Last Updated on March 31, 2024 by Jessica Lauren Vine
When you want to save money and have fun, you might be asking, “Is it financially smart to live in an RV?”
It depends on the lifestyle you plan on living. If you go out and splurge all of the time while you’re living the RV life, that’s probably not going to help your pocketbook. However, if you plan on being frugal, living in an RV can be financially smart.
When you look at RV living, it might be easy to think that there is no way living in an RV could be anywhere near the same price as living in a house. After all, a house is so much bigger. Wouldn’t that mean expenses are naturally more, so RVing will be cheaper?
Not necessarily.
Monthly Cost of RV Living
When we lived in our RV full time, our costs were pretty low.
We were traveling so we had fuel expenses which did add on some extra cost but we had figured out some pretty fancy ways to not have to spend more money than we needed while we RVed.
Here is our budget looked like most of the time we traveled:
RV Payment: $400
Food: $700
Fuel: $325
Cellphone: $275
Thousand Trails Payment: $45
Entertainment Subscription Services: $30
Car Insurance: $154
Life Insurance: $20
Weekly Special With a Kiddo: $60
Cool Outings & Fun: $350
RV Insurance: $98
Dates: $120
Laundry: $40
Misc for saving or anything unexpected: $1,000
4G Internet: $60
Game Pass: $11
This came out to $3,688, but if you take out the misc stuff, it would have only been $2,688. However, I always find that something comes out and ends up needing money for whatever reason.
Should You Live in an RV to Save Money?
If you’re reading this post, you’re probably wondering if living in an RV is going to save you money.
If you look at the costs above and you think you could get your costs to about the same and you pay more than that at your current residence, then you can probably save money. However, if the only reason you want to live in an RV is to save money, I don’t know if that is a good reason or not.
Living in an RV can be pretty tight, especially if you have kids and pets. And it can stress you out if the only reason you’re doing it is to save money.
On the other hand, if you enjoy RVing and you can save money or live in the RV for about the same amount, it’s a win-win situation.
Being Financially Smart in an RV
Just like in a house, you need to be financially smart when living in an RV. Find a budget and stick to it, and you’ll be able to pay off debt, work less, or whatever the goal is. Don’t find a budget and stick to it, and it will go the same way it did when you lived in your house—not good.
When Jessica was older and had a family, she took her crew on the road for 2.5 years. They lived in 2 different RVs during that time. One 18 foot long and one 28 foot long. Both pull-behind RVs.
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