One of the many questions people have when they first get started is, “How much does full-time RVing cost?” The answer to this question is unique to every person, couple, and family, and costs can range from hundreds to thousands a month.
When I first wrote this post in 2020 we had been on the road for almost a year as a family of five. Looking forward to our 2025/2026 travels we’re working with a much different budget than we did back then and one less person. Our oldest graduated high school this year and opted to stay home to pursue his career.
We still don’t know exactly what our costs will be since so much has changed. What we do know is that our costs will vary, but we are in much more control over those varying costs than when we live in our sticks and bricks.
It will take us a few months to figure out how far we can go and what we will do to keep our expenses low. I’ve always been good at budgeting and we’re good at keeping our expenses lower than our income, so I’m not too worried about the budget we’ve set.
So how will we keep our expenses low?
We’ll still avoid campgrounds as much as possible, choosing to boondock or dry camp for free on public lands instead. However, we will be able to stay in campgrounds this year more often than we’ve done in the past.
We don’t splurge on eating out at restaurants very often (maybe once or twice a month), and we plan our moves every two weeks based on where we want to go and how much it’ll cost to get there.
We have solar panels and an inverter so we only need to run a generator when there’s been no sun for a couple days or if we want to run our AC. We can find water to fill our fresh water tank for free just about everywhere we go (we don’t count it as a cost when we have to pay to dump our holding tanks) and we minimize our propane costs by following the warm weather as much as possible.
Here is our budget at a glance. I’ll explain each category in detail below.
- RV Insurance: $145/year ($12/month)
- Truck Insurance: $880/year ($73/month)
- Service and Parts: $250/month
- Diesel and Gasoline: $500-$800/month
- Food and Household: $650/month
- Phone/Internet: $220/month
- Propane: $150/month
- Laundry: $45/month
- Pet Food and Supplies: $45/month
- Entertainment: $75/month
- Campgrounds & Dump Stations: $500
- Miscellaneous: $75
Total Monthly Budget: $2595 – $2895
RV Insurance: This is what we pay for coverage on just the trailer. Our home insurance covers our belongings.
Truck Insurance: We try to keep our premiums low by having a higher deductible. We shop around every six months and haven’t found anything much less expensive for our 2013 F350.
Service and Parts: We don’t spend this much every month, but our expenses for maintenance on the RV and the truck amount to about $150/month. This includes oil changes every two to three months, tires for the truck and RV, batteries, and other expenses that randomly happen. Not everything needs to be serviced or replaced monthly or yearly, so anything we don’t spend in a given month goes into savings for those larger expenses that don’t happen as often.
We also include yearly registration fees in this budget item.
Diesel & Gasoline: This cost can vary widely, depending on how often we move and how far we go, how far away amenities like gas and groceries are, how often we need to run the generator, and the price of gasoline and diesel. Most months the amount is closer to $700, but it has been as high as $1000 during week-long drives and prolonged cloudy weather (when we have to run the generator).
We save money here by using cash back apps like Upside and membership programs such as those from Love’s Travel Stops.
Food and Household: We spend about $500 per month on groceries and $150 on other necessities like paper supplies and personal care items.
We keep this cost low by buying dry goods like oats and flour in bulk and cooking most of our meals from scratch.
Phone/Internet: We have one cell phone with unlimited data and mobile hotspot plus Starlink.
Propane: Also a highly variable expense, depending on the temperature outside and the cost of propane. We average about $150 a month. One 30lb tank of propane can last us anywhere from 12 hours to 10 days.
Laundry: Costs for a load of laundry vary by city and laundromat and even by machine. We’ve averaged $11-$13 for two loads once a week.
Pet Food and Supplies: Our Akita weighs around 90lbs but she surprisingly doesn’t eat much (at least by my standards). A 40lb bag of dog food costs around $90, which lasts her a couple months or so. Every so often she gets new treats or toys as well.
Entertainment: We’re making it a point to say “yes” to more activities this winter, so we’ve budgeted for at least one special event each month. This could include going to a zoo or museum, seeing a play, visiting a water park, or whatever else we decide to do or the kids would like to do.
This budget item also covers my husband’s online gaming play and purchases, which come out to about $10/month.
Campgrounds & Dump Stations: We didn’t have the budget to consistently stay in campgrounds our last time on the road, but changes to our income have allowed us this luxury this winter. Most of the campgrounds we plan to stay in will be government-run so we can take advantage of half-price camping fees.
Campgrounds can cost anywhere from $10/night to over $100/night. We try to stay under $30 a night, which allows us to stay in campgrounds 2 out of every four weeks, depending on our location. Dump stations are typically free, but we’re seeing an increasing number of businesses charge for the privilege, usually around $10.
Miscellaneous: A catch-all category for those unexpected expenses, plus other things like clothing, shoes, and school supplies that we don’t need very often.
What are some other expenses you may have?
Mortgage and Home Insurance: We purchased a home in North Dakota in 2022 and use that as our home base when we are not traveling. If you are maintaining a home while you are traveling be sure to include this cost when figuring your budget.
Campground membership programs: There are many of these available to help you save money on privately owned campgrounds. I strongly suggest you look into them if you plan on spending the majority of your time in campgrounds.
Park entrance fees: Most State and National Parks and National Recreation Areas are not free to visit. If you plan on frequenting these, consider purchasing a yearly pass. We have an America the Beautiful Access Pass that allows us access to all federal sites and gives us half off camping fees. Some states, such as Arizona, Montana, and Washington, to name a few, also charge yearly fees to access their state-run recreation areas.
Zoo and museum fees and memberships: We don’t visit these often, but we’ll take the time to visit a zoo or museum nearby if the kids are interested. Many of these have reciprocal programs that can save you money as well.
Homeschool curriculum and supplies: This expense can be as much or as little as you need. There is so much free material out there and homeschooling can be free if you choose to piece together a complete program yourself. We use Sonlight for our core curriculum, and our costs run around $500 a year for two kids now that we are reusing most of the curriculum from our oldest child.
Debt payments: Most people cannot afford to purchase an RV or tow vehicle and trailer outright, so debt payments would also be added to your monthly budget if you borrowed.
Medical Insurance and medications: Our family is covered by my employer’s group health insurance plan, so it’s not included in our monthly budget.
Tolls: We make it our mission to avoid toll roads, but it’s something to keep in mind when figuring out your RVing budget.
Clothing and Shoes: We don’t but new clothes very often, and items that we need to replace more often like socks are included in our Miscellaneous category.
Streaming services: This could be included in your entertainment budget if you’d like. We don’t pay for any streaming services and thus don’t budget for them.
Saving and Giving: As a financial coach I strongly recommend you save at least 10% of your monthly income and give at least that much as well. Check out my business website for more in-depth information!
RVing can be as expensive or as inexpensive as you wish it to be. How would you like to travel? Where do you want to go and what are your goals for traveling? Answering these questions and others can help you determine how much you will spend on your RVing journey.
Are there any expenses you’ve encountered that we missed here? Let us know in the comments! We’d love to hear from you!