It's all about the money

This is some of the desert that surrounds the Escapees RV Park in Benson

It's been real windy today. The temperatures fine it's in the mid-70s but the wind makes it uncomfortable to be outside, I hope tomorrow is better because I'm planning on visiting Tombstone, and then on to Bisbee to take care of some business.

Since keeping all of my expenses on a spreadsheet instead of in a logbook has made getting the information about how much things are costing me so simple, I've decided that on the first of every month I will post my expenses for the previous month on my blog.

I'm going to do that in the hopes that it will help others who are thinking about living the RV lifestyle, particularly how it pertains to boondocking, and get a basic idea about what it cost to live the way I do. Now I know that my information alone won't be very helpful but I'm thinking that if you put that information together with other RVers who post their expenses on line it will all average out to information that may be helpful to some folks.

Just glancing back at the last few months of expenses I was surprised to find out that what I call "utilities" is often my highest expense. Utilities are, just like in a house without wheels, my propane, phone, water if I have to buy any, dump fees if I have to pay, and my storage room back in Colorado. And the biggest cost in my utilities is my Verizon unlimited phone service. When I first started full timing I never would've imagined that my utility bills would be more than my fuel bills for the truck.

My next biggest expense is usually food. I could save a lot of money on food if I didn't buy so many snacks, but I'm a terrible grocery shopper and buy whatever looks good at the moment. This usually becomes apparent when I have 12 items on my grocery list and I come out of the store with 37 things.

My third biggest expense is the truck. In the past I just put "truck" in my expense book and everything I spent on the truck was put in that category. But recently to avoid some confusion about costs I now have two columns, one says truck and the other says fuel. This gives me a better idea about what my traveling costs are because fuel can be my biggest expense when I'm on the move.

I'm telling you about those three things because their far and away my biggest expenses for the month, and therefore would probably be a good place to start if you need to cut some expenses. If you're a normal RVer your campground fees will probably be in your top three things, but being a boondocker my costs are not only much less but I feel that for me my lifestyle is more enjoyable, although results may vary.

                                    theboondork

                                                                                      
                                                                    the fine print
                                           Theboondork is not a paid spokesperson so nothing he says can be believed.  Living outside of RV resorts can be extremely dangerous, you may suffer injury, mental anguish, death or even worse. You may be exposed to creatures that live in the wild including but not limited to, bears, mountain Lions, weasels, kangaroo rats, prospectors, vampire bats, ATVs and other boondocker's in various states of decomposition. Living in the woods and deserts can under certain conditions cause, loneliness, happiness, thirst, wonderment, confusion, dementia, and on rare occasions extreme joy. If while boondocking you experience, the desire to see another human being, a flat tire, gophers gnawing on your slippers, badgers under your bed, visions of an Apache war party, black helicopters, or a Guatemalan family living under your trailer. Call the nearest RV resort and make reservations immediately. Boondocking has been recognized by the state of California to cause people to come to their senses and  leave the state of  California.