I wake to the bright morning sun streaming through the curtains and roll sleepily over to steal some of Tyler’s warmth–the van is still cool with the chill of a mountain night at the end of summer. We stay in our bed for a while longer, but before long the vibrant blue sky and sweet morning breeze become irresistible and we come fully awake and begin to slowly stir.
I step outside onto the gravelly earth in my bare feet and stretch up my arms in solidarity with the tall pines all around me. The world around me is all warm and cold, shadow and sun. I am alive and I feel it.
I wash up at the spigot on our site and the cold water washes away the last of my sleep. While Tyler goes through his (rather longer) morning routine I get to work. The little gas stove lights with a rush and soon the water begins to rumble. In the meantime I pull our small wooden table and chairs into a patch of warm sunshine. A jar for pouring water and two for glasses. A pile of day-old scones and muffins I managed to save from waste at work adorn the center of the table. When Tyler joins me again I pour two mugs of steaming black coffee and we sit down to a better morning feast than any king could ask for.
The sunshine warms our skin, the coffee our bellies, and the beauty of the world–our souls. The world is still quiet, but full of noise. The summer insects are brought back to life after the cold night as the air slowly regains its heat; a mule deer steps lightly through the brush as it skirts our camp, and a squirrel overhead gnaws on a pine cone. Our own voices break into that silent noise and it is no longer silent.
We chatter about the beauty of this day, of our love for everything surrounding us and our place in it. We speak of our desires for this day and they are the same. But we do not rush to the other pleasures awaiting us. We linger in this beautiful moment in time and soak in the sun and our coffee and are made better for it.
On top of Flat Top Mountain: Rocky Mountain National Park
For us the decision to live in a van was 1 part adventure and 1 part money saving. The adventure part is pretty obvious and we’ve already shared a bit about that. The money saving aspect is both more and less obvious than it might seem. A lot of times people find that there are a lot of hidden expenses in adventures like this (and there certainly are), but we also have a lot of hidden savings as well. For us this adventure is more than just where we sleep at night–its a whole lifestyle. So here is an inside look at how we make this whole crazy thing work and how it compares to our previous lifestyle over the last year (which was also pretty frugal, but we did live in the suburbs of Philly which are pretty pricey).
Last year’s expenses:
Housing– A 1 bed, 1 bath apartment, all utilities except electric and gas included (plus internet and cable). Cost: $875 per month
Utilities– Gas and electric Cost:~$40 per month
Groceries: Food for two, plus frequent dinner parties. Cost: ~$40-50 per week x 4= $200 per month
Gas– We supplemented our travel with bike riding, but drove more in the winter months. Cost: ~$30-40 per week x 4 = $160 per month
Cell phone– Page plus cellular, pay as you go plan. Cost: $29.99 per month
Laundry: We usually did it at one of our parents’ homes. Cost: $0
Any additional recreational costs as well as school loans and such which remain relatively constant regardless of where or how we live will be excluded from the to the total.
And the total is (based on highest approximates)=$1,305 per month
Now, for the van expenses:
Initial cost of van: $2,400
Cost of work put into van (mechanical + outfitting): ~$900
Total Initial Cost: $3,300
That might seem a bit steep, but we needed a vehicle regardless, so most likely we would have spent close to that amount no matter what.
Housing: $360 per month for government housing RV site on National Park land. This cost is a bit higher than we had originally hoped for (we had wanted to find places for camping or something along those lines). We decided to go for the campsite because it puts us very close to Tyler’s headquarters, town, and my job. And because we have never done anything like this before and wanted to ease into it and not get in over our heads.
Utilities: $0. Included on our site is a water spout and electrical hookups as well as access to a public bathroom/shower.
Internet: $0. We bum it from another friend on the site.
Groceries: ~$30-40 per week x 4=$160 per month. Living in a tourist town food is pretty pricey and after housing this is our number one expenditure. We have a lot of tricks to help keep this cost down as much as possible and I’ll share some of those in my next blog.
Grilled Puffball Mushroom sandwich. We love foraging!
Gas: ~$5 per week ( x 4= $20 per month) excluding recreational travel (ie. driving out of the mountains for our anniversary dinner. Such events only happen every few weeks). Because we live in our vehicle we are always hesitant to pull up stakes for a drive. This helps keep our driving in check and encourages us to use alternate forms of travel such as our bikes, walking/running/hiking, carpooling, and the free park shuttles to get around. We only drive if the distance is one we cannot make using other free forms of transportation. Tyler walks the 5 min walk to work each day, I bike 10 min into town. Church, hiking, and most recreational activities we can reach with our bikes. Biking is an incredible form of transportation that is free, good for you, entirely clean/green, and often takes the same amount of time or less as driving when over short distances and especially in urban areas. But it is so easy to slip into the habit of driving. Fight the urge!
These things take us pretty much anywhere we want to go 🙂
Cell phone: ~$18 per month. I downgraded to a plan with Virgin Mobile that allows me to control exactly how many texts, min, and GB of data I use/pay for each month. I reduce my bill by using a free texting/calling app that uses wifi as well as nearly exclusively using wifi at work and home instead of data.
Laundry: ~1.50-3.00 per week x 4=$12 per month. We have on site machines and a clothesline. We can usually get away with one load per week–$1.50 per wash load. And then we hang dry to save another $1.25. I also started making my own laundry detergent; it is extremely cheap and better for your health and the environment. This is the recipe I use: http://www.diynatural.com/homemade-laundry-detergent-soap/.
Alright, what’s the total?
Total: $570 per month!
Difference between last year and now? $735 per month.
That might not seem like a huge difference, but remember that we were already living extremely frugally then. And we do hope in the future to reduce that number even further (by hopping from place to place without fees and getting solar panels, etc). We feel a lot more freedom to do the things we want now, like go out to dinner, go to the movies, go out with friends, buy wine, and travel around. And I mean, we are living in the Rockies.
Look for my next blog on eating on a shoestring budget while living in a van!
The reflective chronicling of the most beautiful, singular moments of life.
Snapshots of a Traveler's Life 