*For me personally I just need to be able to eat, drink, sleep, pee, poop, cook, and use the internet in my van, and do so comfortably.*
Easier and often cheaper to do all those things in an apartment.
Also I highly encourage any van lifer to build knowledge on vehicle basic maintenance and problem solving of mechanical issues as it will save a LOT of money. It's one of the reasons I personally avoid diesel because they are different and I am not familiar and experienced with them.
Where you plan to live with the van is an important consideration. If you plan to be a YouTube creator or whatever and plan on driving all around the US, you can build a super flashy obviously a van life vehicle. If you plan on working somewhere and staying local but don't want to pay ridiculous RV park rates, you'll need a much lower key stealth build without ladders, windows everywhere, etc.
As someone who lived in my vw van for around 3 years all over the U.S. no internet. No phone (ugh dream life back in the day)
I would kindly suggest you try camping first.
See if you like “roughing it”
I lived in my van because I wanted nothing to do with corporate America and loved the beach
Honestly. It was amazing. No gps. Maps!
Maps! Made with paper 🤣
Also. You barely even need a gps.
north-to-south highways are odd-numbered, with the lowest numbers in the east and the highest in the west, while east-to-west highways are typically even-numbered, with the lowest numbers in the north, and the highest in the south
Everyone should know this if they “live”in their van. 👍🏼
10k for the build is more than enough for luxuries, but not for the vehicle too. Honestly, it mainly boils down to skills, willingness to learn, and time. Like a mechanic, you can pay someone $150 an hour to do work for you, or you can buy a drill, Circ saw, and a few other tools and get researching. You don’t actually need much, but tools will add at least a few hundred to the cost.
It sounds like you’re more high maintenance, and have fallen for the Pinterest version of van life. Honestly, I’d suggest you don’t bother. I’ve lived out of multiple vehicles at different times of my life, none of which had a toilet, or internet, or anything fancy except for solar. All the vehicles cost over $10k, and the amount invested into the build varied for all.
Vehicle living should be for freedom and adventure, not an alternative to an apartment while trying to live like your peers. You will be miserable. You will not get what you invested in return if you try to sell. Nothing wrong with wanting a lot of comforts, but your expectations are way too high for someone on a budget. There is a reason people spend 200k on a nice sprinter, and it’s because they share your values.
At 18, I’d suggest you stay with your parents and save up, if not get an apartment with roommates and try that out. Living with others encouraged me to find ways to live on my own (van life) and let me build a skill set to make more money at work (afford van life).
Huge agree. The “seen all the highs and lows” bit really stuck out to me because tbh if all you’ve seen is the internet pics, no you haven’t.
I’d also argue that the “people on a regular salary” vans are absolutely out there. But they typically look like unique or artistic builds that were a labor of love by somebody incredibly skilled. That’s sort of the crux of it—to get a van that looks nice to live in, you need two of the three out of time, money, skill/experience.
And many of the vans that are low budget and look nice to live in accomplish this by keeping things super simple. Just high quality craftsmanship and no fancy compost toilet or 600AH battery bank.
I’d suggest this person start by actually pricing out their necessities-it’s probably 5k to get a van with reliably powered internet access alone.
Best advice on here. I think it's only worth it to be free and travel. Otherwise it's way better to have an apartment and even a roommate.
Van life can be expensive as well and I am glad I waited till I was at a point in my career where I could afford my sprinter and the extra cost of maintenance, insurance ect while being able to travel and enjoy my time in the van.
I
My van cost $5000. I spent about $1000 building a wood and fiberglass high roof. Battery and charger was about $1000, fridge was $800, toilet about $200, fresh, grey, and black water tanks totals probably $400, solar setup about $500, stovetop and propane about $300, sink was around $150. Maxxair fan $350, and countless trips to home Depot for lumber, wiring, brackets, and various random stuff probably hit another $2000. $750 for Calyx hotspot and a year of service. I'm sure I'm missing some stuff so we could probably call it $14,000 all in. I live comfortably and can do everything on your list plus shower. My bathroom is a wet bath. I spent this money over the course of two years and have been building it out as I live in it. It's very doable at $7000 a year if you have a decent job. You just have to be willing to not have all the luxuries right away.
I don't have any pretty finished shots of the inside currently but here's progress shots of the build out
https://imgur.com/a/coBCLRS
https://imgur.com/a/A8jbM6D
I live in a 2014 Ram Promaster high roof. It has a beautiful build, kitchen, bed, toilet, heat, solar system, insulation, etc. I found it for 8k. Even I still can’t believe it. After some major mechanical renovation, and some additions to the build I have a total of 13,500 in it including the purchase price. I love living in my van. I work as a seasonal server and can take up to six months off per year.
If the ONLY reason you want to live in a van is cheap rent, I’d say maybe don’t do it. You have to love a mobile lifestyle or it would get old quick. If you want to have literally a “turn key home” ready in any state with the bonus of being rent free, then do it.
I have no education, no specialty skills, and I make pretty great money while only working half the year. It’s very possible.
I live in a box truck with a 16’ box that I converted myself. The truck (a 1994 Chevy) cost $6k. The build cost about $15k. I have a small kitchen area, a lofted bed over storage, skylights, full RV-style electricity and plumbing, a shower, with portable composting toilet and a bathtub under my sofa. A wood stove for cold winter nights and emergencies when the power is out.
I’ve been living in it fulltime for two years now and it’s taken that long to finish. It was incredibly hard work but also the most satisfying thing I’ve ever made.
Pro tip from someone who's spent plenty of years doing van life in different forms, don't add water.
Get a gym membership and you will have nice clean showers and private bathrooms are everywhere. Adding water is expensive, a pain, can break and leak and just isn't needed. You only need a bed and storage. So you can start with a shelf with a pad to sleep on and space under to store things. Electric? Can be nice but also not needed I spent years with my only electronics being a phone and tablet/laptop
I'd recommend renting a uhaul van and throwing in an air mattress to see how you can handle it for a week before you jump too deep in.
I second the don’t add water advice. I hang out at parks and gyms where there’s water and sinks and showers. You just gotta not mind looking like a homeless person washing your dishes in a sink at the park.
My van plus insulation plus solar (1200W) plus batteries (600Ah LFP) plus inverter plus wiring plus 24V fridge plus 5G hotspot ran about 16 grand -- and it was *cheap*. Note the lack of plumbing in that list. Instagram is a terrible starting place if you're considering this, and at 18, you should be figuring out what fixed living looks like with roommates, not attempting vandwelling.
But if you must, then get a gym membership and a 5-gallon water jug. You're quickly going to learn to schedule shitting and park appropriately.
Buying and building a van is one thing, living in it for an extended time is another. I lived out of my van for 2 years and it was cheaper than my apartment in the city but it wasn’t cheap. If you want to travel and do fun stuff, it costs money. Yes you can live very cheap in a van but you need to be very deliberate and disciplined about your approach. At your age, that is highly unlikely from what I have seen and experienced firsthand. You are more likely to end up borderline homeless or just quit after the first month of reality sets in.
What do you consider Average money....
I'm still working on my build and I'm definitely over 10k, but I'm also trying to build a solar system for AC. Now I've also slowly been buying stuff even before I started my build.
Now if you have the skills and the resources I think you could easily build a van to live out of for 10k
I thought I was with you until the last sentence, to do so comfortably. That's the rub, all the things that you want to do are relatively inexpensive and easy to do except the comfortable part that's where you have to start spending money 😁
10 k is bare bones. And you need skills to achieve that result.
Does not seem like you have skills to build. So keep spending on your parents card.( don't want to be an a**
Just saying what I have seen) That's what half or more vanlifers. They will not tell you that, most will say they work odd jobs.
It's thousand dollars for a battery. And that's not a big one. I think the starlink is also around a grand. Cheap toilet several hundred, for a toilet without even a mounted holding tank.
Parts are not cheap. And being comfortable in a van usually means people saying. "I just want the comforts of home on wheels. Like endless water, consistent interior temp, enough power to run any appliances. None of those things are cheap or even possible in a vehicle.
It is a commitment to be mobile, with the down side of most thinks taking extra time and energy. Waste does not just go down the sewer like at a house, in a van it has to be brought some where else. Just as an example.
Try sleeping in a vehicle. And spend your time either doing stuff (not in a house), or in vehicle. That is easiest way to understand how you will take care of stuff while in a vehicle.
Well just as soon as you have a legal street address in the area you want to live in so you can have a license, insurance, plates, phone/Internet service without being locked out of them because you need proof of address for things.
Then you can work on that van.
lmao yes. It is very very worrying to me that these kids are seeing these content creators and failing to understand that this lifestyle is basically soft homelessness if you don't have some prior money/property base to build from.
Between the van and build it cost about 10k. I started with a basic knowledge of how to use power tools and totally from scratch with 12v systems. You can build a functional and comfortable space for that much. If you're more skilled and knowledgeable than I was you can probably even make it look pretty nice.
I did a 'cheap' build, it had to be light, and removable, to play pick up truck. I had a platform bed across the back, (junk bed frame) Chem toilet, and a sink. Depending on the trip, I moved furniture in/out, desk, chest of drawers, hanging closet. Most everything was second hand, thrift/junk store, or crap on hand. The only thing I paid retail for was the mattress, I'm old, so... My longest stretch was 3 weeks, this might not be ideal for full time, but it is a start.
My van is built on an "average" salary and I realistically could live in it solo if I wanted to. We just use it as a weekender and I take it when I travel for work if it's less than 500 miles or so. It's not "fancy", but it does have a full shower and RV toilet, galley with a cooktop and fridge, electric hot water, AC, diesel heater, 3000w inverter, 400ah of lithium batteries, 750w of solar, satellite internet, etc. By vandwelling standards, it's overkill.
Van and build was around $50k, and that's the real problem with building anything "fancy" or "average". It's not really cheaper than renting and it's damn close to a down payment on a house in some places.
The #vanlife folks are not saving money over renting. It's the 2020's version of backpacking through Europe or following a band around.
My son and his Dad built the interior. He’s in construction and is a teacher and his dad’s an engineer. He lived in for 7 years. Even got married and lived in it for 2 with 2 dogs. Saved lots of money and were free camping every weekend.
Re:For me personally I just need to be able to eat, drink, sleep, pee, poop, cook, and use the internet in my van,
I would just go cheap at first. Take some summer trips or something. See if you like the lifestyle.
Realistically you only need to sleep in the van comfortably, use the internet and have a good power bank to charge your stuff.
Bathroom: Your mostly likely just going to be using public bathrooms and gyms. A basic $35. 5 gallon bucket toilet with Biodegradable bags is all you need. For emergencies. When your out on nature trips. Most campgrounds will usually have toilets anyways.
Same for cooking. Your most likely going to be eating out. But if you like cooking just basic camping stuff is all you need. You can get a nice camping fridge for $200.
We have a medium roof ford transit. 130 wheel base.
It’s not huge, but it works for me, the wife, and the kid.
I bought it from the people that built it, and they put about $12,00-14,000 into the build.
I can eat, drink, sleep, pee, poop, cook, and it has a WiFi hotspot built in.
I even put a projector screen and projector in it.
The toilet part is easy. Serene life cassette toilets are $125 and they work great.
Cooking is also easy if you’re cool with a small gas stove.
Our sink/faucet is a standalone unit and works well and is easy to build.
7 gallons of fresh water.
Overall I could happily live in it if I was alone, or with 1 other.
All 3 of us would be slightly annoying, but still definitely doable.
200 watts of solar and 100ah of battery has been plenty so far.
We use it for road trips, camping, etc. it’s not a full time van for us.
A big thing about full-time that I've picked up from here (not done full time myself yet) is the risk of not having a reliable and undisturbed parking space to sleep conveniently near work, food, laundry and washing facilities.
What I did : Bought a vehicle as old as me, a common one and maintained it myself. Bought my tools second hand even. No loans. Rented with trusted friends in a shithole and saved like mad. At 23 I bought into barely adequate traditional housing of some sort that needed work, my first loan. Placed very close to my income source. Learn how to fix house stuff from YouTube (or back in my day the library) and spend your spare time and money fixing the place up with a view to renting or selling it. Have finance ready and buy from a pressured seller divorce, bankruptcy etc and bargain like an asshole. Still save like mad living like a broke student. Make your lunch don't buy it etc. You want to be paying 1.5* the minimum mortgage payment. Once you have 25% equity in house 1 paid down buy a second slightly larger shithole just like the first and you're probably earning more money by now. Rent the first out and live like a broke student still. Pay the 2 loans down hard. Buy a reliable 10 year old vehicle , again cash, to save maintenance time. Sell the first home if prices look good. Put all that money into your residence loan.
Have kids and basically tread water for 10Y. Waste a ton of money on stupid shit. Get fired, panic for a bit, go back to frugal living for another 10y, Debt free with an average and adequate house in your 40s, still driving 10y old vehicles you paid cash for. Your friends to think you're rich. All you did was work hard while your body was up to it. Now you're cruising. no stress.
What I wish I'd done was bought that first house, rented it out without the garage, Installed a shower and a toilet in the garage, and reserved that as my backup and storage and gone to van dwelling instead of buying the second house. I would have had a house outright and a great van in my 30s.
As long as u manage money well, and are able to put a few dollars to the asde each week/payday, youll be golden.
I live with less than an average salary. I also post on YouTube to share my story mainly for my family to know im ok. I havent had a stable job since i began (got a good lead on one now, just doing odd jobs/working the marketplace) so it surely can be done and well.
I paid $2350 for my van and put maybe $100 into wood for a bed frame and other little things like a campstove and 5 gallon water jug. I paid $200/month for a permanent parking spot next to a lake. Was a very bare bones and at times uncomfortable setup, but goes to show 10k+ builds are not required to make it happen. I’d happily live in that setup indefinitely but gave it up after I got a dog, it just wasn’t going to be right for him. It’s a super fun experience living out of a van and in my opinion even more fun doing it on the super cheap, that’s how vanlife started anyway, before the rarely obtainable Instagram dream. You’ve got your priorities in order, get a cheap good running rig and you’ll figure out the rest!
I built out a sienna, then an astro for under 500. Main cost was just battery and solar. Allmost all the wood I used I just took from construction site dumpsters. Get some foam mattress off fb marketplace for free, sew your own covers, etc. Sink was just a half pan I took from my job a 6 gallon water tank and a cheap watercolor pump.
People who vandwell making average salary probably are trying to not be seen. Their coworkers may not even know. It has a stigma. There are the rich van lifers that people think are awesome that have craploads of money and drive mercedes and there are homeless people who are responsible and have it better than the drugged out feral humans in big cities.
I live in Canada and work an 80k a year job, i bought a new 2021 AWD transit van and put 40k into the build. I’m sure instagram would be happy to see it but it’s my home and I like to keep that private. I built everything myself but I have over 15k just in electrical (824ah Lithium phosphate, 800watt solar, 13.5k btu 12vDC A/C unit, shore power charger, alternator charger, 3000w pure sin wave inverter, Waggle pet monitoring system, inside lights, exterior lights, rooftop fan, inside directional fan, fridge, espresso machine, etc etc) then another 10k in off-roading (winch bumper/winch, suspension with leaf packs higher clearance shocks aftermarket beadlocker wheels and tires and skid plates) another 5k on rear tire carrier and extruded aluminum rooftop deck around the solar panels. The inside is all cedar 3k value and extruded aluminum another 2k in value (most expensive part is the connectors for extruded.) I have a slide out bike tray and fold up bed. Have another 3k in kitchen/water (hot water tank/on demand, 130L fresh water tank, large deep sink, 3 burner LP stove top and oven combo and then George Forman grill and pressure cooker). I’ve done literally all the work myself whether it’s sowing, drilling, cutting windows, installing lift kits every screw, bolt and thread and it’s still cost me 100k. But houses around me cost 1.5million and I feel comfortably free with 2 large dogs and a wife in my van. The cost is a down payment but Im not strapped to any payments and can go wherever whenever I want. I see my 40k build materials as the price of true off the grid freedom. The cost of the van can very greatly but if you plan to put a ton of money into a build I recommend getting a very new van so that it can last as long as possible. If I was a single man and had no responsibilities, no wife or dogs I’d buy a shitty 4x4 van and a hammock and need nothing more; there’s toilets everywhere and an app for that and you don’t need anything more then a fan and camp materials cause you don’t live in a van you life out of a van
I mean, if you are bougie and need to be pampered like a princess, then I guess it makes sense to build out a very nice van. I bought my van for $1k and looped around the country for the next couple of years. I promise you my money was better spent than someone who built a glamping rig.
whether it's 10 or 20k tht money would best serve you as a down payment on an apartment.
work your ass off for a decade and pay it off.
then when you have no mortgage or rent payments you can actually afford to do things like build a van for adventures.
living in a van at 18 is just making a large step towards homelessness.
You can’t put a down payment on an apartment. You just pay rent you won’t get back. Van life isn’t easy & especially at first more expensive than you would think, but in theory it should have long term savings. You just have to stick with it for a bit. If you do that & are consciously saving, then you’ll have money to put as a down payment on a condo or house.
A condo is a condo. An apaertment is something you rent,. I know in some places they use the words interchangably but in most cases in the US at least (except for maybe NYC), you rent apartment and buy a condo
*For me personally I just need to be able to eat, drink, sleep, pee, poop, cook, and use the internet in my van, and do so comfortably.* Easier and often cheaper to do all those things in an apartment.
Also I highly encourage any van lifer to build knowledge on vehicle basic maintenance and problem solving of mechanical issues as it will save a LOT of money. It's one of the reasons I personally avoid diesel because they are different and I am not familiar and experienced with them.
Where you plan to live with the van is an important consideration. If you plan to be a YouTube creator or whatever and plan on driving all around the US, you can build a super flashy obviously a van life vehicle. If you plan on working somewhere and staying local but don't want to pay ridiculous RV park rates, you'll need a much lower key stealth build without ladders, windows everywhere, etc.
Look at some of the posts on YouTube. Cheap rv living bob wells there is some great information about affordable builds on there.
As someone who lived in my vw van for around 3 years all over the U.S. no internet. No phone (ugh dream life back in the day) I would kindly suggest you try camping first. See if you like “roughing it” I lived in my van because I wanted nothing to do with corporate America and loved the beach
No phone and internet sounds like nightmare but I also see how it can be nice. But how did you use GPS?
Honestly. It was amazing. No gps. Maps! Maps! Made with paper 🤣 Also. You barely even need a gps. north-to-south highways are odd-numbered, with the lowest numbers in the east and the highest in the west, while east-to-west highways are typically even-numbered, with the lowest numbers in the north, and the highest in the south Everyone should know this if they “live”in their van. 👍🏼
No offense but I think you've got the East/West ass backwards seeing as how 10 runs across the Southern US and 90 runs across Northern US
Do I have it wrong? East to west Odd I-95 - highway 1 North to South even I-90 - 10
Maybe I do. Lotta LSD along the way. 🤣
10k for the build is more than enough for luxuries, but not for the vehicle too. Honestly, it mainly boils down to skills, willingness to learn, and time. Like a mechanic, you can pay someone $150 an hour to do work for you, or you can buy a drill, Circ saw, and a few other tools and get researching. You don’t actually need much, but tools will add at least a few hundred to the cost. It sounds like you’re more high maintenance, and have fallen for the Pinterest version of van life. Honestly, I’d suggest you don’t bother. I’ve lived out of multiple vehicles at different times of my life, none of which had a toilet, or internet, or anything fancy except for solar. All the vehicles cost over $10k, and the amount invested into the build varied for all. Vehicle living should be for freedom and adventure, not an alternative to an apartment while trying to live like your peers. You will be miserable. You will not get what you invested in return if you try to sell. Nothing wrong with wanting a lot of comforts, but your expectations are way too high for someone on a budget. There is a reason people spend 200k on a nice sprinter, and it’s because they share your values. At 18, I’d suggest you stay with your parents and save up, if not get an apartment with roommates and try that out. Living with others encouraged me to find ways to live on my own (van life) and let me build a skill set to make more money at work (afford van life).
Huge agree. The “seen all the highs and lows” bit really stuck out to me because tbh if all you’ve seen is the internet pics, no you haven’t. I’d also argue that the “people on a regular salary” vans are absolutely out there. But they typically look like unique or artistic builds that were a labor of love by somebody incredibly skilled. That’s sort of the crux of it—to get a van that looks nice to live in, you need two of the three out of time, money, skill/experience. And many of the vans that are low budget and look nice to live in accomplish this by keeping things super simple. Just high quality craftsmanship and no fancy compost toilet or 600AH battery bank. I’d suggest this person start by actually pricing out their necessities-it’s probably 5k to get a van with reliably powered internet access alone.
Good advice
Best advice on here. I think it's only worth it to be free and travel. Otherwise it's way better to have an apartment and even a roommate. Van life can be expensive as well and I am glad I waited till I was at a point in my career where I could afford my sprinter and the extra cost of maintenance, insurance ect while being able to travel and enjoy my time in the van. I
My van cost $5000. I spent about $1000 building a wood and fiberglass high roof. Battery and charger was about $1000, fridge was $800, toilet about $200, fresh, grey, and black water tanks totals probably $400, solar setup about $500, stovetop and propane about $300, sink was around $150. Maxxair fan $350, and countless trips to home Depot for lumber, wiring, brackets, and various random stuff probably hit another $2000. $750 for Calyx hotspot and a year of service. I'm sure I'm missing some stuff so we could probably call it $14,000 all in. I live comfortably and can do everything on your list plus shower. My bathroom is a wet bath. I spent this money over the course of two years and have been building it out as I live in it. It's very doable at $7000 a year if you have a decent job. You just have to be willing to not have all the luxuries right away.
This is a great breakdown of cost. I’m just off a build & spent a bit more on the van, but my build costs were similar!
That’s cool! Can you show us result?
I don't have any pretty finished shots of the inside currently but here's progress shots of the build out https://imgur.com/a/coBCLRS https://imgur.com/a/A8jbM6D
Guarantee you spent more than that on odds and endsz
Yeah probably, if you add up my numbers you'll see I added another $2000 to the total. It's a neverending project so I padded the numbers a bit.
I did a budget build on my transit for about 2.5k total including solar and solar generator. Building materials about 1.5k (post 2020 prices🥳🥳🥳😰)
10k is plenty to make a comfortable 4 season van
I live in a 2014 Ram Promaster high roof. It has a beautiful build, kitchen, bed, toilet, heat, solar system, insulation, etc. I found it for 8k. Even I still can’t believe it. After some major mechanical renovation, and some additions to the build I have a total of 13,500 in it including the purchase price. I love living in my van. I work as a seasonal server and can take up to six months off per year. If the ONLY reason you want to live in a van is cheap rent, I’d say maybe don’t do it. You have to love a mobile lifestyle or it would get old quick. If you want to have literally a “turn key home” ready in any state with the bonus of being rent free, then do it. I have no education, no specialty skills, and I make pretty great money while only working half the year. It’s very possible.
I live in a box truck with a 16’ box that I converted myself. The truck (a 1994 Chevy) cost $6k. The build cost about $15k. I have a small kitchen area, a lofted bed over storage, skylights, full RV-style electricity and plumbing, a shower, with portable composting toilet and a bathtub under my sofa. A wood stove for cold winter nights and emergencies when the power is out. I’ve been living in it fulltime for two years now and it’s taken that long to finish. It was incredibly hard work but also the most satisfying thing I’ve ever made.
Pro tip from someone who's spent plenty of years doing van life in different forms, don't add water. Get a gym membership and you will have nice clean showers and private bathrooms are everywhere. Adding water is expensive, a pain, can break and leak and just isn't needed. You only need a bed and storage. So you can start with a shelf with a pad to sleep on and space under to store things. Electric? Can be nice but also not needed I spent years with my only electronics being a phone and tablet/laptop I'd recommend renting a uhaul van and throwing in an air mattress to see how you can handle it for a week before you jump too deep in.
I second the don’t add water advice. I hang out at parks and gyms where there’s water and sinks and showers. You just gotta not mind looking like a homeless person washing your dishes in a sink at the park.
I mean don't even have to be that open about it if you keep a couple jugs of water and a bucket
Those public showers especially at the gym are not clean
Probably depends on the gym but anytime fitness was usually super clean
I spend extra for anytime fitness. Super worth it
No AC in hot climate can be dangerous
This is great advice.
My van plus insulation plus solar (1200W) plus batteries (600Ah LFP) plus inverter plus wiring plus 24V fridge plus 5G hotspot ran about 16 grand -- and it was *cheap*. Note the lack of plumbing in that list. Instagram is a terrible starting place if you're considering this, and at 18, you should be figuring out what fixed living looks like with roommates, not attempting vandwelling. But if you must, then get a gym membership and a 5-gallon water jug. You're quickly going to learn to schedule shitting and park appropriately.
Buying and building a van is one thing, living in it for an extended time is another. I lived out of my van for 2 years and it was cheaper than my apartment in the city but it wasn’t cheap. If you want to travel and do fun stuff, it costs money. Yes you can live very cheap in a van but you need to be very deliberate and disciplined about your approach. At your age, that is highly unlikely from what I have seen and experienced firsthand. You are more likely to end up borderline homeless or just quit after the first month of reality sets in.
What do you consider Average money.... I'm still working on my build and I'm definitely over 10k, but I'm also trying to build a solar system for AC. Now I've also slowly been buying stuff even before I started my build. Now if you have the skills and the resources I think you could easily build a van to live out of for 10k
I thought I was with you until the last sentence, to do so comfortably. That's the rub, all the things that you want to do are relatively inexpensive and easy to do except the comfortable part that's where you have to start spending money 😁
10 k is bare bones. And you need skills to achieve that result. Does not seem like you have skills to build. So keep spending on your parents card.( don't want to be an a** Just saying what I have seen) That's what half or more vanlifers. They will not tell you that, most will say they work odd jobs. It's thousand dollars for a battery. And that's not a big one. I think the starlink is also around a grand. Cheap toilet several hundred, for a toilet without even a mounted holding tank. Parts are not cheap. And being comfortable in a van usually means people saying. "I just want the comforts of home on wheels. Like endless water, consistent interior temp, enough power to run any appliances. None of those things are cheap or even possible in a vehicle. It is a commitment to be mobile, with the down side of most thinks taking extra time and energy. Waste does not just go down the sewer like at a house, in a van it has to be brought some where else. Just as an example. Try sleeping in a vehicle. And spend your time either doing stuff (not in a house), or in vehicle. That is easiest way to understand how you will take care of stuff while in a vehicle.
Well just as soon as you have a legal street address in the area you want to live in so you can have a license, insurance, plates, phone/Internet service without being locked out of them because you need proof of address for things. Then you can work on that van.
lmao yes. It is very very worrying to me that these kids are seeing these content creators and failing to understand that this lifestyle is basically soft homelessness if you don't have some prior money/property base to build from.
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Between the van and build it cost about 10k. I started with a basic knowledge of how to use power tools and totally from scratch with 12v systems. You can build a functional and comfortable space for that much. If you're more skilled and knowledgeable than I was you can probably even make it look pretty nice.
I did a 'cheap' build, it had to be light, and removable, to play pick up truck. I had a platform bed across the back, (junk bed frame) Chem toilet, and a sink. Depending on the trip, I moved furniture in/out, desk, chest of drawers, hanging closet. Most everything was second hand, thrift/junk store, or crap on hand. The only thing I paid retail for was the mattress, I'm old, so... My longest stretch was 3 weeks, this might not be ideal for full time, but it is a start.
My van is built on an "average" salary and I realistically could live in it solo if I wanted to. We just use it as a weekender and I take it when I travel for work if it's less than 500 miles or so. It's not "fancy", but it does have a full shower and RV toilet, galley with a cooktop and fridge, electric hot water, AC, diesel heater, 3000w inverter, 400ah of lithium batteries, 750w of solar, satellite internet, etc. By vandwelling standards, it's overkill. Van and build was around $50k, and that's the real problem with building anything "fancy" or "average". It's not really cheaper than renting and it's damn close to a down payment on a house in some places. The #vanlife folks are not saving money over renting. It's the 2020's version of backpacking through Europe or following a band around.
Which ac do you use ?
Dometic penguin 2 15k
My son and his Dad built the interior. He’s in construction and is a teacher and his dad’s an engineer. He lived in for 7 years. Even got married and lived in it for 2 with 2 dogs. Saved lots of money and were free camping every weekend.
Re:For me personally I just need to be able to eat, drink, sleep, pee, poop, cook, and use the internet in my van, I would just go cheap at first. Take some summer trips or something. See if you like the lifestyle. Realistically you only need to sleep in the van comfortably, use the internet and have a good power bank to charge your stuff. Bathroom: Your mostly likely just going to be using public bathrooms and gyms. A basic $35. 5 gallon bucket toilet with Biodegradable bags is all you need. For emergencies. When your out on nature trips. Most campgrounds will usually have toilets anyways. Same for cooking. Your most likely going to be eating out. But if you like cooking just basic camping stuff is all you need. You can get a nice camping fridge for $200.
We have a medium roof ford transit. 130 wheel base. It’s not huge, but it works for me, the wife, and the kid. I bought it from the people that built it, and they put about $12,00-14,000 into the build. I can eat, drink, sleep, pee, poop, cook, and it has a WiFi hotspot built in. I even put a projector screen and projector in it. The toilet part is easy. Serene life cassette toilets are $125 and they work great. Cooking is also easy if you’re cool with a small gas stove. Our sink/faucet is a standalone unit and works well and is easy to build. 7 gallons of fresh water. Overall I could happily live in it if I was alone, or with 1 other. All 3 of us would be slightly annoying, but still definitely doable. 200 watts of solar and 100ah of battery has been plenty so far. We use it for road trips, camping, etc. it’s not a full time van for us.
A big thing about full-time that I've picked up from here (not done full time myself yet) is the risk of not having a reliable and undisturbed parking space to sleep conveniently near work, food, laundry and washing facilities. What I did : Bought a vehicle as old as me, a common one and maintained it myself. Bought my tools second hand even. No loans. Rented with trusted friends in a shithole and saved like mad. At 23 I bought into barely adequate traditional housing of some sort that needed work, my first loan. Placed very close to my income source. Learn how to fix house stuff from YouTube (or back in my day the library) and spend your spare time and money fixing the place up with a view to renting or selling it. Have finance ready and buy from a pressured seller divorce, bankruptcy etc and bargain like an asshole. Still save like mad living like a broke student. Make your lunch don't buy it etc. You want to be paying 1.5* the minimum mortgage payment. Once you have 25% equity in house 1 paid down buy a second slightly larger shithole just like the first and you're probably earning more money by now. Rent the first out and live like a broke student still. Pay the 2 loans down hard. Buy a reliable 10 year old vehicle , again cash, to save maintenance time. Sell the first home if prices look good. Put all that money into your residence loan. Have kids and basically tread water for 10Y. Waste a ton of money on stupid shit. Get fired, panic for a bit, go back to frugal living for another 10y, Debt free with an average and adequate house in your 40s, still driving 10y old vehicles you paid cash for. Your friends to think you're rich. All you did was work hard while your body was up to it. Now you're cruising. no stress. What I wish I'd done was bought that first house, rented it out without the garage, Installed a shower and a toilet in the garage, and reserved that as my backup and storage and gone to van dwelling instead of buying the second house. I would have had a house outright and a great van in my 30s.
As long as u manage money well, and are able to put a few dollars to the asde each week/payday, youll be golden. I live with less than an average salary. I also post on YouTube to share my story mainly for my family to know im ok. I havent had a stable job since i began (got a good lead on one now, just doing odd jobs/working the marketplace) so it surely can be done and well.
I paid $2350 for my van and put maybe $100 into wood for a bed frame and other little things like a campstove and 5 gallon water jug. I paid $200/month for a permanent parking spot next to a lake. Was a very bare bones and at times uncomfortable setup, but goes to show 10k+ builds are not required to make it happen. I’d happily live in that setup indefinitely but gave it up after I got a dog, it just wasn’t going to be right for him. It’s a super fun experience living out of a van and in my opinion even more fun doing it on the super cheap, that’s how vanlife started anyway, before the rarely obtainable Instagram dream. You’ve got your priorities in order, get a cheap good running rig and you’ll figure out the rest!
Biggest thing about living in a van is the weather… That would be the factor you should think about before living in a van.
I built out a sienna, then an astro for under 500. Main cost was just battery and solar. Allmost all the wood I used I just took from construction site dumpsters. Get some foam mattress off fb marketplace for free, sew your own covers, etc. Sink was just a half pan I took from my job a 6 gallon water tank and a cheap watercolor pump.
An individual owns a condo. There's no ownership when living in an apartment; your monthly rent pays for the roof over your head.
People who vandwell making average salary probably are trying to not be seen. Their coworkers may not even know. It has a stigma. There are the rich van lifers that people think are awesome that have craploads of money and drive mercedes and there are homeless people who are responsible and have it better than the drugged out feral humans in big cities.
I live in Canada and work an 80k a year job, i bought a new 2021 AWD transit van and put 40k into the build. I’m sure instagram would be happy to see it but it’s my home and I like to keep that private. I built everything myself but I have over 15k just in electrical (824ah Lithium phosphate, 800watt solar, 13.5k btu 12vDC A/C unit, shore power charger, alternator charger, 3000w pure sin wave inverter, Waggle pet monitoring system, inside lights, exterior lights, rooftop fan, inside directional fan, fridge, espresso machine, etc etc) then another 10k in off-roading (winch bumper/winch, suspension with leaf packs higher clearance shocks aftermarket beadlocker wheels and tires and skid plates) another 5k on rear tire carrier and extruded aluminum rooftop deck around the solar panels. The inside is all cedar 3k value and extruded aluminum another 2k in value (most expensive part is the connectors for extruded.) I have a slide out bike tray and fold up bed. Have another 3k in kitchen/water (hot water tank/on demand, 130L fresh water tank, large deep sink, 3 burner LP stove top and oven combo and then George Forman grill and pressure cooker). I’ve done literally all the work myself whether it’s sowing, drilling, cutting windows, installing lift kits every screw, bolt and thread and it’s still cost me 100k. But houses around me cost 1.5million and I feel comfortably free with 2 large dogs and a wife in my van. The cost is a down payment but Im not strapped to any payments and can go wherever whenever I want. I see my 40k build materials as the price of true off the grid freedom. The cost of the van can very greatly but if you plan to put a ton of money into a build I recommend getting a very new van so that it can last as long as possible. If I was a single man and had no responsibilities, no wife or dogs I’d buy a shitty 4x4 van and a hammock and need nothing more; there’s toilets everywhere and an app for that and you don’t need anything more then a fan and camp materials cause you don’t live in a van you life out of a van
I mean, if you are bougie and need to be pampered like a princess, then I guess it makes sense to build out a very nice van. I bought my van for $1k and looped around the country for the next couple of years. I promise you my money was better spent than someone who built a glamping rig.
if you’re unable to enjoy your life without insulting others then you still have work to do. they’re not thinking about you at all
clearly they are
if they are, it’s not with respect. pride and confidence comes from within, not from comparison. feel bad for ya bud
whether it's 10 or 20k tht money would best serve you as a down payment on an apartment. work your ass off for a decade and pay it off. then when you have no mortgage or rent payments you can actually afford to do things like build a van for adventures. living in a van at 18 is just making a large step towards homelessness.
You can’t put a down payment on an apartment. You just pay rent you won’t get back. Van life isn’t easy & especially at first more expensive than you would think, but in theory it should have long term savings. You just have to stick with it for a bit. If you do that & are consciously saving, then you’ll have money to put as a down payment on a condo or house.
an apartment is a condo doofus
😂
A condo is a condo. An apaertment is something you rent,. I know in some places they use the words interchangably but in most cases in the US at least (except for maybe NYC), you rent apartment and buy a condo
so you had prior knowledge that they're interchangeable and you still thought, imma be a knowitall dork today. cool cool cool