RVing With The Fergs

Our Budget Plan and Some Statistics

The Fergs - Our Full Timer's Budget

Since we have been on the road full time, I have tweeked our budget several times. Here is the newest plan we are living by. Each to their own..... this is ours.

These are the part of the budget that we can control. These vary month to month depending on how much and where we travel.

Note: These figures are from 2017, Texas resident, fulltime RVers.

	$ Bugeted
Campground & RV Park Fees¹	225.00
Cat Supplies²	40.00
Clothes³	35.00
Entertainment⁴	40.00
Fuel - Gas for RV⁵	250.00
Fuel - Gas for Toad⁶	150.00
Food - Groceries⁷	500.00
Food - Dining Out⁸	65.00
Gifts & Tithes⁹	55.00
Household Items¹⁰	100.00
Maintenance - RV¹¹	40.00
Maintenance - Toad¹²	15.00
Misc.¹³	100.00
Medical & Meds¹⁴	50.00
Propane¹⁵	15.00

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These are our fixed costs each month.

Health Insurance - Donna¹⁶	243.51
Verizon Wireless¹⁷	126.50
Dish Network¹⁸	50.02

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Clubs, Memberships, & Annual Bills (per month)
Thousand Trails¹⁹	51.73
Escapees²⁰	3.33
Costco²¹	4.59
Allied Insurance (RV)²²	99.00
Good Sam Roadside Assist.²³	8.75
RV Liscensing²⁴	18.13
thefergs.com²⁵	4.15
Elks²⁶	8.67
FMCA²⁷	3.34
Progressive Insurance (Toad)²⁸	66.50
Resort Parks International (RPI)²⁹	13.25
Passport America³⁰	3.67
Jeep Liscensing³¹	7.78
SKP Mail Service³²	9.59
Sam's Club³³	3.75

$306.23 goes into savings each month. Bills are paid when they come due.

Campground fees include any additional fees like 50 amp service or Internet, etc..
Cat Supplies - Soft Food, Crunchies, Litter, Treats, Toys.
Clothes.
Entertainment (entrance fees, movies, books).
Fuel - Gas for RV.
Fuel - Gas for Toad.
Food - groceries. Meals at home.
Food while dining out.
Gifts & Tithes, Holiday or Birthdays.
Household Items (clothing, cleaning supplies, sewing material, pet supplies, etc.)
Maintenance for RV.
Vehicle Maintenance for Jeep.
Misc. - anything not covered.
Medical - Dr co-pays, Meds, OTC
Propane - RV, BBQ, Firepit
Heath Isurance - BCBS Blue Advantage Silver HMO 002 (Texas) for Donna (I have Medicare).
Verizon Wireless - 16 gigs (Jetpack), Samsung Galaxy S5, Apple IPhone 6
We own our equipment and use the Dish Network Pay-As-You-Go Plan
Thousand Trails - RV clubs and memberships.
Escapees - RV clubs and memberships.
Costco Membership.
RV - Allied Insurance through Miller's Insurance.
Good Sam Roadside Assist. - In case of a breakdown.
Texas registration fees for Motorhome - $217.50.
thefergs.com - our website & email
Elks - RV clubs and memberships.
FMCA - RV clubs and memberships.
Toad - Progressive Insurance through Miller's Insurance for Jeep.
RPI - Resorts Parks International - RV clubs and memberships.
Passport America - RV clubs and memberships.
Texas registration fees for Jeep - $93.35.
We use Escapees Mail Service out of Livingston, TX.
Sam's Club membership.

Campsite Fees and Fuel for RV get adjusted each month due to our projected travels. Leftover money goes into savings for Emergencies & Unexpected Expenses.

There you have it.

That is $ 2,406.26 per month (for us). You can spend more or less. This is just the way we do things. As of May 2017.

It is all up to you.

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Some Interesting Statistics.

Full timing started July of 2012 (house sold), retired June 3rd, 2013, hit the road in September 4, 2013!!

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	2018	2017	2016	2015	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010	2009	Totals

Thousand Trails	39	125	262	162	142	100	33	3	0	0	866
KM Resorts	0	0	0	0	12	10	0	14	11	0	47
RPI	2	7	0	24	43	38	2	2	8	0	126
Elks	7	114	9	17	10	5	0	0	0	0	62
Escapees	0	18	7	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	27
Passport America	0	0	4	0	3	3	4	0	0	0	14
Good Sam	0	7	1	0	0	4	6	0	0	0	18
Boondock	18	71	50	101	40	5	1	0	0	0	279
Moochdock	0	65	0	10	19	79	58	0	0	0	231
State Park/National Park	0	12	15	11	2	8	0	2	2	2	54
Corp of Engineers	0	3	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	6
Casino Parking	1	12	8	27	19	1	1	0	0	0	69
House Sitting	0	0	0	0	0	39	68	0	0	0	107
Camping World	0	0	0	0	2	3	0	0	0	0	5
Other	0	25	36	66	105	73	15	13	8	4	345
Yuma Ferg Base	84	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	108

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Miles driven Motorhome In April - 885 miles
Total miles driven Motorhome (since 3/1/2018) - 1,080 miles
Miles driven Sentra In April - 902 miles
Total miles driven Sentra since 1/29/2018) - 3,147 miles

Highest price of gas used - $ 3.489 4/24/2018 Palmdale, CA Sams Club
Lowest price of gas used - $ 1.369 2/28/2016 Chevron at Livingston, TX

Number of States camped in - 25
Longest drive between camp sites - 495 miles (Oct 7, 2014)
Shortest drive between camp sites - 0.5 mile

Number of States Geocaches found in - 24

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Monthly Stats (Last Month)

Stats for April 2018 - 30 Nights

Total nights camping
- Yuma Ferg Base - 11
- Thousand Trails - 14
- Elks - 5

Average Cost per Night - $3.00

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Year Four On The Road Stats

September 2016 thru August 2017
Miles towed/travelled - 8,610
States vsited - 10
States Camped In - 10
New States - 0 Number of times setup camp - 62
Average days camped per stop - 5.89
Campground fees for the year - $1525.70 $4.18 per night
Highest average camping fees Month - $15.36 per night for August
Lowest average camping fees Month - $0.00 per night for Sept, Feb, June

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Year Three On The Road Stats

September 2015 thru August 2016
Miles towed/travelled - 7,802
States vsited - 10
States Camped In - 10
New States - 2 Number of times setup camp - 48
Average days camped per stop - 7.63
Campground fees for the year - $1258.38 $3.44 per night
Highest average camping fees Month - $12.05 per night for December
Lowest average camping fees Month - $1.14 per night for May - August

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Year Two On The Road Stats

September 2014 thru August 2015
Miles towed/travelled - 8,830
States vsited - 14
States Camped In - 14
New States - 6 Number of times setup camp - 71
Average days camped per stop - 5.14
Campground fees for the year - $2173.74 $5.96 per night
Highest average camping fees Month - $12.24 per night for September
Lowest average camping fees Month - $0.97 per night for August

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Year One On The Road Stats

September 2013 thru August 2014
Miles towed - 9,252
States vsited - 19
States Camped In - 17
Number of times setup camp - 69
Average days camped per stop - 5.29
Campground fees for the year - $2612.17 $7.16 per night
Highest average camping fees Month - $14.55 per night for September
Lowest average camping fees Month - $0.25 per night for June

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Our Membership Campground Statistics

Good Sam Club - We belong to the 'At Large' chapter of the Washington State Good Sams, and take advantage of the 10 percent discount when traveling, if there is nothing better available.

Elks - We belong to Columbia Basin, WA Lodge # 1930 in Moses Lake, WA. As traveling Elks, we have access to many camping opportunities at Lodges and Elks parks around the contry. Good places to stop. Good prices.

Escapees - We plan on visiting some of their Rainbow Parks, SKP Co-Ops, and Discount Parks while we travel. We also use their mail service. And they produce a great magazine.

FMCA - Family Motorcoach Association. A great club for motorhome owners, and all RVers. And they produce a great magazine.

RPI - Resort Parks International - We obtained this membership when we bought into Thousand Trails. There are many parks out there that we can stay in for up to 2 weeks at a time for only 10 bucks per night. This will be our second choice when we are unable to get into one of our 'free' membership sites. There is a yearly fee.

Enjoy America - This membership also came with our RPI membership. These parks are all over, but restrict the discount to week days only, or a discount on the 3rd night or other such options. Similar to Passport America

Passport America - Good for 50 percent off campground costs. Some conditions apply. Many parks to choose from. Good for us when there is no TT, or RPI parks close by.

Thousand Trails - There are many types of memberships available. We bought a used VIP Platinum membership that includes all the TT preserves and NACO and Leisure Time Resorts too. We can stay up to 3 weeks at a time at no cost and then move to another preserve with no time out of the system and no waiting period. We also get to make our reservations 120 days in advance. After purchacing the membership, there is a yearly 'maintenance fee'. See below for our initial costs and yearly usage stats.

Thousand Trails

	Date	Amount	# of Nights Per Year	Avg. Cost Per Night
Purchased	Nov 2011	$ 1450.00
Transfer Fee	Nov 2011	$ 750.00
Yearly Maintenance Dues	Jan 2012	$ 649.00	33	$ 19.67
Yearly Maintenance Dues	Jan 2013	$ 649.00	100	$ 6.49
Yearly Maintenance Dues	Jan 2014	$ 626.72	142	$ 4.41
Yearly Maintenance Dues	Jan 2015	$ 610.54	162	$ 3.77
Yearly Maintenance Dues	Jan 2016	$ 620.08	262	$ 2.37
Yearly Maintenance Dues	Jan 2017	$ 620.69	125	$ 4.97
Yearly Maintenance Dues	Jan 2018	$ 628.58	39 So Far	$ 16.12
Total $$$ Paid In		$ 6,613.07
Nights Camped		866
Average Cost per Night		$7.64

After the initial purchace and transfer, we have really benefitted from this membership.

Bought through a re-seller.

Our yearly dues are $1,007.88 for all our club memberships, which is just $ 83.99 per month. We just have to spend 4 nights a month in our parks to make it all worthwhile.

Figures are current through April, 2018. Numbers seem a bit high now? Not to worry....they go down every month!

Comments always welcomed

Either via email or the Contact page.. Thanks for reading.

Cool Stuff!

The Ferg's Home

Here is some of the RVs we have owned, some of the fun places we have visited, and pictures of us having fun! Click on the picture to get a bigger one.

A full time RV life - the way to go!