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!
The Financial Considerations page is a detailed discussion that includes:
The Sample Budgets page sets forth three monthly budget scenarios:
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. 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.Sample Budgets
Our Full-Timing Cost Summaries
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
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:
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:
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: