Most FIRE content assumes you live in a house. A fixed address with a mortgage payment that you're racing to pay off, or a rent check you're optimizing away. Our version looks a little different.
We pursue financial independence from a travel trailer, and honestly? The math works out better than you'd think.
Our Monthly Burn Rate
Living in an RV full-time, our core expenses break down roughly like this:
- Campground fees: $500-1,200/month (varies hugely by location and memberships)
- Fuel: $200-500/month depending on how much we move
- Groceries: $600-800/month (family of five, we cook almost everything)
- Insurance (RV + health + vehicle): ~$400/month
- Internet: ~$150/month (multiple carriers)
- Everything else: $300-500/month
Total: roughly $2,500-3,500/month. Compare that to the median American family spending $5,000+ on housing alone.
The FIRE Advantages of RV Life
No Property Tax, No Mortgage
Our "house" is paid off and depreciating — which sounds bad until you realize we're not paying $15,000+/year in property taxes and mortgage interest.
Geographic Arbitrage on Steroids
We can be in a low-cost area when we need to save and a beautiful national park when we want to splurge. We literally drive to lower expenses.
Forced Minimalism
You can't accumulate stuff when your home is 300 square feet. Every purchase gets the "is this worth the space?" test.
The Challenges
- Healthcare — no employer plan, marketplace navigation is annual chaos
- State residency — domicile state matters for taxes, vehicle registration, voting
- Income consistency — remote work + RV internet isn't always reliable
- Retirement accounts — contributing consistently requires discipline when income fluctuates
Where We Are on the Journey
We're not FI yet. We're in the accumulation phase, investing consistently, keeping expenses low, and letting compound interest do its thing. The RV lifestyle bought us time — lower expenses mean a lower FI number, which means we get there faster.
The freedom isn't just financial. It's waking up to a different view, letting the kids explore a new trail, and knowing that every dollar saved is a dollar closer to never having to trade time for money again.
Keep Reading
- Our FIRE Number From the Road: What Financial Independence Looks Like Without a House
- Side Hustle Report: How We Earn Extra Income From the Road
- Teaching Kids About Money While Living in an RV
- Our RV Setup: What We Drive, What We Changed, What We Would Do Differently
🎒 Curious what gear we use? Check out our complete gear guide — every product tested over 200+ nights on the road.
