Financial

Updated April 8, 2015

Here are links to our financial plans, estimated costs and other money related items. I have mixed feelings about this page because some have issues with sharing financial information. This information is general enough that I hope it can help others.  We also went the way of financing the truck and RV because I will be working on the road and this isn’t a forever / retirement change in life.

We have been in the RV for about a year. On the road for 10 months.  3 of those months we spent in Kansas with family medical issues (something we could not have foreseen, and it was amazing that because of these plans we were there!)  2 months in texas and a little over a month in florida were spent slowly traveling to avoid the freeze and snow up north. With out the 3 month delay and the slow moving through the warm south east during the winter we are actually pretty close to our right on time with the actual time expected to travel.

We are currently reviewing our finances for the year.  Business has been slow, and cash flow hasn’t been nearly what we expected.  It’s amazing what we have been able to do with what little we have had.  While we count it both a blessing and a frustration we are grateful to have made it this far. We have honed our travel, stays and methods to limit expenses even with a 50 ft rig.

The truck has averaged 21 mpg on the highway without the 5th wheel and 11 mpg  with the 5th .  The MPG varies from tank to tank, there are far more variables than a single road trip: Weather, Tire PRessure, Air Pressure, Terrain, Timing of the fill up, The need for regen, and a myriad of other issues.  One time we bottomed out averaging about 5 mpg in utah, in 100 degree weather going up hill.  The lower cost of fuel for the last 6 months has helped significantly. We even once paid 2.15 per gallon of diesel.  (we had to buy two monster energy drinks, and stack another discount with that, but they came out of our grocery budget.)

We are beginning our crowd funding part of the trip soon. With that we will have some more details.  We have about 5600 in fuel at an estimated 4.00 for the remainder of the trip. We still have the north east and north west to travel through which are some of the highest prices for fuel, during the most expensive part of the season.   We are also expecting some additional tanks due to routing changes and local travel where we can’t or shouldn’t bike / walk.

Below you will see some of our initial estimates.  We have worked with less cash flow than predicted,  and our initial estimate included some personal and business expenses that we no longer have.

Many people have asked us how they can help.  We tried for some sponsorship and have some plans for crowd funding but it’s not in place yet. If you want you can check out our sponsors page.

Our current budget is about 55,000 unknown  for 9 months an unknown amount of time.  We have already moved in to the RV and at the time of this update (old)  have lived in it for a week and a half in the driveway of our old house.  we have our sitting still budget cut to a significant low, that will allow most of our travel months to cost less than when we lived in the House.  The rest of the budget includes fuel and overnight costs, living expenses, food,  maintaining some of our current responsibilities, communications, web and server charges, and most of our stops along the way.  The more we generate the more we will do, the more we will report back on.

Some estimates and constants for RV travel

• RV costs – maintenance, payments, repairs etc $800 $300 per month for the 5th wheel and 500 a month for the truck.
• Cost of fuel – Gas 3.50 Diesel $3.80 currently expected to rise in the summer,  higher in some cities lower in others. We are budgeting an average of 4.50 5.50 a gallon for regular gas. With 18,000 miles on the drive plan and an average of 6 12 mpg we are looking at a fuel cost of $13,500.00  8,250.00 with out starting up the generator. We don’t have a generator yet but are looking at a simple portable one for dry camping.  On top of that the generator will likely use up 1/2 gallon per hour 1.5 gallons over 8 hours on a medium load, or 1.5 gallons every 3 hours on heavy load. (AC)  so an 8 hour run time off gasoline would cost $18,  so potential fuel costs for boon docking with average propane and generator use of about $10 a day.  or $14 on propane.
• Cost per night for stays. $35 $10 to $45 though some places will likely be $65 and Boondocking at Walmart and some public lands will be be relatively free except for fuel to run the generator. We will also be spending some time with family and friends but will have to pay to have the proper hookups installed for electrical, or run the generator.
• Our existing obligations: 2 cars, The Truck which is included and the Jeep which broke down recently,  healthcare, student loans and other minor needs.

We are reworking our budget as we work on what the actual RV will costs. I will upload it soon.

We are at about $3,500 sitting still and some months are as high as 5,500 with fuel costs.  This is down from our initial costs of 4500 sitting still and up to 7500 moving.

With the Late start, this trip may last longer than expected so if we take longer at locations our monthly moving costs will go down.  If we spend an average of 1 week per state then we are looking at a solid year with half the costs for moving each month.