Total Cost of Ownership

[familywagon]

Here is my budget. You should create one for yourself, that will be the quickest way to see what your costs will be. Your question is loaded, but this is a simple answer that can help you compile your own.

2010 Class C payment - $614
Insurance for said C - $80
Toad - Paid for
Toad insurance - $60
Food - $400 (I feed 6 mouths)
Camping - $400
Diesel - $400 (This gives me 1000 - 1200 miles depending on price of diesel, I get 10.5mpg)
Life insurance $80
Storage for stick home stuff $200
Laundry - $40
Cell Phones - $180
Mail forwarding - $30
Internet - $20 (when we have to pay)
RV maintenance - $25
Toad maintenance - $10
Propane - $50
Entertainment - $100
Health insurance - $300

Add them up, thats a shoe string budget for us and I'm sure I'm missing a few things like

Education - (we home school) $25
Clothing - $25
Dining out - $100

We full time in the US. And really enjoy it.

[phishboy]

Not sure what two things you're comparing. We have a 36' Class A MH on a Workhorse chassis. Is this truck or coach?? What difference in maintenance are you thinking might occur??

[Francesca]

Here's a link to a page where the fellow gives a pretty detailed breakdown of the expenses he
actually incurred fulltiming over a two-year period.
It's a few years old so must be adjusted for inflation of course, but he really does cover things a beginner might not consider.
Fulltiming Expenses


Francesca

[mr300ce]

As you may already know, I live in my Class A parked down at my work. Saving lots of $$ for retirement (which won't be very large). I have a rough calculation sheet of the expenses it will cost me when I hit the road in 3.5 yrs.
Most will just stay the same as now, except I won't have the car any more.
Food, clothes cellphone, magazines, laundry, misc, toad gas, tags, insurance & maint. & repairs.

What will be added/go up per mo is: Camping, entertainment (park fees, museum fees, etc), mail forwarding, more maint. & repairs to RV, &
RV GASOLINE. :(

But, I figure that it all ads up to about $1400 mo. except fuel for RV.

I plan on doing some work kamping to help on campsite expense, but really just to have fun working & meeting & helping fellow campers have a great camping experience.

[Sofakleez]

No matter what you buy if you plan on full timing, you'll want to upgrade at some point. We part time (winters) and have a 30' class A with 2 nice slides (gasser). Nice entry level rig but are considering upgrading to a diesel pusher. It's like everything else (TVs for example), after you have had it a while, you naturally want more. IMHO, go for the max you can afford and be happy with it. We bought the 30 footer as we weren't sure if we'd like RVing. Now, we wouldn't want any other way to stay flexible and be able to go where the sun shines (comfortably). Anyway, maybe rent one to give it a try, then go for the gusto if you like the experience. It's a great way of life!