We finally got around to writing this financial update after a busy travel schedule. In the last couple of weeks we have gone from Southern Utah to Idaho and now Montana. This is the stop we have been waiting for as we booked our stay here over a year ago. And as far as camping goes, there is no place like Montana.

This will be a busy, and pricy, summer. Our goal is to make it to as many National Parks as possible along our route this season. The adventure was supposed to start with Zion National Park in southern Utah. Unfortunately bad weather and family obligations held us back.

Once we arrived in Idaho we were just over 100 miles from Yellowstone National Park. That’s within striking distance for us so we made the trek to our favorite place. Well, it’s my favorite place. Mrs. RVF is kind of over it after four trips.

Next, our plan is to make a long trek to Glacier National Park while in Montana. After that we hope to make stops at Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, Tallgrass Prairie and any other National Park or Preserve that is along our route. Exciting stuff!

Of course all of this fun and great camping comes at a cost. Starting with next months financial update we expect to be at or over budget for most of the season. Our goal is to make up the expense on the backend of the year. We will do this by work-camping from late fall through early spring. In fact, we already have an agreement in place for a gig in Texas. This will bring down our total cost and put us back in line with our annual budget as we will not have to pay for a site for a few months.

Unlike our last work-camping disaster we will make a little cash on top of getting our site for free. This will more than offset some of our expenses from the camping season. We might even make enough to pay for getting new tires on the RV which could run about $4k. This is something we will need to do for safety reasons as we will hit the 6 year mark on our tires this summer. They look great still, but that’s not something you can trust with RV tires.

There is also a great chance that we will get to meet up with some friends while in Texas. Some of our fellow work-camping travelers will be close by so it will be great to catch up. We are excited to hear the stories of their summer trips! One couple is braving an Alaska caravan trip. We would love to do that some day, but it sounds very nerve-racking.

It will be a pricy season, but we didn’t start this adventure just to sit on our butts and not enjoy life. This is the first camping season of our adventure that we are not obligated to be somewhere at a particular time. As such, we plan on taking full advantage of this freedom. We have a plan in place and we are excited to get out and enjoy nature as much as possible.

Now on to the financial update!

Here is how our portfolio performed in May 2023:

(Our original portfolio goal $1.5m)

Portfolio = $1,373,841

Our Portfolio Decreased By $18,696 or 1.34% From The End Of April 

Year-To-Date Our Portfolio Has Increased By $49,214 or 3.72%

Net Worth = $1,430,870

Our Net Worth Decreased By $18,002 or 1.24% From The End Of April 

Year-To-Date Our Net Worth Has Increased By $51,043 or 3.70%

Not a great month for our portfolio, but not really that bad either with everything that’s going on. While this financial update reflects a negative month I don’t know that “sell in May and go away” is in effect. It feels like the markets are just waiting to see if the fed will indeed pause at the next meeting.

There was also fear that the debt limit negotiations would push the country into default. Not sure why that fear even existed to be honest. Politicians would never miss an opportunity to allow themselves to spend more of our money. It was just more overblown hysteria from political hacks and slime ball politicians.

Unlike our government, we keep tabs and controls on our spending.

Here is how we did on our spending for May 2023:

Monthly Budget = $5,000

Total spend for May 2023 = $4,686

Over/Under Monthly Budget = -$314

Over/Under Budget YTD = $818 

Less Prepaid Site Fees = -$256

Net Over/Under Budget YTD = $562 Over Budget 

Despite some unexpected expenses we still managed to come in under our monthly budget. Because of this we narrowed our overspend for the year to $562 which puts us in pretty good shape. This was also a bit of a surprise as we incurred some vet bills for our little fella and had to go on an adventure to find him some new food to sooth his sensitive tummy.

We also spent quite a bit of money on gas in May in order to visit family and made a change to our website plan. Between these items we spent a few hundred dollars more than was planned for. Luckily these expenses were partially offset by some other things we didn’t get around to doing. In the end it was almost a wash.

Looking ahead to our June financial update, we don’t plan on being in positive territory for our spending. Now that we are back on the road and paying for campsites in prime season we will incur some hefty costs. Those costs include diesel fuel and almost $1,800 in campground site fees between Idaho and Montana alone.

The good news is that after Montana our site fees start coming back down toward the normal range of our budget. Then once we get to Texas in fall we don’t have to pay for anything which will keep us inline with our annual budget for site fees. It all works out if we just plan a little!

We are very excited about the next phase of our journey and look forward to sharing it with our readers. Please follow us in instagram if you haven’t already for more frequent updates on our adventures.

Thank you as always for reading our blog!

See you on the road!

Joe

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