Can I afford a motorhome🙂?

Just before my "restless retirement", the biggest adventure of my life begins.

Will everything be fine? Will my plans to travel continuously with my newly purchased motorhome come true? Did I possibly miscalculate...?

I give myself 2-3 years. If it doesn't work out, I will probably sell my motorhome again - according to the current state of things, a crazy market with high price increases and waiting times for new cars of 18 months - the exit will even be completely lossless...

Beforehand. I'm not complaining. I am one of those Germans who have made some provision for old age and will have more monthly retirement income as a single person😇? Can I afford the frequent dream trips with my cozy box?

Now, I can do one thing particularly well... calculate realistically and go to sleep with the calculator under my pillow😂🙈

With my subsequent calculations, I will astonish many. Why, for example, do I set such a high depreciation for a down-to-earth motorhome in the price range of around 60,000 euros? Even if you buy used instead of new much cheaper - or you buy an old wreck and build it yourself: you have to set aside reserves to buy a comparable vehicle again after maybe 20 years! For old vehicles, high repair cost reserves are added over time instead of high depreciation. The difference between paying cash from your account or financing it only amounts to the surcharge for the financing interest - a quite manageable item.

Some people might rationalize my small car or my pocket money or even my fixed abode or find further savings potential - please consider whether the individual items make sense in case of elimination... and of course, one can certainly "save to death" somewhere, but wouldn't that be at the expense of quality of life?

Will my retirement income be enough for me to afford a motorhome and a small car for shopping, etc.? Without additional part-time job and without consistent saving on the trips I often plan, it won't work for me. However, on campsites or pitches, there might (!) still be the possibility to help the site operator for a few hours per day ("vacation in exchange for hands-on help") and get a free pitch and electricity for it!

Before you review my cost calculation - in 2022, I thoroughly tested my motorhome with about 5000 km, recorded every small expense and calculated that you need to have about 3000 euros per month at your disposal to be on the road continuously with a motorhome in the lower middle class while maintaining a down-to-earth standard of living. The numbers in my breakdown are VALIDATED! If you travel less often or mainly only in Germany, the need is reduced accordingly. I calculate that in Germany and Scandinavia, for example, I can still stand freely without any worries - it is hardly possible in the southern countries, nor in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Booking a motorhome parking space is usually not possible (which is why you often can't find any available ones during peak travel season), booking a campsite now costs up to 65 euros/night. The calculation would be "ad absurdum" if I were to come up with the idea of regularly targeting a "normal" campsite instead of a simple pitch: the costs would be (for me) no longer sustainable🙈

As I said, I admire number crunchers who get along permanently with significantly less🤗👍... I am not an artist of life and with my contribution I just want to raise awareness and what everyone does afterwards, each individual has to take responsibility for that anyway😂

A fictitious example of the monthly cost of living of an imaginary citizen (you can adapt it for yourself):

Motorhome

Depreciation 500,—

Wear and tear/Inspection 100,—

Home pitch 80,—

Insurance/Tax 70,—

Motorhome (including Tüv)

Petrol 150,—

Pitch fees

(1/3 free&standing freely, 1/3 motorhome pitch with electricity 20,—/day and 1/3 campsites (if no cheap motorhome pitch is available) 40,—/day = 600,—

Gas 70,—

Toll fees/other 50,—

Second car

Depreciation 100,—

Wear and tear/Inspection 50,—

Insurance/Tax Auto. 50,—

(Smallest/Second car)

Garage for car 50,—

Apartment

Rent 600,—

(Warm, including electricity, insurance)

Other insurances. 50,—

Telecommunication. 50,—

Pocket money. 150,—

Groceries. 150,—

Eating out (4 times a month) 100,—

Reserves for gifts. 50,—

Gross requirement approx. 3000,— euros (as I said, if you want to be on the road continuously!)