The challenges we face seem to be a little different than the challenges of the people that have done this before us. The economy we live in today is filled with so much more doubt and fear of the future than in the past. Even as fuel prices keep going up every day, today’s economy will not keep us from following our dreams.
People think this is an expensive lifestyle, and it can be if you travel constantly, stay in all the best resorts, and eat out all the time. How much we will spend on fuel depends on how many miles we expect to travel each year and how long we expect to stay at each stop. What you might find surprising is we will probably spend less a year than we do now and our fuel expenses could very easily go down.
I myself drive on an average of 2000 miles a month. So with the pickup truck I drive daily that’s around 150 gallons of fuel a month, with fuel prices at $3.75 a gallon that’s $562 a month. So with the Rv, let's assume we get 10 miles per gallon and we want to travel 1,000 miles per month. That would take 100 gallons at $4.00 per gallon totaling $400 or if fuel goes to $5.00 per gallon the total will be $500, its still cheaper than the $562 we spend now. I used $4.00 a gallon because we are more likely going to be driving a diesel powered Rv.
If we decided to workamp (we have agreed we will not be workamping in our first year) we would easily use a lot less fuel as we would be staying in one location for a longer period of time.
If we decided to workamp (we have agreed we will not be workamping in our first year) we would easily use a lot less fuel as we would be staying in one location for a longer period of time.
I would think your estimate of 10 mpg. is a little high for an RV. Our best mileage has been 9.6. You are so right about it being an affordable lifestyle! We are going to be staying in the Keys the first two weeks of January for 42.00 on our Florida Max Pass that we got at the Tampa RV show. And you are right about just staying a little longer in one spot to recoup fuel costs. You are doing a great job in your blog and in giving information!
ReplyDeleteWe are thinking about full timing also, so your experiences have been very interesting to us. Concerning the mpg, the 10 mpg seems pretty optimistic to me. I would be interested in a report in a month or so, on how the expenses are shaking out in reality. I have also heard they tend to be higher when you first start out but decrease as time passes for many people.
ReplyDeleteIrene