My actual OSH costs — a little surprising

[Brad W]

To be fair, the irs rate is about double what it costs to drive any reasonable car, ....

perhaps...but I'm not so sure. Way back in ancient days I sat down with my dad and ran out a back of the envelope estimate based on the IRS rate of teh day... I think it was something like $0.35 per mile if I recall correctly...
I really don't remember when it was but I'll just say it was 1990. Checking a couple different online calculators it seems that $1 back then is something >$2.2 now
But what we came up with was shockingly close to the IRS number...it's not just gasoline....but also depreciation, tires, oil changes, windshield wiper blades, insurance, and on and on....
so $0.35 x 2.2 = $0.77 per mile.... $0.625 per mile doesn't see so far off to me...

Has anyone ever calculated the cost per pound of fish they’ve caught in their boat?

Some things are about the enjoyment - not the economics. Personally, I’m just thankful to be blessed with the means to indulge in this enjoyable pastime.

Not intended to be judgmental or critical….

ha ha... I once made the mistake to figure how much it has cost us per night sleeping in our motorhome RV. Yeah, could've stayed in some swanky hotels for sure!

 

[Llewtrah381]

ha ha... I once made the mistake to figure how much it has cost us per night sleeping in our motorhome RV. Yeah, could've stayed in some swanky hotels for sure!

We actually have an older (1998) Coleman pop-up we use for the two of us. We personally enjoy the tent-like experience, with AC and a dry floor. We’ve thought of an RV but don’t want to go that route. We still get about 20MPG when towing it with our RAV4 and have zero heartburn about staying in a hotel for as many nights as we want and just unhitch the trailer and go.

The one “RV” we both really miss was our VW Vanagon pop-up camper while stationed overseas. It was a daily driver for me and slept four of us (two young kids), had a stove/sink/fridge. Man, I miss that. Yeah, I know there are similar things out there now but they’re BIG compared with that.

 

[Jim K]

perhaps...but I'm not so sure. Way back in ancient days I sat down with my dad and ran out a back of the envelope estimate based on the IRS rate of teh day... I think it was something like $0.35 per mile if I recall correctly...
I really don't remember when it was but I'll just say it was 1990. Checking a couple different online calculators it seems that $1 back then is something >$2.2 now
But what we came up with was shockingly close to the IRS number...it's not just gasoline....but also depreciation, tires, oil changes, windshield wiper blades, insurance, and on and on....
so $0.35 x 2.2 = $0.77 per mile.... $0.625 per mile doesn't see so far off to me...



ha ha... I once made the mistake to figure how much it has cost us per night sleeping in our motorhome RV. Yeah, could've stayed in some swanky hotels for sure!

Yeah, it's been a few years, but I've done the math too. As I recall I was doing the calculation for a fuel efficient car, purchased used. Depreciation and fuel are the two biggest expenses of course. I suspect it's pretty close for a new pickup. I was doing some work at the time where they reimbursed mileage at the irs rate and paid perdiem for meals. It was a game to me to figure out how much of that I could pocket.

 

[Brad W]

We actually have an older (1998) Coleman pop-up we use for the two of us. We personally enjoy the tent-like experience, with AC and a dry floor. We’ve thought of an RV but don’t want to go that route. We still get about 20MPG when towing it with our RAV4 and have zero heartburn about staying in a hotel for as many nights as we want and just unhitch the trailer and go.

The one “RV” we both really miss was our VW Vanagon pop-up camper while stationed overseas. It was a daily driver for me and slept four of us (two young kids), had a stove/sink/fridge. Man, I miss that. Yeah, I know there are similar things out there now but they’re BIG compared with that.

Ours is just a class C. We had a popup before this. At first it was an upgraded tent and it was awesome. Eventually I think we started seeing it more as a really low end RV that took a huge amount of work. The tripping point was when my son's Cub Scout Pack did a trip to Disney's Ft Wilderness. It was raining hard and I was out there for an hour leveling, taking stuff out so I could crank it up, then transferring stuff from the truck, etc...while watching most other families either back in their travel trailers or pull in with the motorhomes...in 30 seconds they had their awnings out, chair set up, and enjoying a cold beverage watching me and all the tenters....

 

[steingar]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, aviation has to be one of the few hobbies that people try to justify the cost of. I've never heard of boat owners trying to justify the expense of owning their boat.

For most, a boat is a primarily a toy. An airplane can be a tool, and that leads to justifications.

 

[flyingron]

WHen I was driving my old truck, I noted that the airplane gets the same MPG and goes three times the speed. The new truck does a bit better (and of course, mogas is cheaper).

Gas and food are my only real expenses. I pay $150 for the year to store stuff up at Oshkosh. I volunteer enough hours each year to pay for my camping and wristband.

 

[steingar]

I've been getting admission for free, and now I get camping for free as well. Cheap vacation.

 

[tsts4]

We flew up in our plane, stayed in a rented RV (RVShare) off airport (Sleepy Hollow) for a week, and made one major purchase at the show (O2 system). Adding in food, beverage, and minor purchases (2 Weekly wrist bands, Walmart delivery, the Pick-n-Save, on-site food, misc vendors, etc) all in we were right at $4400 which roughly broken down equated to a third for the RV & campsite, a third for fuel round trip from Tampa, and a third for all the purchases including food. Not cheap by any stretch, but the experience was priceless. The good news is we volunteered enough hours this year to get wrist bands for next year and I'm not planning on any major purchases so we should be closer to $2500ish for the week--maybe less if 100LL prices are lower next year.