First, let me say that $80 spent for an America the Beautiful National Park pass was TOTALLY worth it! I almost felt guilty entering the parks without paying time and time again. We visited 18 National Park Service parks and we didn't pay admission to any of them. I did however buy collectible stickers and/or patches at each of the gift shops to show my support for the parks, make my kiddos look cool, and collect a souvenir.
We were on the road for 12 weeks (84 nights). Campground fees ranged from a high of around $65/night in California to free when we boondocked at Walmarts, truck stops, Cabellas, or with family. Overall we spent an average of $27/night for a grand total of $2,263. I was disappointed by that number, but then again I didn't plan out all of our stops before we left. We did have a free week in Michigan when we were at my parents' land and at my aunt's house...but we did have many $30 nights as well. If I was going to do it all over I would search out more state campgrounds which are generally under $20/night. We also need to seek out the good weather so that we don't need our air conditioning during the summer. That would help. With some changes to our rig and solar system combined with more attention to where the weather is good we could manage better in primitive campgrounds.
Gas costs were high. We knew our circle across the country was around 6,000 miles, but we ended up driving well over 7,000 miles when you take into account day trips. We spent $2,472 on gas for the entire trip. While pulling the rig we averaged between 10-12 mpg. The cost of gas ranged from a high of $5/gallon near Yosemite to $2.35/gallon in the middle of the country. Generally it was around $3/gallon. It is an obscene amount of money to spend on gas. It's an obscene amount of gas to use. However we are very glad we made the trek with our 6-cylinder Tacoma instead of a larger vehicle. When we spoke to other travelers hauling RVs we found they generally were getting 8 mpg or less and were impressed by our 10-12 mpg average. We have seriously debated buying a larger truck, but this is the single biggest reason why we are going to stick with the Tacoma. We will get a cash back reward from our credit card - it so happened that gas stations were one of the 5% back establishments during the current quarter.
We spent almost exactly $1,000 on admissions and other entertaining events such as Universal Studios in California, Evans Plunge in South Dakota, 1880 Train in South Dakota, Mackinac Island, museums, movies, and tours. Looking back over the list of fun things I have to say that some of the most expensive were not the most fun - some of the least expensive (such as the guided cave tours) were very exciting...you just never know! I don't think this budget item is too high, but I would, in the future, opt out of the more expensive venues.
In terms of food and dining, we were living as if we were on vacation. We spent $800/month on groceries and $400/month dining. Clearly this is an area where we could do a lot better. When I look back over previous years, when we were both working and living in the McMansion we were doing much worse in terms of the budget and our food choices. Our goal is to spend $800/month on food total. We have made that goal in the past, but not consistently. We have noticed that not buying alcohol has impacted our budget positively.
Because I was teaching online during the second half of the summer we supplemented our income and it was good that we had those additional funds for this first adventure. The down side was that we had to be sure that we stayed in areas where I would have cell service and data. That was not a problem - we planned and stayed in major cities for the most part. When we didn't I drove to a city to get service. The most significant time that happened was in rural Michigan - I had to take a drive into town each day and work from a McDonald's. The up side was that they had a cute sitting space with a Michigan table. The marjority of the time I was able to log onto the class at least twice a day, respond to questions and concerns, and complete the grading and other work associated with the class.
The main expenses that could have been curbed and should be curbed in future outings are gas and food. We probably should have planned a shorter route and had less drive-through states. We could have stayed in some of the choices places for longer. Our food budget should be under $800/month and we should not be eating out regularly. Secondly we could do better planning our campsites and now that we are more comfortable with dry camping, we can go to cheaper campgrounds.
It was our first big adventure and it was a success. It could have been cheaper, but it was worth every penny. I still marvel at all the places we visited.
No comments:
Post a Comment