In this article, we’ll discuss our Full-Time RVing Expenses for our first year on the road.
Some of the most asked questions we get from people are about Full Time RVing Expenses and budgets. When we started dreaming about hitting the road full time, the costs were our biggest concern.
A lot of people think that living in an RV is inexpensive. While it can be, some even believe it’s free or nearly free. Let me stop you there—it’s not! A more realistic expectation is that RV life will cost similarly to living in a sticks-and-bricks home, especially in the beginning.
Still, there are a lot of ways to save money along the way. Our expenses may not mirror yours, but we hope this breakdown of our first year’s costs will give you a solid starting point.
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Fixed Full Time RVing Expenses
Just like a traditional mortgage, full-time RVing comes with fixed costs. Ours included:
- RV Loan: ~$800/month (our “mortgage” on a 2019 Thor Challenger 37YT)
- RV Insurance: $161/month for our Class A motorhome, $77/month for our toad (Jeep Wrangler)
- Registration & Taxes
- Cell Phone & Internet Plans
- Streaming Services
- Mail Forwarding Service
Variable Full Time RVing Expenses
These change month to month but are just as critical to your budget.
Camping Costs
Campgrounds will likely be your biggest expense unless you’re boondocking a lot. A 50-amp full hookup site averages $35–$45/night, but we’ve paid as much as $80.
We saved big by using a Thousand Trails membership. We purchased a used Elite Basic Membership through Campground Membership Outlet for $4012, which included:
- Up to 21 nights at any of the 90 Thousand Trails campgrounds
- Park-to-park privileges (no time out required)
- Trails Collection upgrade (100+ Encore Parks, 14-night stays)
- RPI Membership for additional options
Over our first year:
- Nights stayed: 132 at Thousand Trails properties
- Camping Value: $7356
- Total Camping Spend: $11,275 (42 total campgrounds, all memberships included)
- Average Cost per Night: ~$31
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Additional Camping Memberships
- Passport America – 50% off at member campgrounds (some conditions apply)
- Good Sam Club – 10% off nightly rates, Camping World & Gander RV discounts
- Military Campgrounds – If you’re a DOD cardholder, these are often clean, safe, and affordable
- National/State Parks & Corps of Engineers – Great value when available
Fuel Costs
Our setup: 38-foot Class A gas motorhome (Ford V-10) + toad (Jeep Wrangler)
- Total Miles Driven: 9,800 miles
- Average MPG: ~6
- Fuel Used: 1,504 gallons
- Average Cost/Gallon: $2.77
- Total Fuel Spend: $3,945
- Cost per Mile: $0.40
Propane
Used for the furnace and water heater.
- Total Used: 84.5 gallons
- Average Cost/Gallon: $2.94
- Total Spend: $249
We saved a lot by switching to a small ceramic heater and using our RV’s electric fireplace for heat during cold spells.
RV Repairs & Maintenance
Since our rig was new, costs were minimal:
- Total Spent: $127
- Tip: For our Ford F53 chassis, we used a local Ford Truck Dealer for affordable service.
Food & Entertainment
We’re skipping detailed numbers here because they vary so much depending on your lifestyle. But in general:
- Eating out = higher costs
- Grocery costs = location-dependent (Whole Foods vs. Walmart)
- Entertainment = hiking and kayaking = free, while events and tours can add up
Full Time RVing Expenses – Our First Year in Numbers
| Category | Cost |
|---|---|
| Camping (incl. memberships) | $11,275 |
| Fuel | $3,945 |
| Propane | $249 |
| Maintenance & Service | $127 |
| RV Insurance (Motorhome) | $1,933 |
| RV Insurance (Jeep) | $924 |
| RV Loan (Est. Annual) | $9,600 |
Total Estimated Cost (not including food/entertainment): ~$28,053
Conclusion
Our first year of Full-Time RVing flew by—33 states, 9,800 miles, and countless memories. If you’re just starting out, this lifestyle can absolutely be affordable if you plan well and make smart choices.
We hope this budget breakdown gives you a realistic idea of what to expect. If you have any questions or want to know more about how we manage costs on the road, feel free to drop a comment below or reach out!
Related Posts:
- RVing for Beginners: Essential Tips for Your First Trip
- Trip Planning for RV Living: Why We Use RV Life Pro
- RV Surge Protection & Electrical Management Systems – Protect Your RV from Power Damage
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Rob & Lisa,
Thank you for the informative article on full-time RV living expenses. I am curious, what is workamping? We have been dreaming of making the leap to fulltime rv living, and started with your article on expenses. I would like to learn how fulltime rvers supplement their income.
Thank you
Hi Erica,
Thank you for your comments. I’m retired military so our primary income is from my military retirement income. We supplement that income with a rental property that is our fallback if we need to move back into a sticks and bricks home down the road. With Covid ruining so many of our plans this year we started Workamping. Workamping is doing a job for an RV site or money or both. We were lucky and found a great gig in South Lake Tahoe where we worked at the beach kiosks made an income and got a free full hookup site at a Forest Service Campground. If you are looking for more info on Workamping check out workamping.com. Let me know if you have any other questions.
Thanks again,
Rob
Wow, one of the places that I enjoyed my stay most is the time I spent staying in the RV..staying as a different world for me as I had issues with my house at that time and only resort I had was to switch to my dads old RV. After the switch it took time for me to blend in as you know it a confined space so it would take some time to get used to it…but when it comes to expenses the rv is very costless as apart from feeding there is not much you can do.
Thank you for your comments. It does take some time to get used to living in an RV. We went from a 2100 SqFt home to about a 300 SqFt motorhome so that much downsizing does take some getting used to. We love it thought it has been a blast so far.
Wow, thanks for such a awesome and informative article on Rving. I have always dreamed of Rving but thought it would be way too expensive. After reading this post I have come to realize Rving can be attainable. Rob I am so happy you and Lisa are able to live a lifestyle that many can only dream of. Happy Rving and I wish you guys the best of luck! Thanks again for such an insightful post.
Hi CeCemorgan, Thank you so much for your kind comments. Yes RVing is very attainable if you’re able to budget well. We see so many people finding different ways to make money on the road while RVing. Everything from online stuff to workamping. It has just become a simple way of life for us.
Hi Rob / Lisa; I Just finished reading. You have done a good job here. I’ve reviewed a few posts today that have been a bit much if I’m being honest. Anyway, really enjoyed reading this you must be having the time of your life. It’s interesting how you describe the costs and how people can save money. I’ve never heard of the camping membership you mention but it seems worth the money if people are traveling for this long.
Are you doing much to fund your travel or have you saved up? Would be interesting to read something about money making ideas for on the road. I see a post earlier about selling photos online this is a good idea I think? I read another post earlier and I was thinking of doing the same myself with the pictures I take traveling but you must see all sorts. Will look forward to reading more in the future. Best regards; Alex
Hi Alex, Thank you for your great comments. We are having a great time. Even with the Coronavirus stuff going on now we still try and enjoy as much as we can. The camping memberships are definitely one of the best ways to save money on the road.
To fund our travels we sold one of our homes to purchase our motorhome so we have some savings from that. I have retired military income and we also have a rental that brings in some income. We have thought about possibly doing some workamping in the future.
I will probably be doing some articles on making money on the road in the future. I have seen some of the posts about selling photos online also. I love taking photos during our travels so to have some that could make money would be amazing.
Thanks again for your comments,
Rob
I didn’t see anything about food in your actual expenses. You did eat, I assume. That and entertainment are missing from your actual expenses. Otherwise, a well-written article. I thought you did a great job of explaining about the cost of running an RV the whole year. I wasn’t aware, Im not a camper, really, that you could buy a membership to different campgrounds. I think it’s great that you got your membership at a discount, as well.
Altogether, a well-written article! I am impressed!
Good luck to you!
Walt
Thank you for taking the time to read our article. One thing I did mention in the article was that I would not cover our food and entertainment costs as these costs are so varied and personal that what we spent would be greatly different from others.
We have found that what we spent on food before hitting the road has not changed to what we spend now.
As for entertainment while we still enjoy the same types of things we don’t have access to a lot of things like we did when we lived in Vegas so our entertainment has changed from paid events to free things like hiking, kayaking and sightseeing. Our entertainment expenses would have been no value for others since we went from seeing over 100 shows a year to around ten this past year. We think if your entertainment choices don’t change from what you are already doing then the expenses would remain the same.
Thank you for your comments
Rob
Thanks a lot for sharing your experiences. I’ve been trying to replace go RVing for a whole year since 2015, but guess what, our daughters came along (Thank god!). This experience with the Coronavirus quarantine has made my wife and myself to think if we could get in charge of their education for a month, why wouldn’t we be able to do that for a complete year?
The main disadvantage we have, we plan to keep our home to get back to it, which means that our adventure is intended to double up our cost of living. $7,263.00 is an insane amount and this article is making me believe in the feasibility of our project. Fuel shouldn’t be our greatest expense as we expect to expend some time on each destiny. I love the idea of getting a membership from the MembershipOutlet (good idea to save some money!).
Thank you for your comments. There are a lot of people we see in our travels that are raising their kids on the road. I think with people having to basically home school their kids right now with the pandemic more and more of them may hit the road with their kids.
We sold our main home and kept our second home we use as a rental, so that brings in a bit of income to help supplement us. There are definite ways to save money on camping. A lot of people do what is called workamping, where you work a certain amount of hours for your site. The memberships has been our main way to save so far but will possibly workamp down the road.
Sounds like an amazing lifestyle. I’d love to get some kind of ride, smaller that an RV and just go on loads of different road trips. The Thousand Trails membership seems to have saved you a lot. Yeah, you’re right about food and entertainment, the expense on that is the same whether you were in a house or the RV. The great thing you mention is the hiking, sight seeing and being out and about. If you do that you make your own entertainment and it’s healthy. I wish you continued enjoyment in your wonderful dream, thank you for sharing.
It has been an amazing trip so far. Thank you for reading our article.