Opinions Wanted: What Costs More Moving Frequently or Staying Still?
Camper Chronicles said
04:16 PM Sep 15, 2015
Hi all,
Looking for opinions or experiences here. Which do you think or have you found costs more in general. The reason I ask is in my brain it would be cheaper to stay still, less gas etc, but many folks who have done this awhile move very frequently and keep their costs very low. So what's the scoop??
Trace
PD CFK said
04:24 PM Sep 15, 2015
Moving frequently costs more, but it's what we like to do Pat K
Technomadia said
05:49 PM Sep 15, 2015
That's kinda a 'it depends' sort of question.
You can stay still in high end resorts, high demand areas, urban centers, etc. and spend quite a bit (such as it can cost $1500-2000/month to stay in the Florida Keys in winter). Or you can be in motion and keep it quite low cost by boondocking, a camping membership or staying in public campgrounds, and moving just in small bits at a time.
You can also do the reverse. Move long distances often, pay higher nightly rates in RV parks/resorts ... or you can find a nice RV Park in an area you like, and get some really affordable monthly rates (like Arizona in winter - either a LTVA boondocking pass for like $180 for several months, or $300-400/month for a park with hook-ups).
We personally like to mix it up... sometimes we're in hyper motion doing a cross country repositioning, and sometimes we stick around a couple months in one area.
Barbaraok said
07:04 PM Sep 15, 2015
Why RV if you never intend to move? That would save the most, but why would you do it? Isn't the fun in the exploring, seeing what is beyond the next hill? If not, then why do it/ You need to decide what it is you want to do. Then find figure out the budget. RVing isn't really the cheapest way to go when you figure in the costs of rigs, etc. But it is sure one of the most fun ways to live and see the country at the same time.
Barb
soos said
12:18 AM Sep 16, 2015
to give an opinion on the question you asked, in general it costs more when you move more often. No monthly (or even weekly) rates most of the time, and fuel costs are higher. Over time, your tires wear out faster and your rig gets more wear.
There are always ways to mitigate expenses, like boondocking etc, but as a general rule it costs more to move more. Personally we do it that way anyway, but we have friends who slow the pace to slow the expenses.
And Barb, they didn't say they NEVER wanted to move, just asked about costs associated with it.
Sue
Howard said
06:47 AM Sep 16, 2015
In general, per your question, it costs more to move frequently. It costs more to move every day than to move every few days. It costs more to move every few days than every couple of weeks. It costs more to move every couple of weeks than every month or two. It costs more to move every month or two rather than every few months. Of course, that takes into consideration costs of fuel in addition to camping fees, and those that move quite frequently tend to spend more in each new location as they are checking out the highlights, the attractions, the restaurants, etc.
The longer you stay anywhere, the more you can take advantage of longer term rates. In private RV parks, weekly rates are better than nightly rates, monthly rates are better than weekly rates (and they may cut the nightly rate in half), seasonal rates are better than monthly rates. In public campgrounds, there are usually stay limits of a week or two with no discounts, but if you are going to be in a particular state for a good number of nights during a year, it is often cheaper to purchase an annual camping pass. There are some public campgrounds that have long-term rates in their off season, and we've noticed numerous city/county parks that offer seasonal rates.
Of course, if you decide to workamp AND stay put for a couple months or so, the costs can really be low.
But do what feels right for you and your budget.
Many people that can't afford to move a lot can still have a very enjoyable life as RVers, and there are lots of people living in RVs that have plenty of resources but that just like the simplicity of living in an RV and enjoying RV communities. We love to explore and see what's around the next bend, but that's not every full-time RVer's goal and many are very, very happy moving infrequently.
PIEERE said
08:44 AM Sep 16, 2015
Howard covered the topic really well! About what I would have said; as for me been the work camping gig and would do it again. I enjoyed the traveling part with my older Class-C; but kept the yearly miles off by working at places anywhere from 2-5 month periods.
Most of you know about the reasons I am stationary now; the VA I go to has mostly satisfactory health care and the place I stay is reasonable and the local people are mostly sociable. My Social Security income isn't enough to keep me traveling; what I'd rather being doing.
NWescapee said
01:55 PM Sep 16, 2015
Agree with the statements above.
3 other factors for us:
1) How close / far we are from reasonable shopping & dining opportunities. Staying put in a rural location can lead to higher fuel expenses if you have to drive further for groceries, supplies, propane refills, etc. Sometimes shopping in smaller towns can lead to higher prices as well as reduced selection which leads us to want to venture further afield to find a well stocked grocery store. Or, if we're in a good area with good shopping or restaurants we find ourselves restocking and taking advantage of dining out opportunities more frequently.
2) Attractions in the area, if we're in an area we want to spend a lot of time exploring by bike, kayaking or hiking, it's a much less expensive option vs. an area where we want to visit botanical gardens, museums, etc. And if we're anywhere near family, especially the grandkids, we find ourselves spending more on activities.
3) Local demographics - a month in Seattle or LA is going to cost us a lot more than a monthly stay in AZ, however, with my work situation sometimes we just have to endure the higher cost camping.
Terry and Jo said
03:39 PM Sep 16, 2015
Most everyone has given good answers. We are of a different lifestyle as we haven't really started traveling yet. We lived in our RV for 3 years in a mobile home park in Oklahoma City until we retired. Now, we are living full time in a top-notch RV park near Colorado Springs. We've been here just over a year, and we may be here for another 2 years yet. While we've been here near Colorado Springs, we've done a number of trips to see various parts of Colorado. When we finally get to start traveling, we plan on staying in one place anywhere from 1 to 6 months while we explore everything we want to see in that area. In that period of time, we will be putting back money for fuel for when we travel again.
In our case, the monthly rate is definitely about half of what the daily rate would be for 30 days.
Terry
Barbaraok said
04:44 PM Sep 16, 2015
One the flip side, we can stay cheaper moving every 2 weeks from membership park to membership park, than staying monthly at private parks, even taking in the cost of fuel to move between parks.
Barb
Terry and Jo said
09:40 AM Sep 17, 2015
Barb has a good point if one has already purchased the campground memberships. However, I suspect that we won't be ones that will want to be limited to going to the places where those membership camps are located.
Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Thursday 17th of September 2015 09:41:31 AM
Barbaraok said
11:39 AM Sep 17, 2015
Why do you say "limited to going to the places…."? We are not limited, we go where we want to. Membership parks are just one of the tools in our bag that we use to keep our budget in line. But that doesn't mean we can only go where there are membership parks - far from it. Though we have used membership parks in just about every state we've been to because of the reciprocal agreements between different memberships parks/systems.
We're in Sonoma County and the Bay area. Will spend about 6 weeks, in 3 different parks, all for less than $100 for the whole time.
Barb
Terry and Jo said
10:07 AM Sep 18, 2015
I'm simply saying that our choices of a suitable RV park is not related to cost, but proximity to where we want to be or explore. We had a large number of options in the Colorado Springs area for a place to stay, but since we were planning on being here long term, we wanted very pleasant surroundings and to not be jammed in with a lot of others close by. There was more than one park that Jo said, "Drive on by."
Terry
Barbaraok said
12:36 PM Sep 18, 2015
We spent 2 weeks in Colorado Springs visiting with friends, exploring area, ect. Cost for the 2 weeks to us was $0.00.
Jim Fitz said
08:12 AM Oct 10, 2015
What membership parks do you belong to? Any suggestions. We are not full time yet (just in the purchase the 5th wheel and truck stage) but hope to be soon after the new year. Thanks. Jim and Phyllis
Hdrider said
09:41 AM Oct 10, 2015
I see a lot of people that belong to membership parks use he 0 cost for staying and when I find a membership that costs zero per year to maintain I just might get one. But so far I have not been able to find one LOL!!
Barbaraok said
09:54 AM Oct 10, 2015
Jim Fitz wrote:
What membership parks do you belong to? Any suggestions. We are not full time yet (just in the purchase the 5th wheel and truck stage) but hope to be soon after the new year. Thanks. Jim and Phyllis
If you are going to be on the west coast, I'd suggest you look at trying Thousand Trails Zone Pass for year (~$500 with 30 nights free then $3.00/night after that) and see if you like it.
We have an old WHR membership (only 1 park left in the 'system' that will soon go under) that serves as our home park which gets us ROD, C2C, and AOR affiliates, plus our TT membership.
TheNewhalls said
06:18 AM Oct 11, 2015
Barbaraok wrote:
Jim Fitz wrote:
What membership parks do you belong to? Any suggestions. We are not full time yet (just in the purchase the 5th wheel and truck stage) but hope to be soon after the new year. Thanks. Jim and Phyllis
If you are going to be on the west coast, I'd suggest you look at trying Thousand Trails Zone Pass for year (~$500 with 30 nights free then $3.00/night after that) and see if you like it.
We have an old WHR membership (only 1 park left in the 'system' that will soon go under) that serves as our home park which gets us ROD, C2C, and AOR affiliates, plus our TT membership.
That 30 nights free is actually $16.66 a night, but if you use it it's still a good deal. And after that it's only $3 a night. I don't think it's ever free there is usually a yearly maintenance fee. But if you use it as often as Barbara does, then it's just as good as free.
legrandnormand said
10:03 PM Oct 14, 2015
I've owned 2 different class A since 2001 and camped and travelled in both ways ; for sure, travelling is more expensive then saying put but doing both is just genious.
For example, in 2010-2011 we snowbirded for 6 months travelling some 10,000 milles towing a car in which we travelled some 5,000 milles just visiting. In these 6 months, we parked in 3 different areas for a one month period; those 3 months were bargains comparing them to daily camping fees.
Our last 3 years, we were snowbirding and parked for 6 months, a lot cheaper for renting but a lot more expensive for dining out and shopping !
Next fall, we are going back on the road for 6 months and we'll probably stay put for some 3 month like we did in 2010-2011 !
-- Edited by legrandnormand on Wednesday 14th of October 2015 10:05:03 PM
-- Edited by legrandnormand on Wednesday 14th of October 2015 10:05:40 PM
Hi all,
Looking for opinions or experiences here. Which do you think or have you found costs more in general. The reason I ask is in my brain it would be cheaper to stay still, less gas etc, but many folks who have done this awhile move very frequently and keep their costs very low. So what's the scoop??
Trace
You can stay still in high end resorts, high demand areas, urban centers, etc. and spend quite a bit (such as it can cost $1500-2000/month to stay in the Florida Keys in winter). Or you can be in motion and keep it quite low cost by boondocking, a camping membership or staying in public campgrounds, and moving just in small bits at a time.
You can also do the reverse. Move long distances often, pay higher nightly rates in RV parks/resorts ... or you can find a nice RV Park in an area you like, and get some really affordable monthly rates (like Arizona in winter - either a LTVA boondocking pass for like $180 for several months, or $300-400/month for a park with hook-ups).
We personally like to mix it up... sometimes we're in hyper motion doing a cross country repositioning, and sometimes we stick around a couple months in one area.
Barb
There are always ways to mitigate expenses, like boondocking etc, but as a general rule it costs more to move more. Personally we do it that way anyway, but we have friends who slow the pace to slow the expenses.
And Barb, they didn't say they NEVER wanted to move, just asked about costs associated with it.
Sue
In general, per your question, it costs more to move frequently. It costs more to move every day than to move every few days. It costs more to move every few days than every couple of weeks. It costs more to move every couple of weeks than every month or two. It costs more to move every month or two rather than every few months. Of course, that takes into consideration costs of fuel in addition to camping fees, and those that move quite frequently tend to spend more in each new location as they are checking out the highlights, the attractions, the restaurants, etc.
The longer you stay anywhere, the more you can take advantage of longer term rates. In private RV parks, weekly rates are better than nightly rates, monthly rates are better than weekly rates (and they may cut the nightly rate in half), seasonal rates are better than monthly rates. In public campgrounds, there are usually stay limits of a week or two with no discounts, but if you are going to be in a particular state for a good number of nights during a year, it is often cheaper to purchase an annual camping pass. There are some public campgrounds that have long-term rates in their off season, and we've noticed numerous city/county parks that offer seasonal rates.
Of course, if you decide to workamp AND stay put for a couple months or so, the costs can really be low.
But do what feels right for you and your budget.
Many people that can't afford to move a lot can still have a very enjoyable life as RVers, and there are lots of people living in RVs that have plenty of resources but that just like the simplicity of living in an RV and enjoying RV communities. We love to explore and see what's around the next bend, but that's not every full-time RVer's goal and many are very, very happy moving infrequently.
Most of you know about the reasons I am stationary now; the VA I go to has mostly satisfactory health care and the place I stay is reasonable and the local people are mostly sociable. My Social Security income isn't enough to keep me traveling; what I'd rather being doing.
3 other factors for us:
1) How close / far we are from reasonable shopping & dining opportunities. Staying put in a rural location can lead to higher fuel expenses if you have to drive further for groceries, supplies, propane refills, etc. Sometimes shopping in smaller towns can lead to higher prices as well as reduced selection which leads us to want to venture further afield to find a well stocked grocery store. Or, if we're in a good area with good shopping or restaurants we find ourselves restocking and taking advantage of dining out opportunities more frequently.
2) Attractions in the area, if we're in an area we want to spend a lot of time exploring by bike, kayaking or hiking, it's a much less expensive option vs. an area where we want to visit botanical gardens, museums, etc. And if we're anywhere near family, especially the grandkids, we find ourselves spending more on activities.
3) Local demographics - a month in Seattle or LA is going to cost us a lot more than a monthly stay in AZ, however, with my work situation sometimes we just have to endure the higher cost camping.
Most everyone has given good answers. We are of a different lifestyle as we haven't really started traveling yet. We lived in our RV for 3 years in a mobile home park in Oklahoma City until we retired. Now, we are living full time in a top-notch RV park near Colorado Springs. We've been here just over a year, and we may be here for another 2 years yet. While we've been here near Colorado Springs, we've done a number of trips to see various parts of Colorado. When we finally get to start traveling, we plan on staying in one place anywhere from 1 to 6 months while we explore everything we want to see in that area. In that period of time, we will be putting back money for fuel for when we travel again.
In our case, the monthly rate is definitely about half of what the daily rate would be for 30 days.
Terry
Barb
Barb has a good point if one has already purchased the campground memberships. However, I suspect that we won't be ones that will want to be limited to going to the places where those membership camps are located.
Terry
-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Thursday 17th of September 2015 09:41:31 AM
We're in Sonoma County and the Bay area. Will spend about 6 weeks, in 3 different parks, all for less than $100 for the whole time.
Barb
I'm simply saying that our choices of a suitable RV park is not related to cost, but proximity to where we want to be or explore. We had a large number of options in the Colorado Springs area for a place to stay, but since we were planning on being here long term, we wanted very pleasant surroundings and to not be jammed in with a lot of others close by. There was more than one park that Jo said, "Drive on by."
Terry
What membership parks do you belong to? Any suggestions. We are not full time yet (just in the purchase the 5th wheel and truck stage) but hope to be soon after the new year. Thanks. Jim and Phyllis
If you are going to be on the west coast, I'd suggest you look at trying Thousand Trails Zone Pass for year (~$500 with 30 nights free then $3.00/night after that) and see if you like it.
We have an old WHR membership (only 1 park left in the 'system' that will soon go under) that serves as our home park which gets us ROD, C2C, and AOR affiliates, plus our TT membership.
That 30 nights free is actually $16.66 a night, but if you use it it's still a good deal. And after that it's only $3 a night. I don't think it's ever free there is usually a yearly maintenance fee. But if you use it as often as Barbara does, then it's just as good as free.
I've owned 2 different class A since 2001 and camped and travelled in both ways ; for sure, travelling is more expensive then saying put but doing both is just genious.
For example, in 2010-2011 we snowbirded for 6 months travelling some 10,000 milles towing a car in which we travelled some 5,000 milles just visiting. In these 6 months, we parked in 3 different areas for a one month period; those 3 months were bargains comparing them to daily camping fees.
Our last 3 years, we were snowbirding and parked for 6 months, a lot cheaper for renting but a lot more expensive for dining out and shopping !
Next fall, we are going back on the road for 6 months and we'll probably stay put for some 3 month like we did in 2010-2011 !
-- Edited by legrandnormand on Wednesday 14th of October 2015 10:05:03 PM
-- Edited by legrandnormand on Wednesday 14th of October 2015 10:05:40 PM