The cost of October 2013
At the beginning of October I was just crossing over the North Cascades National Park way up at the top of Washington State. I now sit parked (have been sitting for a few days) way down at the bottom of Oregon State. While less than 600 miles separate my starting and ending points if taking the shortest route, my route took me on more than 1500 miles… a bit more than my average month’s traveling distance.
The additional mileage wreaked havoc on my regular gasoline expenses (and my sanity). At times I refilled my 35 gallon fuel tank only two days after the previous refill. Normally I refill once per week. The extra fuel was not due to wasteful driving, but to ensure I see the main sights of Washington and Oregon while I am here as I have no plans to return any time soon. The trip around Olympic National Park, the trip up to Mt Rainer + Mt St Helens, and the trip up to Crater Lake were all large consumption of extra fuel that did not contribute to the 600 miles between the beginning and ending points of my travels.
With that said, my gasoline expenses in the month of October is the highest in one single month this year. More than 50% more than my normal month in fact. Combined with the added days I spent camping at the Moose Lodges waiting for Olympic National Park to open (at a cost of $90 for the month, also double my norm) my total travel costs came in at $542 for the month. And then there is the kick in the stomach of 11.92 MPG for the month thanks to being at sea-level and the added congestion of the Seattle/Portland areas.
Continuing the heavy spending trend, my total food cost jumped back up above last month’s sub $200… and I was feeling mighty good about last month’s success. While I have still done well in my grocery shopping, my increase in dining has to do with my will to socialize while parked at the Moose Lodges. I go in for the weekly dinner, or have a few beers with the guys watching Monday Night Football, it all adds up and not budgeted for in my finances… or my belt size.
I had to recharge the minutes on my phone again (my last time was back in July) for another $47 dollars spent. I found another few pairs of pants in my size (still a rare occurrence) so I grabbed them at another un-budgeted cost of $65 in clothing. I also joined a new gym early in the month so there are two gym memberships being charged currently, further adding to my financial woes.
With all the additional spending over the month I ended well over my van-dwelling goal of “less than $1000 per month”. I am not going into the red by spending $1200 a month, but I do enjoy meeting a challenging goal, and my $1000-goal has been fun to achieve, and is a heart-breaking when not. I will surely make up for it in November as my travels will take a short pause during that time.
My year-to-date figures:
Gasoline total: $2581 in 2013
Food total: $2,648 in 2013
Camping total: $557 (189 nights total)
Gasoline: $8.49 per day
Food: $8.71 per day
Camping: $1.82 per day
I liked the way you posted with facts, pics, expenses and figures. I just started traveling for the first time 2 wks ago. Im stuck at Wal-mart until Dec 1st when I get my retirement check and then its off to traveling with “New Places & New Faces”. Im just starting out but my van is very prepared. Ive had ALL fluids flushed including rear axle along with NEW plugs & plug wires. Ive spent $1,200 in so far for preventative mechanical expenses as well as a solar panel, batts, single bed etc… Ive got an edge because I belong to the VFW, American Legion & the Moose so I will be staying in their parking lots during my travels. Hopefully I dont get towed off so Ive bought their appropriate front display plastic license plates. I would ask for permission to park but more than likely they would say NO. So I just do it anyway. I always park in such a way that the front display plate shows so that they wont think Im a non-member parking on their lot plus I assume that they will just think at closing that Im just a member that had too much to drink and got a ride home. I just cant see spending $25+ a night at an RV Park when I can just park for free. Rv parks are well over rated when they say stay here and make new friends. I was an Rv Park maintenance man for 2 yrs and I never saw other rv’ers cook out together so to sat that rvers meet new friends is wrong. But from what I saw most rv’ers keep to themselves and leave after just 3 days so its well over-rated. I dont drink but I do enjoy the commorodery of BS’ing with other members where ever lodge / post that Im at, at the time. My wife passed away last year so Im trying to re-invent myself. Ive tried dating but women my age (50) have allot of drama as well as grown kids with their hands out. Thats not for me! Seems like men per the stats dont remarry over age 42 but women will marry at any age so as to survive. I tend to agree. I prefer a Professional Escort instead. Less drama. For security Ive rigged up a switch so that if someone is messing around outside I flip a switch and the yellow strobe light on top as well as a back-up beeper go off. Perhaps the bad-guy will just think its a “Proximity Alarm”. Never had to use it yet though. For cheap / eating Ive been going to the nicer motels between 6am &9am for their free breakfasts. If I were to get caught I would just simply say that I didnt think that I could check in until 10am and that I was just waiting for everyone to check out by the 11am time. (fact) Ive not been caught yet so it does work. If I did get caught, the $60+ room cost would be well deserved once in a while. Im not a thief over a free $1 breakfast when you consider that I always treat myself once a month to a motel room anyway regardless of the cost.
I only go to nice motels because they have self serve eggs, bacon etc.. The small chains have only cold cereal and sausage gravy that looks like plaster. Who wants that? After eating breakfast I always take some of their tea packets as well as some fruit which will be my free lunch later. I only do this at the same motel / hotel 2-3 days in a row because thats the average stay for a typical tourist. I would think sooner or later they (staff) would catch on so I switch it up and keep a log of when I was there last. When doing this I always look clean-cut with a button-up shirt, lap-top and note pad. Ive even smoked and joked with staff and they never knew I wasnt staying there.
“Sticking It To The Man”!
Hi Patrick.
The Moose Lodges are happy to allow Moose members to overnight in their lots. I would assume the same for VFW and Legion. I regularly stay at Moose Lodges, but also make sure to leave a donation of $5-10 per night (depending if I use their 120v power or not). If you are a member, I think you will find more “yes” answers to your request than not.