Establishing A Road Budget

Skoolie Budget

It’s easy and fun to dream about being a Nomad. We all love to watch bus-tour videos and start sketching out how we would build our own Skoolie or Van. You’ve probably gotten excited about space-saving furniture, electronics, and storage items, and you’ve likely spent some time combing the web (including this site) for gadgets and gizmos that could make this life a reality. While getting excited and designing your Build is certainly a necessary and worthwhile enterprise, (and a separate budget in and of itself) what is your plan for once all of that is done? How are you going to afford to live and work on the road?

If you aren’t already independently wealthy, you’ve likely been thinking about ways to make a living remotely, but before that, you need to decide just how much money you are going to need to survive. - You need to establish a budget. - Yes. It’s boring… and you probably want to skip ahead and “just get out there”, but you should take a moment to at least get a rough idea of what you’ll need to get by. Trust us. It’s important! The most common mistake prospective Nomads make is hitting The Road with no real idea of what it’s going to cost, or how to pay for it.

There are several videos on the topic, but each one will show you a very different set of numbers. Why? Because our lifestyles are very different. Some people choose Bus-Life for peace and solitude, and some want to hit every festival, theme park, and concert they come across. Some eat out of cans, some will only eat fresh/organic produce, and some dine out every night of the a week.

One very large factor in your expenses is how much you move your rig and where you park it. It comes down to fuel efficiency and miles traveled. Will you move the Van every couple of days? Will you spend weeks at a time parked in the same place? Perhaps you will just spend Winter in the South and Summer in the mountains, only moving a few times in an entire year. - Where will you stay? Some people only stay at established campgrounds with full hookups, and some only boondock or stealth camp. Parking lots? Truck Stops? Hip Camp? Harvest Hosts?

There are a lot of variables in how you live your life and how expensive it is, but fortunately, we can break it all down to essentially the same categories for almost everyone: Vehicle Expenses, Camping/Parking, Food, Connectivity, Consumables, Entertainment, Medical Expenses, Pet Expenses, Subscriptions, Mail Service, Emergency/Savings, and any Debt or other Existing Expenses you bring with you.

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Click to Enlarge

Your budget will be your own. It will be different than ours, or anyone else’s. I’ve included an image of our budget, strictly for a visual aid. Download and edit the full spreadsheet by clicking here.

I’ve also included a couple of links to tools that might make it a little easier for you to work it all out.

Here are some things to consider for each category:

Vehicle (Bus) Expenses: If you finance your Rig, you’ll obviously have a monthly payment. (Think of it as a “Road Mortgage”.) Full Time RV Insurance will vary greatly depending on your domicile state, but in many places it can be as cheap as $100/month. - Recreational RV Insurance is less expensive, but won’t cover the items in your Build in the event of a claim (Solar, Plumbing, Appliances, etc.). The same applies to Licensing (plates/tags/inspections), so do your research. (See our “Domicile State” Blog). It’s an annual expense, but can be broken down monthly. (In our case, Licensing is $212/year or $17.67/Month.)

For fuel costs, take the cost of fuel divided by your MPG ($3.00 per gallon / 10 MPG for buses and large RVs) and you get 30 cents per mile. $4/gal would be 40 cents a mile, etc. Transit and Sprinter vans get slightly better mileage. We estimate 20 cents per mile at $3/Gal, and 23 cents/mile at $3.50. Aim high on this. It doesn’t take much to add up to 800 miles or more per month.

Maintenance is also related to how much you travel, as well as the age and condition of your rig, and sometimes just plain old “bad luck”. A major breakdown can happen at any time and easily cost into the thousands, not to mention tires, oil changes, wiper blades, etc. - The $150/month in our budget is less than $2000 per year but we do most of our own repairs. - If you’re not mechanically inclined, you’ll want to adjust this number up accordingly. Remember, a Skoolie isn’t a Honda. It costs more to fix, if nothing else, just because you have to go to a garage that can handle the larger size.

While Fees and Tolls aren’t an every day occurrence, there are places that charge extra for RVs to enter or park. Taking a ferry? Using a toll road? Bringing a 40’ rig into a State Park? It all adds up quick. Like many expenses, you might not spend anything for months on end, then spend several hundred in a single week.

Additionally, you should always have a little on hand for Miscellaneous expenses. You’ll want to wash the rig from time to time, might feel the need to upgrade the lighting, kitchen, toilet, or buy the occasional after-market accessory. – You will definitely be making regular “improvements” to your Build as you go. Keep a little in the Budget for that.

Camping and Parking: While there are many options for boondocking and stealth camping, especially in the West, there will be times that you’ll want to stay in an improved campground or need to park/store the rig in a secured area. These range in price from $20 to well over $100 per night, and they often have additional fees for dumping, showers, garbage disposal, etc. A weekend at an RV Park, or just a day or two a month, can easily add up to $150 or much more.

Food: Our Budget includes a worksheet to calculate our food expenses, referencing what we eat, the cost, and how much we use in an average month. Bear in mind that we eat cheap. (We employ a can opener at almost every meal.) If you are a Whole Foods person your expenses will be much higher. You can use your existing grocery budget for a working number, but you will probably find that your eating habits change on The Road. Most people actually spend less on groceries, but some will spend much more. (Note: This doesn’t include Dining Out. We put that in an entirely separate a category.)

Connectivity: Simply put, digital communication is the reason most of can do this in the first place. The amount that you work or surf online is directly commensurate with the amount of data you will use. We have a full blog on Digital Nomad Connectivity, but assume that a mobile hot spot, signal booster, and a family plan with an extra line or two will be part of your future. (Have a look at the Tech Page for ideas.) Additionally, keep some room in the budget for repairs and replacement. We just take it as a foregone conclusion that one of our devices will break (or eat blacktop) once every 12 months or so. Make your own choice about purchasing an insurance plan from your provider, but a cheap/used/refurbished $120 replacement phone or tablet works out to about 10 bucks a month. - Much less if you don’t drop it in the first place.

Consumables: Things like Propane, Clothes, Toiletries, Beauty Products, and Drinking Water are items that you will go through on a regular basis. They may cross over to the food budget from time to time, but it’s best to do the math separately. (Note: Our Skoolie Propane number is likely much less than average. We rarely use it.) Things like Booze (beer, wine, spirits) may not be a necessity, but you’ll want to be honest about how much you use and what you spend. Are you into PBR and “3 Buck Chuck” or are you more of a Micro-Brew and Bordeaux person? Is it a six-pack every night or just the occasional drink with friends? No judgement either way, but you get points for accuracy on this.

Medical Expenses: Health Insurance, Prescriptions, and Doctor’s Visits are a fact of life. We have a few prescriptions, and a $20 copay with our insurance (at roughly 6 visits per year), but even if you are still young and immortal you’ll have some costs associated with staying healthy. You can opt to pay out of pocket for these, but be sure you have enough in savings to cover it. Anyone can get sick out there and, in the words of Han Solo, “That’ll end your trip real quick, won’t it, Kid…”

Pet Expenses: While we currently don’t travel with pets, many people do. Figure out what it will cost to keep them happy and healthy on the road. Food, Grooming, Toys, Vet Bills, etc. For some people this is a minimal expense, but we know more than a few who spend as much (or more) on their pets than they do on themselves.

Entertainment: We include Dining Out as entertainment, and again, we eat cheap, but even twice a week at $40 it adds up to over $300/month (often a lot more). Many YouTubers will tell you that regularly eating out simply won’t work with the Full Time Nomad lifestyle, but it’s really difficult not to hit Cafe Du Monde when you’re in New Orleans. Life is for living, and if that’s what makes you happy, Do it!

One of the best things about this life is being able to experience local culture, so be realistic about how many Parks, Museums, Concerts, and Events you’ll want to see. We do a museum or park about once a month, and aren’t really into concerts and events anymore, but live your life your way (and finesse the numbers accordingly). We keep our Hulu and Netflix accounts active, but you may find them unnecessary. - Are you a Gamer? Be realistic about what you spend on games and accessories (it can be upwards of $400 / year for some).

In addition, you may want to go to Sporting Events, Burning Man, or Quartzite. That’s great! Just try to remember to think about how much it will cost, the next time you daydream about rolling your Airstream into Bike Week at Sturgis. – Is “Shopping” a form of entertainment for you? If you’re into souvenirs and gifts from The Road for friends and family, it should certainly be included in your budget.

Join Escapees

Subscriptions: By this we mean joining Camping Clubs, Annual Park Passes, AAA, AARP, etc. We cover this topic in detail in the Camping Clubs and Subscription Services Tutorial, but for now, just assume that you will want to belong to at least a couple of these, and keep some space in the budget for it. Annual dues range from around $40 to over $100, but most offer great benefits for the price.

Mail Service: You won’t have a conventional mailbox on the road, but you’ll still need to access your renewal notices and any items from Uncle Sam (as well as Aunt Gertrude’s birthday card). Read our Tutorial on the topic. Join Escapees and this will handle itself. - Even with other Mail Services, it can be done for around $20 per month.

Emergency Fund and Savings: On The Road, just like at home, you need to keep some money stowed away for a rainy day (sometimes literally a rainy day). The best plan is to spend less than you make and save the rest (but you already knew that). Keep in mind that having a couple grand in savings can be the difference between living a care-free nomadic lifestyle on The Road, or being homeless and helpless on the side the road. Always expect the unexpected.

Taxes!: Depending on your income stream, you may need to budget for Taxes. - For any and all Business or Independent Contractor activities you will have to pay your Federal Income Tax, as well as any State or Local Taxes, and all of your Social Security Tax. - A W-2 employee pays 1/2 SSI and the employer typically picks up the other 50%. For any “self employed” income you will be responsible for the full amount. - In total, Taxes can be as much as 33% of your net. - It’s closer to 25% if you Domicile in a state with no Income tax. - This isn’t included in our Sample Budget above because we just put 1/3 of whatever we make through Self-Employment activities (website, YouTube, drop-shipping, or any gig-economy type work (etc.) into a savings account before we start spending.

Existing Expenses: Debt is an unfortunate reality of life these days, and while some people will advise you to be debt free before you go Full-Time RV, for many of us, that would have meant that we never would have done it... Obviously, if you can pay it all off, you should, but some use this lifestyle as a means to do just that. If you have a budget, stick to it. If you go easy on the extra expenses, you can live big without spending big. Do you have Student Loans? Still paying a Mortgage or Rent? What about the vehicle you’re towing? Are you still paying for it? - Budget for it, and for all the expenses that come with it.

Freedom is closer than you think.