The RV Lifestyle Killed Our Savings: A Cautionary Tale

I'm writing this because I wish someone had been this honest with us before we sold the house and hit the road. Maybe it would've changed our approach. Maybe not. But at least we would've gone in with realistic expectations.

Karen here. Solo RVer now, but I started this journey as part of a couple with what we thought was a solid financial plan.

The plan: sell the house, pocket the equity, buy an RV, and live cheaply while we figured out our next chapter. The math looked great on paper. No mortgage, no property tax, no utility bills. How expensive could RVing be?

Very. Very expensive as it turns out.

The RV itself was $85,000. Already more than we budgeted because we "needed" the floorplan with the bigger bathroom. Then $18,000 for a proper tow vehicle. Then insurance. Then the first repair — a slide-out motor at $1,200 — three months in.

Within eight months our "savings" were bleeding. Within fourteen months the relationship was done — unrelated to the money but the financial stress didn't help.

I downsized to a smaller Class C, got serious about boondocking, and now I actually do live cheaply. But it took a painful expensive lesson to get here.

My advice: whatever you budget for full-time RVing, add 40%. And dont sell your house until you've tried RVing for at least 3 months. Learn the real costs before you burn your bridges.