Twice, this summer I had someone ask me to blog about
budgeting for full time living. That’s a pretty loaded question. When we were
in pre-launch mode, I read several blogs and a couple of books that had sample
budgets. There are a few constants, but mostly a myriad of variables. As I have
thought about this subject I have come up with a list of constants. The
variables depend on how you want to travel and your income stream realities.
Constant #1 Whatever your travel style, count on at least
$150.00 a day for each day you are on the road. That is assuming that you, more
or less, adhere to the standard old peoples 300 miles a day. It doesn’t matter
whether you are pulling a trailer or driving a coach. We have done both and
daily gas expense runs $100-$120 depending on how far we drive. The rest of the
daily average is up to how you camp that night. Are you boondocking at the
Cracker Barrel or Flying J, Or, are you in a Corps Park using your 50% off
senior discount, or a private RV Park with all the perks. Your accommodations
when you pull off the road on a given day depend on how long you plan to stay. If
you are on the road every week or so and paying daily rates for sites you’d
better have a tidy income stream or nest egg to fund your whimsy.
Constant #2-Site rates. Camping rates are all over the
place. Decide how you want to travel and
put a pencil to it. Daily rates average about $45.00 per night. Weekly rates
around $450.00 and monthly rates $500-$900 depending on the region and time of
year. It is far more expensive on the East and West Coasts or near to a major
attraction. If you work camp, like we do
this is negligible most of the time. We trade hours of work for a site 10-11
months out of the year. I do however, plan relentlessly when we are on the road
to get the best bang for my buck. My least favorite place to stay is a roadside
private park. It’s highway robbery if you ask me. But, sometimes security has
to come at a price. We stayed in a park associated with a casino outside of St.
Louis one night for the security. Peace of mind cost $50.00 to camp for 13
hours on an asphalt parking lot with FHU, ouch. Be very honest with yourself and do your research.
There are camping clubs you can join, for a fee of course, that allow cheap or
free stays in participating campgrounds. Still others, like Good Sam’s offer a
discount on daily rates. If you are over 62 you can get a lifetime pass for
Federally Managed Campgrounds like the Corps of Engineers that allows a 50%
discount making daily rates around $12. Planning is the key here. Plan your route
and research your site options when planning your stops.
Constant #3-Insurance. Insurance on your rig and vehicle is
about the same no matter your travel style. Full-time coverage for your RV is
considerably more costly than normal full coverage. If you have a mail service,
the insurance companies are onto you and will charge accordingly. About 3X more
if you admit you are full time. If you
use an address of a relative and domicile in that state enough months of the
year to establish residency you can skirt around the full-time coverage issue. This
is a very delicate issue for full timers. Insurance companies, and banks for
that matter get a little squeamish when they know their collateral, or insured
property is galivanting around the country doing super dangerous things like
driving, or setting up under a tree or being exposed to a thunderstorm instead
of being in some indoor storage not being used most of the year. If you sense
sarcasm, you are spot on.
Constant #4- Groceries. Food is about the same. Eating out
and eating at home don’t change much. The only variance is the cost of
groceries in different regions. Whatever you are spending now on food and
eating out is likely to stay about the same. When you are simply on vacation,
you naturally eat out more and spend a fortune getting fat. But, after a few
months of being full-time that novelty wears off and most go on a diet and
settle back into their old eating out/ dining in habits.
Constant #5- Phones, TV and Internet. There are two ways to
go about it. You either have satellite TV that you take with you and cell phone
service with data plans. Or, you stream your TV and have unlimited data to
support your phone and TV habits. Either way you can count on about $200.00 per
month.
Utilities are tricky. Again, the difference is are you work
camping or paying? Monthly rates at private parks include water and sewer but,
will meter the electric so count on an extra $80- $100 a month. Water and sewer
are off the table but will be reflected in the higher daily and weekly rates if
you travel that way. If you workcamp, electric, water and sewer are covered.
Depending on where you work, cable and internet may be included as well. Chose
your work camping gigs wisely.
It comes down to deciding how you want to travel. Are you on
a mission to see the lower 48 or beyond and stop at every museum, and
commercial attraction along the way? Or, are you like us with all your kids in
one place and migrate north and south to avoid extreme weather and work camp
most of the year? I have had people tell me they are full time but then in the
next breath tell me they still own at least one home. Sorry, you don’t qualify.
If you still own property and pay to maintain it, you are not part of this
club. You are what the marketing surveyors call and avid traveler.
How do you put a pencil to this? I’ll be honest, it takes some work and a high
level of self-awareness about your spending habits. In our case, we have been
in the habit of using the same credit card for day to day spending and paying
them off each month, for years. The points are nice. The credit card companies
offer some very valuable analysis tools. My check blanks are so old, the
calendar on my check book register only goes to 2009. Before
we launched, I used these tools to analyze our spending habits over several
years and weeded out the spending that was irrelevant to our full-time
lifestyle. If you pay for everything with a debit card, or worse yet cash, this
can be more labor intensive, but the work is necessary to have a clear idea of
your spending habits. Truth is, you will not change your habits much by going
full time. If you are in the habit of dropping $15.00 a day at convenience
stores for cigarettes and snacks that won’t likely change. Examine your daily
routine and habits closely and be honest with yourself.
I escrow $200.00 per month to a designated savings account
just for repairs on the rig and car. Over three years that has served us well. Although,
this past summer was unusual, and I had to pilfer the savings account. I make
it up with random part-time jobs when we are nesting somewhere for several
months. Low unemployment rates make finding a job really easy.
I’d like to be able to lay out a sample budget, like others
have. The truth is those are canned budgets that don’t mean much to the average
person. Budgets are a highly individual endeavor. If you want to know if you can afford to be
full time it takes some work.
1.
Decide how you want to be full time. As tourists? Or as Work Campers?
2.
Consider your disposable income. Live within
your means, just like always.
3.
The longer you stay on one place the cheaper
your daily cost of a site
4.
Boondocking isn’t for everyone. Actually, it’s
not for very many of us.
5.
If you have skills to offer, work camping can
make this life very affordable, no matter your monthly income.
6.
Consider, if this is a long-term commitment or
something you intend to do for a pre-determined period of time. Hint, I have
talked to many people who say they started out with a two-year plan and have
been on the road now, over 10 years. This minimalistic lifestyle is as
addicting as nicotine to most of us.
In three years, we have met two types of people. Those who
have sold everything, traveled, lived high and are about broke, or headed there
fast, when we meet them. And those who went into this with a crystal-clear
picture of their financial situation, no matter what it is, and lived within
those means. The one thing I have learned is, you don’t have to be wealthy, nor
do you have to own everything outright, to have a rich experience being full
time. We meet people on all economic planes who are enjoying a meaningful, well
lived full-time life. The bottom line is do your homework and figure out your
own budget.
Until Next Time…
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