Roadrunner Financials - October 2011

Roadrunner Recap

We spent the majority of the month of October in the Virginia Beach area after leaving Joan and Mike's place in Maynardville TN where we did some "mooch-docking".  We spent one nite in a Wal-mart parking lot en route to Virginia Beach and then spent the rest of the month at military RV campgrounds at Oceana Naval Air Station and at Dam Neck Annex.

Kelly (our daughter) lives in Norfolk and Adam (our son) lives in Washington DC so we spent a good amount of time seeing them during the month.  Normally when we see family, we like to take them out to eat, buy groceries and maybe buy a thing or two for their house.  We were able to build a shed for Kelly and install a counter top for Adam in his kitchen.

Here are the stops during the month:

• Roadrunner RV Resort and Campground, Maynardville TN
• Ocean Pines Oceana NAS, Virginia Beach VA
• Sea Mist MWR Campground, Virginia Beach VA

Here's an interactive map that shows where we traveled.  You can click on the letters and it will tell you the location.  

Here's a static map if that is easier:

This is a snapshot of the budget for October 2011:

Good News Areas We Are Under Budget

- Gas (diesel). Our bill was low because we only had one fill-up.  We started the month in Tennessee and drove to Virginia Beach.

- RV Maintenance. We replaced our Select Comfort Bed motor/pump and I had a couple of RV projects.  Still we were under budget.

- Campground fees. Normally Military Campgrounds are about $20.  We got a weekly and monthly rate break and averaged $13.30/night.

Biggest Expenses

- Groceries/Food. We went way over budget on groceries and eating out.  But we usually do when we see family.

- Gas (car). we had a couple of trips to D.C. from Virginia Beach and a lot of commuting to Kelly's place.

- Internet. In May 2011, I upgraded my internet service to Verizon (from Autonet Mobile).  I went from $29/month to averaging over $165/month.  With an iPad, iPhone and laptop, I am still figuring out how to minimize my costs there.

- Medical.  We found a Groupon for dental and exam and checkup and then decided to get fillings and crowns done.

Large One Time Cost Items
We spent $104 on getting a replacement Select Comfort bed motor which was pro-rated.

Monthly Average

Monthly average for year 3 (starting in June 2011) - 
Yikes!  We are $2100 over our monthly average.  But we were able to save that amount and more so it didn't affect our cash flow.


We began our third year of Full-Timing in June.  Since then we have three big cost drivers:

1. In September we installed a new $6700 residential-sized refrigerator which was not in the budget
2. We spend more on food when we are near our kids and buy things for them.
3. We decided to get dental work done.

So there it is for October 2011, our 29th month of Full-Timing.  Hopefully there is some information that is of value and/or interest.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles.  Hope you are enjoying the holiday season!

I have often said this is more of a tracking tool and an estimate than a budget -- this month's spending proves it.  That's what our spending looked like for the month.  Thanks for taking a peek.  Hopefully they provide help or entertainment of some sort...  If you'd like a free copy of the spreadsheet I use, drop me a note and I will be glad to send it along.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!