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In April, we went from spending four months in Florida to spending time in five different states: Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana. All the moving around resulted in 291 more miles on the motorhome increasing our gas bill. However, we were able to stay under $90/day again by decreasing our food costs.
To view all reports, RV Living Costs: Full Time in a Motorhome for One Year.
Full Time RVing Costs: Motorhome Edition – April 2016:
Total Expenses: $2,642
Cost Per Day: $88.08
Total Miles Driven: 1,990
Generator Hours: 17
Jeep MPG: 17
RV MPG: 6.5
Nights At RV Parks: 6
Nights Spent Dry Camping: 24
Meals Eaten Out: 7
Expenses
Our total expenses were less this month compared to last month ($2,642 vs $2,703). Fixed costs remained the same.
Here are a few notes about our expenses this month compared to previous months:
Food costs (groceries, eating out, coffee and alcohol) continue to decrease. We spent a total of $383 in April, a decrease of $297 from March. We cooked more meals at home and ate out seven times compared to the 14 times we dined out last moth.
Cell phone costs increased by $54 because we had a credit in March. We did receive a small credit in April because AT&T was taxing us based on California instead of Texas. I always have to keep a close eye on our phone bill because every month there seems to be an inaccuracy.
RV expenses were high in April because we purchased a spare tire for our Roadmaster Spare Tire Carrier.
No RV park expenses in April. The nights we spent were hosted by Thousand Trails.
We drove a total of 170 miles more in April compared to March – 291 more miles in our gas motorhome and 121 fewer miles in the Jeep Wrangler. Fuel prices continue to increase which also impacts how much we spent on gas. Although we dry camped more in March, the weather was favorable to us and we put 17 hours on the generator compared to the 43 hours last month.
Miles on the RV: 1,270 – avg mpg 6.5
Miles on the Jeep: 720 – avg mpg 17
Below is the breakdown of fixed and variable costs.
Lessons Learned:
Some things we learned this month that we’d like to pass along.
In addition to an emergency fund, put aside money specifically for RV repairs and related costs. We spent a good chunk of money on the spare tire in April and will spend quite a bit on replacing the front windshield on our motorhome in May. Labor for RV repairs is expensive and it’s good to have a separate fund for these unexpected repairs.
Remember to check sales and food taxes before going to a new state. This was one of the lessons we learned in December 2015 and forgot about it when we made our way into Tennessee and stopped at a Costco to stock up on supplies. The food tax was 6% in Knoxville, which is the highest we’ve ever paid since we’ve been on the road. The sales tax was 9.25% in Nashville which was also one of the highest we’ve seen since Alabama. TaxRates.com is one of the sites we use to check taxes in different cities and states.
To view all reports, RV Living Costs: Full Time in a Motorhome for One Year.
You probably noted this somewhere, but what were your upfront costs for the equipment needed for dry camping? At this point we stay in paid parks. It would be wonderful to not have to worry about monthly park fees. We just purchased an external tank for our grey/black tank contents. We do not have any other items for boondocking yet. One more question, how much is the fuel for your generator? Do you account for that somewhere. Thank you so much for sharing this information.
Hi Jessica – To prepare for dry camping, we swapped out the regular house batteries for two deep cycle batteries and purchased a 100 watt portable solar unit. If you haven’t had a chance to check out our dry camping post, there’s a section about our RV and setup.
We have one gas tank for the coach and the generator. To account for the generator fuel, we track how many hours we run the generator and average about half a gallon of fuel per hour.
Thank you so much. I’m going to check out your dry camping post!!
I know this isn’t related to your post, but did you guys ever consider work camping as a source of income? I’m worried my job won’t travel well and am looking at other options as sources of income on the road with my husband. Thanks and LOVE your blog! You guys are inspiring!
Hi Jenny – Yes we’ve looked into it and may consider it as a backup but our goal is to work for ourselves and make an income off this site and our YouTube channel. Thank you for the kind words! See you on the road.
Thanks for the tips. Didn’t know about TaxRates.com. We’ve been to Tennessee twice in the last six months and blindly paid without checking. Maybe we will stock up more in Texas next time (no food tax and lower sales tax). Safe Travels!
Hi guys. A couple of questions.
First – this is the second or third time you have mentioned Thousand Trails in your blog postings. Are you guys members of TT, and if so, I don’t believe I’ve seen an accounting of the membership costs in your monthly expense postings. If you are not members, how do you get to stay in these parks for free?
I also notice that you spent 24 nights “dry camping.” Given the states which you were in last month – and lack of BLM or other such locales in these states – where was this accomplished? (Walmarts, Harvest Hosts, Cracker Barrels, etc.?)
Peter – Great questions! We are not members of TT, however they have a blogger outreach program where they host bloggers at their campgrounds and we’ve been working with them. As for the 24 nights of dry camping, it was spread out among Harvest Hosts, casino camping, Cabela’s, truck stop, Cracker Barrel, Walmart and street/drive way camping with friends and family. Hope that answers your questions.
Yes Kait that certainly answers my questions. Great going on digging out the TT program. Kudos!