Cost of RVing??

[mythplaced]

Originally Posted by Conquest102

mythplaced ; some of your cost seem kind of high to me 100-350 a month for maintance. At 10000 a year depreciation my rig would be worth nothing.

Yep you're right Conquest...I wasn't thinking "Older class C", I was thinking "Newer class A", and $10K per year depreciation is "conservative" for a Newer class A....Probably more like $15K!

I use a 10% per year depretiation figure in my financial planning..(10 year lifespan, after 10 years is worth $0)

I believe the maintenance number is pretty close though...
Let's look at just TIRES:

6 tires every 5 years means
You will buy 2 sets @ an average of $500ea =
$3K every 5 years or $6K/10years =
$600/year or $50/month JUST in tires!

not to mention batteries, oil and filter changes (rig and generator), windshield wipers, hoses, belts, repairs, etc......

I edited my post....

[ga traveler]

40 dollars a night is high in my estimation.
i had a boss at Delta Air Lines, who bought a new high dollar coach. FMC. He told me 4 years later that he had only paid for a campground 1 night, in all that time. His favorite trick was to pull behind out of business Gas stations and resturants, and spend the night.

[MHingFun]

Originally Posted by BryanL

Once you're comfortable with RV living and resource management, you can look at dry camping and boondocking. Start with weekend plans and grow from there as you gain confidence. Costs can run from free to nominal depending. For those of us that have "been there, done that" let's be careful not to mislead newbies!

Bryan,

Certainly it appears that you and I share the same desire and motive of helping this newbie to know what he/she might expect regarding fees for RV parking as they enter the full-timer lifestyle. Having said that, I'll further respond to your comments about my numbers.

First off, I totally agree that one has to be careful about using "averages"; one of my favorite cliches is that "if a person stands with one foot in ice water and the other foot in boiling water, on average he is comfortable".

However, in this case, the average is just a tool to get to the real important number, i. e. "What is a reasonable estimated total cost per year for parking fees?" THAT is the critical piece of information to be understood.

Yes, it will take a little time, which can be shortened by reading, researching and questioning, for he/she to fully know the ins & outs of minimizing the costs. I say a little time, but I don't think that it will be significant in the total scheme of things.

How long does it take to learn how to use Passport America (1/2 price fares), month-long stays with their discounts, single overnights in WalMarts & other such places, some nights that will be free in family members' driveways, etc.

That was why I suggested that they scan my itinerary so that they could better understand the kinds of stops and lengths of stays that were behind my $11.79 average. Perhaps scanning that itinerary will assist them or anyone else understand how the average can be controlled.

To provide the kind of detail that you suggest would, I am afraid, create paralysis of analysis, an exercise that would really not be productive.

I can/will offer a bit more analysis of my numbers. Our first, second and fourth years of full-timing were very similar, in that our nightly average for those years were $12.65; $12.48 and $13.92, respectively.

Our third year was an anomoly in that we workamped for almost six months, in which our fees were -0-, had several month-long stays and several nights in family driveways, enabling an average that year of $4.88/night. That year we went very conservative while we waited to see where the economy, and therefore our nest egg, was going.

However on the flip side, our average for January-May this year is $19.62, reflecting four months in Phoenix-area upscale parks and two weeks in California parks, including one in the Los Angeles area. I'm expecting that average to decline to approximately $15.35 for the total year, but that is still far below the $40 number.

Just by staying in reasonably nice, not luxurious, RV parks with water, sewer, 50A, and reasonable other amenities for one-month stays can easily be done for less than $20/night, without including any freebie nights. This also helps to control the fuel costs.

So, bottom line, we are both seeking to help the OP understand what he/she should expect. I just think that the $40 amount is very unreasonable, short of staying in the Ritz Carltons every night, based on our personal experience.

[Conquest102]

Let's look at just TIRES:

6 tires every 5 years means
You will buy 2 sets @ an average of $500ea =
$3K every 5 years or $6K/10years =
$600/year or $50/month JUST in tires!

Your still looking at Class A my class C tires are 155.00 each out the door. It only has 2 batteries one house one coach. You are making me more happy I went to a C my cost have gone WAY down. I just put 8 new tires on for 1200.00. Thats barely 4 on your rig.

Now don't get me wrong my rig is not small it will sleep 8 and so far we have had 7 sleeping. It also came with a LIST of repairs but thats what happens when you buy used. That's a whole nother thread though.

[Tallyrver]

Originally Posted by jemma112

Thanks to all for the informative replies. I have loads of questions but didn't want to aggravate you.

You don't have to worry about that too much here ,there is a lot of that kind of stuff on other sites. A lot of great people here .

[Cat320]

Originally Posted by ga traveler

40 dollars a night is high in my estimation.

Very high. We've been RVing since the early 70s and have paid that much only once...at a run down KOA...which we avoid when ever possible.

[docj]

Originally Posted by mythplaced

I use a 10% per year depretiation figure in my financial planning..(10 year lifespan, after 10 years is worth $0)

This is how an accountant would calculate depreciation for tax purposes, but it has nothing to do with real world value. Obviously, a 10-yr old RV can have considerable value, particularly if it was a higher-end unit to start with. Real world depreciation is usually not linear and slows dramatically as vehicles get older. For vehicles ~10 yrs old, depreciation slows to 2-4%/yr and this is percentage of the previous year's value, NOT percentage of original value.

[Half Dimes]

Originally Posted by ga traveler

40 dollars a night is high in my estimation.
i had a boss at Delta Air Lines, who bought a new high dollar coach. FMC. He told me 4 years later that he had only paid for a campground 1 night, in all that time. His favorite trick was to pull behind out of business Gas stations and resturants, and spend the night.

In my previous post I said RVing was way better than staying in hotels/motels. I believe I would opt for the hotel before making my overnights behind empty businesses.

[JohnH59]

Originally Posted by mythplaced

Yep you're right Conquest...I wasn't thinking "Older class C", I was thinking "Newer class A", and $10K per year depreciation is "conservative" for a Newer class A....Probably more like $15K!

I use a 10% per year depretiation figure in my financial planning..(10 year lifespan, after 10 years is worth $0)

So, my '97 American Dream is worth $0? Wow, I guess I'll just scrap her. :-(

Surely, I'm misreading your statement.

[Half Dimes]

I could accept 10% depreciation based on a percentage of the previous year's value. For instance, a $200,000 rig would be worth $180,000 ($200,000 - $20,000) at the end of year one. At the end of year two, it would be worth $162,000 ($180,000 - $18,000). At this rate the rig would be worth $69,700 at the end of year ten. But this is all just playing with numbers. The idea is to enjoy the rig and not worry about resale.

And my apologies to the OP. We have gone way off topic here.

[Tha_Rooster]

I would just like to add that I have never had so much enjoyment losing all that money and would do it all over again.

[ralper]

The best way to lower CG costs is with the Senior Pass and Passport America. Both give you 50% off the CG price. Passport America is a camping club that you join and you will save the price of joining in a few stays. Do not join any other camping clubs until you have been RV'ing for a year. Then you will have the experience to make an educated choice.

[WheelingIt]

Getting back to the question of campground costs we rarely pay above $25/night and usually manage much less. There are lots of ways to save camping costs:

1/ Stay in public campgrounds (forest, state park, COE) instead of private parks
2/ If staying in private parks take advantage of discounts (weekly or monthly deals) or camping passes (e.g. Passport America)
3/ If you're in your golden years get the America the Beautiful Pass (50% off most public campgrounds).
4/ Do some boondocking now and then on BLM or forest land
5/ Take advantage of state deals (e.g. New Mexico has an awesome camping pass deal)

Other options out there too, but if you're willing to be flexible and not always rely on hookups you can definitely save.

[BryanL]

Yes indeed there are ways to reduce costs and many approaches towards that goal are provided in this discussion.

But, as a reference and for a full service RV daily site rental, consider Ft McMurray, Alberta - Cost per day ranges from $25 to $40. Most serviced spots are $33 to $38 per night, or $1,000 to $1,200 per month. Prices range with services provided." or budsmith at rv.net about a check on Florida Parks: "If I stay in each park one night the average cost would be $41.27"

As you can see in this discussion and in others, a lot of RVers are not willing to pay that sort of fee as a routine thing. The very fortunate situation for us in the U.S. is that the market has very many options from clubs and discount programs to public parks to dispersed camping to even just basic park competition.

Much like choosing an RV that suits your style and budget, you can choose where to use it that also suits your style and budget.

And the discussions also indicate that some folks hold their particular style and budget quite dear so take care to keep the ruffled feathers to a minimum.