The cost of Jan 2013
So I made it through my first full calendar month “full-timing” alone in the van, and without any major place to travel too. For the most of the month I was in Arizona. Only the final days did I just poke into New Mexico, although I didn’t get far down I-40. With cold weather threatening, I stayed 5 consecutive nights at an RV park, which is rare for me to sit still that long. At the end of the month I got to sum up all my spending, which I was looking forward too.
Since I do not have a mortgage or rent, I budget $500 in ‘traveling costs’ each month. This is primarily gasoline, but I also include my camping and RV park costs in this. I do all I can to keep my driving to a minimum… just enough to keep me from being bored, but no more then needed on any given day. I try to plan only one location to visit per day, then find a place to rest (camp) the rest of the day. $100 per week on gasoline is one complete fill-up per week and that is my target. This month I spent only $335 on gasoline to drive 1391 miles this month (I am towing, so my MPG is suffering by about 20%).
Normally I go out of my way to not pay for sleeping. My work demands long hours on the weekends so if I do stay at an RV park it is only Saturday’s when I need power, but only if I am at a place I can not have my solar array out doing the job. Add the $75 on top of the $335 for gas, for the 5 nights at the RV park in that final week and I’m still ahead of my budgeted $500.
Food is my next largest item. Between groceries and dinning I spent $254 dollars, which is a lot higher than I want. The rare occurrence I dine-out usually consists of me happening upon a Denny’s at the right time in the morning. It was the $208 in groceries for the month of January that has caught me off guard. $30-40 of that has got to be beer, so I’m cutting that out right away! The rest I will just have to squeeze back down to my $150 per month expectation.
My normal monthly “utilities” consist of my cell phone, storage back in Colorado, and my gym membership. I did have some additional expenses that are out of the norm; I purchased $150 of shooting supplies from Cabella’s, $135 towards car insurance (twice a year), $80 towards the annual National Park pass (once a year), $40 loss at a casino.
This is so much better than throwing away all that money in rent {big smiles}
