Frugality in RV Living

I may be a cheapskate, but I prefer to say I’m frugal.  Or perhaps I’m being environmental by getting all the use I can out of an item or not buying something I don’t really need. Plus, I’m an engineer and I do a cost analysis and return on investment on a lot of our purchases.

In RV’ing you can spend a lot of money with a new expensive RV, living in the most expensive RV resorts, and spending lots of money on entertainment at every stop.  Instead we live well but save money where it makes sense.  Some ideas for saving money while RV’ing.

Shelter:

-       Free camping is available in Walmart parking lots (haven't stayed  there yet), casinos, some rest areas, and many BLM lands.  I use http://freecampsites.net/ to find these spots.  We also used the books listed on http://www.frugal-rv-travel.com/ .  These list spots in several southwest states.

-       National Parks and state parks tend to be lower cost places to stay plus we use our Senior National Park Pass all the time.  You may not have all the utilities, but they are gorgeous places to stay with free things-to-do like hiking in the area.

-       If you are camping a lot, having a RV discount card makes sense.  Good Sam is our most used card, but we also have Passport America (1/2 price camping but limited campgrounds) and KOA (expensive campgrounds so the discount can help when we need to stay at one).

We like to do a combination of these spots.  Most RV parks have internet and TV hook-ups.  But the state and national parks are more fun!

Food:

-       We found it is better for our checkbook and our intestinal systems to cook versus eating in restaurants.  We do splurge every once in a while for local fare.

-       Mostly we go to Walmarts to buy food.  It may not help the local economy as much, but we understand the layout and prices are good.

 Things-to-do:

-       Hikes are normally free.  Many local and military museums are free.  Other free things include churches, cemeteries, and factory tours. Historical and scientific sights tend to be low cost.  Seeing the local sights is the reason we’re traveling!

-       Places like amusement parks and shopping is expensive.  Plus, we don’t have the room to buy chintzy souvenirs.  Instead we take a lot of pictures that means more to us.

-       Bizarre places are normally free or low cost.  We’ve used http://www.roadsideamerica.com/ to find these spots.

-       As an AAA member (good for discounts at many museums and RV parks), I use their website to find things to do.  It includes lots of info like hours and prices.

-   AARP is another discount we use occasionally.  Yes, we're old!

-       Hobbies like reading from a Kindle or from the campground library works well in an RV.

Occasionally we splurge on a nice dinner or a raft ride.  I don’t think we’re missing much by watching how we spend our money.