Welcome To The Financial Information Main Page!

From this page you can quickly link to other financial pages that will aid you in determining what it takes to live on the road in an RV full-time.


Downloadable Financial Tracking Spreadsheets for Full-timers - Click Here For Details!



Financial Considerations

The Financial Considerations page is a detailed discussion that includes:

  • Our views on why most people are not financially fit to pursue their dreams
  • How we got ourselves financially fit
  • How to organize your financial records to see where you stand
  • How to translate your current financial situation to the road
  • A narrative explaining full-timing line-item expenses and establishing a moderate monthly budget
  • A summary of costs to live on the road

    Sample Budgets

    The Sample Budgets page sets forth three monthly budget scenarios:

  • Thrifty
  • Moderate (established on the Financial Considerations page)
  • Money Is No Object

    Our Full-Timing Cost Summaries

    Click on Our Up-Front Costs To Go On The Road to see what we (a couple that had never RVed before) spent to buy an RV and to get ready to start traveling.

    For an explanation of how we keep track of and record our various expenses, take a look at Understanding Our Full-Timing Costs

    Click on Our 2005 - 2014 Average Monthly Full-time RVing Expenses to see our first 113 months (almost 9 1/2 years) of Basic Living Expenses. We have analyzed all our expenses to come up with monthly averages and annualized averages. We have also broken the expenses down by months we workamped and months we didn't.

    In addition to everyday living expenses, we have had numerous, large, one-time expenses in our time on the road. Those expenses have been largely discretionary and incurred mostly to enhance our full-time lifestyle. To see these additional cash outlays, check out Our Major One-Time Expenses

    Our Actual Annual Expenses & Budgets

    We are still working on our 2019 Budget as we will be making a trip to Alaska, and we're still in the planning process.


    For our 2018 full-year budget, click on Our 2018 Budget. Click on Our 2018 Actual Expenses to see how we did against our 2018 budget.

    Note: Like 2017, 2018 was an abnormal RVing year and while there is more useful information in the 2018 numbers, it's still not a great representative year of overall RVing expenses.

    For a summary of our business income and expenses from 2006 - 2018, click on RV-Dreams Annual Business Summaries. 


    For our 2017 full-year budget, click on Our 2017 Budget.  Click on Our 2017 Actual Expenses to see how we did against our 2017 budget.

    Note: 2017 was a very strange year, and is the one year I would likely "throw out" as far as a good example of RVing expenses.


    For our 2016 full-year budget, click on Our 2016 Budget.  Click on Our 2016 Actual Expenses to see how we did against our 2016 budget.


    For our 2015 full-year budget, click on Our 2015 Budget.  Click on 2015 Actual Expenses to see how we did against our 2015 budget.


    For our 2014 full-year budget, click on Our 2014 Budget. Click on 2014 Actual Expenses to see how we did against our 2014 budget.

    For our 2013 full-year budget, click on Our 2013 Budget. Click on 2013 Actual Expenses to see how we did against our 2013 budget.

    For our 2012 full-year budget, click on Our 2012 Budget. Click on 2012 Actual Expenses to see how we did against our 2012 budget.

    For our 2011 full-year budget, click on Our 2011 Budget. Click on 2011 Actual Expenses to see how we did against the budget.

    For our 2010 full-year budget, click on Our 2010 Budget. Click on 2010 Actual Expenses to see how we did against the budget. And here is the link to Our 2010 Business Summary By Month.

    For our 2009 full-year budget, click on Our 2009 Budget. Click on 2009 Actual Expenses to see how we did against the budget. And here is the link to Our 2009 Business Summary By Month.

    For our 2008 full-year budget, click on Our 2008 Budget. Click on 2008 Actual Expenses to see how we did against the budget. And here is the link to Our 2008 Business Summary By Month.

    For our 2007 full-year budget, click on Our 2007 Budget. Click on 2007 Actual Expenses to see how we did against the budget. And here is the link to Our 2007 Business Summary By Month.

    For our 2006 full-year budget, click on Our 2006 Budget. Click on Our 2006 Actual Expenses to see how we did against the budget. And here is the link to Our 2006 Business Summary By Month.

  • The 2005 Actual Expenses page shows:
  • Month-by-month actual line-item expenses
  • Totals for our first five months of full-timing
  • Monthly averages
  • This page does NOT include amounts we paid up front before actually going on the road. For those expenses, including all insurance for the first year, go to the Our Up Front Costs page.

    • Insurance

    As you might have suspected, insurance is a major component of annual expenses. For us it will comprise 1/6 to 1/7 of our budget, and it will be an even bigger portion for others not yet eligible for Medicare. Our Insurance Considerations page provides links to detailed discussions about:

  • Health Insurance & Medicare
  • Life Insurance
  • RV Insurance
  • Vehicle Insurance
  • Umbrella Insurance
  • Other Insurance-type products

    Earning A Living On The Road

    As we have "retired" early and have no corporate pension, military retirement, or social security income, we will have to earn a certain amount of our expenses on the road. We are pursuing various income opportunities. The Earning A Living On The Road page provides suggestions for earning income and includes discussions of:

  • Workamping (Links to several pages)
  • Traditional Jobs While Full-timing
  • Working Out Of Your RV
  • Dream Jobs Dialog
  • Continuing The Dream
  • Property Caretaking
  • Income Producing Websites
  • A Little Advice

    Social Security Overview

    For those that will be relying on Social Security income or that are not sure about Social Security, the Social Security Overview page provides information on:

  • How benefits are calculated
  • How to estimate benefits
  • The effects of early retirement on benefits