How much do you pay per month for a camp site?

[DMacLeod]

My wife and I are thinking about going fulltime. I've been trying to figure out a monthly cost of RV sites for budgeting purposes. From what I've researched, it seems an average monthly cost of $1500. ( $50 per night x 30 nights = $1500) could be used for budgeting.

I know there are ways to reduce the cost by joining clubs or staying longer in one place. Boondocking and Walmart's are not an option. We are planning on staying, on average, two weeks per site.

I'd like to ask what do you find as an average price per night or per month for an RV site? Also, what clubs/associations do you use to reduce your monthly site costs?

thanks
Dan

[Spdracr39]

Depends on where you stay. Corps sites here are 28 dollars a nite but no sewer. KOA is 45 with full hook ups but has cheaper weekly and monthly rates.

[TXTiger]

The price for a site has many variables. The location, time of year and length of stay. Additionally there are many discounts available. Good Sam, Passport America, FMCA to name a few. Discounts are usually only applied to a daily rate. Weekly rates are often pay for 6 nights and the 7th night is free. Monthly rates are less than than the daily rate x 30 but do not usually include electricity which you pay extra for. In my travels rates have increased over the last few years. Daily rate seems to be averaging about $35 to $45 per night but I have seen many around $50 to $100 or more. Some parks like KOA average around $65 to $75 per night. Monthly rates go for from a low of $450/500 to $2500 with an average around $800/1,000 but $1,200/1,500 is not rare. Seasonal rates will cost more, like the winter in FL or AZ. Anything in Calif will be expensive anytime especially near the coast. Anything near a major attraction will be more too. I use $800 a month as an average for my budget.

[momdoc]

It all really depends on where, what time of year, and amenities. We try to avoid RV "resorts" and usually keep to State Parks, National Parks, COE parks, City and county parks and occasionally Private RV campgrounds. Over the long haul (4+ months at a time currently) we average about $32 a night.

Also using clubs like Good Sam, Passport America, Harvest Hosts and KOA you can save money at every stop.

Weekly and monthly stays are always cheaper.

[cavie]

I summer in the Berkshires. $1700 + electric 4 months.

[twogypsies]

$1500 is definitely not average!!! That's extremely high. Look up some full-time budget blogs and you'll get a better idea.

[vsheetz]

Passport America and America the Beautiful / Senior Pass will often net you a 50% discount.

Look for city and county RV parks. Often way less money and very nice.

Why no dry camping? We often do so. Overnights when traveling, week or more at destinations. We don't use Walmarts or other similar parking lots.

[Bob_C]

$295 a month in Quartzsite, elec included......$250 a month in Dateland, Az, elec extra....

[Itchytoe]

$1500 a month is insane. You certainly can spend that much if you really want to, but you could easily get monthly stays for half that with electricity, water, and sewer included. It all depends on what you want. Do you need state of the art wifi availability, or can you use your phone's hotspot? Do you need 24 hour laundromat in the park, or are you okay using an offsite laundromat (or your own washer and dryer in your RV)? Do you need a playground for kids, a dog park, an indoor heated swimming pool, a game room, or a restaurant, movie theater, and shopping center within walking distance? You can get all that for $1500 a month. However, if you'd prefer being out of the city to enjoy the wonders of nature around you, half that much money is plenty. Heck, you can probably get by with 1/3 of that depending on where in the country you are.

If you're only planning on staying two weeks at a time instead of monthly, you will pay a bit more, but not likely $375 a week.

I normally stay in places that range from about $450 to $750 a month. I tend to avoid places with the word "resort" in the name because those places are expensive and I don't need any of the resort amenities. I don't go places for the campground. I go places for work, or for the surrounding attractions. Those attractions range from friends and family, to enjoyable motorcycle roads, to national and state parks, or even to Renaissance fairs or other outdoor activities.

[scrapperjohn]

1,500 a month is a lot.
RVetTV did a review of a place near Parker AZ, on the lake,
Waterfont sites were $400-450.
Others were $350.
They also had a swimming area,marina, store,etc....

[HDrider]

Like others have said, it really depends on location and what YOU want as far as campground and surrounding area amenities. For us, well we have been fulltime for over 7 years now and I can tell you that our 1st year we spent $8500 for camping, 2nd year $6487, 3rd year $10,511, 4th year $7753, 5th year $11024, 6th year $11175 and our 7th year $9827. So you can figure out our average nightly fee.
We like a mix of thing, we boondock some, we do some state parks and we do some resort stuff in the winter. The higher years were all while doing things more out east.

[Dan McMartin]

+1

We are Thousand Trails members and we like to boondock a fair amount. We've spent as little as zero dollars a month and as much as $600 over the last two years. Our budget is $450 and our average is about $300 a month. YMMV.

Remember, camping costs ares something you can control. Discount memberships, boondocking, Harvest Hosts, etc. can save a lot of money. Mixing things up can keep costs manageable. Not to mention that the longer you stay, the cheaper it is and you end up saving on fuel as well.

Plus, we track our average over time. For instance, we might spend almost nothing one month between Thousand Trails and boondocking and then splurge the next month for state parks or a nice RV park. But over time, we hold to our budget. When we know we have a pricey stay coming up, we might dip into the money we've saved when our camping costs have been low or just watching our spending a bit more closely. Trying to hit that budget mark every month gets old.

[8824rv]

I agree that $1500/month is a little high, but if it fits your overall budget then use it as a line item when calculating your total expenses.
We pay $1100/month for 4 months in Florida near Clearwater and $1060.00/month for 6 months in the Thousand Islands. These are seasonal rates, and electric is metered and billed monthly. At both locations, we are there in peak season, so their highest rates are in effect.
The remaining two months are for "migrating" between sites and our site costs have run anywhere from $17.50 (Passport America) to $65.00+ daily. Coincidently, we budget lodging expenses at $50.00/day ($1500/month) for the eight travel weeks and have never exceeded that number.

[RV Wanderers]

As much as $1900+/month in Colorado Springs and now $450/month in Valdosta, GA. CO campground was so tight we couldn’t even extend awnings without touching another coach. And $1900 was the best (Garden of the Gods RV Resort) by by no means a “Resort”!