Full Time Gas Budjet & RV Insurance?

[nrc1963]

Hello All You Fabulous Fulltimers,
How is Everyone doing today.
Yes, I have another Question No Don't Run Yet I havent I'm Not Driving an RV Yet Still doing lots of homework. And We thaught school was tough. Tough Yes But not as fun as I am having doing this homework & Research.
I am new and getting Ready to go FT Soon and was wondering What should a Fulltimer figure on spending for Fuel if 1 Gas or 2. if Desiel
And What about Ft RV insurances Companies and prices Any ideas out their.

[paz]

Those are some of the most common questions for those planning to full-time, but they are hard questions to answer because everyone has different circumstances. You will obviously use more fuel if you travel longer distances and move every few days than if you stay put for longer periods and move only short distances. It's also hard to predict what fuel prices will be at any given time. If Iran stops oil shipments in the Straits of Hormuz even for a short time, prices could jump to $5 a gallon overnight. I suggest trying to figure out where you might like to go your first year and calculate your own fuel costs based on that. As far as gas vs. diesel goes, diesel is more expensive, but diesel motorhomes get better fuel mileage than gassers, so the fuel costs are similar in the end.

As for insurance, there are several companies that write plans for fulltimers. We have Progressive. I suggest contacting an agent that specializes in RV insurance such as Miller Insurance. They will be able to compare costs for several companies.

Insurance costs also vary greatly depending on where you are domicled. SD is cheaper than TX or FL. Costs also depend on your driving record, what type of rig you have, what level of coverage you want and what deductibles you want.

Sorry I couldn't give more definitive answers, but everyone's circumstances are different.

[ajm12]

Nick
I think a better way to look at it is what you want to spent a day (or what can you afford to spent ) then judge from there.

[Kuppajoe]

Nick, We are closing on our second year of full-timing. We stuck with the insurance company we had previously which is State Farm. We have a 40 foot DP. We had gassers but prefer the DP now. We do move an average of once a week and usually about 200 miles at a time but as has been said--everyone has different needs and likes. We do love the full-time life but give yourself at least a year to "work into what works for you." You can research all you want but once you are out there in an RV, you'll see things differently. Just don't wait too long or listen to too many opinions!

[Bee950]

Their is no way I can calculate what you would spend. If you full time in one spot, fuel cost = 0.

[Doug Sage]

Well, here goes. Most RVers travel 6,000 to 9,000 miles per year. Of course some more and some less. As a fulltimer you have control over how far you drive. I fulltime with a 39' gas motorhome and tow a small SUV. In 2010 I spent about $2,500 for car gas and $3,900 on motorhome gas. As someone else said, there isn't that much difference in cost per mile between gas and diesel since diesel is more per gallon but you get better mileage. The numbers would be a little different if you have a pickup and fifth wheel. Also you will need to consider regular maintenance costs. I have spent anywhere form $50 to $175 for an oil change and lube on my gas motorhome. Diesel maintenance costs quite a bit more but they may be further apart.

As for insurance, I would recommend that you get fulltimer's insurance from a company such as Progressive. This gives you higher limits on the contents of your RV which you will need if it is loaded with all your stuff. It also gives you liability coverage like a renter's or homeowner's policy. Auto policies from companies such as State Farm do not have this coverage. It is not that much more expensive either. Rates will vary based upon your home base address and driving record. I also recommend Miller Insurance 503 636-6347.

One of the largest costs you will have is RV parks. You can do anything from boondocking to staying one night at a time and paying up to $75 per night. It is all up to you. The one thing to remember is that weekly rates are cheaper than daily rates and monthly rates are cheaper yet. We tend to stay in nice RV parks and pay $500 to $600 per month, including electricity. We budget $750 per month for the months that we are moving around more.

Nevertheless, this is a great life! It is cheaper than living in a house and you are more "green". You will use less water and electricity by far than you would in a house.

[WheelingIt]

Your insurance rates depend alot on *where* you insure, how big your rig is, your driving record and how old you are. Our #1 factor in insurance costs was location. Our rates dropped ~30% when we moved domicile from CA to SD.

As for budget our 2 top variable costs are gas and campgrounds. Totally depends how far you travel and where you stay (private parks vs public parks vs boondocking). Some months our gas costs are down to ~$170 and other months up to $600 (happened once last year). We always have *some* gas costs coz we like to sightsee in the toad even if we're not driving "the beast" anywhere.

I have details of our budget on the blog here:
http://wheelingit.wordpress.com/2011...ll-time-rving/

Plus a little more about fulltime RV insurance here:

http://wheelingit.wordpress.com/2011...he-difference/

Nina

[Triker56]

Quote:

Nick, We are closing on our second year of full-timing. We stuck with the insurance company we had previously which is State Farm.

I bet if you read the small print in your State Farm policy. You will find it says it doesn't cover full time use of the RV. Or liability for anyone that falls and gets hurt in/on near your RV.

Or try to get a signed notarized statement from your agent that you are covered for Full Time use of your RV.

[MaverickBBD]

Figure 7 mpg for diesel and you can do the calculations based on how much you want to travel and the website that list fuel prices for those areas. Call several insurance agents and they can give you a "rough" idea as you are not on the road yet.

[Barbaraok]

We get 8.5 mpg (over 6 years worth of driving) with our Cummins 350 HP engine in a 37' coach weighing ~31,000# pulling our Subaru Forester. Last two years we have averaged $250/month for diesel and $100/month for gas. We put about 10K miles on the coach each year.

Yes, you need FULLTIME insurance on your rig and State Farm doesn't write it.

I would also recommend that you spend some time on the Escapee forum , there are more fulltimers there than any other forum I've ever been on. This is partially due to the fact that the company was started by fulltimers to initially cater to the needs of fulltimers, so lots and lots of stuff about fulltiming will be found there.

Barb

[djpotts50]

Your fuel costs will be dependent on the type of RV you get, the amount of miles you drive, and the cost of fuel per gallon. Most diesel pushers average about 7 to 8 miles per gallon for a Class A motorcoach. A rough estimate on driving miles is about 10,000 miles per year for the coach, but that could easily drop to 5K or go as high as 15K. Most full-timers do more travel miles the first several years while seeing everything and then after several years, they tend to slow down and do more snowbird type of traveling with extended park stays in warmer climates.

I have written a few articles that you might find useful: RV Lifestyle Articles

Your full-timer insurance rates will vary on the value of your coach, the age of the drivers, and the zip code of your domicile address. That is why it is so important you do some research on where you will claim as your residence state and thus the zip code you will use for all insurance rates. Make sure you check with several insurance companies to compare their rates.

Wishing you a Happy New Year and much success in your upcoming Full-timer lifestyle!!!

[LindaH]

There's really no way anyone can answer those question for YOU.

What you spend on fuel will depend on two factors: 1) How far you drive each year and 2) How fuel efficient your vehicle is. The first one is totally in your control.

As for insurance rates, that, too, is almost impossible for anyone to tell you what YOU are going to spend since there are far too many factors that go into determing rates: What you are insuring, what type of insurance, what levels of coverage, where you are "garaged," even your credit rating and driving record all go into determining rates.

[Vegasdan]

We have been FTing for a year and a half. I'd recommend finding an insurance company that specializes in RVs and fulltimers, insure your toad with an auto insurance company (I found 21st Century to be considerably less on my Jeep than the Progressive I had been using). Fuel costs will depend on so many factors it would be impossible to estimate, how big is your coach, how often you move, how fast you drive, diesel or gas etc. We generally stay somewhere for at least a month and take advantage of monthly rates in campgrounds. If you are moving around every few days you will be paying the highest camp ground rates, even in so so parks you can expect to pay 3 times the monthly rate by paying for the daily rates. Where you domicile will effect several things, taxes and fees on your coach and toad and insurance costs are major factors. We use South Dakota for this reason. Maintenance and repair costs are another item that will be hard to estimate. We have our diesel serviced once a year and put between 6-8K miles on it per year. A gasser would need 2 to 3 services in that same time period. We find good RV repairmen we can rely on in the areas we travel to and that gives us some peace of mind just in case. We use Good Sams extended service plan and used it once last year without a problem. We also have Coach Net just in case.
I took 6 years of study and visiting with other fulltimers before my DW and I were ready to take the step and we would not go back for anything. Good luck.

[Romeo]

Although we don't fulltime, I have looked at WheelinIt's website and find that they have some very good write-ups that should help. We were interested in that type of information since we were retiring and planning to spend the winter in the South... which we are now doing.

We are now getting familiar with living in a motorhome for an expended period of time and discovering the types of expenses one will incur and wondering if we need the "sticks and bricks" home... we'll see.