Saving on expenses

With the sharp increase in fuel prices, it's getting expensive to stay on the road for longer trips. So I was thinking about how to cut down some expense. My idea was to increase my daily trip mileage. If I travel one-third more distance per day, then I subsequently reduce the number of campground stays by one-third.

Assuming one campground visit after a 300 mile day, if I drive an extra 100 miles (300 vs 400) I can eliminate one campground stay every third time I do that. If the cost of a CG is $25, I will have saved enough to fill the motor home tank when I have done that ten times. Altho, I am not continually moving, I do put about 15K on the rig in a year and that's about six fill ups. Significant.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

If you're on a monthly budget, then you need to subtract the cost of fuel for that extra hundred miles. There was a point in time years ago when I would drive extra miles in a day to save on a one-night fee. Now, it seems that you can stay a night for less than it costs to drive a hundred miles ...

Even in my truck at 10 MPG on the road, a hundred miles is $30 ... and many of the MCG's are $15 - $20. So a night is less than 100 miles. In addition, if staying in NP CG's the Access pass allows an overnight fee of anywhere from $7-$12 ... so that's less a night too, than a hundred miles in fuel.

So, in general, in order to spend less per month on driving and CG fees, it makes more sense to stay in one place more nights if the fees are less for that extra hundred miles. Of course, when you travel a longer distance to see a different area, then shorter days and low fee CG's save money over a one-month timeframe.

Interesting concept that Skyking8 stated. But as a fulltime Rv'er, I'm not sure I agree. There's still (usually) 365 days in a year. Regardless of how far you travel, you need to spend the night somewhere. The number of nights in a year is one of the few constants. To me, traveling a further distance will only INCREASE your fuel expenses and has no relation to the nightly fee.

In my thinking, there's two expenses we can control that will affect the bottom line:
1) Fuel - drive less and save on fuel costs.
2) Camp fees - dry camp (free or low $), boondock (free), stay in one place longer and take advantage of weekly/monthly rates while also saving on no fuel costs.

I used to have a 2x2x2 rule, which is now a 2x2x3 rule:
Don't drive more than 200 miles in one shot. What's the hurry and save on fuel.
Arrive by 2:00pm - easier to find places to stay without a reservation, enjoy the afternoon, and I'm not setting up in the dark.
Stay at least 3 nights at that location. (3 nights of camping/RV park is cheaper than another 400 miles).

Since we can't live off my GI pension, we still work seasonal jobs about 6 months out of the year. We're currently working for the Forest Service in the Sierra National Forest. This GREATLY helps reduce expenses. Our monthly expenses for May was only $782!!! If interested, our actual monthly expenses for the past 3 years are available on my personal website.

I do put about 15K on the rig in a year and that's about six fill ups.

Either your're getting FANTASTIC mileage, or you have a HUGE fuel tank! 15K is 37 fill ups for me!

RE: "can't live off the GI pension". No kidding!! But then that's another topic.

Totally agree the extra 100 miles costs as much as a night's stay. But since I have to drive those miles anyway, I'm going to use the same amount of fuel for a given total trip distance. The only thing I can cut cost on is the number of campgrounds in a given driving period/distance.

The dry camping idea is a good one. I get in the habit of doing the full hookup thing without making that decision. Bad habit.

It does make sense to stay longer if the CG fee is significantly lower that the fuel cost per day. I have an access card, use state/federal parks, WalMart, do the discount card thing, etc. But then there is also an issue for us with that. The CGs that are in that category aren't necessarily in close vicinity to the places or events we took the trip for in the first place. Then I end up spending more money driving the tow vehicle getting to them.

We've twice been volunteer CG hosts, which really does cut down on monthly expenses. Neither of them worked out well, tho. The park staff forgets the meaning of volunteer and they like to control days off way too strictly. The next time we're going to get paid for the trouble.

Larry, if you have some pleasant experiences with those seasonal jobs, I'd be interested in learning about them. Email me at the web address listed. I promise not to compete for them.

No, monkey, I get the same crappy mileage that everyone else does. I just made a swag at what I thought I might be able to save if I skipped a campground every three days.

I had an idea that I thought was worth pursuing to really reduce costs. It's kind of a no cost time-share. If a select group of RV'ers had the space for a second pad on their property, then they could share it with someone else who had the same. I have two pads on my property. One for me that we live on in the rig, and one for quests. So far, I've only been able to convince one of my friends to do that. Perhaps I need more friends.

Rick

Rick -- I was thinking more full-timers too, when I said what I said, because then the "night-cost" is thirty nights a month regardless of how far you travel between them. And in that case, the 100 miles extra is not relevant -- unless for those extra miles you also include an "on-the-road" stop, for example in a rest stop or a boon-docker instead of a CG.

But if someone is generally at home when not camping, the entire $$$ picture changes. Or if on a "vacation" or "on leave" then the more miles you travel, the more days at the sites where you're heading ...

[code:1]I have two pads on my property. One for me that we live on in the rig, and one for quests.
So far, I've only been able to convince one of my friends to do that. Perhaps I need more friends. [/code:1]

Invite us and send us an address - we'll be there for as long you'll let us stay! Just kidding (mostly) But we do enjoy staying with friends that have the 2nd RV hook-up. It's a great way to help with the expenses, but it's also fun to be with friends.

As far as seasonal jobs (workamping) - this is our third season and 4th seasonal job. Three have been good, but not fantastic. However, we would go back to any of the three. Just expect to make minimum wage and ready to work. When we take a job, we both want 40hrs a week and a free RV site (FHU). Since many seasonal workers are a bit more elderly than us, they don't want to work much. We've never had problems finding seasonal work. I'm managing this year and still have an open position for a maintenance person, includes FHU site.