How Much Does Will It Cost To Travel Full Time in an RV? 11 Questions To Ask Yourself.
We frequently get asked how much it costs to travel full time in an RV. This is a complicated question and there are many variables. Below are 11 questions you’ll need to ask yourself (and answer!) to calculate your personalized estimate!
Will you be financing an RV and secondary vehicle or will they be paid off?
Many people sell their houses when they start traveling full time, and use the profits to buy an RV and vehicle with cash. This eliminates two monthly payments right away, and is a great idea to do if you’re able. If you’re not, and you have to finance an RV and vehicle, you can check out these payment calculators to see what your monthly payments might be. (If you don’t know how much an RV costs, keep reading…)
2. How Much Does An RV Cost?
Just like a car, a house, or anything else with many variables, answering this question takes a lot of research and decisions about what you want in an RV.
A few quick questions to ask yourself…
Do I want new or used?
What type of RV do I ideally want? A Motorhome (Class A / Class B / Class C) or trailer (5th wheel / travel trailer)?
Do I want all the bells and whistles or or am I ok with a more basic model (with the option to add upgrades later)?
Where am I looking and how far and I willing to travel?
A good source for pricing out RVs and their various options is www.RVtrader.com.
Find out how to choose the right RV (and which one we chose!)
3. What kind of insurance do I need for my RV?
You’ll need full time insurance for your RV and auto insurance for your vehicle.
Just like car insurance, RV insurance prices vary greatly based on:
the age and value of your vehicles
your driving history
what your domicile state is.
Get quotes from multiple providers to find the best price and coverage! Geico and Progressive are two popular companies that full time RVers frequently use.
4. What do I want to budget for RV Campground fees?
This is the largest monthly payment for some full time RVers, and for others it’s the smallest. This is mainly based on travel style preference. We’ve met people on the road who only stay in fancy RV resorts, which can cost over $100/night! We’ve also met people who exclusively boondock, which can be done for FREE in many places.
Boondocking can be done more comfortably if you have good batteries and solar. We enjoy boondocking, but don’t do it all the time.
You can check out our boondocking setup HERE.
Campgrounds and RV parks average $40-60 per night. You can get weekly or monthly discounts at many parks.
Monthly rates vary drastically, just as apartment rents do. Location and amenities can cause monthly rates to be anywhere from $400/month to thousands of dollars a month.
We utilize campground memberships in addition to boondocking, which saves a ton of money. Our Thousand Trails membership was an upfront investment, but now we stay at their parks for free, all over the country.
You can learn about our Thousand Trails memberships HERE
5. Gas budget for full-time RVers. What should I budget?
Our Ford F-350 is diesel, and besides food, fuel is our biggest monthly expense!
Monthly fuel costs depend on:
how much you travel
fuel prices wherever you are
what your vehicle’s MPG is.
This is a cost that varies a lot but can be controlled. One month, we drove from California to Michigan and spent over $1,500 in fuel! During other months, we stay in the same location all month and spend closer to $200-$300.
If you find yourself needing to save some money, stay put longer and travel from place to place less frequently.
6. What are my food costs going to be in the RV?
It will be more expensive. Depending on where you plan on doing most of your travels, we suggest adding 10-20% to your current grocery budget.
More remote places have small, pricier grocery stores and it’s hard to buy in bulk when living tiny with limited storage.
7. What will my RV utilities cost be?
The only utility we pay for is propane. We cook with propane, enjoy propane fire pits on cool nights, and when we are boondocking, our fridge runs on propane. Propane refills for our 7 gallon tanks range from $3-$5+ per gallon, which results in a monthly expense anywhere between $20-$40 per month.
If you stay in an RV park for a month or more, they often charge for water and electric usage. We’ve never stayed at a park for a month, so we haven’t paid a water or electric bill since 2018!
If you’re wanting to stay in an RV park for longer than a month, ask an employee or someone else there what those monthly bills tend to be for that location. RVs are not as well insulated as a house, so extreme heat and cold can result in a large electric bill (we’ve heard of $500+ for a month!).
8. What Internet plan do I need for my RV?
We work on the road, so staying connected with enough data is very important. There are quite a few options you can go depending on your data needs.
We have found Starlink to be the most reliable internet option BY FAR. Ever since we upgraded to Starlink, we can travel to really remote places for extended periods of time, where before Starlink, we couldn’t stay long since we had to have signal for work purposes.
It’s been a game changer for us, and paying $135/mo after the $599 investment for equipment was well worth it.
Read more about our experience with Starlink so far →
Thanks to Starlink, we were able to cut our expensive cell phone data plans. We went with cheaper plans from 3 different carriers to so that we always have at least some cell signal from one of them:
Our Visible plan is $25/month, runs on Verizon towers, and offers unlimited hotspot data.
Our Mint plan ranges between $15-$40/month depending on the data we need and runs on T-mobile towers.
We also have an unlimited AT&T data plan for $20/month for our iPad that comes with 10 gb of hotspot data.
Another popular internet option for RVers right now is T-mobile’s unlimited home internet.
9. What do I like to do for entertainment?
Eating out at new restaurants and paying for all the tourist traps can be fun for a vacation, but an expensive habit for a full-time RV traveler!
If you live like a tourist, you’ll spend a ton. If you look for free activities, you’ll save a ton.
We search online for “free and cheap activities in (name of city)” to find things to do.
We always invest in a National Parks Pass each year for free entry to National Parks, Monuments, Forests and more for only $80. (free if you have a fourth grader).
We also get a museum membership each year for $125 that gives us free admission to museums all over the country.
10. What do I do for Health Insurance as a full-time RVer?
There are many options for full-time travelers that you can read about in detail HERE.
We didn’t have health insurance for over six years, and have simply paid cash for the few times we needed medical treatment such as dental cleanings. We have found many ways to save on health costs, such as finding a dentist in Mexico that charges a fraction of what US dentists cost, and getting routine blood tests done through Jason Health rather than paying for a doctor’s visit.
A few months ago we decided to get some extra coverage through a health share organization, which isn’t insurance but it’s similar. After exploring our options, we decided on Christian Healthcare Ministries. Prices vary based on many factors, and you can read more about it HERE.
11. What kind of Emergency Fund do I need to RV full time?
Having an emergency fund is imperative. This is important whether you live in a house or an RV. Things break. Stuff goes wrong.
I can’t give you an exact amount that you need to have put away for emergencies, but I guarantee that the more you have, the less stressed you’ll be when unexpected things come up that you have to pay for!
If you aren’t comfortable with your current emergency fund, budgeting $200-$400/mo for routine maintenance, repairs, and replacements can help with costs like new tires and a random mobile repairman visit.
Summary
Hopefully now you see that there’s not a one size fits all answer to the popular question of how much it costs to travel full time in an RV.
It can be cheaper than living in a house for some, and more expensive for others, based on all the factors listed above.
Have questions? Did we forget anything? Let us know in the comments below!