Eight Ways that You'll Save by Living in an RV

If you've ever dreamt of ditching most of your worldly possessions and assuming a simpler lifestyle, consider adopting an RV lifestyle. By making your motorhome your permanent home, you can slash your cost of living while exploring this beautiful country of ours. Find out just how affordable it can be to adopt this exciting lifestyle by reading on below.

Eight Ways that You'll Save by Living in an RV

Here are eight areas where you'll save money by adopting this lifestyle:

1. First things first: If you’re looking to downsize, live full-time in your RV, or if you’re thinking about moving into a tiny house, then the first thing you’ll need to do is sell your current home, if applicable. You can use the money to buy a class A motorhome, a class C motorhome or another type of motorhome. Unlike with buying a house, you won't have to worry about property taxes going forward. By paying for your toy hauler or other RV up front, you won't have a monthly payment to worry about, either.
2. Fuel - Yes, gas is expensive. However, since you'll essentially be on a permanent vacation, you'll have no reason to rush. Stay put in each place for extended periods of time to reduce fuel consumption and to keep costs in check.
3. Food - When taking motorhomes on short-term vacations, people tend to dine out a lot. It's easy to get the impression that living in RVs means dealing with high food costs, but you can easily address this issue by dining in as often as possible.
4. Taxes - Since you won't be rooted to one place, you can select your own domicile, which means that you can choose any state as your home base. Consider selecting one of the seven states that don't have income taxes--Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas and Washington--to save.
5. Campsites - It's easy to assume that campsite fees will destroy your budget, but it doesn't have to be that way. There are plenty of opportunities to park for less or for free from time to time, including on public land, in Walmart parking lots, at county fairgrounds and in friends' driveways. You might also consider joining a half-price club like Passport America.
6. Communication - With a smartphone and, ideally, a tablet or laptop, you'll have your communication bases covered. Free Wi-Fi is often available at motorhome parks as well as many restaurants and public institutions, so use it whenever you can to keep costs in line.
7. Clothes - Even in a very large gas or diesel RV, there is only so much space for things like clothes. You'll wear casual clothes most of the time too, so there's no need to spend a fortune on getting dressed up.
8. Utilities - Finally, utilities are usually rolled into campsite rental fees. You may be charged for electricity during extended stays, but there are ways to mitigate the cost. Avoid relying too much on heat or air conditioning by following nice weather as you travel. You could also upgrade to solar panels to keep your diesel or gas RV powered up for less.

There you have it: If you want to travel forever while reducing your cost of living to a fraction of what it currently is, you can't go wrong with buying a nice class A motorhome and making it your permanent home. In addition to saving money, your lifestyle will be much simpler, so you will enjoy superior peace of mind too.