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What does it cost to live out of a camper van full time? In this post we share the sixth month of variable van life costs for full time travel. Continue reading for a detailed breakdown of costs.
For a six month average, watch the video below.
Full Time RVing Costs: Van Life Edition – October 2017
Statistics:
Total Miles Driven: 1,386
Avg. MPG: 14
Nights of Paid Camping: 3
Nights of Free Camping: 28 (Driveway Surfing, Dispersed Camping, Rest Area, Walmart, Cracker Barrel, Free RV Accommodations)
Meals Eaten Out: 5
Variable Costs Breakdown:
Food $490 – groceries and dining out
Gas $221
Campground Fees $218
Gym Membership $22
Dog Food $35
Misc $270
Total Variable Costs: $1,256
Cost Per Day: $41
Going out to eat five times in October kept the food costs high. We usually eat out two to three times a month and make most of our meals at home.
Miscellaneous costs remains almost unchanged. An oil change for the camper van, deep tissue massage and a new winter jacket kept our costs above Kait’s $100 goal.
Fixed Costs
Costs such as cell phone plans, health insurance, vehicle insurance, club memberships like Costco, Escapees, Harvest Hosts, and Elks are not included. The reason for this is we’ve found that fixed costs for RVing can vary dramatically depending on your situation. Below are some examples for reference.
If you pay cash for a used RV, you won’t have an RV payment and insurance will be lower on an older vehicle.
We pay about $150/month for an unlimited cell phone plan that we need for all the content we upload. You may only need a pay as you go cell phone or not even need one.
If you work for a company that pays for health insurance, you won’t have that as an added cost. Since we work for ourselves, we pay for our own health insurance.
Being avid readers, we have the Amazon Kindle Unlimited subscription which runs about $11/month. There are other subscriptions and services that you may choose to have that can increase fixed costs.
We did share our fixed costs when we started out. If you’d like to get an idea of what those costs were for us, head over Cost of RVing in a Motorhome for One Year.
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Hey Russo’s,
It’s a real pleasure watching your videos! My partner and I just bought an airstream and have also started our journey around the us. We were wondering what gym you have found that is all over the country. It’s a bit of a struggle finding something good that is everywhere!
Thanks!
Hey Mariam and Casey. We have Planet Fitness as our main gym and purchase one day or weekly passes at local gyms when there isn’t a Planet Fitness nearby. Hope that helps.
Hi Joe,
On a Hymer facebook forum, someone said to me that you had once posted that the sticker on your AKTIV 2 quoted an OCCC value of 1600lbs.
That sounds reasonable to me, WBGO says the Travato 59K is about 1900lbs, and the RT Zion is about 1250.
But the Hymer website says just 750lbs for the AKTIV2 and I think 1250 for AKTV1.
750 sounds unrealistically low to me but in an online chat with Hymer, the young lady confirmed that it is 750!
I am still skeptical and have written twice to Hymer for confirmation but never got any response.
I am working on a short list of “B” vans as possible replacement four our 31ft Airstream Casic and 3/4ton truck and had the AKTIV2 on my short list but if the 750 lb OCCC is correct I don’t think I would go that route. A tank of water, two people and a couple of bikes and I’d have very little remaining capacity for the rest!
Any thoughts or comments? Does yours say 1600# OCCC
Many thanks …………… Brian, Burlington Ontario.
Hey Brian,
You’re correct, the sticker on our van states “OCCC 1,625 lbs”. When we got the van, we weighed it with the two of us, Leo and a full tank of water and fuel and it came to 8,400 lbs. GVWR is 9,350 which means we had 950 lbs of carrying capacity after us and full tanks.
Unless the Aktiv has put on a lot of weight since we got ours, my only thought is that perhaps they are giving you the CCC after adding the weight of two adults, two children and a full tank of water.
EDIT: I looked on their website and there is a notation for the OCCC: “Allowance for weight of occupants, water, propane and cargo. Reduce by weight of optional equipment.”
The way this reads, it would validate my assumption above that they took all of that weight into account and then 750 is what you have left over.
Hi Brian,
I am also interest in the Aktiv and was concerned with the OCCC. The Sprinter class B’s don’t work because of this. I guess the Promasters seem to be reasonable. What other Class B’s were you looking at?
“All those who wander are not lost.”
J.R.R. Tolkien
(Wasn’t sure if you had seen that one)
I guess I missed this. Why was it good to get rid of the generator?
A generator takes up space and is an additional engine to maintain. They also tend to be loud and many times are restricted to when/where you can use them.
3 nights og campground camping cost 218??
Hey Dawn. We don’t usually spend that much, but we made an exception in order to stay at the KOA for the CA RV Show https://goo.gl/P2GsGC.
Having purchased your book ‘Take Risks’ from ITunes I must say it was a very good read and look forward to your next book.
Thank you John! If you get a moment, please consider leaving a review (if you haven’t already).
Thank you for what you do. I have learned valuable information about the Hymer camper van from watching your videos. The Hymer seems to be the most sensible choice with its all electric power source, solar panels, compressor frig and induction cooktop. It looks like it would be the best choice for me too. Eliminating the generator was smart. The automatic volt start function is too.
Love the videos
Thanks again
You’re welcome Kent, very happy it was helpful!