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Saturday, June 2, 2018

2016 RV / Camping Costs

    

I found this entry, written in January of 2017, sitting in the drafts box just waiting for proof reading and publishing.  Enjoy this trip back in time as we dig through the fun of RV finances!

I find it prudent to review our campground expenses for the previous year to have a realistic outlook for the year or years to come.  That way if I ever consider truly retiring, instead of the seasonal employment I enjoy now, it will be supported by strong financial data, rather than hopes and dreams .  But piecing together the costs is not as easy as it was when living in a house.  Before selling our Nebraska home we could add up our utilities, taxes, and insurance (and mortgage before we paid the house off), and that was how much "lodging" cost.  Each next year would be essentially the same, and very easy to plan for. 

     But now that we stay at places varying from in cost from free: through our membership or the kindness of friends; to beyond $50 a night at private campgrounds, you can see the annual cost could range greatly.  And while we have enjoyed staying with family and friends (driveways, side yards, farms and however else possible), I recognize that planning an annual budget around the generosity of others is foolish and actually kind of rude. 

     So let's break it down, night by night, on how last year's costs looked so we can have a plan for the years to come.  And perhaps some of you that have considered RV travel, full-time or otherwise, can get some perspective on what it might cost you too.

Our stays can be essentially broken down into three major categories: friends/family, Thousand Trails membership, and "pay as you go" campgrounds.  The last category includes reduced rate campgrounds through membership affiliates, military campgrounds available only to members of the services and retirees, as well as Corps of Engineer, County, State and National Parks, and even the rare KOA. 

Since we hit the road a few weeks after the new year, we stayed in the RV for 342 nights in 2016. 

85 nights - Military campgrounds
     Blue Angel Recreation Center (Pensacola, FL)
     Oak Grove RV Park (Pensacola, FL)
     MacDill AFB Famcamp (Tampa, FL)
     NAS Jacksonville Campground (Jacksonville, FL)
   
Military campground cost: $1763 ~ $21/night

        *A large portion of my stay in Pensacola was reimbursed by the Navy when I was put on military orders for work, reducing the effective cost per night considerably (to about $9/night).  Granted, I had to work to have those 50 or so nights at military campgrounds comp'd, so using the actual rate perhaps better reflects real expenses in a "retirement" scenario. 

112 nights - Friends and Family
     An unbelievable number when I look at it, but we were blessed with some awesome visits with many friends and family, some lengthier than others.  And their generosity cost us a total of $0.

9 nights - State Parks / Forests
     Kanawha State Forest (West Virginia)
     Sam Houston Jones State Park (Louisiana)
     Keystone State Park (Oklahoma)
     4 Mile Creek State Park (Niagara Falls, New York)
     Letchworth State Park (New York)

State Park / Forests cost: $225 = $25/night

27 nights - Corps of Engineers (COE)
     Lavonia (Texas) - Our close to "home" option

COE cost: $810 = $30/night

14 nights - Resort Parks International (RPI), A "Thousand Trails" partner giving us reduced priced camping.
     Yogi Jellystone Park (Louisiana) -
            1 night @ $10 (discounted cost) vs $65 (list price) = $10
     Royal Coachman (Nokomis, FL) -
            3 nights $30 (discounted cost) vs $52 (list price)   = $90
            5 nights $15 (discounted cost) vs $52 (list price)  = $75
     Skyline Ranch (Virginia)
            5 nights $15 (discounted cost) vs $70 (list price)   = $75

RPI resort cost: $250 = $18/night    RPI savings: $331
*RPI "membership" costs us $120 annually, net savings: $211

92 nights - Thousand Trails Campgrounds
    Our primary membership, allowing free stays at any of 80+ campgrounds (3 in Florida), with some limitations.

     Since we stayed at so many different Thousand Trails campgrounds, from Texas to Florida up to New York and back, I won't list them all.  But each shares the same cost: $0!

Annual Fee: $545
Total 2016 costs for Thousand Trails - $545

Cost per night ~ $6 (includes all water/sewer/electric costs)*


That leaves us with a couple of random stays at Casino parking lots, KOA's, and that sort of thing, which ranged from $20-$55 per night.

All in all, the 342 nights cost us a grand total of just near $3400, or just about $10/night or $300/month.  Not bad considering it covers water/sewer/garbage/electric bills.  And property taxes are a thing of the past.  Even insurance on our trailer is reasonable at $75 per month for great coverage, though with a relatively high $1,000 deductible. 

If we really wanted (or needed) to reduce expenses, we could bring our "housing" costs down to as low as $545 for the year ($1.50 per night or $45 per month) if we stayed exclusively at Thousand Trails year round.  But that would limit our ability to visit friends and family considerably.  It's nice to know we have this option should we face some sort of unexpected financial turmoil.

   
*The rate for Thousand Trails seems too good to be true... and it is.  In 2015 we paid an initial membership price of $3450 second hand.
This seems pretty steep, but it can be resold for at least $2,000 should we no longer find ourselves traveling.  When considering net membership costs of about $1,500, average costs for the first year were $22 per night.  Reasonable, if not cheap.  But every year we stay at Thousand Trails properties, average costs per night fall.  For example, if we stay only 58 nights at Thousand Trails campgrounds in 2017, our costs would average less than $10 per night in 2017.  And our two year average, including membership cost, would be brought down to $17 per night.  2018 would bring the average down even further, and we would soon be at a point where renting or owning a home would seem astronomically expensive by comparison.  

     So we've got a good bit to go to really benefit from Thousand Trails based strictly on cost/savings, but that's fine with us, because we foresee a long future of RV life.
    

     
    
    

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