newer RV. If you are like me and good at do-it-yourself repairs and maintenance, you will save even more money.<\/p>\n Alan Wiener is the Owner\/ Editor of <\/em>www.Everything-About-RVing.com<\/em><\/a> and has over 40 years of Rving experience under his belt.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Our living expenses for our six months of summer travel in 2014 came to $2,090 per month. But that\u2019s a meaningless number until we uncover where it came from\u2026 (source: https:\/\/roadslesstraveled.us\/rv-budget\/<\/a>)<\/p>\n An RV is a luxury item that depreciates rapidly, so I advise young people to get as cheap and small a unit as possible. A used popup tent trailer is wonderful because it fits in the garage and doesn\u2019t need much storage space. Any kind of light 11\u2019 to 12\u2019 trailer is a great way to start. Going used at first is preferable, but if they are well off, buying new is always much nicer. I recently wrote an article about learning the RVing lifestyle with a small RV:\u00a0https:\/\/roadslesstraveled.us\/learn-the-rving-lifestyle-with-a-cheap-small-rv\/<\/a><\/p>\n Starting by tent camping is also extremely helpful, because it requires very little up front investment. The advantage is that it gets you in the outdoors and gives you a chance to meet lots of RV owners at the campgrounds where you can talk to them and get answers to the many questions you have as a newbie. Plus, if you are nice and friendly, you might get invited in to see their unit and talk about its pros and cons.<\/p>\n I have a link explaining our view of what to look for in a full-time RV at this link: https:\/\/roadslesstraveled.us\/going-full-time-rving-how-to-transition-which-rv-is-best\/<\/a><\/p>\n Full-timing can be done in many different ways, and whether or not a young couple needs a big nest egg depends entirely on how much money they can earn on the road. Someone with a mobile, high paying profession, like contract nursing, doesn\u2019t need a big nest egg. Someone that will be relying on work camping at campgrounds and RV parks may want more in the bank to handle emergencies that will require more money than their salary can provide.<\/p>\n This item is hard to predict, but now that we have owned our truck and trailer all these years, we can provide an average of what we\u2019ve spent so far on maintenance and repairs since we started full-timing. From 2007 until 2014, we had very few repairs on our rig, so our total repair bill plus maintenance bill each month was a modest $106 \/ month ($1,272 \/ year).<\/p>\n This figure is an average of all our truck and trailer maintenance costs from 2007 to 2014 rather than being just the expenses we incurred over our six months of summer travels in 2014. We did not use the trailer when we lived on our sailboat<\/a>, although we did use our truck when our boat was in San Diego and Ensenada at the beginning and end of our cruise, and all that is factored into this average.<\/p>\n By 2015, our trailer was 8 years old, and signs of wear were beginning to show. Unfortunately, when it rains, it pours, and we had four major unexpected repairs that totaled $6,782. The repairs included a trailer axle replacement, an RV refrigerator replacement, extensive plumbing repairs including a fresh water tank replacement, and a complete suspension replacement underneath the trailer.<\/p>\n Fortunately, we did not have to pay for these repairs out of pocket because we had purchased a four year RV warranty contract through Wholesale Warranties<\/a>. \u00a0This four year contract cost $1,904, but it meant that other than paying a $100 deductible for each of the four repairs, we did not have to shell out any money at the RV repair shops.<\/p>\n So, over the 8 year lifespan of the trailer (2007 to 2015), the cost of the RV warranty contract plus deductible costs for the repairs totaled $2,304, or $288 \/ year or $24 \/ month. Coupling the warranty repair average with the general maintenance and repair cost average, the total figure for this averaged across our years of owning our trailer would be $106 + $24 = $130 \/ month ($1,560 \/ year).<\/p>\n We explain RV extended warranties, how they work and what to look for when buying one as well as each of our 2015 RV repairs in detail starting at this link: https:\/\/roadslesstraveled.us\/what-is-an-rv-warranty-do-you-need-one\/<\/a><\/p>\n Emily Fagan and her husband Mark are full-time travelers. They have been voyaging by land and sea in an RV and a sailboat since May, 2007. <\/em><\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Unexpected repairs WILL have to happen, so it\u2019s best to have at least several thousand saved up for emergencies–and even more if you\u2019re not mechanically-inclined.<\/p>\n Marie is a digital marketer and grant writer. She and Josh are passionate advocates of telecommuting and the RV lifestyle. They blog about their experiences on their website. <\/em><\/p>\nCONTENTS:<\/h2>\n
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\n<\/a><\/p>\nNow let’s hear from the experts.<\/h2>\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\nRoger \u2013 CasaRodante<\/h3>\n
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\nHow much should a young couple spend on their first RV?<\/strong><\/h4>\nHow much money should a young couple save up before embarking on their fulltime RV adventure?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
What are your typical yearly maintenance costs for your RV?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Marianne \u2013 Frugal RV Travel<\/h3>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/mobilehomepartsstore.com\/latestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/2-marianne-frugal-rv-travel.jpg\")
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\nHow much should a young couple spend on their first RV?<\/strong><\/h4>\nWhat are your typical yearly maintenance costs for your RV?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Jim \u2013 Chaos Leaves Town<\/h3>\n
![\"Rv](\"https:\/\/mobilehomepartsstore.com\/latestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/3-jim-chaos-leaves-town.jpg\")
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\nWhat are your monthly expenses as a full-time RVer?<\/strong><\/h4>\nHow much should a young couple spend on their first RV?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Assuming they already have an RV, how much money should a young couple save up before embarking on their fulltime RV adventure?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
What are your typical yearly maintenance costs for your RV?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Dawg \u2013 J. Dawg Journeys<\/h3>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/mobilehomepartsstore.com\/latestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/4-J-Dawg-journeys.jpg\")
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\nWhat are your monthly expenses as a full-time RVer?<\/strong><\/h4>\nHow much should a young couple spend on their first RV?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Assuming they already have an RV, how much money should a young couple save up before embarking on their fulltime RV adventure?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
What are your typical yearly maintenance costs for your RV?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Al Wiener \u2013 Everything About RVing<\/h3>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/mobilehomepartsstore.com\/latestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/5-Alan-Wiener-Headshot.jpg\")
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\nWhat are your monthly expenses as a full-time RVer?<\/strong><\/h4>\nHow much should a young couple spend on their first RV?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Assuming they already have an RV, how much money should a young couple save up before embarking on their fulltime RV adventure?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
What are your typical yearly maintenance costs for your RV?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Emily Fagan \u2013 Road Less Traveled<\/h3>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/mobilehomepartsstore.com\/latestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/6-emily-mark-fagan-CROP-1.jpg\")
\nWhat are your monthly expenses as a full-time RVer?<\/strong><\/h4>\nHow much should a young couple spend on their first RV?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
Assuming they already have an RV, how much money should a young couple save up before embarking on their fulltime RV adventure?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
What are your typical yearly maintenance costs for your RV?<\/strong><\/h4>\n
ABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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Marie \u2013 Ardent Camper<\/h3>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/mobilehomepartsstore.com\/latestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/7-ardent-camper.jpg\")
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\nHow much money should a young couple save up before embarking on their fulltime RV adventure?<\/strong><\/h4>\nABOUT THE AUTHOR<\/strong><\/h4>\n
![\"Man](\"https:\/\/mobilehomepartsstore.com\/latestnews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/8-dan-mali-mish-1.jpg\")