Category Archives: fulltimer

 I’m sorry, but I have to say this seems like a pretty silly question and I’m not sure why it was even asked or if maybe not all of the question was written down? ???

Okay, so you want to go full-time living in an RV and you want to know who is responsible for your expenses? Uhm, hello! YOU ARE!

You want to go full-time living in an RV and you want to know which expenses you are responsible for? Uhm … ALL OF THEM!

Okay, I’m thinking I only got part of the question. So I am going to analyze and deduce and adjust my resulting answers accordingly, to see if I can figure out what it is you meant to ask here.

I can see three scenarios that could result in this question:

Scenario #1) You are a teenager or young adult still living with your parents and getting ready to go off on your own or maybe go to college and are planning to move into an RV for however long. Not having any money of your own you feel it is your parents responsibility to pay for your RV expenses and they disagree with you and so you are now asking me what it is that you are supposed to be paying for on your own and what your parents are supposed to pitch in.

My answer to Scenario #1) : As a teenager or young adult just starting out, it is understandable that you may at first need some help to get by while you are first on your own. Now moving into an RV is a big step for anyone and even more so for someone just starting out on their own. What expenses should you pay for yourself? Ideally all of them. If you do not yet have a job, my first advice is to start looking for one, BEFORE you move out on your own, and than save every penny until you have enough saved up to be able to support your RV lifestyle for 3 months. Than move into the RV and continue to work, while using your savings to pay for the first few months expenses. After this point you should be settled down to a routine enough to know how much your expenses are and be able to live quite well on your income.

Okay, so maybe you do need your parents to pay for a few things to help you get started. But try to be reasonable about it. Think about the expenses you ACTUALLY NEED and do without the ones you SIMPLY WANT. You don’t NEED $50 a month internet access when you can use free Wii-Fi at Starbucks or public libraries, at least not when you are starting out. You don’t NEED $75 a month TV when you can watch free movie and TV show DVDs from your library – you can get by for the first few months without TV. You don’t NEED to start out with a brand new $150,000 motorhome when you can get a 5 year old used one for a $1,000 off Craigeslist.

So you are just starting out, what do you need? The RV for one thing (including registering, insurance, maintenance, repairs, etc.). Food to eat. Water to drink. Gas to get from your parking spot to work. And a place to take a piss. That’s it. Nothing else. Not one solitary thing. Everything else is a WANT, not a NEED. Those things cost me under $150 per month. I live quite well on my $2,000 per year income.

If you are working a regular job, than you are making no less than $7.50 per hour, which is $848 a month if you are working part time and $1,200 a month if you are working full time. And Honey, if you are living in an RV and your expenses are over $200 per month, than something is seriously wrong with your spending habits!

Now if you are still looking for a job, than you may have to ask your parents for help, yes. But don’t just ask for them to pay your bills for you! No! Ask for a loan. Ask for a loan LESS THAN $3,000. You can live in an RV very well, for a year, with $3,000 and by the time that money is gone, you should have a job and be able to both support yourself AND have enough to pay that $3,000 back.

Now …….

Scenario #2) You are a couple about to leave in your RV and the wife is saying the husband must foot all the RV bills, while the husband is saying the wife should, or maybe one of you wants each to pay half and the other disagrees, or maybe one of you wants to pay for everything and is refusing to let the other help out, and so on and so forth. Unable to agree which of you should pay for what you are now asking what I think.

My answer to Scenario #2) : As a couple, this is harder to answer. Lots of factors are involved here. I know some men who absolutely refuse to allow their wives to hold jobs or spend money. I know some wives who are so “independent” that they refuse to allow their husbands to pay a penny for anything. There are couples that divid all bills in half equally. Others each pay for what they use, keeping everything separate. And for each of the above there are dozens of variations in between.

To answer your question requires you look at how you are handling money matters right now. Is your current set up working for you are a couple? If so than there is no reason to change it.

Personally I think it is best for each to pay his own way, and split the stuff you both use. or example, if you put $200 worth of gas in the RV, each of you should pay $100. If only one of you has a computer and uses the internet, than only that person should pay ALL of the computer and internet bills. This is the easiest and most fair solution.

A quick list of your expected expenses includes:

Cost of the RV itself.

Cost of a tow vehicle, if needed.

Cost of the toad, if you have one.

Registrations, inspections, and insurance for each of the above. (Remember that an RV is a house and needs BOTH auto AND home owners insurance.)

Gas for each of the above.

Oil, batteries, and repairs for each of the above.

Power supply: electric hook-ups, solar panels, wind turbines, generator, propane, etc.

Water supply: tap hook-ups, self contained tank storage, etc.

Food.

TV, phone, and internet if you chose to have any of these.

Any health insurance and medical supplies you need.

Clothing, bedding, furnishings, etc.

If you have pets or children, anything they need.

These are you basic expenses which all RVers have. Anything over that is extras.

Tip:

While it may be tempting to start out in a new RV, keep in mind that a new trailer costs $35,000 – $150,000 and a new motorhome costs $75,000 – $300,000. It is also temping to rush out and get a loan so you can buy a new RV. Stop and think. You’ll be paying for that new RV every month for the next 20 to 30 years. Do you REALLY think you’ll still be living in that same RV 20 to 30 years from now? What about interest? Whatever the price tag is, you’ll be paying nearly twice that amount if you pay via a loan, as a result of 20 to 30 years of interest (and possibly late fees). Think too about resale value. 30 years from now you’ll have a hard time selling your $300,000 coach for $5,000, IF you can even get that much for it. Look around the used lots: those $5,000 motorhomes are only 5 to 10 years old. You can always buy a big/newer/better RV later when you are better able to afford to pay cash for it.

This post was written by Wendy C Allen aka EelKat, is copyrighted by The Twighlight Manor Press and was posted on Houseless Living @ https://houselessliving.blogspot.com and reposted at EK’s Star Log @ https://eelkat.wordpress.com and parts of it may also be seen on https://www.squidoo.com/EelKat and https://laughinggnomehollow.proboards.com  If you are reading this from a different location than those listed above, please contact me Wendy C. Allen aka EelKat @ https://laughinggnomehollow.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=viewprofile and let me know where it is you found this post. Plagiarism is illegal and I DO actively pursue offenders. Unless copying a Blog Meme, you do not have permission to copy anything appearing on this blog, including words, art, or photos. This will be your only warning. Thank you and have a glorious day! ~ EelKat