Now, if you can find these spots with free RV hookups,
it's like gold. Let's be honest here. For the longest time, the
RV lifestyle has been for retirees and those go-getters
looking to knock things off their bucket list. However, as
of recently, it's been more of a lifestyle shift and change in
focus for everyone out there looking to just explore more of
life itself. Yeah, more and more families are hitting the
road but they're doing so in the affordable way. We're right
there with you. Now, if your goal with RVing is to see
everything, do everything. I have all the money in the world
to spend, I'm retired, then, this information might not be
relevant to you. But if you are concerned about the rising cost
of everything, and you want to make this lifestyle work for
your budget, well, you've come to the right place. If this is
your first time landing here to HappilyEverHanks, welcome. I'm
Kyle and this is Renee and we're here for you. We're here
to help you get out into the RV lifestyle, make that transition
so much easier. Listen, we've been through it all and we have
so many videos here to help you. Let's just help save you a
bunch of time right off the get-go and talk about the two
biggest money suckers when it comes to the RV lifestyle.
That's fuel and lodging. And maybe you're sitting here
watching this video thinking, well, my plan is to wait for
fuel prices to drop or I'm going to just boondock 90% of
the time. Problem solved, right? I I wish I were the case. Yeah.
Now, to kick it right off, fuel. It's old news that fuel
is super expensive no matter where you go and well, let's
just be honest. Waiting for these prices to actually go the
other way, it's going to be a never ending road. So, how do
you actually save more money on the road with these rising fuel
cost? How do you plan for these things before getting into the
RV lifestyle? We got a new one for you that we just stumbled
upon that we're excited to try. Techno RV just came out with
a fuel card. It's for diesel owners only at the moment and
what it is, it's a one-time purchase of a little credit
card basically and you link that to your debit or your
credit card. Mm hmm. And it can apparently save you up to a
dollar fifty per gallon at fuel stations across the country.
The website said over 1000 fuel stations. Dang. And that's
pretty cool. This is great if you have a really large rig
because we do. We have a thirty-five-foot fifth wheel
and our diesel truck. So, getting to fuel stations can
accommodate our size is a win. It's all about the height, I'm
telling you. Our height of our RV at the tip most point is the
same in comparable to the semi trucks out on the road. So,
we're about 13 feet 6 inches. You could see how quickly you
could get into a pickle out on the road. Get like really
caught up in those like normal gas pumps area. It's tight in
there. Or trying to spin around. Exactly. I don't want to
deal with that headache. Now, if you don't have a diesel, you
have a gas truck. Don't worry, we're going to covering more
options for you in just a minute. Now, something that we
personally have been using for many years is something called
Open Roads. We really enjoy the program because once again, it
is free to get into. Um you're able to have that bulk diesel
discounts on the road. Use it utilizing all the truck stops
out there. Now, the one catch with that is you actually have
to put your Social Security number in to apply for the
program. That's basically because they don't do a credit
check. They have something to refer back to in case you can't
make your payments. Yeah, a way that they can file a claim if
needed. Lots of people use it out on the road. We personally
know so many people that use the program so we were
comfortable going ahead with that. Yeah. But it's at your
discretion. Now, before we move on to gas, I do want to make
you guys aware that we have all this listed in an organized
fashion on our website. It's so easy to get to. All you gotta
do is go to your browser, type in HappilyEverHanks.com
forward slash fuel and it will have a list of all these diesel
program all the gas programs we're about to talk about and
it will just be super convenient for you to sign up
and just get some more information. Now, if you're not
interested in the first two options we talked about for
bulk diesel pricing, you can always look into Love's TA or
like Pilot and Flying J. They all have their own rewards
programs and I'm sure that can save you a little bit of money.
And on top of that, I think you can coincide the use of both
the rewards and these programs that we're talking about and
that's something I want to do because we feel up at TA so
much. That's where the heavy deep discounts are and they
have that program that you can utilize to get like coffees and
other things inside at the convenience store. So, it's
something that we should be looking into. Sir, you had me
at coffee. Okay, Gas Owners. I feel like you guys get so
neglected because there's so many programs for the diesel
people but listen, we see you, we hear you. Kicking it off,
the one that is most frequently talked about that we hear of
personally is called Gas Buddy, another free program for gas
owners that they could take full advantage of making the
best savings out on the road. Now, when we're disconnected
from the fifth wheel, we will use GasBuddy to see where is
the best diesel pricing in the area that we can go fuel up.
It's a nice reference point to see the surrounding areas for
sure because when you're traveling out on the road, you
just, you're not familiar with the area and you don't really
know where the best fuel prices really are. So, this kind of
helps integrate all the surrounding areas and give you
that information at your fingertips. To piggyback on
that, another program you can be looking into if you're a gas
owner is a program called Upside. It's similar to a
rebate program where you say, hey, I'm going to go fill up
here. It'll tell you how much you can get off per gallon and
then, it will eventually build up enough funds and then send
you that money as a rebate. My apologies for just bringing
this up now. One that just came to mind that I was thinking
about for diesel owners once again is called MudFlap. That's
another program that you can use out there and one thing
that we want to ask you guys, if you're really enjoying this
information. We need your help. Please consider subscribing to
our channel. It's absolutely free and it guarantees that
every single Thursday when we release a new video. You're
made aware and you can get first access to it. What else
can you do to just save on your miles per gallon or your
towing, your fuel in general. I'm so glad you asked. We have
that information for you. I think one of the most
overlooked and simple ways you can improve your fuel economy
out in the road is checking your tire pressures and really
staying on top of it before hitting the road. It's amazing
how much these tire pressures will actually influence how
many miles per gallon you're actually getting in the end.
Another one is just to slow down in the fact that you
want to keep your speed around 55 to 60 miles per hour. We
tried to never go above 65 miles per hour but I'm
wondering if we should now reduce that to sixty. It's so
hard to take you seriously. If you don't know Ney, she has something
called a lead foot and every single time she dries she's
pushing 70 miles an hour but I'm just wondering are you
taking notes on what you're saying yourself. Maybe though we
shouldn't get the free coffee at TA then. So just try to keep
your speeds under control as much as possible. It will really
help that fuel economy. Weight considerations. If you're
going to be boondocking and you want to fill up water for the
trip maybe consider filling up at the end of your trip. Also
think about water that ends up in your grey tanks. All the
like dirty sink water, the dirty shower water. If you're
about to go on a big trip, get rid of that excess water
because it adds up. Yeah, so if you're at an RV park and you're
settled with full hookups, get rid of that grey water or if
you're at like a state park, make sure you take advantage of
those dump stations before hitting the road. Make sure you
stay on top of the regular maintenance of your truck. Oil
changes, fuel filters, things like that, air filters, those
all add up and impact your miles per gallon. So, just
making sure you're up on that regular maintenance, you'll be
good to go. And when it comes to planning a trip across the
country, take a look at where the fuel prices are lowest and
where they're highest. For example, when we're about to
cross into California, you best know it that we're filling up
in Arizona before we hit those high fuel prices in California.
We have noticed when we are driving across the country that
the best fuel prices kind of hang out in the Oklahoma, Texas
area. Yeah. So, when we're passing through Oklahoma or
Texas, even if we don't really need to fill up, we're filling
up. Some places that you can actually fuel up across the
country where you don't need any savings programs are places
like Buc-ee's. They're mostly located in the South but they
are huge. They are known for actually the largest gas
station in the world. So, if you've never heard of a Buc-ee's
look into it, it's a really fun place to make your stop along
your travels and fit your RV in a safe location to fuel up.
Other places I wanted to mention were the Murphy USA.
Are they accommodated with Walmart? Yeah, we've noticed
that whenever a Walmart has a fuel station, it's usually a
Murphy USA and most of the time they have gas and diesel. I
guess I just caught myself in a lie. The one that you can also
use on the road that you do need a membership for are like
Costco and Good Sams. Oh. But if you already do have those
memberships, take advantage of some of those nice deep
discounts that they offer. Wait a second, do you though? Like
when you go fill up at Costco, does it ask for your card? Mm
Yeah, I have to scan my membership card to take advantage of it.
So, don't go signing up for those just to get the discount
but if you already have it, you might as well use it, right?
Now, we're about to get into saving money and getting the
best bang for your buck when it comes to RV parks but first, we
need to have a conversation about trip planning and this
section I like to call beggars can't be choosers. A lot of
people get into RV lifestyle and RV travel because they have
all these bucket list things they want to do. They want to
be able to go where they want, when they want. But if you are
on a strict budget and you have a plan where you're trying to
pay off debt and you're just trying to take it easy for a
while, go visit some places that aren't very well known,
some places that you can save a lot of money but still have a
great time. When we recently traveled to Alaska and Canada,
we considered that a vacation. In my mind, if you're jumping into
the RV lifestyle, you're entitled to vacations as well.
So, make sure you treat really high-priced travel areas as a vacation.
You save up for it, you have a great time, you make some
memories, but then you go back to being able to afford monthly
stays somewhere where it's much cheaper. And that's how we like
to play, we like to play a lot of defense, so you guys may
have noticed in the past with our previous videos where we
break down a yearly basis and you guys are like, how do you
spend that much? Well, you're not seeing the opposite side of
it where we're playing so much defense by taking full
advantage of these tactics. So, we'll find a location that
we'll talk about like more. Oh yeah. Later on this video but
we'll find these locations that are like hidden gyms where you
could stay for an extended period of time, make that
savings, and then go back to living that fun, exciting life.
One of the biggest questions I see on RV Facebook groups when
someone's getting into this lifestyle is what can I expect
to pay for monthly rates at RV parks across the country. It's
such a hard question to answer sometimes. We've been to places
where we spent three, $400 in the middle of Kansas which is
great but then we go to places like San Diego or Key West in
your upwards of 2,000 dollars a month so it's very tailored to
your travel plans and how much you're willing to budget for.
So if you're visiting family in the Northeast and it's very
expensive because it's the season maybe consider going
somewhere where off season it's not as much and that's where
that balancing act comes into play to help offset those
expenses. We recently did a video where we broke down our
RV expenses over the entire year of 2023 and I think we
spent around $16,000 on RV stays. And if blown away by us
spending $16,000 in one year on RV parks. That's just the
cream on top of the cake. Is that the saying? Uh. Basically,
what I'm saying is we spent so much more money and we broke
down every budget in a separate video that you can refer to.
So, we'll leave that one linked up here. If you want a full
breakdown on how much we paid last year, it was quite a bit.
So, go check out that video after watching this one. There
is one program that you guys Email us a lot about that we
are going to touch and that is Thousand Trails. Yeah, isn't
Thousand Trails that program where you pay an outrageous
amount of money in anticipation to save a little bit, have
places to stay for an extended period of time. I feel like
we've met a lot of people that use it but they're not like
crazy satisfied with the program. It's the program where
it's been so 50 50 on whether people like it or hate it.
Yeah. And I'm not an expert on Thousand Trails but here's what
I know about it. There's many many packages starting at like
just a few hundred dollars for the year ranging all the way up
into a one-time price of like 14000. Basically, it gets you
access to all the Thousand Trail campgrounds depending on
what level you get. And a lot of people are saying that it's not
worth it because they can't even get a site. I think it's
funny when we always say it because I feel like we're all
guilty of it. We'll just skip the RV parks and go boondocking all
the time? That will solve all of our problems. Yeah and this
reminds me of a funny story when we first started RVing
because we had expectations and then there was a reality check
for us. Mm hmm. We were leaving Pennsylvania. We're driving all
the way to California for our first travel nurse assignment
and we had our cute travel trailer and we're like, oh,
we're going to be camping. So, we assumed that we would just
stay in Walmart parking lots along the way and Boondock
because we wouldn't have to pay for our V parks but it was the
middle of June and it was hot and it was humid and I'll never
forget that second night in a Walmart parking lot. We opened
every window we could. We tried everything we could to stay
cool and it was so hot. How does this apply to boondocking.
Well, there's a lot of hidden expenses and investments you
need to make in order to get off grid. It's not as simple as
just taking your camper out for like seven nights and just
figuring it out as you go. Boondocking and dry camping go
hand in hand. If you're at an RV park and you disconnect from
electricity, the water, the sewer, you are officially dry
camping, you are running off your internal systems.
Boondocking is dry camping but basically, you're out in the
boonies. You're out at a desolate campsite and the goal is to pay
zero dollars. Here's some hidden cost for you to
consider. There's certain things you gotta invest in.
We're talking about solar and you could use a natural
resources to help replenish those batteries or you can use
something like a generator but that's an extra expense you
gotta go out and pay for to have on hand for that
convenience. We got the electrical side cover but now
bought about your water. Well, when you use water, you have to
have somewhere to store it and that is personally something we
found is the most important thing when considering getting off grid.
It's not how are you going to cool down your RV. It's lugging
enough water to get you out in the middle of the desert and
having that water to sustain you over the amount of time
you're going to be boondocking. So when your tanks fill up,
where you going to put that water? Well, you have to go to
a dump station and dump stations can be outrageous in
prices as well. Sometimes, yes, you can find a dump station for
five, 10 bucks but we've also had exposure to dump stations
that are like twenty bucks. Oh my god. A one-time. A KOA we
called one time to see if we could just use their dump
station and they said that $25 please. So you could see how
quickly this is adding up with all the investments you have to
make. The offloading of the water. It's just extra hidden
expenses you may not have thought about initially. Did
you know there are places that have dump stations for free and
we have stumbled across them before but a great free
resource that we use all the time is Sani Dump. com. Now
here's the catch. Sometimes it will say there's a dump station, it's
free. You get there, it's closed or it's overflowing. So just
take it with the grain of salt. Have a plan B. Now this is the
part of our story here our little discussion between us
where the rubber really meets the road. We're going to help
share some locations with you and some go to's for us where
you can find that beauty the natural peacefulness and some
really good savings. The first one I want to tell you guys
about is called an army corp of engineers campground. It's also
referred to as COE campgrounds. Now, these are federally
regulated campgrounds. They're all really close to lakes out
there. Yeah. Just to kind of preserve the area but wow, can
you get some great discounts at staying at these places? We're
talking like 14 bucks a night for water and electric. The
other cool thing about em is you could stay up to two weeks
at these places. Yeah. Two weeks of 14 a night. I
challenge you to look down at the comments below because I'm
sure there's hundreds of people down there like, yeah, love COE
campgrounds. So, if you didn't know about it, look into it.
The other type of RV camping that has been a game changer is
city park camping. Now, this isn't camping in like a major
city. This is more of like a park in a small town where they
have RV pads, there's electric, there's water, there's
sometimes sewer also. There was this one spot. I think it was
in Chanute, Kansas where they had electric and water at this
city park campground. It was free. Free for the first two
nights and then it was $10 a night after. Now, if you can
find these spots with free RV hookups, it's like gold. Now,
how do you find these places? Well, we have the perfect video
for you. Make sure you click this video and watch it next
because this is going to have a full breakdown of those spots,
how to find them, and the best resources that we use as well
as many other RV overnighters much better than Walmart. We'll
see you guys next week. Bye guys.