Living in a Van Down by the River
I’m thinking about living in a van to lower my living expenses. I’ve already done all the usual frugal stuff but I feel the need to do more. To make any significant reduction now I have to eliminate either my apartment or my car. I decided to go with eliminating the apartment.
Ever since reading Blue Highways in high school I fantasized about traveling the country in a van but never got around to doing it. Eventually that dream expanded from just taking a trip but having a full-time adventure. After joining the Vandwellers group on Yahoo and reading various blogs by van dwellers,such as HoboStripper (NSFW), I’ve realized that this dream is actually quite feasible and I intend to make it a reality this year.
My plan is to move into a van when my lease terminates at the end of October. I’ll purchase a van in August or September so I’ll have plenty of time to prepare it for living in. My needs for the van will be very simple. I just need somewhere to sleep and the ability to store things. I’ll take my showers at the fitness center at school. I have my own carrel at school where I can keep my books and a small amount of other stuff. It also has an electrical outlet that I can use to charge my laptop and cell phone. For food I can use the microwave at school and keep a small amount of food in the refrigerator there. There is also an ice machine which I might utilize ice from occasionally. For my bed I’m just going to use a couple camping pads stuffed in a sleeping bag with a folded comforter on top. I’ve used this combo before and it is comfortable.
I don’t really think it will be difficult to live in the van while attending school. There are plenty of vehicles parked there overnight so my van shouldn’t draw any attention. This should save me about $400 a month and get my living expenses to a minimal level. This idea of living in a van down by the river probably seems crazy to some but I welcome any comments,suggestions, or questions you might have.
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25 Responses to “Living in a Van Down by the River”
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Nice writing style. I look forward to reading more in the future.
Wow… I’m interested in finding out how it goes for you. Make sure you keep us updated. Could be a real adventure.
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I always dreamed of doing this. Good luck.
K
Even if you only last until winter, you’ll always be able to tell people you once lived in a van.
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Awesome. Where are you, how’s the winter weather? Did you see the pics of Davka’s new van on my page? I think it’s the best van design ever, and under the shelves is like 6″ of spray foam insulation.
I’m in KC,MO. Winter will be cold but nowhere near as cold as in Alaska. I’ve got a 0 degree sleeping bag which I’ve used to sleep outside many night so it should keep me warm inside a van. My lease doesn’t run out until the end of October but I hope to get a van in the next couple of months. I’m more worried about the heat next year than the cold this year.
I saw the pictures of Davka’s van and I really liked it. It would be great if I could find something like that although I’m thinking a minivan might work for me.
[...] at Tight Fisted Miser is moving out of his apartment and Living in a Van Down by the River to save $400 a month. Andy is going frugal to the extreme. He’s got cooking and refrigerating [...]
That’s so funny. I went the other route and am getting rid of my car. May I asked why you chose to get rid of your home versus your car?
[...] her site and check it out; her tricks with fruit are kinda cute. The Festival included my post Living in a Van Down by the River. Some of my favorites from the other posts [...]
Hayden- I posted yesterday on why I’m choosing to get rid of my home over my car. I haven’t done either yet though so I might still change my mind on which I get rid of.
[...] I think this list is self-evident and a fairly good starting point. I’ll let you know how our yard sale goes next Saturday. Relevant posts: Living in a van down by the river [...]
My husband and I actually lived in our car + a tent for several months a couple of years ago. We enjoyed it so much we seriously discussed making it a permanent change. As it happened, we were given an opportunity to live on a ranch essentially for free (we had to pay electric) and from there had the opportunity to move elsewhere and share bills so our living expenses are still very minimal. During the time we were in the tent and camping we met many people who live in their vans or RVs full time. Some of them travel quite a bit, some very little. One of my long term goals is to purchase one of the converted van RVs - and that will be our home as far as I am concerned.
Best of luck. I’ll be keeping an eye on the blog.
[...] from Tight Fisted Miser is going to move into a van down by the river to save money on living expenses. All I could picture was Chris Farley… so I had a smile on [...]
Here is a link to my brothers myspace page, who lived in a van for a quarter of college for the experience. He wrote some blogs and posted some pictures explaining his process.
http://www.myspace.com/philkmil
I couldn’t do it. I’ve slept in an suv with two dogs for one night, and got zero sleep. My hats off if you could live in a van. Maybe if the van was one of those tour buses that bands use on tour.
What about roommates? Could you save money sharing the rent at school? I had a college roommate that worked nights and it felt like he never lived at our apartment.
I was excited to read your article. I am almsot forty this year but I have live in vans on and off for years. I am a licensed contractor. Too many people in society dictate to us that if you live in a vehicle that your a bum or a user or whatever. I say hogwash. I dislike wasting money on a house or an apartment for just myself. Although I live in a very nice three bedroom house with a double car garage and all the ammenities. I live with my girlfriend and children. If we ever break up I will go back to living in a van or small RV. I setup a van many times with good insulation and paneling around the walls and ceiling. Put a nice single bed down the wall with a comfy six inch cusion. Then I took and mounted an undermount propane tank. Then went to an rv salvage yard and bought a good vented to the outside propane furnace with a thermostat. Warm as toast in the winter. When I live this way I save tons of money and have extra to do what I want. Just make sure you have current registration and insurance and that way when you get an officer that is profiling you as a bum you can show him you are legal and then call the precinct and ask why you are being harrassed. Anyways be careful by the river and do get too close too strangers because some of them are bums………
Eustace Conway lived in a tee-pee for seventeen years and stills lives without electricity or running water in the mountains near Boone, NC…and lives a great life.
I love to camp and have slept in my VW van many a time, however, not in MO in the winter! (I lived in CA and now HI). But to save $400/mo. or less than $5000/yr it hardly seems worth it. The van, gas, maintenance, insurance, parking tickets will certainly be way more than $5000 for a year. And public transportation is probably cheap, easy and you would have a place to study with a cup of warm cocoa every night. (I’d think long & hard…..)
[...] not coming here from MSN and haven’t read the post I’m referring to you can read it here. Also I’m going to be making an announcement on Friday that I’d like to share with [...]
this would be a great thing for me if I was single and my kids are all grown…….
and I am female, I have always wanted to live
a free life…..I do pretty much now. I don’t need fancy things, I enjoy my dsl and such,
but by the time my 15 year old flys the nest, (and if my husband would do it)but don’t have much hope in that…I would think the tech would be so good we could use the internet most places.
we love to camp, and we like the kind where you “really” camp. We live in Missouri and there are some of the most wonderful places
to camp……where no one else is around.
good luck and enjoy.
Check out Fifty Degrees Below by Kim Stanley Robinson. The main character lives in a van for a short while because he can’t find an apartment. After a few months he actually likes it. He then builds himself a treehouse on public land - but out of public view. Nobody at his office discovers his secret. The book does a good job explaining what it might be like.
He has a three room house, the rooms are just seperated by several miles.
Starbucks is his living room and home office.
He has internet access at his office.
His gym membership is his shower/bathroom
His van and treehouse serves as a bedroom.
When he wants to cook he either uses the kitchen at work or he uses a grill at the local park.
This works best for a single person. You own the van and can decide where to go each day.
For a couple you need to coordinate schedules.
For a family it becomes much more difficult.
[...] network members are Andy from Tight Fisted Miser who is in law school and currently considering living in a van to save money; Shanti from Antishay Ventenne who became debt free by paying off her last credit card in May; and [...]
But wouldn’t living in a van decrease your quality of life? Wouldn’t it also decrease the quality of your social life as well?