One thing I am constantly asked, being a full-time RV’er, “BUT WHAT DOES IT COST?!”
I am going to lay out some of our personal finances/bills that I think might help you get a little better of an idea if YOU can afford this lifestyle and what to consider before diving in! (of course I believe you can make anything happen that you desire, that’s the coach mentality I’ve developed over the past 2 years – but humor me)
–>Read our previous RV BLOG here: “Intro Full-Time RV Living!“
*Also, if you have any suggestions on how we can save EVEN MORE money, we’d love to hear! Hit me up on instagram: @kandacerogersfitness (frugal AF) Always open to learning! EEK!! Here we go…
1. Monthly Space Rent: $830 – Yes we pay THAT MUCH for a piece of dirt.. My husband and I laugh about this all the time. It’s not even that nice of a piece of dirt really (its not even paved). It’s more like dirt with rocks sprinkled randomly… LOL – BUUUT we have a lot of space around our RV, a couple tress that provide us with endless bugs/spiders/mice/shade (LOL), the park is VERY clean and we feel really safe. That’s how we justify it at least. Can’t be living somewhere wondering if your neighbors are creepers! I mean would could totally just pick up and move if they were. 🙂
I feel even bad sharing my California space rent with you guys because you’re gonna be like HOLY F never mind HAHA. But really, location is everything and we live in a really pricey state/area so THIS compared to $2,500 base rent in someone else’s house is good for us! My girlfriend in Florida pays $450-$675 (depending which park she’s at) in space rent for her 45′ RV – just to give you an example.
I don’t know how much of my story you are aware of but if it wasn’t for coaching and discovering the RV LIFE my husband and I might still not be living together!! I couldn’t even imagine!!
(read more about how I fired my boss and became full time RV here)
From what we’ve found Vineyard RV Park is the most affordable park in the Bay Area that does not double as a mobile home park. Our space rent has raised 2x’s since we’ve been here though. I believe it started out at $780. Not cool. Let also me add that I called the nicest park in our hometown (Redding, CA) and the space rent there is $400-$500 per month. HUGE difference in 2 hours distance. Consider location when you’re planning out your living arrangement if you are truly trying to keep costs on the lower end.
2. Electric: $50-$150 – This is purely dependent upon the weather! If it’s cold out the bill is lower because we aren’t running the AC 24-7. We are looking to pick up the Dyson Pure Hot+Cool link to help with not only cleaning out our air – it get stuffy up in the RV and super dusty from pets, but to use as a means of heat instead of the propane heater constantly and as AC in the summer for our bedroom. We also have a mini fridge hooked up in the man cave (garage) for additional drinks/foods/freezer space. I don’t think this uses up too much energy as it’s pretty new and I’m assuming energy efficient?! It’s this one from home depot for $250.
3. Propane: $27-$40 per refill – Depending on where you get your tanks filled (and how big they are), the cost can be NUTS. I suggest searching online for the cheapest refill stations (even gas stations are cheaper) and taking the tanks there. We use a local equipment rental facility called Aaction Rents. RV parks overcharge for propane by A LOT (because you’re paying for convenience).
We have 2 propane 7 gallon tanks and they go A LONG way in the summer time because they are only being used to heat water for dishes/showers (paired with our electric water heater being on) and stove top cooking. In the winter, I run the heater in the morning and then sometimes throughout the day but it burns fast! Hence why we are willing to try out the Dyson heater – hoping to save $$, be energy efficient and stay warm. The Rv’s don’t hold in heat/cold air very well, they aren’t insulated and they typically aren’t meant to be lived in FULL TIME from what I read. But we make it work. 🙂
4. Laundry: $20ish per trip – I do my best to wash ALL the clothes, towels, bed sheets etc at least 1x per month – 2x’s if my husband is lucky. This is his classic line, “It would sure be 
nice if I had clean underwear for tomorrow Kandace!!” *goes to store and buys him more underwear* not even kidding. LOL. I know, I know..(don’t judge me) I hate doing laundry especially in a laundromat style room.
We don’t have a washer/dryer in our RV yet – we aren’t sure if we even want one since the garage is the man cave – but I would assume that would run up our electricity bill by a lot. Right now we are paying $1.75 per wash and $1.75 per dry at our current RV park. In my opinion it seems HIGH AF but I know nothing about the average laundry cost. Clothes have to get washed and on site is convenient so in this case, we just do it. This doesn’t count husbands dirty ass work clothes.
**To save cost I will wash my whites, pinks/reds/oranges and blues/purples/greens separate and then dry them all together. Same with dark colors, wash as big of loads as I can and then dry together. The dryers seem to be bigger/industrial than the washers.
5. Pets: $30 – Yes, we even pay to have pets. We pay $20 for the first pupperdoo and $10
for an additional. Seems silly since we do all the work for them but I assume it’s because they have a dog run to offer in the back area of the park (that we never use because it’s dirt/sand and hello they are INDOOR dogs so why would I want them dirty?!), a designated grassy poopoo city area and they have these dog poo bag stands all around the park next to trash cans which is REALLY nice if you’re going on a walk and you run out of your own bags. 🙂 Or just stock up on those to get your money’s worth. LOL.
6. Internet: $30 per month – We have looked into multiple options of having a wifi set up 
that is our personal network from our RV but every option either wasn’t RV friendly, too low of bandwith or the megabites they offered on those hot spots were WAY too little for what we planned to use. I work from home as an online health coach/biz mentor – I prefer to have access to (somewhat) stable internet so I can do fun things like help people start their own wellness journey, build their businesses and write up this blog from my laptop! 🙂 Obviously husband and I could do all of this from our phones but having a computer just makes me happy. So we decided to go with using the park’s wifi and and that’s $30 for 2 devices, unlimited wifi, per month.
5. Rv Payment: $400 – we financed our RV home and currently make a monthly payment on it. I don’t recall how much or how long (I know my husband chose one of the shortest time frames to get it paid off quicker) but I figured it was important to include that in there since I know most people can’t just fork over $20,000+ cash up front for their dream home. 🙂
I LOVE constantly getting messages from everyone with curiosity about my RV LIFE! It helps me know what kind of information I need to share on my blog that will benefit you MOST in your pursuit of the “have more do less lifestyle!” I also LOVE inspiring people to JUST dive straight into full-time RV living!!! SO far I can count 5 people/families off the top of my head that have told me they have become full-time because they were SO inspired by my husband and I!! THAT’S AMAZING!! IF we can do it, SO CAN YOU!
!! If you are one of these people – please shoot me a photo of your rv life via FACEBOOK with a little story of how you got started full timing it, I would LOVE to feature you on my blog!!! If you want to know the details/dimensions and shiz of our RV and how/why we chose the one we chose – check out my prior blog Intro Full-Time Rv living
**DISCLAIMER: Living in California is EXPENSIVE AF! Living near the city (San Francisco, Bay Area) is even MORE expensive! Chances are – your area will be MUCH more affordable. I urge you to call around and ask!
–>Stay tuned for our next RV BLOG: “The Pros & Cons of RV Living!”
“Clutter is not just stuff on the floor – It’s anything that stands in between you and the life you want to be living.”
the KANDACE ROGERS 
I was talking to my fiancé about RV living and I stumbled across your blog on Pinterest.. just thought it was crazy that you guys are from Redding California too!
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L O V E!! Get one!
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Do you know of any single people who are successfully living this way? I’m nearly 65 and widowed. I’d like to be able to visit friends who live in the south and to get out of New York State in the winter. I’m not sure yet if I could afford it on my small income but, with your post, my research begins!
Just wondering if it would be safe to be on my own living in an RV. And would the maintenance and care of it be too much for one person to handle?
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I’m sure there are a ton! I would search Facebook groups for FULL TIME RV LIVING and ask ! You could always hire someone to do the maintenance !
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How often do yoh have to empty your tanks?
We f.t in our 5th wheel. Just over 4 weeks now. Best decision ever. We live in greater vancouver canada. We rent 10 acres for $500 😀
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Hi Lindsey!! 🙂 We have full hook ups so the only tank we empty is the black tank (with 2 people living here) every 2-3 weeks! more like 3. depends on the size of the tank thought. it varies
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That’s amazing to know there are a lot more people full time rving than I had ever exspected. Love hearing the info on the cheepest possible living.the cost you laid out was exactly what we pay and yes we live in California as well. One of The most expensive existence around. We are a family of five my husband and I have twin 13 year old boys and a 6 year old daughter. We chose the rv live do to unplanned circumstances of the oilfield industry and renting became way over our budget. We figured if we have an rv we will never be homeless if worst comes to worst and we can’t afford our space rent we can live in a Walmart parking until cercimstances change as pose to the the other option of getting evicted or homeless seems to be the best rout possible. Best decision we ever made. We have been living in our rv for a year now unfortunately there are never any kids that live in rv parks for my kids to have friends do you have any suggestions on making the living curcomstances better for kids were there not constantly looking to the adults to entertain them all the time. Please keep in mind that currently money limits us. We ran out of options. Open up for new ideals.
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The areas that you live in really do have an impact on the price you pay. We live in a 40 ft holiday rambler fifth wheel that we payed $7500. The park we live in is in the middle of Columbus, ms. This park is really quiet area of town. Our monthly rent ls $375, that includes lot, electric, water, and garbage. Internet is around $110. I work at a dirt construction company about 15 miles away. This has been the best move we have made in 17 years.
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Here in Petaluma the space rent is $900/mo which just doesn’t seem cheap to me
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Ours just raised to 880$
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Here in Ohio we have a nice size lot on the small lake in our campground and we pay 2200 every year for the lot rent…
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I’m in Novato.. $1250 +electric..for a 1/2 space…my trailer is only 13ft… full size is $1800-$2200. Rent on my 4 bed/2.5 bath. 2000 sq ft home in Naperville Ilinois was only $1400!
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We did look at the Novato ones, but it looked like it was inside a trailer park??
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What does your hubby do for work? Or, is he a blogger/coach like yourself?
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He works as a structural and foundational driller – he is a coach but only for the discount 🙂
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Doesn’t your RV park provide Wifi?
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1 code for $20 a month so 1 device. Which is my laptop for work. We want full access for our PlayStation lol
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Ahh! Finally a couple RVing who aren’t old enough to be grandparents! My boyfriend and I have never owned property, nor rented but when the opportunity to live in a 5th wheel came to us I couldn’t resist. In North Carolina, luckily the costs are much cheaper. But now that we have it and move in date is quickly approaching I have been all over youtube, pinterest, and other blogs trying to learn as much as possible. My biggest concern currently, since we will be stationary for the first 6 months anyway, is space and pets! About how many outfits were you able to keep going full time and where do you stash shoes?? Also how is the situation with pets? I have one cat but I would hate to make him uncomfortable (I’ve considered a catio, I’m kind of a crazy cat lady). I have plenty of questions regarding paint and cosmetic changes but I’ll check out all your blogs and vlogs before I waste your time! By the way, you are very inspiring!
-Ally
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Ally, my husband and I are exactly where you are! I have all the same questions. Did you ever get a reply?
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Hahah!!! Hey!! Sorry, I didn’t see these comments. I work primarily from my contact page – email – Facebook (reading now)
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Ally – I would say get the biggest RV possible with as many slides as possible. I feel like we have a lot of space but we do trip over the dogs. lol!! Lots of people in the park here have cats surprisingly! They seem to do well.
I have a ton of clothes. I got rid of A LOT but the entire closet in our bedroom is mine. HAHAHAHA. You can really keep as many outfits as you want. Shoes.. meh. I have like 2 Nikes, a pair of toms, converse, tall boots, short boots, snow boots and slippers. I just store them on the top shelf of closet and on bottom under shirts
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How do u make money to pay for it ?
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To pay for what?
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I pay less than half what you do and have 10 times the space and I OWN my property. But to each their own.
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Where do you live ? Because I’m in California lol
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Nice article. I’m living in my RV since March. Propane cost is higher than I figured. Love tiny living and downsizing and pitching more and more. Aim is for no clutter. Thanks.
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Yeah my husband swears the propane is cheaper than electricity – but it’s like $40 every 2 weeks ish
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No clutter would be ideal !! I’m still working on that
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My hubby and I are in the process of downsizing our life so we can fulfill our dream of tiny living in an RV! We have an 11 month old daughter and I can’t wait to experience this with her, not to mention our two furry loves. My husband is active duty Air Force and will be separating early next year so we can’t move just yet but we’ve already begun decluttering our life and have 2 of our 3 rooms emptied out!
I’m a clothing retailer of a brand called LuLaRoe so we’re planning on a toy hauler model so we can convert the garage space into a mobile boutique! Then I can continue my online sales AND provide a boutique experience. My husband will most likely work camp as needed but we’ll be able to travel pretty freely. I’m so excited! And I’m glad I found your blog!
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Awesome girl!!! Would seem like minimizing to carry a bunch of product in an RV would be a little stressful ! Idk how you do it. :))) free is where it’s at!!
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We are currently in the process of going full-time. We were waiting for our son to graduate high school. Interesting reading some of the expenses for you. We do have an dyson fan that heats and cooks for the RV. Worth every penny. Also, when we have gone out (we have done some longer practice runs) the laundry varies. Honestly, so far in my experience $1.75 for each machine sounds like a bargain. I have paid as much as $5 for washing, depending on the area. We haven’t been west. Mostly east of the Smokies.
Anyway, I hope you keep blogging about it. It’s fun to read about the adventures of others.
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Congratulations!!!! That is so exciting!!! We have had the fan for about a week and so far we love it! My husband is obsessing that “what if we lose the remote the fan will be useless” LOL, im like DON’T LOSE IT! hahaha
Where are you located? CA?
WOW $5?!?! that’s intense! they have this little portable indoor/outdoor manual washing system i’ve seen, I woudlnt mind doing my small stuff in it, husbands work clothes have to go through the big washer but its a thought.
Thank you for the support!! 🙂
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