Sharing your FT annual budget

[bevandtomH]

Wondering if any Full-timers in 40ft+ diesel pusher coaches would share any Annual Budgeting they have for the last full year. Trying to build an estimated trial budget. I can only guess at what reality may be compared to my estimates. I can factor in/out your particular preferences and style. So if you are willing to share, I'm all ears. A spreadsheet format would be great. And if you prefer, PM me for discretion.
Thanks in advance.
Tom

[MSHappyCampers]

Hope you get some answers Tom! We will be following along on this too!

[Davdeb1]

We budget the following per month:
400 fuel
600 park fees
100 insurance
70 dish TV
100 internet
45 phone
50 clothing
100 entertainment
600 food and household
200 dining out
200 maintenance

2465 total

This is plus health care premiums which are variable for everyone. We spend about $600 in premiums not included in this total.
Some may be shocked we spend this much, Some may wonder how we get by on so little.

[MisterT]

above is about right, but are you a
FT traveler? or a FT parker?? big difference

[Davdeb1]

I park monthly at about 5-6 different spaces and 2-10 days the rest of the time. We spend time everywhere it seems. We travel more than we park. About 9-10 thousand miles per year.

[VanSully]

Originally Posted by Davdeb1

We budget the following per month:
400 fuel
600 park fees
100 insurance
70 dish TV
100 internet
45 phone
50 clothing
100 entertainment
600 food and household
200 dining out
200 maintenance

2465 total

This is plus health care premiums which are variable for everyone. We spend about $600 in premiums not included in this total.
Some may be shocked we spend this much, Some may wonder how we get by on so little.

Thanks! This is good info for beginners .

[Barbaraok]

Here's a link to our web site and a page I did on Budget Considerations

Unless you do exactly what we do, then what we spend isn't what you will spend. For example, I have a budget line item for wine - we love finding wineries all over the country and purchasing a bottle or two. We use to move every 2 weeks, now we stay long and spend all winter in Mesa, AZ, so our budget changes as we change how we travel/what we do.

Do make sure that you set up your health insurance before you go. If you aren't on Medicare, get it all worked out a head of time. And do make sure you set aside some money each month for repairs. You might not need it in any one year, but there is no way you can hurtle a house down the road year after year and not have some repairs come your way.

Barb

[adamfolger]

http://www.irv2.com/forums/f92/full-...et-170821.html This subject has been discussed many times...The attached thread is quite extensive and should give you a good idea of full time expenses...lots to read

[Ramets]

I don't have a spread sheet, but the biggest thing for us is we own our coach & towed. The only bills we have are Healthcare(medicare & supplemental), long term care, insurance for car & coach, although we pay those with cash once a year, as we do with our Healthcare coverage. Then little things like Verizon, and DirecTV. Of course I can control how much we spend on fuel by how much we travel. Then I'll add in groceries and eating out. I have an extended warranty we bought 2yrs. ago which has already paid for itself, and there's 2 yrs. left on it. For the past 5yrs. of fulltiming we've averaged between 30K-35K. The only time we sit in one place for any length of time is winter, and that's usually 4-5 mos. Others spend more, some spend less, but this has worked for us without any feeling of not being able to do what we want to do, when we want to do it. We've been from Maine to Florida, to Washington and Southern California, even Alaska in 2012 for the entire summer, and many, many places in between. There's a huge beautiful country out there, and I plan on seeing as much as I can, while I can.

[bevandtomH]

Hello Everyone, thanks for your input, thoughts, and links. For us luckily, coach and toad will be paid for. But since it probably won't be new, a warranty is something I may look at. Just having a list to compare too is great. Thanks much!
There are going to lots of variables as mentioned based on our preferences, but it gives me a good idea if I am thinking along the right lines.
And yes, health care is a biggie, DW will be one year from MC, I will be two, so we will wait to see how that plays out. Initially, we were only thinking of SD for residency and a mailbox but Barb's(thanks Barb!) and others recent posts have me reconsidering Escapees and possibly TX. We've got three years to figure it out.
On a side note, It's been invaluable, and fun to read and live vicariously through others, search for coaches, do RV shows, etc. but it's only adding fuel to a fire burning inside us. I thought owning a boat was addicting...LOL.
If I can get our Pay Pal thing straightened out, we will become iRV2 members. Could not imagine dreaming this lifestyle without this forum. We owe a lot to those who share their thoughts and experiences here so others like us can learn.
Thanks again.
Tom

[bevandtomH]

Adam- thanks for the link. If you don't search or hit the right combination of words, your search can limit the results. Figured this topic will always be asked and relevant to all at some time.thanks again.
Tom

[Triker56]

Full-timers in 40ft+ diesel pusher coaches

I don't think a 6' longer MH would effect my Full Time expense any.
Other then less MPG then my present 10.2 MPG.

For 2 people 3K a month should be plenty. If you don't buy too much Wine.

[RoamingRV]

Attached is a sample spreadsheet I have given to quite a few people to figure out their budgets. The numbers are just samples and all you do is plug in your own numbers as well as list items to make it personal. Any questions just holler.

SORRY - FOR SOME REASON IT WOULDN'T UPLOAD - IT'S AN EXCEL SPREADSHEET. If anyone would like it please PM me or send me an email at carolann@roamingrv.com and I will send you a copy.

[Khenson]

Chris and Cheri of Technomadia will be hosting a video and live chat about budgeting for full time RVing Sunday April 26. You might consider checking it out: Technomadia Costs of Full-Time RVing