If your considering leaving the 9 to 5 job at a fixed location in exchange for the van life or full RVing you will need money to support your new road lifestyle. Fortunately we live in a time when the opportunities to to work remotely are ever present and actually very easy to obtain. More and more people are leaving the status quo in exchange for a life with more freedom and exploration. In this article we will help you with your search for the best way to earn money while on the road to keep the trip going.
Full Time RVing Budget
To understand what kind of job you will need to support your lifestyle you need to create a budget of monthly and occasional expenses. In order to do this you need to understand your overhead while living full time in your RV or Van. If you are on the road all the time, gas is going to be a large expense, this can be reduced by staying in one location for longer periods of time and driving shorter distances between destinations. You can save money by choosing to boon dock on public lands rather than staying in expensive RV campgrounds etc. Staying in more affordable campgrounds can save you an incredible amount of money each month. These are all options you will need to factor in to determine your budget. Here are some of the things you will need to consider.
- Camper or RV payment
- Tow vehicle payment
- Average monthly maintenance costs of tow vehicle
- Average monthly maintenance costs of your RV, van or camper
- Vehicle and RV insurance costs
- Gas
- Food
- Cell phone(s)
- Campground fees
- Propane
- Internet
- RV clubs/memberships
- Clothing/toiletries/entertainment
- Park admissions
- Gifts
- Pets
- Other membership costs
Best Budgeting Software For Full Time RVing
You can always create a budget with paper and pencil but there are a few very good alternatives to this method. These alternatives simplify things by being able to make adjustments to your expenditures and showing you graphs and other useful spending data to help you maintain your budget. I have only included free options here. From my experience, you can get everything you need for basic budgeting in these free options.
- Excel spreadsheet- You can find free templates online to create your budget and Excel is a very powerful tool can take a bit of time to learn all of its functionality. If you are proficient with Excel already, this may be a great choice.
- Mint- This program can be accessed on your cell phone or computer. It is one of the most popular and well knows choices for budget setting and has many very useful features. This option is basic in nature but does allow you to categorize your expenditures for easy tracking. Mint will also sync with your financial institution.
- Personal Capital- This is another very popular software that is very similar to Mint. Personal Capital is a bit more advanced and has a few more bells and whistles. It will also allow you to categorize your expenditures and sync with your banking institution.
Determine What Type of Work Fits Your RV Lifestyle
There are many things to consider when determining what kind of work you want to do while full timing. the below list is a good starting point to help determine the type of job you want.
- Do you want to be tied to a computer like a regular 9-5 job or do you want the freedom to choose your own hours? Some of the choices you will read about below allow greater flexibility while some choices you need to really be online and working all day during regular business hours.
- How much money do you need to make?
- Will you have hi-speed internet available to you?
- Are you going to learn a new marketable skill or use your current work area expertise?
- Do you want to be your own boss or work for someone else?
If you plan to start your own business or use site’s like Upwork or Fiverr to he hired for work, I highly suggest you get your business up and running prior to heading out on the road. You need to make sure you can start turning a profit if you need the money while starting out.
Remote Jobs For Full Time RVing
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- Indeed.com This is a simple way to fine remote jobs. For instance, there are countless jobs for customer service representatives that are remote on Indeed.com. Indeed has every type of job imaginable and not just customer service jobs. You can find jobs in the insurance industry, health care providers, pest control, telemarketing, and real estate sectors to name just a few. Many jobs similar to your 9-5 job may be remote after most companies have begun transitioning to remote work after the Covid 19 pandemic. There are also part time jobs that may fit your travel schedule. Indeed has countless different job options available and is well worth your time to browse through the options. Some of the largest companies in the world post open positions on Indeed.com and many are remote.
- Flexjobs This website was created for people just like you. People who are looking for a job that is flexible and remote. It has a massive amount of options in most industries and like Indeed.com, some of the largest companies in the world post jobs here.
- Fiverr.com This website has gigs you can post to earn money. The gigs you offer are vast. Browse around the site and get an idea of the types of gigs that can match you skill set.
- Mortgage Loan Originator – If you are interested in helping people obtain or refinance their mortgage loans, with a few weeks of studying and passing the loan originator exam, you can be licensed to do mortgage loans. This can be a tremendous salary and also allows you to work your own hours and earn less if you don’t want a constant grind.
- English Tutoring – Many people from around the world are trying to get better at their conversational English skills. These students are offering to pay between $8-$35 an hours for you to speak with them and answer questions. The best places to search for these types of jobs are;
- Preply.com
- Care.com (on the top of the page click apply to jobs).
- Skooli.com
- Vipkid.com
- DaDa
- QKids
- Teachaway.com For a more detailed evaluation of these English tutoring jobs check out Teachaway.com for more information. There are also certifications you can obtain but these are NOT needed to teach English.
- Vipdesk.com has opportunities for HR recruiting positions as well as other customer service support jobs.
- Remote Transcriptions Jobs – If you have good typing, listening and time management skills, transcription jobs may be a good option for you. Online transcriptions jobs involve listening to either audio or video files and typing what you hear into word processing software. Making a larger salary at these types of jobs may be difficult, but many do just that. When starting out and learning the ropes your salary may be lower but as you earn more credibility or even acquire your own clients, it can become quite lucritive. The best places to look for these types of jobs are as follows;
- Starting your own blog. There is loads of information available on Youtube and other websites on how to get started. Once you create a blog, it may take up to a year to start getting a good amount of traffic in order to make money from monetizing your site.
- Starting a Youtube channel can be very profitable but plan on it taking a lot of time and effort until you have enough subscribers in order to monetize your channel as well as earn decent money from your views.
- RV Technician – You can get a certification and do RV work while traveling. Many full time RV’s are starting to enter this field the is a good way to make money full time RVing.
- Writer, beta reader, proof reader and editor- If you have a knack for writing the skills required for editing and proofreading text, websites like fiverr.com and upwork.com has many opportunities for these types of jobs.
I hope this list inspires you and provides some ideas on how to make money full time RVing.
