Monthly costs long term motor homing

[MisterB]

i think you may need to consider that its unlikely at present that you will be able to spend more than 90 days out of 180 consecutive days in mainland europe (more correctly countries in the Schengen zone), so costs may well increase if returns to the UK are factored in. there are other countries you could 'harbour' in, so a bit of planning will be needed, but visiting other countries might provide cheaper fuel and food?

 

[Scotch mist]

i use this as a base costing , but I don’t use sites so that’s £100 less a week , this also includes the cost to maintain the house /insurances etc , so £1600 a month , we were in France last September for a month , total cost was £1700 not including house costs & only £50 site fees , We are based 20 miles south of Glasgow , hope this helps

 

[Scotch mist]

Don't really care what it cost, it cost what it cost.

well actually I do care what it costs BUT it costs what it costs

 

[Two on Tour]

well actually I do care what it costs BUT it costs what it costs

Arrr, the voice of a true Scotsman.

 

[Pontyboy]

After most long trips abroad my beloved always does a financial calculation including all expenditures, Ferries, Fuel, campsites, food incl drink, tolls.
We invariably find within reason the total cost usually matches the total mileage covered.
This is not scientific but gives us a good idea of average expenditure when planning trips

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[rick brind]

We usually do about €300 per week but rarely use EHU as we have solar and eat out once or twice. Use sites about 80% of the time (not holiday parks) We park up and use a motorcycle for exploring the area which saves on fuel but also means we get to see a lot more of the area. Remember you would eat and drink at home so no different. We have a gas-it tank so only spend about €5 on gas per month if that. We don't use WiFi or sat nav and always take the cheapest channel crossing to Europe. Usually under £130 for 6m MH with trailer. We do use some tolls but what you save in time and fuel pays for itself.
Always have a contingency fund of €1000
Just in case of the unforseen not covered by insurance.

 

[bigtwin]

The following is a summary of our spend on a 84 night winter trip to Spain & Portugal crossing using Eurotunnel.

Total expenditure was £4,200 with only a handful of meals out (included in the ‘cash spends’ total below).

I need to add a correction to the above. That spend was in Euros not pounds!

Ian

 

[Ivory55]

When people are working out long term or fulltime costs do they make any allowances for van replacements as they must take more wear and tear then holiday use.

 

[Oldbob]

As they say in certain shops etc .......... If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it !

Everyone will spend different amounts, it will all cost different amounts depending on area, shop, fuel price fluctuations etc.
Just go out and do it, save the worry, ink, paper and wear and tear on keyboard ...... Hang on, that wasn't on the expenditure list was it ?
I can't afford to do a lot of things if I sat and worked it all out, but still do them anyhow, live life, be happy, and keep taking the tablets

 

[Malcolm Bolt]

Some figures from a pair of young OAPs:

DATE	PLACE	MILES	DAYS	COST(£)	MILES/DAY	COST/DAY	COST/MILE	CAMP	FACILITY	Camp/day
Apr-16​	lakes	721​	16​	619.92​	45	38.75	0.86​	£ 300.90	£ 0.60	£ 18.81
Jul-16​	northumberland	930​	10​	408.98​	93	40.90	0.44​	£ 45.20	£ 6.50	£ 4.52
Sep-16​	nc500	1917​	18​	676.28​	107	37.57	0.35​	£ 171.20	£ 1.00	£ 9.51
Aug-17​	Kent
Oct/Nov-17	west country	1169​	25​	907.23​	47	36.29	0.78​	£ 298.45		£ 11.94
Apr-18​	Spain	2495​	27​	1835.63​	92	67.99	0.74​	£ 68.85	£ 14.30	£ 2.55
May-18​	S'hmton	649​	8​	408.33​	81	51.04	0.63​	£ 109.60	£ -	£ 13.70
Sep-18​	Germany etc	2490​	31​	1545.23​	80	49.85	0.62​	£ 196.00	£ 34.80	£ 6.32
Feb-19​	East Coast	388​	5​	223.34​	78	44.67	0.58​	£ 58.25	-	£ 11.65
Apr-19​	East Coast2	807​	12​	478.70​	67	39.89	0.59​	£ 87.45	£ 5.00	£ 7.29
Jun-19​	hebrides	2020​	27​	1419.51​	75	52.57	0.70​	£ 176.50	£ 17.00	£ 6.54
Oct-19​	marches	518​	8​	375.04​	65	46.88	0.72​			£ -
Feb-20​	John O'Groats	1534​	11​	701.70​	139	63.79	0.46​	£ 99.00	£ -	£ 9.00
Feb-20​	Dorset	736​	7​	370.20​	105	52.89	0.50​	£ 64.10	£ -	£ 9.16

"Facility" is primarily EHU but could also include water/waste/shower.
I can't find the cost of camping on our Welsh Marches trip.

We rarely eat out but will support local enterprise by purchasing coffee and cake! This is included in the daily total, along with food, alcohol etc BUT some is brought from home and sometimes we take back more than we started off with (if you get my meaning!).

Ferry to Spain was approx £1000 (v short notice) whereas Germany was approx £150.

HTH - Gordon

WOW. You manage to do all those sums as well as all that moving about.

I never know how much a trip costs. I drive a bit, stop, have a coffee, drive a bit more and stop again.
When we park up for a while we walk out each day, stop for coffees and soft drinks during the day and a beer or two on the way back. Often we will have a small bite out at lunch, tapas style. Occasionally we eat out in the evening.
Sometimes the money lasts to the end of the month, sometimes not. If so, we cut out the coffee and food out.

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[JJ]

Malcolm Bolt ...

One way to reduce costs...

Park up at QMJ (again)...

Park up cost per night= zero.
Fresh, natural water cost = zero.
Unlimited WiFi cost = zero.
Use of (small) pool = zero.
Solar power for Ebike = free.

Playing on the ride-on mower cost = €20 per minute...


JJ

 

[Rapido925M]

WOW. You manage to do all those sums as well as all that moving about.

Excel is your friend:

Date	Place	odometer	miles covered	camp	Facility	fuel	EURO total	shop	shop amount	food (approx)	other	Site, fuel, food (£)	GRAND TOTAL
	HOME	70452	2495	68.85	14.30	1497.11	1434.15	ALL IN EURO	585.14	504.71	80.43	1938.86	2019.29
01-Apr​	Portsmouth (for ferry)	70660	208			997.48	997.48	ferry return			0.00	997.48	exc food
02-Apr​	at sea	70660	0				0.00	coffee 3.60,sandwich 3, choc/tea 3.70; meal 9.60	21.89	21.89	0.00	21.89	1514.58
03-Apr​	Medinaceli	70872	212			67.28	67.28	coffee3.40;toll 8; supermkt 22.01	33.41	33.41	0.00	100.69	(excl food)
04-Apr​	Castillo de Garcimunoz	71041	169				0.00				0.00	0.00	per day
05-Apr​	Chinchilla de Monte Aragon	71114	73			10.00	10.00	UHT milk, crisps €3.17	3.17	3.17	0.00	13.17	(excl food)
06-Apr​	IKEA Murcia	71221	107			20.00	20.00	ALDI Hellin: €44.53	44.53	44.53	0.00	64.53	56.10
07-Apr​	IKEA Murcia	71221	0				0.00	IKEA €8.97	8.97		8.97	0.00

Entering the figures takes approx 3 mins.

I can look back and remember:
the long day to get to Medinacelli (Bilbao 8am, Haro, Logrono, Soria [TomTom trying to send us down a forest track], the climb to Medinacelli at 4pm and discovering 2 others who'd been on the ferry) and the cold wind up there, near the Roman archway.
the countryside en route to Cuenca and the narrow climb to the aire at the top of the city, then onto Castillo de GarcieMunez.
thick fog covering the plains of La Mancha gradually dispersing to give blistering heat in Chinchilla, with its little shops at the top of the hill and the Easter crosses illuminated at night.
etc,etc.

And when I look at the things we bought I laugh at listing the things which we bought, which would never get a mention in my MHFun journal.

ANYTHING which keeps the grey memory cells functioning is worth it to me

Gordon

 

[denisejoe]

I used to try to keep track but usually gave up after the first few days! It costs what it costs. The only cash we use is for things like coffees, drinks, bakeries. Everything else goes on the credit card and gets paid off at the end of the month.

We usually spent around £1000 a month plus ferry or Eurotunnel.

 

[Malcolm Bolt]

Excel is your friend:

Date	Place	odometer	miles covered	camp	Facility	fuel	EURO total	shop	shop amount	food (approx)	other	Site, fuel, food (£)	GRAND TOTAL
	HOME	70452	2495	68.85	14.30	1497.11	1434.15	ALL IN EURO	585.14	504.71	80.43	1938.86	2019.29
01-Apr​	Portsmouth (for ferry)	70660	208			997.48	997.48	ferry return			0.00	997.48	exc food
02-Apr​	at sea	70660	0				0.00	coffee 3.60,sandwich 3, choc/tea 3.70; meal 9.60	21.89	21.89	0.00	21.89	1514.58
03-Apr​	Medinaceli	70872	212			67.28	67.28	coffee3.40;toll 8; supermkt 22.01	33.41	33.41	0.00	100.69	(excl food)
04-Apr​	Castillo de Garcimunoz	71041	169				0.00				0.00	0.00	per day
05-Apr​	Chinchilla de Monte Aragon	71114	73			10.00	10.00	UHT milk, crisps €3.17	3.17	3.17	0.00	13.17	(excl food)
06-Apr​	IKEA Murcia	71221	107			20.00	20.00	ALDI Hellin: €44.53	44.53	44.53	0.00	64.53	56.10
07-Apr​	IKEA Murcia	71221	0				0.00	IKEA €8.97	8.97		8.97	0.00

Entering the figures takes approx 3 mins.

I can look back and remember:
the long day to get to Medinacelli (Bilbao 8am, Haro, Logrono, Soria [TomTom trying to send us down a forest track], the climb to Medinacelli at 4pm and discovering 2 others who'd been on the ferry) and the cold wind up there, near the Roman archway.
the countryside en route to Cuenca and the narrow climb to the aire at the top of the city, then onto Castillo de GarcieMunez.
thick fog covering the plains of La Mancha gradually dispersing to give blistering heat in Chinchilla, with its little shops at the top of the hill and the Easter crosses illuminated at night.
etc,etc.

And when I look at the things we bought I laugh at listing the things which we bought, which would never get a mention in my MHFun journal.

ANYTHING which keeps the grey memory cells functioning is worth it to me

Gordon

But you have to know what figures to enter. I get back from the bar and C says how much was that? By then perhaps two or three minutes could have passed so how could I possibly remember? My cells have about gone.

 

[Rollingstone]

£2000 a month ?? Don’t know where I went wrong, I lived for 2 years on about a quarter of that
I don’t drink though and don’t eat out ( would look a bit sad on my own) but I reckon the maximum I spent was £600 a month.

600 a month? what a parsimonious life!

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