Making Sense Of Cents

Learn how to make extra money, how to save money, how to start a blog, and more.

JOIN OVER 300,000
MONTHLY READERS!
  • HOME
  • BLOG
  • Make Money
    • best online jobs
    • passive income ideas
    • paid online surveys
    • How To Make $100 A Day
    • 80 side job ideas
    • More Extra Income Ideas
  • SAVE MONEY
    • Free Amazon Gift Cards
    • 16 Alternatives To Cable TV
    • best rewards credit cards
    • How I Paid Off My $40,000 Student Loans
    • More Money Tips
  • Categories
    • Income Reports
    • How To Save Money
    • Extra Income Ideas
    • Blogging Tips
    • Career Advice
    • College
    • Pay Off Debt
    • Retirement
    • Self-Employment Tips
    • Travel
  • BLOG COURSES
    • AFFILIATE MARKETING COURSE
    • MAKING SENSE OF SPONSORED POSTS
    • HOW TO START A BLOG
  • Contact
    • About
    • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Recommendations

The Ultimate Guide To Getting Started RVing

Last Updated: March 19, 2022 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 32 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

487 shares
  • Facebook84
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Whether you are young or if you've reached retirement age and want to start the RVing lifestyle, there are several things you will want to think about.Recently, we celebrated our one year anniversary of RVing. This past year of RVing has been really amazing for us. There hasn’t been a single day when we’ve wished that we lived in a “real” home!

We love seeing new places, trying new adventures, meeting new people, learning about new areas, and more.

However, if you’re thinking about RVing, then you may be a little overwhelmed with questions.

After all, RVing is a somewhat new lifestyle that not too many people take part in. So, this can lead to many questions!

If you’re interested in RVing, check out these other blog posts on Making Sense of Cents:

  • Becoming an RV Family – How We Travel Full-Time With 4 Kids and 2 Dogs
  • How To Make Money While RVing
  • How Much Does It Cost To RV?
  • Common RV Questions – Yes, I Even Talk About What We Do With #2
  • Beginner RV Tips – Dreaming Of A Life On The Road?

Whether you are a young RVer or if you’ve reached retirement age and want to start the RVing lifestyle, there are several things you may want to think about and research.

 

Convince your significant other.

If you have a significant other, they may need some convincing before you’re able to start RVing. At least, that’s how it has been for most of the people that I’ve met, haha.

I won’t lie, Wes had to convince me. I wasn’t sure what to think of RVing, and I didn’t know a single person who had ever even been in one.

Due to that, I was a little hesitant about living in a vehicle.

Then, we bought an RV and I honestly couldn’t imagine living any other way. It’s so much fun and it’s such a great lifestyle.

 

Laptop

Have a plan.

If you are new to RVing, then you probably have many questions. That’s only normal since RVing is usually quite a new topic to most people.

Yes, you may have already decided that you want to buy an RV, but the questions and planning do not end there!

You should:

  • Think about what type of RV you want.
  • Determine what RV you can afford.
  • Set a budget regarding gas, food, and where you will stay.
  • Decide where you are traveling to and for how long.
  • Note when you need RV maintenance and actually do it.
  • Keep your pets in mind if you are bringing them. For example, we always make sure to have enough dog waste bags – no one wants to think about that, but it needs to be done!
  • Determine what items you should bring for your trip. This includes determining how many extra fuses, rolls of toilet paper, light bulbs, trash bags, soap, shampoo, bikes, food, dishes, utensils, and so on.
  • Book your stays. When we were tent camping, we had no problem camping anywhere. However, with an RV there are usually wait times of a few months. Yes, MONTHS! It’s very wise to book a campground in advance if you plan on staying somewhere during the high season.

 

dollar-1362244_1280 (1)

Find a way to earn a living

If you’re not yet retired, then you may need to find a way to pay for your RV lifestyle.

Many say they dream of traveling in an RV, but they are unable to because there is no way for them to make a living. While it may be more difficult to earn a living while traveling, there are definitely possibilities!

In fact, many of the RVers we have met earn a living while on the road. Yes, many are retired, but there are still many people who hold all sorts of jobs while traveling full-time.

While on the road, I’ve met the following people:

  • There was a couple near retirement age but decided that they couldn’t wait any longer. So, they bought an RV and started working at campgrounds in exchange for free monthly stays.
  • There were people who work from their RV but still have a traditional employer. They work Monday through Friday from their RV– all they need is internet.
  • A person who traveled in order to find antiques and other items to resell.
  • Several bloggers who write full-time (it’s what I do as well!).
  • Filmmakers, photographers, graphic designers, virtual assistants, etc.
  • And much, much more!

For me, I make money while RVing by running this personal finance blog. You can check out my income reports here which detail exactly how I earn a living on the road.

Related posts:

  • Make Money While Traveling – Yes, It’s Possible!
  • 75+ Ways To Make Extra Money
  • 9 Work From Home and Travel Careers
  • 10 Ways To Make Money Online From The Comfort of Your Home
  • Ways To Make An Extra $1,000 A Month

 

RV Life Setup

Think about all of the costs.

Many people automatically assume that RVing is cheap.

Well, it can either be cheap or it can be very expensive. We know many, many people who live in RVs that cost over $300,000. We’ve even met people who live in RVs that cost over $500,000 and sometimes around $1,000,000!

While there is no one size fits all RV budget, there are many common RV expenses. You may find that your RVing expenses are slightly different than ours. I’ve heard that new RVers tend to spend more than the average RVer, because we like to drive all over the place with no idea of what we’re doing, haha! Plus, everyone travels a little differently.

Some common RV costs include:

  • Your RV
  • RV maintenance and repairs
  • Gas
  • Campgrounds and RV parks
  • RV insurance
  • Food
  • Entertainment
  • Cell phone and internet

 

PNW

Start downsizing.

Downsizing is a must if you want to live in an RV. No matter how small your current home is, your RV will most likely be smaller. Plus, RVs have weight limits, so even if it all fits, you may not be able to carry it all.

So, you will want to start thinking about downsizing. You can do this slowly so that it’s not as overwhelming.

You’ll want to:

  • Make a plan. What should you keep? What can you for sure get rid of? What do you have room for? How much space do you have available? How much weight can you carry?
  • Think about why you want to keep certain items. Doing this can help you part with things a little easier.
  • Think about when the last time was that you used an item. If it’s been awhile, then get rid of it!
  • Go through one room at a time. Going through a whole house can be overwhelming. If you have time, then you may want to make a plan to tackle one room at a time.
  • Carefully evaluate future purchases. Remember, you have little room to store items, so you want to be thoughtful when it comes to ALL purchases.

Read more at Downsizing Your Home? Here’s How I Went From A 2,000 Square Foot House To An RV.

 

Moab

Stay connected.

Staying connected to the internet is a question that many people think about before they start RVing. However, I promise it’s not so bad. Sure, there are days where you may not have internet, especially if you like to explore and go on adventures like us (as well as most other RVers). For the most part, though, you’ll have no problem staying connected.

Most RVers that I’ve met use AT&T for their cell phone service and Verizon Wireless for their wifi. This way, you are always covered with service, which is necessary if you work online. I use a Verizon Mifi and it allows me to stay connected pretty much anywhere.

Other than that, you may also be able to find wifi at campgrounds, restaurants, and stores.

 

Huron Peak

Don’t forget about health insurance.

I recommend reading the article I wrote for Winnebago, Health Insurance Challenge: Coverage for Full-Time RVers. I cover pretty much everything about health insurance for RVers, so it is a MUST read if you are thinking about RVing.

Here’s a little snippet from that article:

To learn what your health insurance options are, you should go to Healthcare.gov, your state’s health insurance exchange, or private health insurance options such as Ehealthinsurance.com. Keep in mind that income subsidies do not apply if you purchase your health insurance on anything except for a federal or state health insurance exchange.

Here’s my personal story:

In late 2015, I found out that I had no realistic health insurance options. I didn’t want to pay the penalty for not having health insurance, and I also didn’t want to go uninsured.

See, for full-time RVers, health insurance companies are fairly strict.

Some health insurance companies won’t cover you once you travel away from your state. If they do cover you when out-of-state, they usually require that you at least live full-time in your home state. Despite being RVers, we do have an address. However, it is technically not where we live full-time, so we did not want to have to deal with a health insurance company possibly voiding a medical expense if they found out that we were trying to get around this loophole.

Plus, the only policy that we qualified for (in our state) had an astonishing deductible of $39,000 for an out-of-state medical expense. And, as full-time RVers, we are excluded from the majority of policies anyways due to the loophole described above, so that just didn’t work for us.

Paying a high monthly health insurance premium that comes with a $39,000 annual deductible and the fact that any of our claims would probably be voided because we are full-time travelers, made this decision a no-brainer.

We obviously had to find something else.

So, in January of 2016, we started a membership with Liberty HealthShare. Yes, we now belong to a health sharing ministry.

Read the rest at We No Longer Have Traditional Health Insurance – Liberty HealthShare Review.

 

Pine Cove Campground

Choose your domicile.

If you want to RV full-time, then you will need an address. This allows you to have a driver’s license with a correct address, receive mail, fill out paperwork, vote, and so on.

For us, we have a domicile not in our old home state, and we use a local mail forwarding and sorting company for our mail service. All of our mail gets sent there and then that company forwards our mail to wherever we are. Makes it super easy!

You can choose to be domiciled anywhere. But, the majority of people seem to choose South Dakota, Texas, and Florida as their domicile state as they make it very easy for RVers to claim residence, receive mail, renew plates and licenses, and more.

I highly recommend reading Picking a Domicile State, Getting Mail & Voting as a Nomad on Technomadia as they have the best article on choosing a domicile that I have seen. In fact, I used this when choosing our domicile!

Are you interested in RVing? What questions do you have for me?

 

Related Posts

  • How Much We Spent To Visit All 50 States In One YearHow Much We Spent To Visit All 50 States In One Year
  • 10 Lessons I’ve Learned From Living A Nomadic Lifestyle10 Lessons I’ve Learned From Living A Nomadic Lifestyle
  • 2020 Business and Life Review2020 Business and Life Review
  • How To Rent An RV: The Best Tips For Your First RV RentalHow To Rent An RV: The Best Tips For Your First RV Rental
  • How I Travel Full-Time By RV And Boat With My 2 DogsHow I Travel Full-Time By RV And Boat With My 2 Dogs
  • Full-Time RV Travel With Kids – Are They Crazy?Full-Time RV Travel With Kids – Are They Crazy?
487 shares
  • Facebook84
  • Twitter
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

32 Comments
Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: RV, Travel

About Michelle Schroeder-Gardner

Michelle is the founder of Making Sense of Cents, a blog about personal finance and traveling. She discusses how her business has evolved in her side income series. She paid off $40,000 in student loans by the age of 24 mainly due to her freelancing side hustles. Click here to learn more about starting a blog!

Comments

  1. Fervent Finance says

    September 14, 2016 at 8:42 am

    Great starters list! This could be me in 10 years 🙂

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      September 14, 2016 at 10:36 am

      Thanks!

      Reply
  2. Syed says

    September 14, 2016 at 10:47 am

    Very interesting. We really have no interest in doing this but it’s cool to know how much goes into it. Glad it’s working out well for you guys!

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      September 14, 2016 at 11:09 am

      Thanks! We really love Rving.

      Reply
  3. Lindsey says

    September 14, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    This is all such great information! Hopefully I can convince my fiance to take up rving some time 😉

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      September 14, 2016 at 5:32 pm

      Good luck 🙂

      Reply
  4. Josh says

    September 14, 2016 at 3:37 pm

    My wife & I want to do this in the future for long weekends or several weeks out of the year. We need to get out of the diaper phase for this to be viable, so maybe in a few years.

    It’s awesome that you guys have the opportunity to see the country this way. Next stop…Europe!

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      September 14, 2016 at 5:33 pm

      Thanks! We’re having a blast 🙂

      Reply
  5. Vicki@Make Smarter Decisions says

    September 14, 2016 at 8:50 pm

    Heading over to read the domicile post next! We actually own a condo in Florida (and we live in NY now) – so it should be pretty seamless to do that we hope! We are looking to RV/Camp during part of the year starting next fall! We are starting a list of questions – but a lot of your posts already have the answers 🙂 Great stuff!

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      September 14, 2016 at 10:50 pm

      Awesome! 🙂

      Reply
  6. Nick True says

    September 14, 2016 at 9:00 pm

    Thanks so much for writing this Michelle. As my wife and I get closer and closer to the RV life, posts like this are extremely helpful for us.

    I’ve added it to my google docs spreadsheet for RV information.

    Thanks for the great info and the inspiration to follow in your footsteps! 🙂

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      September 14, 2016 at 10:55 pm

      When are you making the switch? 🙂

      Reply
      • Nick True says

        September 14, 2016 at 11:00 pm

        Well, we still have quite a few things that need to fall into place (including getting an RV).

        But my wife graduates from Physical Therapy school in May 2017. Our goal is to be on the road sometime July – August of 2017.

        So we’ve got about 10ish months. But we’ve got a lot of ground to cover in that time period. 😉

        Reply
        • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

          September 15, 2016 at 12:31 pm

          Awesome!

          Reply
  7. Kelsey @ Tealmama says

    September 15, 2016 at 9:19 am

    So interesting. I bet a lot of people think RV is super cheap. We even thought about staying in one between houses last year. But after adding up all the expenses (campground spots are not as cheap as you would think!), we were better off staying in a hotel where my husband got a really good corporate rate. Accounting for the business tax write-off of course. How cool is it that you live in an RV full-time though. And making an amazing living. Hope you’re having a great week. 🙂

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      September 15, 2016 at 12:32 pm

      Yeah, it kills me when people think that it’s always super cheap to RV. The RV park we’re at right now is $1,800 a month! Of course, they’re not all this expensive, though – just the popular areas.

      Reply
  8. Alexis @ Fitnancials says

    September 15, 2016 at 9:41 am

    Michelle, you’re making me want to get an RV. I don’t foresee it happening for J.D. and I for a few years, though, because of school.

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      September 15, 2016 at 12:32 pm

      You need to do it!

      Reply
  9. cece says

    September 15, 2016 at 6:30 pm

    Sounds like a big leap of faith with so many things to consider and get in order. Glad it worked out for you.

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      September 16, 2016 at 11:04 am

      Thanks!

      Reply
  10. Tiffany Griffin says

    September 17, 2016 at 9:00 pm

    You have inspired my husband and I to seriously consider RVing in the near future. I never thought something like this would spike my interest,but we’ve become a little bored with life in the suburbs. Oftentimes you end up making life decisions because you’re told that’s what you’re supposed to do. Your blog has opened my eyes to other options and has given me a lot to think about.

    p.s. I recently enrolled in your course and I’m loving it!

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      September 19, 2016 at 3:57 pm

      RVing is a ton of fun. Highly recommend 🙂

      Reply
  11. Tawcan says

    September 19, 2016 at 1:37 pm

    RVing across America sounds amazing. Would love to do this in the future. Would be interesting to RV with two kids.

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      September 19, 2016 at 3:55 pm

      https://www.makingsenseofcents.com/2016/06/becoming-an-rv-family.html – This family does it with 4 kids and 2 dogs 🙂

      Reply
  12. Stefanie O'Connell says

    September 19, 2016 at 2:04 pm

    I can’t believe it’s been a year! My biggest challenge would be getting paid. Most of my clients pay by check (even though I’ve asked for direct deposit) :/ Do all your payments come through paypal and direct deposit?

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      September 19, 2016 at 3:56 pm

      I still receive quite a few checks each month. They are delivered to our mail forwarding address and then that company just mails all of our mail to wherever we are.

      Reply
  13. Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

    September 19, 2016 at 3:57 pm

    Thanks!

    Reply
  14. Amanda-LivingFullyandFree says

    September 20, 2016 at 5:12 am

    I can’t wait to start RVing one day! My husband has said he would do it, but I know I would be the one convincing him. Thanks for sharing all the advice!

    Amanda

    Reply
  15. Lila says

    September 20, 2016 at 11:23 am

    You guys are on a fun adventure and best of all you did it while you’re young, a lot of people have to wait until they’re seniors to do this!

    I’m totally inspired now to build my blog and work hard on it to give myself the same flexibility =)

    Reply
  16. Charisma Moore says

    October 30, 2017 at 3:39 pm

    Wow. I had no Idea you were a full-time RVer! I signed up for your blog a while ago to get tips on starting a blog and life took some mean turns which postponed my plans. Funny thing is, we are going to Arizona to help my parents, so in between, my husband and I were thinking about taking the 5th wheel and doing camp work. This is a wonderfully comprehensive list which I feel is invaluable to many. It seems to be a little stroke of serendipity that I got the email for this article today. Great Job! Can’t wait to show this to my hubby! Thanks!

    Reply
    • Michelle Schroeder-Gardner says

      October 30, 2017 at 5:46 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  17. Mindy Gallego says

    September 5, 2020 at 7:53 pm

    Thanks for all the info, my husband and I are making the decision to sell the house and travel the states, didn’t know all the issues to think about so thank you..my brain is a little overwhelmed and so therefore I watched your choice on rvs and now need to take a break, your blog was the first one to read..again thank you, I’ll keep following because we have a whole lot to learn..stay safe

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Making Sense of Cents welcome page photo
Hello and welcome!
My name is Michelle and I'm the author/owner of Making Sense of Cents. Learning how to save money and make more money changed my life. It allowed me to pay off $40,000 in student loans, start my own business, and I now travel full-time.

As Seen On

as seen on
How To Start A Blog
making sense of affiliate marketing for bloggers
My Monthly Online Income Reports
My Student Loans Are Gone - How I Paid Off $38,000 In Student Loans
How To Prevent Financial Fraud From Happening To You
Buying a House at 20 (How I did it)
How To Make Money Blogging Picture
How To Save 50% Or More Of Your Income Picture
How I Graduated From College In 2.5 Years With 2 Degrees AND Saved $37,500
75+ Ways To Make Extra Money

 

HOME
ABOUT
CONTACT
FREE FB GROUP

PRIVACY POLICY
TERMS OF USE
DISCLAIMER / EARNINGS DISCLAIMER
Copyright © 2011 - 2023. All Rights Reserved.

© 2023 Making Sense of Cents
Design by Swoon & Co. Creative