Why we love Rving vs owning a home
Exploring the open road and experiencing the beauty of nature in an RV is a unique and thrilling experience that cannot be replicated by owning a home. The freedom to travel to new destinations, the sense of adventure, and the ability to connect with people from different cultures are just a few reasons why RVing is a beloved lifestyle choice for many.
We can confidently say we save money by RVing vs. living in a home.
This is our story, and it may not look like everyone else's in the RV world, but it has worked for us and allowed us to travel more and do more things when we visit different cities. We last lived in a house several years ago and don't plan on returning to one anytime soon.This first thing we did helped us achieve financial freedom. We paid cash for our used RV and bought a used truck. So far, this has been the best decision we’ve ever made, outside of deciding to travel full-time.
We lived full-time in our first RV without a truck to pull it with until we found one we could afford. Again, this may not fit you, but it works for our situation.
We don’t have a brand-new shiny truck or new RV with all the bells and whistles, but not having to make payments is a blessing. Things go wrong on the road, and repairs can be costly and unpredictable, so we need to be prepared financially if things go wrong.
So, how to we save so much money living in an RV vs a home?
campground memberships
We mainly use Thousand trails, which is a campground membership where, depending on which membership you bought, you can stay throughout the year for a fraction of the price of paying rent or a mortgage; we have the campground pass (Northwest region) and upgraded to the trails collection (all areas)
We purchased one other region (the southwest), and we can stay up to 14 days under our pass for free all year. You must be out for seven days if you stay longer than four days at a time under an official Thousand Trails park or their encore parks. I won’t get into all the Thousand Trails details here, but I will dive into that later.
state parks, Army Coe Campgrounds, and other discounts for stays
We also use The Army Corp of Engineers Parks when we can’t get into a Thousand Trails. These parks are typically less than the price of resort campgrounds and don’t have resort amenities. They are well-kept, and the spots are usually pretty large. You can stay for half price if you are disabled or 62 or older.
We found that state parks are another great and cheap way to stay, but you have to book well in advance.
Since Garret is a disabled veteran, we get half off at all the Army Corps of Engineers parks and state parks, which saves us even more money.
Koa (Kampgrounds of America)
When we can’t find a place to stay at any of the sites mentioned above, we’ve stayed at many KOAs. We save 10 percent by being members of their camping loyalty program, and some locations offer additional savings if you’re a veteran. It’s 33 dollars to join the rewards program, and you receive the following perks:
10%* off your daily registration rate
Rewards points that accumulate for cash off future stays
Free** night of camping during KOA Rewards Weekend
Tip: We received a free rewards program from Roadtrippers (one of my most used road-trip tools)-more about that later.
Harvest hosts & Boondockers welcome
This is such a unique and incredible way to stay. You can camp at wineries, breweries, distilleries, farms, and golf courses. We opted out of the golf course package because golf isn’t our thing. You are expected to give back and make a purchase at each place of at least $20.
Most spots are only boondocking, but some offer full hook-up for a small fee.
We usually seek out the wineries and places with food on-site, and we mostly stay at Harvest Host locations.
HH also owns Boondockers Welcome, and we have one membership for both. (you don’t have to join both)
Boondockers Welcome seems to have many more hook-ups, and you can stay longer than one night. Unlike Harvest Hosts, where you’re staying at a place of business, Boondockers Welcome is typically a private residence in someone’s driveway or property. The hosts are RVers themselves and are happy to have you stay.
We paid around $8o for the year, total for both memberships.
Passport America
is a new membership we recently joined to fill in the gaps when we can’t find any of the previously discussed spots. We think this membership pays more for-full time vs. camping a few times a year.
So far, it seems that it’s another great way to save sometimes almost half the price of a nightly stay. The only downside is that each campground or resort sets different prices and terms. For example, we recently wanted to stay at a campground in Palm Springs that was only $25 a night with our Passport America Savings, but they only honored that discount from May-September, so that didn’t work for us as we were looking to book in April.
The membership is $44 for the year to join, and you can earn your money back with just a few discounted stays.
We love RVing instead vs. owning a home for many reasons, but the financial freedom we've gained by making this lifestyle switch has allowed us to do more than we ever imagined.