The eternal quest to stretch our retirement funds, gas budgets, and snack money further is a core part of the RV lifestyle. We all dream of endless open roads, but those roads are, unfortunately, paved with credit card receipts for diesel and campground fees. This led us to ask our wonderful community a critical question in our recent newsletter: what is your ultimate secret weapon for saving money on the road? If you haven’t voted yet, make sure you subscribe so you can have your voice heard in future polls and be a part of our collective, money-saving wisdom!
The results are in, and they paint a fascinating picture of our priorities, our skills, and perhaps our appetites. Let’s break down the battlefield of budgetary brilliance.
| Money-Saving Method | Percentage of Votes |
|---|---|
| Discount Memberships | 44% |
| Cooking Meals | 28% |
| DIY Repairs | 22% |
| Boondocking | 6% |
The Reigning Champion: The Plastic Card of Power
Discount memberships absolutely crushed the competition, and it’s not hard to see why. This is the path of least resistance to savings! Why develop a new skill or brave the elements when you can simply flash a little plastic card and watch the campground fees magically shrink? It’s like a VIP pass to the world, but where the main event is 20% off a full-hookup site next to the highway. This victory proves we are a community that appreciates a good deal, especially one that requires minimal effort beyond whipping out our wallets. It’s not lazy; it’s efficient!
The Humble Hero: The Kitchen on Wheels
Coming in a strong second place is the classic method of cooking your own meals. Forget overpriced, questionable roadside diners; the real gourmet experience is a can of beans heated over a campfire you started after 45 minutes of frustrated effort. Seriously though, this is the bedrock of RV savings. Every sandwich you assemble in your own galley is a silent victory against the tyranny of restaurant pricing. It’s not just about saving money; it’s about the pride of saying, “No, we didn’t pay $18 for that limp salad. We have a perfectly good bag of lettuce right here that we must eat before it liquefies.”
The Daring Daredevils: The Wrenchers and The Wanderers
DIY repairs secured a respectable showing, representing the brave souls who see a broken water pump not as a catastrophe, but as a “learning opportunity.” Their toolkit is their treasure chest, saving them thousands in shop labor fees. Their motto: “Why pay someone else to swear at my engine when I can do it for free?”
And then, bringing up the rear with a defiant, off-grid grin, is boondocking. The purists. The minimalists. The folks who see a $50 campground fee and laugh, then drive three hours down a dirt road to a free patch of dirt with a view that’s absolutely priceless. Their vote may be small, but their spirit is enormous. They’re not cheap; they’re elite athletes in the sport of self-reliance.
Conclusion: Why Comfort and Convenience Won the Day
In our opinion, the results clearly favor convenience and guaranteed savings. Discount memberships like Harvest Hosts, Passport America, or Thousand Trails offer immediate, quantifiable value with very little lifestyle change. You still get the amenities and security of a campground. Cooking meals is a universally recognized money-saver, a habit many bring from home life directly into RVing. These methods are accessible to everyone, regardless of rig size or technical skill.
DIY repairs, while hugely cost-effective, requires a specific set of skills and confidence that not everyone possesses. And boondocking, while incredibly cheap on paper, often requires a significant investment in equipment (solar, large batteries, water storage) and a comfort with off-grid living that many weekend warriors or full-timers in larger coaches may not have. Ultimately, the poll shows that while we admire the self-sufficient experts, the majority of us are perfectly happy to save money the easier way—with a membership card in one hand and a homemade sandwich in the other.
