5 Tips To Managing Gas Costs On the Road
One of the most common questions we get asked when folks first see “the beast” is “what’s the gas mileage on that behemoth?“.
The most common response, once people hear the answer (our RV gets around 8 miles/gallon BTW) is “you must spend a TON of money on gas!“.
It seems to be one of the Top 5 financial worries of people getting on the road, and everytime gas prices change (which they do all the time) it triggers multi-page discussions on the RV forums.
“If gas prices rise will it force you off the road?”
“If gas prices fall will you travel more?”
And so on and so forth.
Given the bro-ha-ha this topic tends to whip up, I figured I would touch on it in a little more detail. The truth is that gas costs are not something we think too much about, but we do try and find bargains where we can. Here are our thoughts…
1/ Your Gas Costs Are Part Of Your LIVING Costs
Perhaps one of the most important things to understand about fulltime RV travel is that your gas costs are a fundamentally different part of your budget than when you lived in a stix & brix. Instead of just being a budget item for your car, they become part of your living costs, the costs you pay to live in your RV and live this lifestyle. This puts a whole different perspective on the matter.
To give a specific example, when we lived in our stix & brix house we paid for base “house costs” (= mortgage, property taxes, electricity, water, garbage) plus we commuted back/forth to work. As you would expect the former was big $$, but the latter was fairly hefty too. During our most active commuting years we commuted (jointly in a single car, to save money) 90 miles each and every workday. That’s 450 miles per week or 22,500 miles per year…NOT including week-end travel & vacations! Living in the expensive Bay Area (CA) our total house+gas costs were significant. Even without the mortgage, these costs ended up just over $1,100/mo, a big chunk of cash.
When we moved into our RV we exchanged our “house costs” for “RV costs” (RV, RV registration & RV park fees) and we exchanged our commute for travel. The switch was significant. Our RV park fee rates have averaged ~$10/night for the past few years (thanks to a mix of parks, volunteering & boondocking) and our travel has averaged just over 5,000 miles per year in the RV, with an additional ~7,000-9,000 miles/year in the car. Including yearly registration costs the total of these three items comes to around $650/mo, ~40% less than what we spent before.
Nowadays we couldn’t even rent a room in the Bay Area for that price!
For this very reason gas costs are not really something we think too much about. Even if gas costs increased 50%, we would still be able to travel without too much worry. Most other fulltime RVers would say the exact same thing. When you understand that RV and gas costs are now part of your living costs and replace the house plus commuting costs of your “old” life it changes the equation quite dramatically.
Note/ Interesting little side-note. Back in our stix & brix commuting days we used over 100 gallons/month of fuel. These days we actually use less (~85 gallons/month), despite “the beast” and our fulltime travel.
2/ Plan Your Fill-Ups
Although we don’t obsess about gas prices, I always like a good bargain when I can get one so we do make an effort to track down good gas prices when we can.
State Pricing – Gas prices change quite a bit across state lines, especially if you travel cross-country. In general prices are more expensive on the coasts (especially the West and Northeast) than in the middle. So, whenever you’re planning to cross state lines it makes sense to try and plan ahead by either filling up right before you cross the line, or right after, especially if you have a big ‘ol 100 gallon tank like we do. Since we mostly travel out west we know that AZ prices are always more attractive than, say CA prices so if we’re about to cross from one into the other we’ll always fill up appropriately. THIS site provides a very nice US-overview of prices.
Local Pricing – Local prices can actually vary quite significantly from station to station especially if you’re traveling more than 100 miles or so (which is not unusual in an RV). Our favorite little App for this is GasBuddy and we pretty much always use it to scout out our next spot. Since we’re “beast-size” we tend to favor bigger “trucker-type” gas stations, but we’ll not exclude smaller stations if we can get a clear view of their entrance from Google Street View. We can usually snag at least $0.10/gallon savings by using this App.
3/ Plan Your Travel Miles
What if you’re on a limited income where these numbers DO matter a lot? The most obvious answer is to cut back on the number of miles you travel, and honestly there is nothing wrong with this.
Many people who get into fulltime RVing somehow think they need to see everything and travel everywhere, and if they don’t do this they feel they’ve somehow failed. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to drive a lot of miles (we know fulltime folks who regularly travel 15-25 K miles/year), but there’s also no requirement that you have to.
As an example we’ve found we’re partial to the western states and we’ve also found that we actually prefer a slower pace of travel. We’ve seen an incredible number of places averaging only ~5,000 miles per year. Do we feel deprived? No! Do we feel limited? No! Will we always travel only in the west? I don’t know! We could decide to travel to, say, Minnesota or Maine but it’s a choice that we can or cannot make based on our wishes, travel pace preference & budget.
I know people who RV only within a certain number of states, or sometimes even only within one single state all year long (note/ this style of travel affects residency, but that’s a whole different topic). Believe me, there is plenty to see and do even if you only stay in smaller areas. If you’re on limited or variable income there is nothing wrong with adapting travel mileage to suit, and you can still have an incredible RV experience.
4/ Have A Gas-Conscious Toad
If you’re snazzy enough to RV in a van or other small vehicle you’ll never have to think about this, but if you’re “beast-size” like us it makes total sense to have a gas-conscious toad. This way you only travel the major drives in your big “gas-guzzling” RV and instead do the majority of your sightseeing and running around town in your smaller, higher gas-mileage vehicle. This saves a lot in both hassle & gas $$.
We have a Honda CRV as our toad and although it’s not the highest mileage toad you can get, it gets a very respectable ~25 miles/gallon, a major improvement on the 8 miles/gallon of “the beast”. We have friends who tow mini’s (>30 miles/gallon) and other people we know in smaller vehicles (e.g. Class C’s) who haul scooters.
5/ Get Something Back
I always like to get a little something back on my purchases when I can.
Credit Cards – Many, many credit cards offer cash-back awards these days and if you don’t have one I really recommend getting one. The one “gotcha” you’ve got to look into is that many cards have spending limits on the amount of cash-back they offer. So, they might offer a really nice cash-back %, but it gets cut off really quickly. THIS site has a really nice overview of some of the best gas cards out there, including their limits (or not). Alot of RVers, especially on the forums rave about the Pen Fed card. We like the Amazon Rewards Card
Loyalty Cards – For “beast-size” folks like us who like to use the trucker stops (e.g. Loves, Pilot etc.), getting a loyalty card can get you additional savings. We have an older RV card from Pilot (no longer offered it seems) that gets us auto-start at the diesel pump and $0.05/gallon off the cash price of diesel. Current offerings from Pilot are this RV Plus Card (joint venture with Good Sam’s) and myRewards card, both of which offer between $0.02-$0.06/gallon discount price. Loves doesn’t have quite as interesting a deal, but they do have a MyLove Card that offers auto-start at the pump and some points that you can redeem over time. We use our loyalty card + our credit card cash-back to get double savings whenever we pump at the trucker stops.
Note/ I’ve found trucker stop prices are **not** always the cheapest (in fact they’re often the most expensive) even with the savings ontop, but they do have the convenience of high-flow nozzles at the diesel stations (= super-fast fills for “the beast”). Use GasBuddy to decide if it’s worth your while.
PHEW! 1600 words later and I’m finally done. Had no idea I had so much to say. DO comment and share your own thoughts below.
https://www.walla.by/cardbase/bank-of-america/aaa-platinum-plus-gas-rebate/49beece7d2e5e6910d52e0e83f470560
5% on fuel, but you need to cover it with other purchases the rest of the month at no discount with their 3% charge. In other words, for $300 in fuel purchases monthly, you need a total of $500 or more total purchases for the month to get the full 5% back for fuel purchases.
Sweet little cash-back card! Cheers for sharing it. The 5% gas reward matches the PenFed Card that so many RVers love.
Nina
As a fellow full time RVer, we completely concur. We made a very similar post a few years back about this, which also includes a fuel cost calcultor folks can use to estimate their fuel costs at various prices: http://www.technomadia.com/2012/09/a-full-time-rvers-perspective-on-fuel-costs/
While we don’t give fuel costs too much consideration, and love that we have complete control over how much we spend each month – we ARE enjoying the reduced expenses this year as compared to last 🙂 When prices start to trend upwards again, yeah – we may all moan a little – but it just takes one less meal out a month to compensate for it.
Excellent post and love the fuel calculator!! Thanks for linking it!
Nina
Great piece Nina. Great point on as a full-timer (or most-timer in our case) gas being part of your living expense.
Great ideas in here. Thanks for a nice post.
How about a favorite credit card to build airline miles?
(I’ve now got two kids in military service, and travel for various events in their careers gets spendy very quickly…)
Ahhhh…travel miles. I’ve actually been getting REALLY into this recently. Over the past 6 months Paul and I have accumulated 200,000 miles on AA. How?? Well, I’ve been following the tips on these websites:
http://www.milesdividendmd.com/miles-and-points-travel/
http://www.travelmiles101.com/welcome-travel-miles-101/
At some point I’ll write a more detailed post on this, but for now I just recommend following the links. No affiliation by the way.
Nina
Hey Nina,
Thanks for mentioning Travel Miles 101 — glad you’ve enjoyed it so much! 🙂
I’m excited to check out your site and I just happened across this comment…
Brad
Great points and tips.
An app that I find better than GasBuddy is YP – Yellow Pages local search (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yellowpages.android.ypmobile&hl=en)
I’ve compared the result of the two many times and the YP app got be more/better results.
Your mileage may vary 🙂
Interesting. I will try experimenting with that. Thanks!
Nina
One thing you also have to consider when using a credit card at the gas pump is that (in Oregon anyway) you are usually charged a higher price for using that credit card – generally around .10 more. So you have to decide – use cash/debit card and get the lower price per gallon and no rewards or pay the higher price and get some rewards down the line. My credit card offers double reward points for gas purchases so sometimes it’s worth it. For example – buy 100 gallons at $3/gallon and pay $300 and get 600 rewards points or $.60 next month, OR buy 100 gallons of gas at $2.90 per gallon and pay $290 and save $10 over the credit card price. There’s always a balance.
Good point. Most of the time we fill up at the trucker stops that get us the cash price (with the loyalty card), but comparing cash/credit prices at other stops is very relevant. Thanks!
Nina
Nice article. We are big fans of gas buddy as we get a whopping 10 miles per gallon
and we use it well. I like a good deal.
A whopping 10 miles per gallon….so much better than us 🙂
Nina
I learned saying my fuel costs replaced my utility bills helped people understand. If they still seemed confused I would tell them my furnace ran off my diesel fuel tank and the light in their eyes would usually go on then.
I like the comparison. Makes perfect sense!
Nina
Love Gas Buddy and the Amazon rewards card. I use both every day on the road. ;-}
Even though I don’t live full time RVing, fuel is a big makeup of many of my week long or two week long trips of 1100 miles from L.A. to Yellowstone. Hence a diesel vehicle that tows well with good 16.5 to 19.5 MPG pulling my 4000 # 21 foot travel trailer is important. 2013 VW Touareg AWD 5000# SUV also doubles at getting 33-35 MPG when not trailering the Travel Trailer. Even with great MPG’s, it pays to watch the penny’s towing and trailering, as well as not needing a TOAD when the trailer is off.
That’s some pretty high gas mileage. Very nice!
Nina
Key to diesel efficiency and uber MPG’s is travelling maximum number of miles between engine and drivetrain warm ups. Those warm ups suck up a lot of calories from fuel better used propelling the vehicle forward.
You could do the same with a Porsche Cayenne Diesel as a VW Touareg TDI or Audi Q7 TDI, pretty much MPG’s wise. Even better MPG’s if your budget allows a smaller Air Stream TT.
57-58 MPH currently is the sweet spot in mine with the 8 speed gearbox. On climbs, whatever holds 2000 rpm in the highest gear possible is what matters, MPH fall where ever they may. And brand of fuel in my Touareg is huge in MPG’s I log. Conoco, Phillips 66, Sinclair, and 76 Unocal are much, much better MPG producers than any diesel fuel I buy at any truck stop, for reasons unknown. I just know my fuel logs confirm it every time. I stay out of the truck stops now for diesel fill ups. YMMV, you won’t know it if you don’t keep fuel logs. Fuelly.com might be worth looking into.
Diesel engines definitely like to be DRIVEN, the more miles the better, and RPMs certainly make a difference (it’s what defines our sweet spot). I haven’t gotten into the granularity of looking at different fuel types like you have. Interesting info!
Nina
Oddly enough, we drive fewer miles per month when we are “on the road” than when we are back at home. I’ve got about 15,000 miles on the truck this year (about 7,500 towing the Airstream.) When we were at home, my wife and I would easily drive over 30,000 miles per year. My diesel truck gets about 14 mpg with the above towing/non-towing mix, our “at home cars” get about 20 mpg so it all evens out.
The same is true for us too. We drive much less than we did back in our regular working days.
Nina
Your blog is great for want to be full timers. It would be great if you could give examples of the other components of RV living costs, such as; insurance costs RV / license cost Toad, propane and other typical costs you incur when full time RVing.
Thanks,
David
I have an older post on this here:
The Costs Of Fulltime RVing
I’m due for an update on the post since some of the costs have increased (especially healthcare), but many of the costs are actually very similar. Our registration & insurance costs have increased marginally (not by much), our mail costs are the same, we still fill propane around twice/year and the variable costs are all the same.
Nina
Thanks Nina, this was helpful.
-David
I really like the link to the AAA fuel prices page, thank you! I average 50-60 MPG in my Prius C, so it is not as big of an issue as your land yacht. However, I still like to save a few pennies when I can! For instance, yesterday I bought gas in Franklin, TN for $2.39 per gallon, and when I arrived in Clarksville, TN today, I found it for sale at $2.28 per gallon. I would have prolonged my purchase if I had more information.
Those Prius’s get AWESOME gas mileage. Even with that it’s nice to save where you can. One day I’m hoping for an electric tow vehicle which we can just charge off our solar panels. The tech is still not there yet (at least the way we use our toad), but it would be SO awesome.
Nina
I was thinking the same regarding an electric toad. I would think by towing the vehicle you should be able to charge the electric car as you travel, solar would be a great way to charge the car as well. Just waiting for the technology to be available.
Love your blog.
Traveling near Walmarts with gas, they pay 5% with their card (Master Card.
Keep up the good work………..
Thanks
Surprised that you (or any of your commenters) don’t mention driving in a fuel efficient manner.
I am still astounded by the number of vehicles (including RVs) that drive at 65-75 mph. I’m guessing that these people simply don’t care, because they could immediately save 20% on their fuel costs if they slow down to 55 mph and enjoy the scenery. And yet the same people will line up at a fuel stop to save 10 cents a gallon.
Well, that depends.
First of all there’s certainly a lot of other factors that can affect fuel consumption:
1/ Driving acceleration – One of the biggest culprits of fuel consumption (even more so than highway speed) is excessive/hard start-up & accelerating. Driving more “gently” (slow acceleration, slow torque changes, less stop and go) will definitely increase how far your fuel can stretch. Also slowing down on uphills.
2/ Tire pressure – having the wrong tire pressures can affect your fuel consumption.
3/ Tanks – driving with full tanks (water/grey/black) affects fuel consumption due to the extra weight.
Secondly as far as highway speeds go, for diesel engines at least each one has a different “sweet spot” and that can vary a bit depending on the RV. For our rig with Cummins engine our sweet spot is somewhere around 200 rpm over max torque RPM which actually puts our *most* MPG efficient highway driving speed closer to 62-64 mph. Most of the diesel rigs our size (40′) have around the same sweet spot (lots of discussion on this on the RV forums if you ever want to get into it). So for us at least we get better mileage at 62 mph than we do at 55 mph.
With gas coaches the numbers are different.
Nina
We get better MPG in our 40′ D as well when we travel at 65-66 mph and that is towing a 5700# toad. Plus, the ride of the coach, and the quietness of the D vs G is well worth it.
Makes total sense.
Nina
Very well put together article and all things we too have learned in our two years of full timing. We typically get the same incredulous looks of horror when we tell interested non-RV’ers that we get about 8.5mpg. When I explain we now use less fuel in a typical year than it took to heat our former house during a New England winter that seems to sink in. This also seems to work with folks that might tend to accuse us of decadent excesses by having a hugely wasteful carbon footprint – fact is we are less wasteful.
I also like to point out that if one looks at miles/gallon/pound we are actually an order of magnitude more efficient in our 40000 pound beast in comparison to say your average 6000 pound pickup that might get what, about 13 miles/gallon?
And then there is the fact that we are former boaters that became full time RV’er’s partly because of the MUCH lower fuel costs. We calculated our fuel cost alone to travel from RI to Vero Beach, FL in a twin engine 35′ powerboat would be $10 -$16,000 one way. It’s not a whole lot better in a sailboat because you can’t sail most of the time if you hug the coast. That same trip in our land yacht is well below $600 with way less carbon emissions and weeks quicker to boot.
All excellent points. You can tell I’ve never lived in really cold climates like the NE otherwise I would DEFINITELY have used that heating fuel analogy in my post. Hadn’t even thought about it!
And so true about the magnitude factor. My old pickup truck only got 15 mpg (I believe), whereas our 33,000 lb “beast” gets 8 mpg. When you compare weight to mpg it’s pretty impressive.
Nina
GREAT post. You laid everything out very clearly and I agree with you 100%. Thanks for all you share.
good post. I look at it like this . It is going to cast x amount of dollars in gas to get from point A to point B. If you do it Ina week , it will be a big hit. If you do it 6 months you won’t even notice it. We always try to get at least 4 days to a week on our jaunts.
Definitely. We MUCH prefer a slower pace of travel too, and it definitely saves on gas $$ overall.
Nina
Thanks for the great information! What is the “auto-start” you mention?
It basically means we can drive up to the diesel pumps at the trucker stops and start pumping immediately without having to go inside and ask the cashier to start the pump. The pump is ready to go as soon as we swipe the loyalty card. Saves one trip inside which I really appreciate.
Nina
Have you found there often is a $ limit on the auto start card? Seems like, whenever we’ve done that, the pump shuts off when we reach around $100 worth, then we still have to go inside to get them to restart the pump….
sue
Hmmm…no? We always go to the trucker lanes so maybe that’s the difference. Could also be that we have an older card which is no longer offered? Either way we’ve never experienced a limit on the auto-start (loyalty) card. Wonder if that’s a limit on the newer cards…?
Nina
often with the cards with a limit means you can just go inside and do it again.
LoL just started our Blog so it is short.. Anyway when some asked what kind of mileage we get? My standard answer is “What kind of mileage do you get with your house” it usually breaks up the tension and the conversation gets better from there…..
Thanks Nina for your incite and your writings…. Hope to meet you and Paul up the coast late summer early fall……… Lee
I love the tip on the Pilot Rewards, Nina! We had been using the RV Plus card, but your idea is much better! I do realize that their prices tend to be higher, but the high speed fill ups and the hi-test coffee makes the stop worth our time!
Jim
We definitely favor those high-speed nozzles too. Makes filling up a 100 gallon tank soooo much faster.
Nina
Great post, Nina. My husband and I sometimes mention that we might want to fulltime RV to people, and we frequently get a response along the lines of “oh, that’s so expensive” and then a launch into a personal story (referring especially to RV park fees and broken generators, etc). It’s frequently not worth explaining that it can be expensive or not, depending on where you stay & what you rig you drive, plus how far & often you travel. We look at our business trips from last year and see that we would probably drive less miles overall if we were living in an RV. Plus, we wouldn’t have the water/sewer bill, the property taxes, etc. of living in a traditional home, not to mention home repairs. The biggest motivator, though, is that we could visit new places regularly and not have to experience snow (unless in some perverted twist we find that we suddenly like it). Thanks for the idea of the gas app, we will have to try it out.
I totally understand! I think we did around 20 versions of the budget before we went RVing. We were soooo worried about the costs. In the end our costs ended up being quite a bit cheaper than when we lived in a house and every year we’ve been on the road (especially since we slowed down and started volunteering and boondocking more) it’s gotten better.
What we’ve liked most is the *flexibility* of the budget. We have our fixed costs of course (RV/car/health insurance, maintenance, mail service, registration etc.), but a huge portion of the budget is flexible…specifically RV park fees and gas. This is a freedom we did not have in our stix and brix house, and it’s been quite liberating.
I certainly can’t guarantee that RVing will be cheaper for you (everyone has a different history and everyone travels differently), but it certainly was for us.
Nina
Love this post! I haven’t hit the road yet, but still in research mode. So much great information here! I appreciate all the tips!
Very glad the post is helpful!
Nina
Great post! When we first started RVing we budgeted way higher for gas costs then we have been spending. Truth be told, our fuel costs are lower now then when we both commuted 60 miles round trip to work everyday! We also use our CC to get gas rewards. Our Capitol One credit earns points that we redeem for gas cards. Since we pay for everything with our credit card anyway (and pay it off every month) it’s like free gas!
I see cost of full time RV living vs house costs, doesn’t it all come down to cost of living based on % of income?
Well sure. You need to have the budget to live the lifestyle to begin with, no matter what you do. This would be true of any living model, RV or otherwise. Flexibility in the budget makes adapting easier, and there’s lots of options you can do on the road to reduce your budget (e.g. Travel less miles, boondock, volunteer etc.) and improve your income (e.g. Workamping), but you can’t live without money, period.
For more on the “dark” side of fulltime RVing read more here:
https://www.wheelingit.us/2012/10/17/the-darker-side-of-fulltime-rving-5-thoughts-to-ponder-before-making-the-leap/
Nina
We’ve averaged just a little over 8 mpg with the motorhome since buying it and consider the cost of fuel just part of the game although it is nice to fill up for less dollars these days. Maybe we are sticking our head in the sand but we avoid Pilot, Flying J’s, etc. at all costs–way to chaotic for us. Mike uses GasBuddy then Google Earth to see if we will fit–at 70 feet long, we do OK! We have both an American Express and a VISA which give us cash back but I’m going to check out the Amazon one, I think we could do better with it, especially since Costco dumped American Express!
I have to admit we’ve been very happy with the Amazon card. I’m sure I could optimize my savings if I were more diligent (for example certain cards, like the PenFed one get you better savings on gas specifically), but for all-around use the Amazon card has served us well. I like that we can use the points monthly online as we shop.
Nina
Good information, we full time in a 35′ Gas motor-home and our numbers are similar. We average 5,000 miles a year and tow a Chev Malibu that gets around 30 mpg. We average around 10.00 per night and make good use of RPI Passport America and gas buddy. I remember our first year we traveled way too much we now average 200 to 400 miles per month and try to time the weather. Once in awhile we will stay a month utilizing monthly rates that are typically cheaper than day by day. I really enjoy you’re website/blog and thanks again for the Verizon rate info awhile back we are locked into a great 30 gig data plan and are happy about that!
Safe Travels, Ray
We sound like we have very similar habits. We totally travelled too much our first year too and have since slowed down and started to enjoy monthly stays in certain spots. Glad you guys are enjoying the lifestyle!
Nina
Thanks for this really informative post, Nina. much appreciated. And a huge Plus1 for GasBuddy. I use it regularly as the vehicles I use for my small biz are either one ton flatbed trucks or pickup trucks, and usually tow a trailer of some sort, loaded with whatever. So ‘economy’ just ain’t part-o-thee-equation! Lol!
Mostly tho, I wanted to say how much simpler it is when you point out that fuel is part of the housing expense for fulltimers. Makes total sense to me now and seems so much easier to comprehend in a budgetary manner.
Keep up the good work, girl! 🙂 And enjoy Oregon.
I’m glad the point about the housing versus RV costs came across clearly. I found it hard to formulate just right and wasn’t sure I’d done a good enough job. Thinking about budget in an RV is so very different and takes a bit of time to wrap your head around.
Nina
Great post Nina and so timely for me. We’ve had a few people ask us about fuel costs recently. I like the Flying J card as it gives me a discount over the cash price and I don’t have the pump shut off at some arbitrary dollar amount (i.e. pump shuts off at $100).
The card we have does the same. Auto-start, $0.05/gallon discount off the cash price and no limit. Really like it, but I don’t think it’s offered anymore. Maybe Flying J still offers the one you have despite the merger? Might be worth looking into for newbies.
Nina
Bummer..I just checked and looks like the old Flying J Card isn’t offered anymore, at least online. When you Google it, it redirects you to the new Pilot myRewards or RV Plus card (the same ones I listed in the blog post). Seems these are the only options you can get now.
Nina
I belong to several sites and there is so much concern a out fuel prices. Some hunt and hunt for the cheapest price, no mater where it is. I see folks driving a 1/2 hour and unhooking to try and fit I. The gas pump. What they don’t realize, that 30 cents a gallon they saved, with even 100 gallons doesn’t come close to the risks they take by squeezing into smaller stations, and taking the chance of a small scratch or dent. At 10 thousand miles a year, 8 mpg, 30 cents every tank full means $375 per year. If this is a big concern then you shouldn’t be looking at any RV lifestyle.
We have a 40 ft beast, same as yours but a 2000 vintage. We tow a Ford Escort, 32 mpg every week.
There are many better ways to save money than scrimp on fuel.
I agree that some folks go crazy over this. I love a good bargain, but we won’t go to extremes to find one. If I can find a discount that’s not too far out of the way we’ll take it, and we do think ahead when we cross state lines and drive long distances. Most of the time however, we stick to the trucker stops (or big Casino stations) for convenience and ease.
Nina
We are still thinking about the idea of having another vehicle to follow the 5th wheel.
I know a few 5th wheel guys who do that…tow, drive or haul a fuel-efficient extra vehicle. It’s more gear to bring in camp, but if you don’t mind that it can certainly cut down on gas costs while stationary.
Nina
Thanks Nina! Very interesting. We are looking to join the RV world next year. Can’t wait!…George
We certainly watch the fuel prices more now that we will be filling up a 100 gal tank, but it’s not a worry. Our S&B and commute costs were three times what yours were so we know our new living costs are going to be manageable. I actually hadn’t thought of rewards programs as part of the fuel purchase equation – duh! As always, thanks for great info.
Glad I could give a small extra tip!
Nina
We don’t boondock, nor do we stay at really expensive places, but our space cost still seems to run close to $1000 per month. Sometimes much less if we do a monthly rate, but even most State parks are between $25 -$30 per night with hook ups. $33 per night average is $999 per month. We travel a lot, but Not very far in one hop. I have been looking at our plans and try to stay in one region for a long time, but the pull of family brings us back to the West each year.
But RV full time is still more economical and way more fun than retierment in a house!
Our first year park costs were similar. It wasn’t until we started volunteering in summer and boondocking in winter that our costs got down below the $300/mo level. Still absolutely nothing wrong with it if you have the budget to cover and you’re enjoying the lifestyle. People RV many different ways and there is absolutely no right or wrong.
Nina
Nina, don’t your eyes cross and fingers bleed by the end of the day? I really can’t imagine how you keep this up day after day! Anyway, great post and spot on. An important part of the cost equation when full-timing like we do is cost of fuel per unit of time, not per unit of distance. There is a big difference between driving from FL to CO in 5 days with 3 stops like some friends of ours and driving a short distance and staying a week each time. Park more, drive less!
The funny thing is that every time I start a post I always INTEND for it to be really short, and then I end up writing waaay more LOL.
Looking at fuel cost per unit of time is an excellent idea, and a smart way of understanding/managing fuel costs while RVing. Cheers!
Nina
Enjoyed this post, very informative. We use Good Sams Club membership card/Master Card for fuel purchases. 5% cash back, $6000/year limit. That is 0.15 cents per gallon discount when fuel is $3.00/gallon. We hope to make the trip from central Texas to Washington, Oregon, California this late summer or early fall (gladly waiting on birth of twin granddaughters any week). Probably take 3 months. 22 year old Gulfstream 30′ DP that gets 8mpg, towing Honda CRV.
Safe travels everyone, and slow down and smell the roses. ☺
That’s a really nice cash-back %. Cheers for sharing.
Nina
Good post. Like you, we quit worrying about gas spending years ago. It’s just part of the lifestyle and can be controlled by making short moves and staying longer in one place if cost becomes an issue. And by getting out of Californina, which we plan to do soon!
Wish we were in Bend to join you at Crux. Have a Half Hitch for me!
Gayle
Yeah those CA gas prices are hard to swallow LOL. The beer diet is going gloriously here in Bend..my waistline doth protest.
Nina
I guess I’ll just be a ditto head here and say that your mileage and style are exactly like ours. We don’t worry much about gas prices since we can have total control over those costs by just altering how we travel and how long we stay anywhere. Love Gas Buddy and rely on it except that it often does not have Pilot/Flying J. We use the My Pilot card but only get 3 cents off so I’m going to have to dig into how you guys are getting 5 cents unless that’s for diesel only. We have a 35′ gas Class A and often have trouble at gas stations intended for cars not RVs. With our toad we are 57′ and that’s sometimes very tricky. Wish more P/FJ’s had RV lanes for gasers. We also always have the cut off at $75 or $100 and have to go inside and have them restart it. PIA but we’ve just come to accept it. I love my Honda Accord as a super gas efficient toad but really want a 4WD so I can get out to some of the great hikes in places my low to the ground Honda can’t go. Super informative post AGAIN Nina. Thanks!
I think our loyalty card is an older one (we got it before the Pilot/Flying J merger) and we use it exclusively at the diesel pumps. So, I guess either of those might explain the $0.05 instead of $0.03?
Nina
Hi Nina and Paul.
Excellent article and one we take to heart. Not sure if anyone mentioned it but we do the Safeway gift card/fuel station routine often. Since we grocery shop at Safeway quite often, we tend to build up points at their pump. Near the check out there are various gift cards for sale and one of them will double the discount at the pump. So far the maximum we’ve received was $.48 per gallon but I’m sure we’ll get that up a bit higher with more judicious shopping. The drawback is the discount only applies to the first 25 gallons but still, that’s a respectable fuel discount.
Oh, and if you are a lifetime Good Sam and have RV Plus, its $.08 per gal.
Excellent tip! I’ve used our Safeway points at the pump before, but didn’t know about the doubling feature with purchase of a gift card. Very nice indeed!
I’ve also used our Von’s card for savings at the pump, but no double feature there either.
Both cards give pretty good discounts at the pump when you build up enough points (and of course you’re near a pump that accepts them). Also never used the points for diesel, but use them often for the car.
Nina
Good article. Just thought I’d add comment on diesel fuel. The cheapest diesel is not always the best for your rig. My RV (Winnebago View on the Sprinter chassis) can’t handle biodiesel above B5. Many truck stops have blended diesel up to B20. Biodiesel may be cheaper but it doesn’t have the same energy content as full diesel. It’s about 10% less in BTU content which means you may get less fuel mileage. It also burns hotter. Also, cheap no name diesel at a low volume station can be contaminated with water and bacteria. I know this because I used to look for the cheapest diesel on GasBuddy. After several check engine lights, replacing fuel filters, and talking to MB techs, I’ve learned to use name brand diesel at high volume fuel stations near interstates. And no truck stop biodiesel. So far after 8k miles, no check engine lights. Cheaper is not always better especially on newer diesels. Also, I use a BOA Cash Rewards Visa card and get 3% in cash back on all fuel purchases. I drive 25K miles a year and it really adds up.
All extremely good points. We learned early on to buy diesel at stops that have high usage since, as you point out, diesel does not do well sitting around. We generally stick to the big trucker stops for the RV, but will sometimes try smaller stations if they look like they get good usage. Have not really paid attention to biodiesel (and we certainly haven’t run into any check engine or fuel filter issues), but I’ll be sure to double check this from now on.
Nina
Thanks for all the great information, We are going to start full timing towards the end of this year. and it is great to read all that experience has taught you.
Be Safe
When asked about mileage concerning the class A that we once owned, I’d just say, “It gets good mileage for a house”, and pretty much leave it at that. If you can’t afford to go, then anything resembling a “Beast” is not for you. Same with boating. It ain’t for folks with shallow pockets. But that’s my narrow minded little opinion.
Keep on truckin’.
Nina, I see many blogs talk about “being” on the road, but few seem to discuss the cost of “getting” on the road. Any thoughts or resources you could share?
So that’s an interesting topic and you are correct in that I haven’t seen any blog posts dedicated to that.
In our case the biggest cost was of course the RV, and buying used, as we did, is something I definitely recommend (depreciation on RVs is insane). In retrospect we would have gone even older in our rig choice, maybe even looked at some classics. We also did some remodeling (new carpet) and had some upfront repairs, the RV dealer covered all of the latter per our sales agreement.
Other than that we just spent a lot of time downsizing and getting rid of stuff most of which we sold on Craig’s List, so we got some income there. Our house (at the time we started RVing) was rented so we had no excess costs there.
The rest of the costs involved getting a storage unit (in retrospect a mistake that I would not recommend to others) and setting up our new domicile (getting a mail forwarding address, registering the RV etc.). Some states (like FL) do have pretty hefty initial registration fees, but otherwise these are just standard recurring costs that become part of your regular budget going forward.
If I get around to it, I’ll detail more in a blog post.
Nina
Hi. I currently use my Good Sam Deluxe Member card at Pilot/Flying J. I like the faster diesel pumping and I buy DEF there too, which is convenient. I don’t know what discount, if any, I get because I haven’t paid attention for some reason. Good Sam’s Enterprises is one of the most aggressive affinity companies I’ve encountered and their marketing is accordingly not transparent. I have no idea if keeping my current GS Deluxe card and using visa at the pump is cheaper than switching to a new RV Plus card. I’ll check the next time I fill up and if I’m getting .07 off per gallon, I’m keeping my current card. The new RV Plus payment methodology, compared to visa, seems brain damaging, and may be the same .07 per gallon discount.
Yeah I never applied for the Good Sam membership card because I didn’t want to have to deal with yet another payment just for gas. I find my RV Loyalty Card together with cash-back on my existing credit card does the job.
Nina
Nina,
Cool site!
I honestly had no idea how cool RVing was until I read your article. Now it makes perfect sense.
Bend is Beer Mecca. And Boneyard is the best of the best.
One little point that you could take advantage of in combining your fuel needs and manufactured spending to hit credit card rewards;
If you can find a local supermarket with a fuel rewards program, this can be very lucrative.
$1000 of visa gift cards gets you $1 off a gallon up to 50 gallons, so 2K purchased would save you 100$! At the cost of $24 in activation fees. Not chump change.
(Up in the PNW I’ve had luck at both safeway and QFC. )
Keep up the great work,
Alexi
Outstanding tip Alexi! Thanks so much for sharing it on the blog. I’ve learned an IMMENSE amount of stuff from your Travel Miles 101 course. Invaluable stuff.
Nina
Loved your postings and will definitely look at everything you have to offer. My husband and I (71 and 63) are considering RV living for retirement, in about a year. We have kids and grandkids in several states and think this might be a good way to see them all on a regular basis plus spend time seeing some of the country.
We are the newest of newbies in this and I am really scouring the internet for information, pros and cons.
Thank God for all of the resources available. Any input is welcome.
Great post! My husband and I live in WV and are considering going on the road full time the closer we get to retirement. Lots of great tips. Around here (PA, MD, WV, VA and OH) we have Sheetz. They have their own loyalty card where you save 3 cents off every gallon. They also have a credit card where you can save 5 cents per gallon. They even let you combine them for up to 8 cents a gallon off!!! So people might want to check for local chains if they stick to certain areas.
Keep the great posts coming and since I would like to see some of the west coast, hope to see you some day!
Excellent tips! Cheers for sharing them.
Nina
I’m very excited to find your blog. My husband and I are in our late 60’s and will begin traveling next year. I plan to get rid of most all of our household goods. We plan to store only the things like our children’s pictures, my husbands tools, his 40 Ford coup and my sewing supplies. Most all else will go. We plan on 6 months first. Thank you for all your help. We are very excited!