Costs of Full-Time RVing – May 2019

May 2019 found us spending our time in the upper midwest states of Minnesota and Wisconsin. During the first few weeks of the month we were stationary at the home of a family member where we spent time visiting and helping them with a move into a new home. Once that huge job was completed we explored the west central part of Wisconsin for a few days then settled down for the last week of the month in central Wisconsin in our former home town where we visited friends and more family. 

A common misconception with outsiders looking at the full-time rver lifestyle is that our highest expense is fuel due to constant driving. Interestingly, our most expensive months over the past three years of rv life have occured when we travel minimal amounts. Instead of huge gasoline bills we tend to spend more on upgrades, repairs and general shopping when we are sitting still. A major reason for this is many of the products we buy are purchased online and being stationary makes receiving packages much easier. Also, when planning an upgrade we prefer to allow extra time to complete the projects as to not be rushed and risk having to move to a new site without being able to finish the tasks. 

Total expenses for the month of May were $2,272, over $700 more than our average expenditure of $1,500. The three areas that substantially increased this month were Communication, Food and RV/Auto expenses. The Communication category increase was due to adding a Verizon unlimited prepaid plan and purchasing a $200 hotspot. Internet access is very important to us with our chosen lifestyle and our hope in an additional plan is to ensure service in more geographical areas as we travel. We had heard rumors of the Verizon plan ending and decided to jump on the bandwagon before that occurred. Interestingly, Verizon stopped offering the unlimited plan two days after we activated ours. We’re not entirely sure if we will keep both the Verizon and AT&T unlimited plans in the future but for now this is what we’re going with. 

Total food expenses for May were $472, approximately $150 more than average. The majority of the added costs were associated with additional food and beverages purchases from both grocery stores and restaurants while in Minnesota helping our family with their move. Extra food, beverages and snacks were also purchased at the end of May for an upcoming June fishing trip in Canada. 

RV/Auto expenses were $547 for the month with a majority of the funds going to four tires for the Kia Soul and a window upgrade for the door of the RV. The Kia tires were a known expense that we had planned for but the RV window was an impulse purchase. Our door window, like most RVs, was frosted and impossible to see through. We saw a posting on a Facebook group where someone had replaced theirs with a larger, clear window with a built in blind and within minutes we ordered one. The install was relatively painless and the results are very worthy of the expense. 

The remaining categories of expenses for May were relatively stable. Follow along below for a complete breakdown of categorized costs