I’ve been a proud RV owner for ten years now, and honestly I wouldn’t change it for the world. That said, RV ownership can be expensive. This is something I learned early on, and while I still find it worth my money, many people may not agree.
Before you dive into RV ownership, it’s a good idea to really think about the costs involved versus how much use you’ll get out of the rig in order to make sure an RV is a good investment for you. Besides the cost of the RV itself, the items below are the expenses you’ll want to consider.
Storage
So far, because we live in our RV, we’ve been lucky enough to avoid storage fees for the most part. In fact, I can only think of a couple of times that we had to pay for RV storage, and those were while we were away on cruises. That said, someone who wasn’t planning to live in their rig full-time would need to find a place to store the RV when not in use.
In some cases, it might be possible to store your RV in your driveway or in your yard. That said, some people don’t have room for an RV, and some areas have rules against this kind of thing. This means many people need to take the cost of RV storage into consideration when figuring up the total cost of RV ownership.
We paid quite a bit to store our rig during our cruises. However, I know that those storing long-term would end up paying a lot less per day, especially if they didn’t require indoor or covered storage. I recommend shopping around until you find a price you like.
Fuel
Motorhomes are gas guzzlers, and a truck towing a trailer is no better. This means the fuel required to travel a long distance with an RV will cost a good chunk of change. In fact, when we were traveling quickly, it wasn’t unusual for us to spend $800–$1000 a month just on fuel. For us, this took the place of rent or a mortgage payment, but paying this amount in addition to rent or a mortgage would be a lot.
Obviously, your fuel costs will depend entirely on how far you travel and how often you move your RV. I recommend researching the kind of fuel mileage your rig might get, as well as thinking about how often and how far you might travel, and using that information to set an RV fuel budget.
Campground Fees
Obviously, you will need to park your RV when you’re camping. In most cases, this means paying some sort of campground fee—something you will want to include when adding up the total cost of RV ownership.
Honestly, we’ve gotten to the point where we don’t spend a lot on campground fees. We pay dues on our Thousand Trails membership and simply use that a huge chunk of the time. The rest of the time, we tend to boondock or stay in free or super low-cost city campgrounds. That said, we do budget some money every month for campgrounds, especially if we are planning on attending a meetup or hope to stay in a resort-style campground.
This is another cost that will depend on your RVing style, so you will want to do a bit of research on the different kinds of campgrounds and the costs associated with them. Knowing this—as well as how often you hope to camp—will allow you to figure out this aspect of your RV budget.
Insurance and Roadside Assistance
No matter how much (or little) you use your RV, you will need to pay for both insurance and roadside assistance. Thankfully, I have found that RV insurance is actually really affordable—even the Progressive policies that cover full-timers like us.
We pay for roadside assistance through Coach-Net, which has always been incredibly affordable and has helped us out of many tough spots. That said, other RV-specific roadside assistance plans are around the same cost, so you could easily choose a different company and your budget would stay relatively similar.
If you’re worried about the cost of insurance and roadside assistance, you can get quotes for both before you buy an RV. I always like to shop around when buying insurance for our RV, and I highly recommend you do the same to make sure you get the best coverage and price possible.
Maintenance and Repairs
This article absolutely would not be complete if I didn’t mention RV maintenance and repairs. These things are easily the most expensive part of owning an RV for many people, and they are an expense you will definitely want to consider when adding up the costs of RV ownership.
Personally, I found ways to lower this cost. I used YouTube to learn to do many of my own repairs. I’ve also figured out ways to use household parts in many spots in our RVs to ensure repairs are as sturdy as possible—and in some cases, save some money on the cost of replacement parts.
If you have a warranty, having repairs made by a professional makes financial sense. Otherwise, if you choose to take your RV to a shop every time it needs repairs or maintenance, you are going to be spending a pretty penny on this budget line item.
As you can see, owning an RV is not cheap, and there are many more expenses involved than many people realize. Knowing what sorts of expenses to anticipate before you dive in will help you understand whether you can actually afford to be an RV owner. If you can and will use the RV, I have to say that I highly recommend it. I have never once regretted diving into the world of RVing and would gladly do it all over again!
