Did you just recently buy your very first RV? If so, you’ll love taking it on road trips with your family. But before you take your new RV out for its maiden voyage, you should know which expenses you’ll need to budget for in advance. Otherwise, you might get out on the highway and find yourself spending more money than you may have anticipated. Some hidden expenses can pop up and catch you off guard. We’ve detailed seven of them below so you can prepare accordingly and enjoy a worry-free excursion.
Gas
When you head off on your first RV adventure, you’ll be well aware that you’re going to have to spend your fair share of money on gas for your vehicle. But even still, the amount of money you’ll spend on fuel might come as a shock. Most RVs have very large tanks that can hold close to 100 gallons of gas, so you might be forced to spend at least a few hundred dollars every time you need to stop at a gas station.
It would be well worth downloading one of the many available fuel apps so that you can compare gas prices during an RV trip. If you’re able to find gas stations that can save you even a few cents per gallon at a time, it could result in you saving some serious cash over the course of your trip.
Campground Fees
The good news for those who take RV trips is that you won’t have to worry about spending any money on hotel rooms as you travel. The bad news is that you’re still going to be subject to campground fees when you choose to park your RV at a campsite. Some of these campground fees will come in at under $20. Others will be at least a couple hundred dollars, if not more.
If you want to keep your campground fees to a minimum when you’re out on the road in an RV, it’ll be best to plan ahead. You should be able to find sites with fees that’ll fit into your budget by identifying which ones you can afford to stay at in advance. Doing this will also keep your RV trip on the right track and give you things to look forward to during its duration.
Food
When you have an RV, you don’t need to be concerned about spending money at restaurants whenever you need to eat. You can load up your vehicle with all the food you’ll need for at least a couple of weeks and then replenish your supply at grocery stores throughout your trip. You can cook right in your RV if it has a kitchen. If you plan on staying at campgrounds along the way, they should have grills available for you to use.
Buying food and cooking it yourself will give you some control over how much you spend on nourishment during an RV trip. But you’ll still need to be mindful of how much you spend when you visit grocery stores throughout your trip. It’d likely be best to budget a certain amount for every grocery store visit and strive to stick to it so that you don’t spend more than you should on food.
Activities
One of the beauties of an RV trip is that you’ll be able to participate in many activities along the way that won’t break the bank. If, for example, you’re able to stop by national parks, you can spend hours in them soaking up nature without spending a dime. But there are sure to be at least a few activities that’ll set you back some money when you take part in them. So it would be wise to create and stick to an activity budget to avoid getting carried away.
Maintenance
Before hitting the road on an RV trip, you should always change your vehicle’s oil and tackle other maintenance tasks to ensure your ride doesn’t break down on you at any time. But there will always be at least a slight chance that you might need to stop to perform additional maintenance, especially if you’re planning to go on an extended road adventure. It would help if you had a general idea of how much different maintenance services cost so that you can take them on without experiencing sticker shock.
Repairs
As long as you work to maintain your new RV, you shouldn’t find yourself in a position where you must make repairs during your trip. But you never know when one of the many parts in your vehicle might start giving you trouble. You may need to stop at an auto repair shop to fix some aspects of your RV before returning to the road. You obviously won’t be able to plan for these types of repair expenses. Still, you should always keep in mind that they may be a possibility.
Insurance
Every year, there are upwards of 20,000 RV accidents that occur on U.S. roads. You should make sure you protect the initial investment you made in your vehicle by purchasing a quality RV insurance plan for it. An insurance policy like this will come at a cost, but you should consider it another must-have item when you’re taking an RV trip.
Let Bretz RV & Marine Help You Pick Out the Perfect RV
We’re not bringing up any of the RV expenses listed here to scare you — quite the opposite. We want to ensure you’re 100% prepared for your RV trip, and that includes familiarizing you with the various expenses you might face. We also want to make sure you’re behind the wheel of the best RV possible. We welcome you to stop by our Bretz RV & Marine dealership to see our vast array of vehicles in stock. We’ll make it easy for you to find the right one. Contact us today to take an RV out for a test drive.
Gassing up the RV by Tony DiGirolamo is licensed with CC BY-ND 2.0
