Van Life Monthly Costs vs. Renting In A City (expense breakdown)

Van Life Monthly Costs vs. Renting In A City (expense breakdown) #vanlife #vanlifereality #vanlifecouple #costofliving #moneymanagement

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➤ ABOUT US: Hi! We’re Nick & Raychel, the couple behind the blog Not Luxe - where we write travel guides & help people open their eyes to alternative living, whether that be teaching English online, moving to Cambodia, taking advantage of working holiday visas (like in Australia) or building a DIY stealthy camper van to live & work on the road. Right now, we’re living the van life and travelling throughout Canada, Mexico and the USA.

Our goal here is to bring you weekly content where we hope to inspire you to break free & live the life you desire. On this channel, we talk everything from finances to minimalism to working online to mindset and post a weekly vlog of our daily lives. We hope you join us on our journey to see the world, save money, live minimally, and most importantly, have fun.

So if you're looking for a channel about van life and budget travel, you're in the right place.

Love,
That couple that lives in an ambulance

#vanlife #alternativeliving #budgettravel

[rosewilkes]

That’s why I want to buy a used van and make it my home. My rent is going up in September and I don’t know what I am going to do. I live on a fixed income omg please pray for me

[BillySBC]

You also don't have a landlord telling you what to do all the time, don't have tenants to contend with, and don't have a lease you can't break.

[OceanDharma]

For people in a van who stay close to work and are not traveling full time, then fuel costs could be chopped 90% or more just by not driving, so at least that cost is controllable if one was needing to economize in order to achieve an economic goal. So van life costs can be reigned in, while a rental is a fixed (or worse, rising yearly) cost.

[Voranc]

I live in a van and conduct my life as usual, work and parking, work and parking. I have gas to and from work, but because I live in a van, I can park very close to work😂 I only have a Verizon phone bill, and my food. I'm only sorry I didn't do it 10 years earlier.

[carltonthepug]

So many variables can account to how much you save and spend.
Rent varies from state to state so the rent amount you mentioned can vary drastically. Same with gas.
REALISTIC repairs were not factored in either. Vans WILL break down and repair costs can run into the thousands.
I lived the van life for four years and it cost me more than living in a studio apartment.
Van life is not cheaper in some cases and it is not glamorous like a lot of the van lifers portray it to be.

[desicatedlimbs]

Heya! Lived almost two years in a camper and yes there is no way to compare the two cost wise, it's experience and availability for sure. My husband and I are able mechanics do anything that went wrong we didn't have a problem fixing, interior my husband knows and I know from him how to fix little things, getting to know your rig and what you're pulling is a huge deal, and finding good apps and trucker atlas books they sell at loves and flying Js is super helpful. It has Bridge clearance heights and shoulder depths and lost of helpful tools for big rigs and off-road vehicles and trailers.

[indigo]

I spend £280 per month of diesel living in my van, £90 insurance, £22 road tax, £35 phone with unlimited data & hotspot, gas for my cooker cost me £30 and it's lasted 3 months so far using it twice a day too cook, my last apartment was £600 per month rent, £200 gas and electric, £120 council tax,

House cost per month :£1400 (including my old car insurance & diesel costs
Van cost per month: £400

Works out I'm saving £1000 a month nearly

I get my water from a natural spring and electric from driving & solar

[dans]

Hidden costs.. of van


Staying at home means..
Being settled means eventually finding the cheapest mechanic...

It means, with a big sale on meat, one can buy in quantity, using deep freeze freezers.

It means when sun hits a certain spot in the morning, you know it's about 7am.
You are orientated, knowing where the Orient is located.

[LibertarianEnt]

Just started living in my boy, Floyd. It's been a hell of lot cheaper so far, though that probably has a lot to do with the fact that I don't travel much at all.

[Whytheads]

This and the fact you don't have to worry about rent going up.

[abdulnorthamericanvlogs]

That’s nice as you can see new places 🎉

[JD-kgmx]

There is equity in home ownership which is an investment. None in a van that depreciates, never is an appreciable investment - no common motor vehicles ever are and is a constant maintenance expense.

[hhjhj]

I think the van life argument is VERY personal and completely depends on each person's situation.

I will say this though I have lived in a camper I built, SUPER small.

Here's the deal I can tell you right off the bat, a shower, toilet, unlimited running water, and kitchen are HUGE. Having heat whenever you want is HUGE, having cooling whenever you want is HUGE.

Vans shockingly are just not great for human survival and you have to do a lot of engineering just to try and get them to be HALF as decent as an apartment.

Because these vans are small it's harder to control temperature, they get hot quickly, they get cold quickly, you can insult it but it's very hard to keep it a comfortable temperature because it's so small.

Also because it's so small it will get insanely dirty insanely quickly.

THAT BEING SAID you can live in a car, you can't drive an apartment. In the USA a car is mandatory an apartment is it, if you are in a rough enough position then living in a car may be your best bet UNFORTUNATELY.

Furthermore apartments, houses, cars, RVs, EVERYTHING is getting insanely expensive to even qualify for an apartment you have to make 3X the rent, if you can't do that for the city you live in you might have to live in a van....

Most of the time they will give a vehicle loan to literally anyone, and if you do have good credit and money saved up you could probably get a reasonably low interest. Meaning that IN THEORY you could live way cheaper in a car or a van than an apartment.

That being said IDK, if you do a van build you will destroy the resale value and a lot of these van builds can get insanely expensive REAL quick.

Imagine getting sick while living in a car.... Your car will get dirty, the air will be full of dust and shit, you will be in immense pain in your car surrounded by junk and you will want to break down and cry. Imagine having a stomach virus where you are throwing up or have diarrhea and it's in the middle of night in winter and nowhere is open and no

Like you will be crying and having a mental breakdown. It's just not a good way for humans to live.

Though if things keep getting worse it may be the unfortunate reality for many of us.

I say this because I am a man lol. I am not a hot instagram model, I am a hairy, balding man. I have to do a LOT of maintenance to be presentable and to hold a stable job. I can't get away with going a day without showering, or shaving, or having fresh clean clothes. If you are a hot woman you might get away with being a little dirty, I am a man that produces a lot of odor.... Being outside in the hot sun all day or the cold winter will literally just exacerbate the issue.

I also don't have skills that allow me to make money online, I have to have a physical job, meaning I have to be presentable.

Being in a van is a lot of work, sacrifice, knowledge, engineering, and it could be the only war for some people to survive.... If you live in an area where rent is close to $2k a month and you make under $50k living in a van seems really appealing.


I will also make this argument spending your youth traveling may sound appealing, and sure a bit of travel is great, but when you get older I think a more profitable venture will be if you BUILT something. If you did something meaningful VS just sitting on beaches, deserts and mountains.

These are my thoughts it heavily depends on the person. In general though IN MY EXPERIENCE vans are just not fit for long term human living. Most van lifers I see have to take pit stops somewhere to reorganize, come back down to Earth, etc.

For some people van life might literally be the only way to live, or living in a minivan or a car.... To those people I am rooting for you! I am sorry for your situation and this world is not fair, but you have to FIGHT, FIGHT and with a bit of luck you can get to a better place. We all have to fight.

[stephb]

I spend maybe 50$ in gas cause I don’t drive a lot.. insurance is 30$ per month… oil change is 20$ as I do it once a year… there’s repairs in an apt… propane is much cheaper than your gas, electricity and water bill each month… I pay 1/10th of what I used to pay for rent…

[Wicked_RotF]

I bought my old suburban with this in mind. I have multiple(5) vehicles, but the suburban is the “van life” camper. I dont pay rent as im a long haul trucker and when my home time, is just at my family owned home. The vehicles can be a pain when code enforcement comes around and if it’s not being driven regularly, they have a problem. Need a privacy fence.

[anthonyvarzino]

Not to mention it comes with so many perks and very few deposits

[leilanidrennan]

I want to try this so bad, but realistically I don't know how long it will take me to save up for the initial costs, as well as making sure if I have enough money on the road for when things break. I just graduated college with a bachelors in sociology and my bf graduates in December. I'm struggling to find a job as is, but am currently waiting for a call back from several places. My plan is that if im extremely frugal for about a year and try to work as much as I can without burning myself out, then hopefully my bf and I can collectively save enough money to get van life started. This has been my dream for awhile now and especially with the kind of jobs we both want to have, it would make things so much easier if we lived on the road and took our pets with us instead of always finding someone to watch them.

[yenlinhtran]

I saw her in another guy’s video about how much peoples were owning or paying rent in Canada. He randomly asked her if she was paying rent, and if he could see where she was living…the comments on the video were very nice and sweet. They saw how happy she was, and it transcended all barriers.

[wreckergirl]

You could always spend less in gasbif you wanted too, but also you guys get to travel and enjoy your life priceless

[jackieparedez]

It’s cheaper plus remember it’s a better option or opportunity for those who want to explore or see different places and live out their desires as opposed to a home that sit on one location 24/7!!! It’s the youth in and through the Journey. Not for everyone but for those like yourselves and myself it’s a beautiful experience!! ❤❤❤❤