One Year Financial Summary

Jan 2, 2018

Before starting out, one of the most helpful things I could find on other blogs were details of budgets.  Based on those numbers I guessed I could come in around $600, and after traveling for the last few months of 2016 I revised that number to $650.  To avoid ever being stranded without money, my number crunching sets my available budget at $800 so even a major issue won't be an issue.

Although the numbers didn't line up correctly in their categories, I still ended up pretty close to my proposed budget.  There were more repairs than I planned for (muffler, two new batteries, valve adjustment) and Rabies shots for the cats in July messed up the health budget a bit (also the price of my thyroxin more than doubled in Dec because apparently the plant is in Puerto Rico).  I spent almost nothing on clothes and less than expected on lodging.  Some time in friends' driveways cut the gas bill down as did same friends and family buying a few meals.

Most of the descriptions make sense, but 'food' should be called 'grocery' as it includes food, cat food and accouterments,  anything small I might pick up at the store and probably some clothes.

'Gym' is for Planet Fitness that I started mid year to have a guaranteed place for showers.

Dumping my tanks and getting water (when I had to pay for it) falls variously under 'entertainment', 'lodging' or 'misc' depending on what else I did (stayed overnight, spent the day in the park, etc.

Item	Proposed	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	average	total
Gas	150	176	96	91	97	139	69	48	135	153	71	161	189	118.75	1425
Propane	8	29	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	24	0	0	0	4.42	53
Food	250	370	370	286	354	312	216	230	387	303	300	209	318	304.58	3655
lodging	20	5	29	0	0	56	15	0	45	0	0	0	0	12.50	150
Insurance + tags	50	30	30	30	30	51	51	51	51	51	51	51	51	44.00	528
maintenance	20	0	46	11	185	0	0	60	36	0	15	57	0	34.17	410
emergency	20	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	276	0	222	0	41.58	499
entertainment	20	0	25	0	0	24	35	25	15	0	5	31	25	15.42	185
gym	23	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	58	19	19	19	11.17	134
misc	10	15	0	0	11	19	22	31	0	0	0	103	5	17.17	206
phone	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40	40.00	480
health	10	25	0	0	20	0	0	89	0	20	0	0	71	18.75	225
laundry	5	0	6	0	0	5	0	9	0	8	0	5	5	3.17	38
clothing	20	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	11	0	0	0	0	1.42	17
	646	691	642	459	737	646	448	588	739	933	501	898	723	667.08	8005

Obviously I adjusted the 'proposed' column when I added the gym and the insurance/tags went up but everything else was set at the beginning of the year.  For 2018 I'll adjust the numbers again to reflect the reality 2017 provided and set a budget for about $670 a month. 

Hopefully there won't be so many repairs this year.

Financial Reckonings

I really dislike discussing personal finances but I found it frustrating while reading other blogs that many folks don't talk about costs.  Everyone starts from a different financial springboard and how can you know if your plans are realistic if the only numbers you see are for people working on the road and spending $2000 to $5000 a month to live?  I can't do that with having to work, and the whole point of this is to not work any more.  So for other cheapskates exploring ideas, here's the breakdown so far:

'Rigadoon:  $4000 + $450 for tax and license.
She came with an excellent engine, new shocks and new tires.  All the appliances worked when they had the rig and so far each one I've tested has worked for me.  I did have to shell out $45 to get the belts tightened and have a bracket thingy replaced on the tailpipe.

She has no generator, air conditioning or tv - and this is exactly what I wanted.  Generators are noisy, air conditioners require shore power and I've got piles of dvds to keep me entertained without trying to manage finding tv stations.

Solar:  $450.  Includes 2 100-watt panels and an mppt controller.  I estimate that this is twice what I'll need, but it's only a guess based on other peoples' experiences.  They sell these things as kits for your rv so really, there's no excuse to not get one.  Installation can be pricey, I've heard, but the Main Man (MM) will install this one when I head back to Western WA,

Inverter:  $160.  1000W Pure Sine Wave.  Since I will mainly be using it for computers and other finicky electronics I wanted the more spendy pure sine wave type to protect my stuff.  The 1000W I estimate to be 4X what I'll need, but the MM pointed out that you can always use less, but if you need more, you're in trouble.

Sealants:  $120.  Includes a variety of supplies.

Toilet Seat: $51.  Yes, a FIFTY DOLLAR cheap-ass plastic toilet seat.  Makes me mad every time I think about it but the one in the rig was both broken at the hinge and cracked on the seat.  I would have happily duct-taped it to the bowl to keep it from sliding, but sitting on cracked plastic is just not something I'm prepared to do in support of frugality.  Curiously, the broken seat has the remnants of self-stick Velcro on it.  I just can't imagine what they were doing...

Upgrades and small fixes: ~$50.  Includes led lights, new porch light cover, adapter so seatbelt doesn't smack me in the neck.

Foam pad: $90.  The over-cab bed is very firm and has a few bumpy spots where the cab-cover is.  I ordered a custom size slab of medium-soft foam to put on top to make it more comfortable.  It comes tightly wrapped in what seems like six rolls of plastic wrap.  Remove all that and it springs back into shape like magic.

    


Assuming I've forgotten a few things, my total so far is right around $5400.  Less than the cost of a used car and far less than paying rent in Seattle.  'Rigadoon gets around 15mpg so she's also my only vehicle.  Insurance for full-timing in her is about $27/month including towing - less than what I was paying for the Chevy S10 although with a bigger deductible.

Cheap sleeps

The first thing you learn when planning a low-budget RV trip is that most Walmarts allow you to spend the night in their parking lot for free. The second thing you learn is that most casinos offer the same benefit.

The Walmart thing is so well known that there are lists of every store in the country along with a notation about allowed parking. Most of the 24-hour stores are okay with it although a few cities don't allow overnight parking anywhere except a street or your own house – and that's assuming you aren't asleep in your vehicle.

I've done a couple WM parking lots now and it isn't too bad, if you can get past the floodlighting that create a perpetual dawn in your rig and the occasional semi groaning by to make a delivery. If you have felines in your camper you also have to put up with being trampled half the night as your travel companions need to race from window to window to watch what's going on.

Most of what they see is late-night shoppers and other sleepy travelers, but I did come across one vehicle that appears to have taken up a permanent residence in the parking lot and they came with a lot of shouting and name-calling in the middle of the night. The cats were enthralled.

Last night I tried my first casino parking and it wasn't bad either. Also flood-lit but much less traffic and there doesn't appear to be any permanent residents, although maybe it was the lot I chose. The Tulalip Casino has signs directing Rvs to a specific area which actually feels welcoming and reassuring – and I imagine it makes them popular with the retired travelling crowd that enjoy a good meal and don't mind dropping a few coins in the slot machines. The lot is spacious with lots of pull-through slots, close to the entrance of the casino.

It looks a lot like a campground without hookups.

I ended up in the employee overflow parking lot along with a few other introverts that all attempted to park as far away from each other as possible. The early arrivers got the prime areas along the edge next to the trees while everyone else kind of staked their claim on a row of parking spots.

It was glorious. No generators running half the night, no late-night partyers making a commotion as they came home, just background traffic noise and the whistle of the train somewhere off in the distance.

I still got the occasional ice-cold paw in the middle of my back since the lighting meant something might be visible, but for the most part the kitties seemed content to settle at one window and wait for the show to come to them.

Sadly this casino does not appear to offer free coffee, but there's always another one a little further down the road.