Sometimes when you are sitting around the campfire with new friends a conversation will ensue about the cost effectiveness associated with living in a house vs. the costs associated with a full time RV life. When Dave and I were looking at going full time in our motorhome, our decision wasn’t based on financials, but more on our mental health! For the entire time we have been married, we have always been excited about what is “around the next corner”. By many we were considered “crazy” for our decision to sell everything we had worked for, buy an RV and travel around the country. For us, it was a great decision!
Dave and I are not professional financial planners! But these are the categories that we took into account when deciding if it was a good financial decision for us to sell our house and go full timing.
Changes in Perspectives
Since we started a full time RV life 4 years ago, there have been two significant events that have made us look a little “less crazy” for selling everything and living in an RV:
- COVID
- Inflation
COVID and mandated lockdowns resulted in a lot of people working from home. It changed people. One of the upsides was that people found out they could work from anywhere. People were on the move. They sold their homes, bought RVs and hit the road. 1,000,000 people bought RVs in 2020 and 2021:
2020 430.41k
2021 600.24k
Statista.com – Wholesale Shipments of Recreational Vehicles in the US
The other significant impact to decisions about housing has been inflation and rising gas prices. Neither seem to have any pathway for going down any time soon. Rent has increased. The cost of purchasing a house is out of reach for many. People are looking at ways to decrease their expenses. These people are looking at an RV life as an alternative.
Mindsets of the Full Timer
Playing into people’s ideas that an RV life is a less expensive way to live are books, websites and Facebook pages devoted to how to live in an RV more economically.
While RVing can be low cost, many of these books and Facebook pages don’t tell the full story! One Facebook page about “low budget RV living” is just a front for the administrator’s political views! You shouldn’t make your decisions based on only one source! Even from us!
Vacationers
Some people who decide to sell their homes and go RV life full time are really long-term vacationers. If you have the same mindset about spending money while living in your RV as you had while living in your house, condo or apartment, you will be in the same financial situation in an RV as you were in your house. Inflation may make it worse, but not significantly.
Minimalists
Some people who look at a full time RV life see it as a way to decrease the physical and emotional clutter in their lives. They desire a minimalist lifestyle. Some people may do this in the form of a tiny house, a free standing house of no more than 400 square feet.
Many people will sell their house and move into an RV as a way of having freedom from their “stuff” and to see the country. Is it a way of decreasing expenses? Perhaps.
What is the Difference?
Look at the following 7 categories. There are two blank columns. If you are currently living in a house or apartment, complete the column on the left. If you have an RV, or think you might live the RV life, you can estimate the figures in the column on the right.
At the end of completing these 7 categories, you can estimate the difference between you living in a house and you living in an RV. You might be surprised with the results.
1. Housing
This category includes everything that involves your living space.
You will need to have a budget designated for maintenance, repairs and upgrades on either your house or your RV. A good guide for this line item is 5% of the value of your house or RV per year. For example, if the replacement cost of your RV is $100,000, you should plan on setting aside $5,000 per year. Think this is ridiculous? In 2022 in our motorhome we have replaced the RV refrigerator for $7,000, we will be replacing the two front tires at a cost of $1,000, have had 2 oil changes at $250 per oil change and have had a hose replaced on our in-dash AC at a cost of $596.
The older your house or your RV the more you will need to be prepared for maintenance and repairs.
| House | RV | |
|---|---|---|
| Payment or Rent | ||
| Property taxes (house) | ||
| Site fees (RV) | ||
| Registration (RV) | ||
| Insurance | ||
| Utilities (electricity, water/ sewer) | ||
| Maintenance/repairs | ||
2. Food
You have to eat if you are in a house or an RV. You can cook at home, eat out, or a combination of both. If you are like many RV full timers you will eat out at least once in any new geographic area that you are exploring!
| House | RV | |
|---|---|---|
| Groceries | ||
| Eating Out | ||
3. Healthcare
This category includes everything to do with your health. This category will likely be the same if you are in a house or in an RV. OTC items are the over the counter things you buy, for example, band aids, ibuprophen and vitamins.
| House | RV | |
|---|---|---|
| Health insurance | ||
| Co-Pays | ||
| Medication | ||
| OTC items | ||
4. Pet Expenses
If you have pets, while food costs will be similar in a house or an RV, you will spend significantly more for veterinary care on the road. In addition, the cost of your veterinary expenses will be based on the number of pets you have, their age and their overall health.
Even though we maintain our cat Lucky’s medical records and bring them to every new vet, most want to run their own blood tests, their own x-rays, etc. Adding to the vet expenses on the road is many vets don’t have openings for transients, meaning you will end up going to an emergency vet for a “routine” problem. At our home vet a routine check up would be about $50 and wait maybe 20 minutes. At an emergency vet in MD we spent $150 to walk through the door and another $300 on testing. We also spent 5 HOURS sitting in our Jeep with the AC running in 85 degree heat waiting for Lucky to be seen.
| House | RV | |
|---|---|---|
| Routine vet care | ||
| Emergency vet care | ||
| Food | ||
| Insurance | ||
5. Vehicles
This category includes your main form of transportation. It could include the car you tow behind your RV or the truck that tows your RV. It could include multiple vehicles. Each may have a payment, registration, excise tax (in some states).
You will need to have a budget designated for maintenance, repairs and upgrades on your vehicles. Just as with housing or your RV, a good guide for this line item is 5% of the value of your vehicle per year. For example, if the replacement cost of your vehicle is $50,000, you should plan on setting aside $2,500 per year. Think this is ridiculous? What is your vehicle insurance deductible? $1,000? How much are new tires? An oil change? Do you have an older vehicle and a timing belt ($1,000 for replacement)? How much will it cost to tow your vehicle (even if you have AAA)?
The older your vehicle the more you will need to be prepared for maintenance and repairs. If you have a vehicle, there will always be repair costs and maintenance costs.
| House | RV | |
|---|---|---|
| Payment | ||
| Registrations | ||
| Insurance | ||
| Inspections | ||
| Excise tax | ||
| Maintenance and repairs | ||
| Parking fees | ||
| Tolls | ||
6. Fuel
This category includes gasoline, diesel, heating oil, natural gas (in line in a house) or propane. While it can be difficult to guestimate how much gas you will use in an RV, even if you are stationary, you will be spending something!
With inflation, this is probably the one category you have the least amount of control over. Four years ago when we started the full time RV life, we were paying about 1/3 of what we are paying now. Because our elected officials have no plan for controlling the price of fuel, it is hard to predict what we will be paying in the next 4 years. It is difficult to budget.
| House | RV | |
|---|---|---|
| Gasoline, diesel | ||
| Natural gas, propane or home heating oil | ||
7. Personal Expenses
This category includes all those other “incidentals”. Some people will spend a lot on this category, for others it will be the place to cut back. Either way, there are items you will pay in a house or an RV, for example a cell phone.
| House | RV | |
|---|---|---|
| Cell phone | ||
| Internet services or wifi | ||
| Hot spots | ||
| Streaming, Dish or DirecTV, Netflix, Hulu | ||
| Clothing | ||
| Hair cuts | ||
| Laundry | ||
| Student / personal loans/ credit cards | ||
| Toiletries | ||
| Entertainment | ||
Take-away Point
If you are contemplating selling your house or moving out of your apartment to save money, be sure you have done your due diligence and have compared what you spend in your house and what you spend, or would spend, in an RV. Financial surprises are not pleasant! An additional word of caution: many people starting off a full timing RV life live like it is a permanent vacation, and that cost can be substantial!
Your partners in travel,
Kathryn, Dave and Lucky
RVing Nomads
It’s a lifestyle
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