What does one year of RV living cost? We share everything in this video! Let us know what you think 🤔 Thanks for watching! Joel, Deb & 🐕 Maya

Ouch! Oh well you guys had fun!! We also back the Blue our son is a Sheriff 😊

True Blue Tuesdays is a great idea! Thanks for including us in the start of this movement 💙👏 Alaska sounds fun, but you might want to set that budget a little higher this year 😅😂

True Blue Tuesday is awesome. Let’s keep our law enforcement supported.

Maybe you two should be the first people to have a container garden (filled with vegetables) on your RV roof! Stay in budget! 😆

Wow! That’s a very comprehensive and detailed list. I tried to keep track for a future video but after 1 month I threw in the towel and couldn’t do it anymore. Thanks for not calling any of us out by name that cost you $$ by going out a lot when you were in town. LOL!

"The ones who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." *Motivation

Deb blew the budget by buying more Christmas decorations for the RV this year, LOL😜 ~ Shion and Matthew

Chris and I are looking forward to helping you guys with your budget this year!🤣🤣😁😁

Great review. It’s that time of year for budget reviews.

Great info! The past year killed budgets! 😫 Love the transparency about your budget. Looks like you covered it all! Ouch! Ken and I really need to follow a budget 😅 Woohoo! This Minnie Winnie should save $$$ for sure! Love the True Blue Tuesdays! We ALWAYS back the Blue! 💙

True Blue Tuesday.....outstanding idea! TY

We Full Time mostly in Thousand Trail System and visiting family in the Spring/Summer. We traded our paid for home for a big truck and a fifth wheel. Over the last two years we usually are at only 3500 per month. But with one time expenses and other surprises etc we hit an average of 4000 over two years. I save money by doing almost all of my repair and maintenance work.

Yeah, we went over a bit too! 😄

Thanks for the information, we are in the process of selling our “primary” sticks and bricks. To be “most”timers. 😁

Thank you for sharing. It is very similar to our experience as well.

Ok it's official you spent way more than us!!! 😉-Kyle

It is always surprising how much you actually spend in a year .. we have yet to stay in budget 😔. And we completely agree that FRIENDS are the reason for our spending...lol

Nice! You definitely got it going on. Love it. TU✌️😁

Whoa! Your honest budget kinda scared me with concerns as we get ready to live in an RV. I know,..everybody's budget is different, but my "emergency funds " need to be much bigger!!😂 Thank you so much for your budget review, it helps us a lot for planning. Yes! Back the blue!-Jen & Kurt, MN

I work in LE over in MN and we are going to hit the road when I retire too, although I have about 5 years left. These budget video are great for future planning, so thanks and best of luck!

I think everyone blows their budget 🤣 Entertainment and restaurants are our budget busters, lol. Here's to a better 2024 (maybe?)! 🍻

Cool. Thanks for the breakdown. We typically live this lifestyle for under $30k/year. As you know, the FT RV lifestyle can be lived many different ways. We've been FT for 5 yrs in a 1999 National Tropical Class A gasser with a 2006 Chevy Cobalt SS toad. It has proven to be very reliable over the years and hasn't seen the inside of a repair shop (other than for a $2,300 set of tires we had installed last year when the last ones aged out.) We only average around 4,500 miles a year on her now that we've settled into this lifestyle. We put about 3 times that on our 30-mpg toad. We travel from coast to coast almost every year. Last year we visited 10 states. When we stay in RV parks, which is rare, we always find inexpensive ones and pay the monthly rate. For example, last winter we stayed at the Angler's Nest RV Park in Los Indios, TX (near Brownsville) for only $170/mo (+ about $85/mo. for electric). The main way we save money is by boondocking, which we did for 8 months straight last year. Not only does this save us a ton of money, but we get to live in some of the most beautiful, wilderness areas imaginable, not wedged in an RV park, lined up with other RVs like sardines in a can. To do this it helps if you have solar (as well as large tank and battery capacity). We have a custom built 560ah LiFePo-4 battery and a 620 w liftable solar array on the side of our MH. We lift it to the optimal angle to boost its output by 20-30% vs flat mounted panels - even more in the winter, when the sun is lower in the sky. It serves as a nice bedroom window awning too, practically lifting itself to the desired angle with a couple gas struts, and it's easy to clean standing safely on the ground. It cost us less than $1,500 to build this 560ah, 12v battery using 280ah prismatic cells, including a 330-amp BMS and 5A active balancer. We chose these cells rather than a pre-built battery because they fit perfectly under the steps of our MH where our old pair of golf cart batteries used to reside, saving 35lbs too. We insulated the battery compartment, cut a 1" hole in our step risers and installed a tiny computer CPU fan to keep this space at close to room temperature, so we don't have to worry about the BMS shutting down charging if they get too cold - or their life reduced from getting too hot. We use an 80A Progressive Dynamics LFP converter/charger, a 1,000w Renogy PSW inverter, an Epever 50a MPPT charge controller and a Lnex battery monitor. This entire 12v system cost us under $3,500 to build and takes care of all of our basic off-grid needs except for air conditioning and microwave use. By mounting our solar array on the side of our coach, we left the roof free to rack 8, 550W Sungold Power solar panels (4,400 watts) down the length of our 35ft MH, 15" off our roof, above our AC, fan shrouds, etc. When done, they will cover the entire roof, providing some nice shade with plenty of cooling air underneath, further increasing solar output and reducing the heat load on the air conditioners too. We bought them for only 51 cents/watt shipped to our door! We're in the middle of this build now. Our solar panels, wiring, breakers, etc. arrived a few weeks ago, but we're taking our time to get everything installed over the winter in Yuma this year. At 67 yrs. old, we're moving much slower these days. Our 48v battery bank will use 16, 320ah grade A prismatic cells which only cost us $1,726 from EEL batteries and our 200a 48v Heltec BMS was only $140. So together with our 560ah 12v bank, we will have a total of 23.5 Kwh of batteries onboard - kept charged by over 5,000 watts of solar. We are installing an EG4 28.5 seer-2, 12k btu mini-split heat pump on the rear. This 48v phase will provide 24/7 off-grid air conditioning, supplemental heat from the heat pump and allow occasional usage of our rooftop mounted Easystart equipped Furrion AC in the front of our MH during peak afternoon hours, as well as give us 6,000 watts of whole house 120v ac power. It also eliminates the need and expense of electrical hookups when we do decide to stay in an RV park or campground. A system this size would cost around $25-$30,000 if we paid someone else to design and install it, but the total budget for our do-it-yourself system, including the $1,500 heat pump is around $11,500. We save far more than this in RV park and CG fees each year by boondocking and it's a one-time expense for a lifetime of electricity. This allows us to keep our onboard generator in reserve for emergency use only. Take care, we hope to see you down the road!

Love watching you guys having fun. Who knows? Maybe someday we'll have friends come visit us! 😉😂 Stay safe!

So we have decided budget and are being just do not go together. Campground costs killed us this summer at west. We totally get the pet cost. Would you believe Alvin had an absence tooth and Sadie? We spent almost a 1,000 in december. It was painful. We totally agree that you spend more when you hang out with friends. 😊 But it's so totally worth it! 😁 Have a great week. ❤ Lynn and Danny

Good report. Living full time in a RV is not as cheap as some think it is. We had a slow travel year as part timers. Only 20 states about 30 campgrounds and just over 9600 miles. We were in some states more than once but you can only count a state the first time you go there in the year. Campgrounds you can count every time you cheack in.

Well I can still swing that but….thats a big jump from last year. Food and eating out is ridiculous now. Great video 👍🏼 Boondock more 🤷🏼‍♂️ you do have a big bus and toad. We’re small and won’t initially have a toad. Maybe later but we’re going to try it without one. Because we’re so small.

Thanks for sharing! Very informative.

Yeah, our budget got blown this year too; especially with building the cabin. Great video. Looks like you covered it all.

We are doing Alaska kin 2024 as well. Maybe our paths will cross sometime.

Great video

I never dreamed it would be that high. God bless you guys 🙏 Somehow I have a feeling 2024 and the trip to Alaska is really going to break your budget. I watched another channel and they spent your entire yearly budget just in Alaska. They were there for just under six months.

Hey guys this was seriously really great to put put. This is so helpful for others to see and really know what being on the road full time can cost. I really don't see that you left much out and it was good to show the unexpected. I do think you may land under that budget next year cause of having to get the new car? Also that smaller rig should be cheaper on gas? You should start prepping and maybe u can love off the land in Alaska? 😊 loving the True Blue Tuesday! Another Great Episode!

I don't even think that number included depreciation? I might have missed it. Our original plan before we sold our house 2 1/2 years ago was to do the RV thing but I didn't want to make huge purchases that depreciated. So we slow travel internationally instead and it is way cheaper. We average about $3k a month.

Thanks for sharing all of this info. It really is helpful for those of us in the planning stages. Love how it’s always the friends fault lol! Love True Blue Tuesday and are so happy you started this!!! Side note - I assume your budget does not include an RV payment? How long will your trip to Alaska be? Safe travels! ~ Mike and Shelley

Thanks for sharing. Did you adjust your expected budget for 2023 up to account for some inflation? If you didn't, then I say you didn't do too bad especially with the unexpected expenses. We are looking at doing Alaska in 2025. Everything is more expensive in Alaska. We are really not "budget" people. We try to be frugal where we can so we have more to spend on the things we enjoy. Might have to set a budget for 2025 though (and stay away from friends). Back the Blue!!

Yeah you went way over budget, your both retired and you only live once so enjoy it ! Maybe ditch all your friends, that might free up some money. lol . That class c Minnie Winnie looks pretty cool. Actually considering getting something similar for smaller parks but would keep our diesel pusher. Also is it cheaper to register your Rv in SD ?

WOW

Go blue!

How do you like your Magna Shade? We bought ours but haven’t installed them yet. How is the installation with the magnets? Any tips? Class C here. Thanks!!!

No more friends!

I say blame those pesky friends that make you go out to eat! Ha! Ha!