Cost to Go Full-time?

[dexters]

Originally Posted by nothermark

Repair budget is too low if you include recurring expenses like tires.

IT IS A MAJOR MISTAKE TO SELL THE HOUSE TO BUY THE RV.
Shouting because you need to hear it. RV's depreciate in value. Chances are good that you will end up coming off the road some time down the line. Probably for health reasons. You will need the money from the house sale to get into someplace new, probably different and probably smaller than what you have now. You don't want to find out that all you can afford is a welfare apartment.

excellent point!

[mattchew]

Why not rent the house and finance the RV? Now you have, (hopefully), an additional income stream and a residence that you could return to in the future that someone else is paying for and also paying for maintenance/taxes as well.
Matt

[Barbaraok]

Originally Posted by BKind2Anmls

Thank you so much to everyone who shared their own experiences. I got these figures by looking at several blogs created by full-timers around the Internet.

It is very nice to hear that the figures are too high from others who are actually out there.

Living in South Carolina we visited a few parks in Myrtle Beach just to look them over and get an idea of pricing. None of them had a monthly rate so I budgeted accordingly.

The monthly costs for maintenance for the RV and car is money set aside every month until I have engine problems, transmission problem, axles, etc. We couldn't come up with a large sum on the spur of the moment so we will have to set money aside every month.

We put 10% of the purchase price of our MH into an account and added to it each month. And you are pretty close to how much we put aside. We just used it to put AGM house batteries in, old bodies get so they don't do well having to work around batteries getting water in and cleaning off corrosion.

Just for two cell phones we are currently paying $140 so I added to that to cover a cellular WiFi device.

We are paying $180 for 2 phones and 2 WiFi devices, one on Version and the other on AT&T. We have 24 Gigs on the Verizon and 22 Gigs on the AT&T before they MIGHT cut back speed. So far we've only gone over 22 Gigs once, and that was because of a system update. But we go back and forth between the two and never have to worry if we are in an area where one doesn't work well, the other usually does.

I never thought to include electricity until I read that many parks today charge extra. The figure I budgeted for was listed as the monthly cost on one full-timer's blog.

We plan on spending a month at each location so I may be able to cut the gas down. Not knowing the future, I planned on $4 per gallon which we hit a couple of times in the past. We would be on a fixed income so I need to plan a little high.

One problem in planning is that some say $2000 a month is usual and others say that $40,000 per year is just about right. Until we commit, I guess we won't really know. We can't afford both SB and RV, so we have to decide whether to jump off the cliff or not. Hoping there is water at the bottom and not rocks.

We bought into a couple of memberships before we started fulltiming as we knew we would spend a lot of time on the west coast and this has turned out to be a real money saver for us. We spend 1-2 weeks in each park before moving on and have gone 2 months or more at a time without any out of pocket expenses besides our annual dues. Of course you do have to do a little planning, but it really isn't a problem for us. In fact we have stayed at Briarcliffe RV Resort (IIRC) in North Myrtle Beach several times, it is a Coast-2-Coast reciprocal park.

We started fulltiming in 2006. We did finance part of the cost of our RV so that we would not have to pull out money from tax exempt funds and incur the extra taxes. That worked out well for us, our investments always made more than the financing costs. Once we hit the 70 1/2 we pulled money out as required and put it into the same funds as taxable entities. Made enough on that to pay cash for the Park Model we now have in Mesa, AZ where we spend 6 months, and we still have funds to keep the motorhome going down the road during those hot months of the summer. . Plus we still get to enjoy visiting wineries in California each fall and buying enough to enjoy through out the winter - - yes we do have a line item in the budget for good wine!

[BillJinOR]

It all depends on how much you move and What was your budget before. we spent 75g the first year (not including our S&B that we maintained for our struggling daughter the first year) The second year it has been about the same ..just no house no daughter who became a adult after 36 years.
We move a lot and have gone 10,000 miles ea year. Our prior home lifestyle/income before however was 2x that amount.
If we had to Fulltime by cutting our lifestyle anymore it wouldn't be fun for us and I'd rather stay in the S&B. Don't get me wrong !! 40g may be the number that fits your desires and what works for you and that's just right. I know a few friends that spend about 30 and seem very happy and active but they dont travel as much as us
For us your budget looks about right but missing some things Dinning out ,our groceries are 3-400 but our dinning out is a equal amount. also Entertainment, we spend about 300 a month on Movies, shows ,and admissions. These are things we did before and are part of how we live. What your budget is now for the normal life things wont change unless you want them to. Suddenly "doing without" to make ends meet isn't a happy retirement or full time life.
For us is it "can we live the way we want on the $ we have ea year."
I also recommend a Exit Plan with enough liquid cash to come off the road into a House, Condo, apartment whatever works for you etc.We aren't there yet but know the day will come and don't want to have to wait sell the MH for cash to survive. I wont probably be in good shape so I'll need it "easy" for the DW to deal with.

[ThatzGuy]

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[Dan McMartin]

The item that pops out at me is the RV parks. You're assuming $40 a night, 30 nights a month. You'll never pay that. You can find parks all over that offer sub $200/week rates. That cut's your number by a third right off the bat.

Don't know if you're interested in boondocking but that's virtually free. figure five bucks a night average for generator fuel, propane and dumping/fresh water costs. And even that probably too high.

Consider camping and discount clubs. Passport America, Escapees, Good Sam, etc. offer discounts, up to 50%. Place like Thousand Trails can be an incredible deal. About $700 a year gets you two zones and the trails collection. Then it's free. Coast to Coast is another.

We budget $450 month. This will be the first month we'll spend that much and that's only because we reserved a month near the base where our son is stationed so we can visit him before he deploys.

Last month, we boondocked (not as difficult to do as some would have you believe) so we spent next to nothing.

You can pay as much as you want and can afford but budgeting $400-500 is average from our research.

[janniemac]

We pay $40/each (55+ plan)for 2 TMOBILE phone lines with unlimited everything. We hot spot Internet and have unlimited streaming. Works great.

[Barbaraok]

Originally Posted by janniemac

We pay $40/each (55+ plan)for 2 TMOBILE phone lines with unlimited everything. We hot spot Internet and have unlimited streaming. Works great.

As long as you are in a major city area. Wouldn’t go without Verizon or ATT when full timing

[Sue46]

We consciously made the decision to have one phone on ATT and one on Verizon plus a mifi. All are MVNO's. Cost per month is $70. The Verizon phone is rarely used, we consider it a secondary phone. Mifi is a Mobley Car Connect.

[RVPioneer]

Agree with nothermark that selling the farm to go camping for two years may be a decision worthy of some additional thought. All the minutia over the cost of car repairs, phones and propane is largely irrelevant in the big picture.

Whatever you spend on any type of RV setup will be more that you can expect to get back in two years time. Depreciation is a significant cost missing from your budget. Will the amount you get when selling the RV allow you to build your home when the full-time experience is over? Are you putting away enough money from the sale of the home to get back in the market at a later date?

Most of Michigan is a relatively low cost real estate market, especially rural areas, so perhaps you're relocating from a higher cost metropolitan area to a lower cost country location.

We only know that $4K a month is outside your budget. While you're actual costs may be less, one major mechanical or other unexpected problem could destroy the entire equation. I'm a big fan of buying a used MH and paying cash, but not in favor of selling the house to do so.

I realize that I have not offered much in the way of helping you determine your cost to go full-time, however, I believe the decision you are considering is more significant than simply calculating monthly expenses.

[cjthedad]

We just bought a used DP in Jan paid cash ( I'm too old to take out a Loan) it's cash from here on out. Plan on doing a whole year on the road in two years, then we will decide if we continue or drop to part time. We are going to spend the next two years learning the machine and getting our ducks in a row. But there will always be real estate somewhere. Now with that said a lot money can be saved without maintaining a home but will that savings be more than the appreciation you might realize. Now here in Illinois out in the country the word appreciation does not exist in fact if this is where you would be willing to end your days, at the rate of people leaving they might pay you to stay.

[Whirrlly]

There are a lot of unknown factors in anyone's lifestyle they choose so it is kinda hard sometimes to put down a 'fact' known cost. Sure we can say $120 for phone/internet, or XYZ for insurance costs etc cause they are known.
When out full time on the road you have to stop somewhere and that is under your control to some level. Then it becomes how DO YOU want to spend your road lifestyle. Mechanical problem costs are a guess also but you can put money away to cover some unknowns.

We swing a bit in that there are times we drop a lot of money, wanting a 'destination cg' in a touristy area for the activities we love....then there is the solitude time. Boondock away from it all, hardly eating out at restaurants, just chill and relax, shop every sale and watch for savings (that kinda thing) and not spend a lot of money. We gear more at our boondock/simple lifestyle way more than the touristy type travel. So we know we can keep costs a lot lower than some others cause we are that 'frugal type' and know how to pinch a penny til it screams

Thing is if we waited to have all the money we needed to feel super secure and safe, heck none of us would be doing anything off the wall and adventurous

You really won't know your expense til ya live it but you know you and you know how you want to live so you can kinda figure out your monthly expenses in a way. Don't pretend you won't eat out a lot if you absolutely love to eat out a lot You still want to be you and enjoy this journey! So budget reality on how you will roll....you got this

[Dan McMartin]

Originally Posted by Whirrlly

Thing is if we waited to have all the money we needed to feel super secure and safe, heck none of us would be doing anything off the wall and adventurous

You really won't know your expense til ya live it but you know you and you know how you want to live so you can kinda figure out your monthly expenses in a way. Don't pretend you won't eat out a lot if you absolutely love to eat out a lot You still want to be you and enjoy this journey! So budget reality on how you will roll....you got this

That's why we financed our motorhome. We could have waited, saved, etc, etc. but life is short. We could afford it so we did it.

And a budget is really more of a reality check anyway. It's an exercise in "can we do this?" If you're realistic with your projections and you can afford it, the go for it.

[Whirrlly]

Originally Posted by Dan McMartin

That's why we financed our motorhome. We could have waited, saved, etc, etc. but life is short. We could afford it so we did it.

And a budget is really more of a reality check anyway. It's an exercise in "can we do this?" If you're realistic with your projections and you can afford it, the go for it.

That's it Dan, move it or lose it Sometimes we have to take that leap