berti Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 happy new year everyone i have just been totting up the van expenses for last year !! feeling that we couldn't justify the cost of a replacement van we decided to upgrade our hymer with some additions to make life easier and cheaper ( in the long run !) we hope !!! £ solar panel 500 to extend wild camping times autogas lpg system 231 to save money and my back !! 4 shock absorbers 293 certainly needed these on italian roads !! coil for genny 205 rely on this quite a bit..it is telair, was fixed on van when we bought it, and it has been a real pain.. ignition lock/cowling 150 replaced after attempted theft in italy rubberboot/sump gasket/ 110 fitted these myself so no labour charges oil filter/oil overbed clear skylight 95 big improvement.. can see sky when having our morning cuppa !! insurance/mot/tax 550 not too bad tv bracket/freesat box 45 much better..and can watch tv from bed! travel guides/camping guides/atlas/maps 101 HOW MUCH !!! new duvet/bedding / towels/pillows 90 HOW MUCH !! washing machine 60 great buy..already paid for itself hairdryer/kettle 20 hooks for elec cables 18 made it easier to find loose cable in garage crockery/cutlery/ plastic glassware 74 HOW MUCH ! strip lights 25 bolon matting 43 replaced old carpet on dash..looks great curtain material etc 55 from navy blue to cream..looks great the rest of the money 73 has gone on veneer ply panels,new handles/ hinges and all those other bits and pieces.....they don't half add up don't they ? THE GRAND TOTAL IS £2738.16 that was quite a shock....you don't realise when you just keep buying in dribs and drabs do you? well that will have to last us for a good while... 2010 expenditure will be on 2 x 3mth holidays instead !! need a cuppa (or a stiff drink ) after that..... cheers berti tonyg3nwl...i have sent a pm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo3090 Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 It does work out to be an exensive hobby doesn't it? It starts getting even dearer when we start adding the "boys toys" to "improve" our vans then go out in them! Our total for 2009 is Extra LED reading lights X2 = £51.00 Extra LED light strip in cab = £20.00 Solar panels X2 85 Watt inc. fixing £1,213.90 1st service FIAT £217.00 New flat screen telly + mounts = £214.00 12v kettle =£19.99 Insurance £400 Travel insurance 12 months £200.00. Total cost of 5 month tour £,6,881.00 (equated to £1.03 per mile driven) Other trips away = £1,500 Total cost for the year £10,715.99 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Basil Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Not sure what should be included as running costs so those things that I related to use of the van. Years insurance (Vehicle) = 187 MOT = 35 VED = 185 Service = 68 2 x Crossings Dover Dunkirk £55x2 = 110 Red PennantTravel and breakdown Ins. = 119 Site fees (where applicable) = 267 Fuel for 5900mls (averaged out UK and Europe) = 970 Gas LPG = 34 Repair to cruise control = 30 Total = £2005 Sure there are other things I have forgoten! Bas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berti Posted January 3, 2010 Author Share Posted January 3, 2010 hi tomo not got to the holiday costs yet.....need time to recover !! however, it seems that our holiday costs are quite low in comparison to other posts we have read i think it's a good idea to post costings as it helps other people to get a rough idea cheers berti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Chapman Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Basil - 2010-01-03 3:08 PM Not sure what should be included as running costs so those things that I related to use of the van. Sure there are other things I have forgoten! Bas Other than running costs, to get the full annual cost, add in Loss of Interest on Capital Outlay, Finance Interest (if any) and probably the largest single cost of Depreciation per annum. Gets really frightening then. Regards, Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike.wittamore Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 I think that you need to look at expenditure as an investment, to improve your motor home and therefore maintain its value. If you take a “ Motor Home Unit” as £100.00 you will find that instead of spending £2700.00 you have invested in only 27 units. If you still think that’s bad, buy a boat and soon you will see that it’s not. Regards Mike W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Raindrop Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 Apart from the compulsory overheads of road tax and insurance, a few site fees, running costs and food, the interior costs were zero. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomo3090 Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 The beak down of costs for the 5 month tour was as follows. Fuel £1395.50 LPG, £ 84.18 (for fixed refillable tank) Sites & aires £1964.04. This using ACSI for sites where we could plus a fair bit of "wildcamping" and free aires. Tolls £201.70 Food £2136.83. Not including eating out. We only did this 6 times in 5 months so we included that in "sightseeing" below. Ferries £451.00. This includes cross channel X2, ferry to Sicily, (Messina, one way) and Sicily, (Palermo to Lavorno, one way). Sightseeing £655.00 We tried to stick to our usual budget when we are at home for day to day food and fuel. Everything else was our "holiday spends"! But we both felt when we got back that the total cost was well worth it compared to the adventure and sights seen over the 5 months. We can't wait to go again! As we've now got virtually everything on the van we want/need those costs are now redundant so this year should, hopefully, be cheaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BGD Posted January 4, 2010 Share Posted January 4, 2010 Berti - My guess (and it is only a guess!) is that the REAL bad news from a pure financial point of view is.................depreciation. You don't see it. You can't touch it. But it's bleeding very big sums of money every year on any large vehicle big-ticket-price ownership. The other side of the coin is of course that you've made a lifestyle choice, and also that the depreciation "hit" only becomes a real issue as/when you try to sell your motorhome. But even though you don't get a bill for it each months, it's a MASSIVE financial ongoing cost nonetheless. It's the main reason why we have, and will always continue to, buy much older secondhand MH's. (Cue the usual arguments about buying secondhand versus new......) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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