Reflections on RVing--Budgeting

‘Tis the season for reviewing the budget for next year.  I usually look forward to this discussion for two reasons.  The first is I like to see how close to the budget we stayed during the past year.  The second is because I am always anxious to see where we can increase monthly expenditures.  I can always get into spending more money.

This year, we took a real hit in the maintenance category.  Even though we have a line item to cover scheduled maintenance and repairs on the truck and trailer, we had almost spent the entire allotment for the year by May.  Buying the Everest has actually helped in that category.  Even though we have had it in for service several times, everything has been covered under warranty.

Buying the Everest, however, was nowhere to be found in this year’s budget.  When we originally decided to embark on the full-time RV lifestyle, we anticipated doing this for several years.  Consequently, we had budgeted for a second RV.  We did not anticipate getting it so soon.  Now, this unit will have to last until we tire of traveling.  Oh, dear.

The other area which ended up over budget for the year was groceries.  On average, I was over about $30/month.  I have learned over the past couple years that groceries is one of those categories which varies greatly from region to region.  Food in the Rio Grande Valley was very cheap and in Washington state fairly expensive.  Nashville is more moderately priced and I have been under the monthly budget since we got back to Tennessee.  Because we are planning to spend the winter in Florida and heading to New England for the fall, we increased the grocery budget by $30/month.

Other budget items which vary by region are campground fees and fuel prices.  Our fuel was under budget for the year.  Again, the prices of fuel were much cheaper in south Texas where we spent the winter.  Of course, fuel prices were much lower everywhere this year than last year.  Fuel was more expensive in Washington, but we did not tow as much during the 6 weeks we were in that area which kept our overall fuel costs down.

Our campground budget is $28/night, but we try hard to find something for less than $25.  We have done very well in this category this year.  Campgrounds vary widely in price, but as you would expect, they are more expensive near major attractions.  Since National Parks are generally a major attractions and that is where we want to be, sometimes we have to search pretty hard to find something suitable within the budget.  We have learned a few tricks.  Many campgrounds offer weekly and  monthly rates.  Sometimes it is cheaper to get a weekly rate and only stay 5 or 6 nights than to pay the nightly rate.  Same thing is true for a monthly rate.  If we are in an area which offers a lot of hiking or other attractions we are interested in, then we often stay a month.  Not only do we get the cheaper campground rate, but we also save on fuel as well.

Another area in which we were over budget was gifts.  What can I say, I have a new granddaughter.

In the beginning, when Gene was planning for our retirement, he adjusted our yearly budgets to reflect a 3.5% inflation rate.  We’ll get that small increase when our funds mature and become available to us for 2010.  So, we get what we get and there is no more.  Staying within the budget is crucial.  When thinking about where we would make adjustment for the coming year we always look at the big items first.  Our largest budget categories are campgrounds, groceries, fuel, maintenance and health insurance.  Health insurance is set and we have no control over that. Our rate this year is increasing, but not by much. Thank you, Lord.  Campgrounds have been under budget and even though we will be in the east where they tend to be a little more expensive, we plan several monthly stays so will leave that item unchanged.  Fuel has been under budget, but because we raised it last year to accommodate the higher fuel prices of the previous year, we are actually thinking about lowering it for the coming year.  The Everest will be under warranty until the middle of April, and since it is new, we don’t expect huge repair bills.  We have new tires on the truck and don’t anticipate anything major for it.  Therefore, maintenance will remain the same.  As I mentioned, groceries will be increased by $30/month.  I guess all the extra can be spent on Kayley.

Budgeting is a difficult but necessary task.  Staying within the budget allows us to continue to live our dream.  I have written about how we came up with a budget in a previous journal.  There are three entries (July 31, Aug 2, Aug 3, 2008) in the New York journal which deal with planning for retirement and other budget considerations.

Now, I think I’ll go Christmas shopping.