Anyone who full time boondocks in a car??

[Dwade81]

I am wondering if anyone on here does full time boondocking in a small town or small city or big city in a sedan? And if you do, what is your setup like in your car and how much are your expenses for food, gas, other bills. I would like a break down on your expenses and not a total amount. I am trying to get an idea what I am looking at with boon docking full time versus finding BLM land to live on.

 

[IanC]

Everyone's expenses would be different. You could eat hot dogs and beans of you could eat Whole Foods. You could have a stack of debt or you could have none. Everyone's way of doing things is unique to their own situation. Your own costs will be based on your own lifestyle.

 

[Dwade81]

Everyone's expenses would be different. You could eat hot dogs and beans of you could eat Whole Foods. You could have a stack of debt or you could have none. Everyone's way of doing things is unique to their own situation. Your own costs will be based on your own lifestyle.

IanC I get that, What I am looking for is more of how much a full time boondocker spends in fuel and how much in food. As for bills, like phone bill price, prepaid or contracted, or maybe gym memberships and so on. Not wanting to get into personal bills or debts.

 

[minimotos95]

The last month in my Civic wound up at 750 miles and $76 in fuel. But the car crapped out just short of 30 days, so add another 100 miles and $10 to that. Boondocking near small towns on public lands but only going to town for water and food, moving camps every 2-6 days. If you are working full time your gas will be significantly higher. And if you can find a spot you like enough not to move for a while your gas will be much lower.

Food is far too personal, my food expenses are lower than most. Leafy greens are generally what I run out of first that causes me to go restock, 6-8 days for a chopped up head of lettuce in the Dometic CF18.

 

[Almost There]

There are lots of people who are both boondocking in rural areas on BLM/NF land as well as those living in more urban areas. There shouldn't be much difference in their expenses - gas may be a little cheaper in urban areas but groceries are sometimes more expensive out in the boonies and it costs more to get to the market.

Instead of trying to work from someone elses' budget, IMO, the better way is to figure out your own budget.

Start with your income. Then list all the bills that have to be paid no matter what - insurance, cell, car payment etc.

The difference is what you have to work with for food, laundry and travel costs etc. etc. as long as you have no debt payments like balances on charge cards.

I just recently sat down with someone who, while they had sufficient income normally, had so much credit card debt that they were paying the minimum  on each card and then using that during the following month. Essentially, they would never be out of debt EVER.

We worked out a plan that will have them be debt free within a year. 

Ended up with $150.00 a month f.or food and only $75.00 a month for gas but since they drove a reliable economical car it just meant that there would be no long road trips. They would have to plan for up and down in elevation to move with the weather.

$150.00 a month is entirely do-able for groceries if you don't spend money on fast food and shop carefully.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

Van-Tramp has posted his costs/budget a number of times:  http://www.travel.van-tramp.com/portfolio/the-cost-of-living-in-a-van/

This will give you an idea of spending categories and approximate dollar amounts, but budgets and spending are very personal.

 -- Spiff

 

[rvwandering]

Take a look at this woman's blog - http://www.rubbertrampartist.com/category/spending-report/

   She tracked every penny that she spent each month for a year. She has a van and camped on BLM land or in a primitive campground at her workcamping job so your experience will be a little different than hers but her blog will still give you an idea of typical expenses.

  Boondocking usually refers to camping on BLM land or other public land. Parking in cities or towns may be called stealth camping or overnight parking so if you're searching for information you'll get better results using those terms.

  Good luck! Hope everything works out for you!

 

[Dwade81]

tonyandkaren,  I thought about Stealth parking but it would eat up what I had left for fuel and food.

 

[IanC]

tonyandkaren,  I thought about Stealth parking but it would eat up what I had left for fuel and food.

Most stealth parkers don't pay for the spots they park at - parking lots, city streets etc

 

[mdoverl]

Here are a few post where I breakdown expenses, just food and bills, and another thread on my Prius Setup.

Setup
https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-Prius-Stealth-Camper

Food Expenses
https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-Monthly-Food-Expenses
This one is pretty lengthy

Bills Expenses
https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-Monthly-Bills-Expenses

 

[AmieW]

I just recently sat down with someone who, while they had sufficient income normally, had so much credit card debt that they were paying the minimum  on each card and then using that during the following month. Essentially, they would never be out of debt EVER.

My neighbor is like that. He comes up $14 short every month on bills due to high credit card bills, and he just makes a minimum payment to get that $14. But he shops at Trader Joe's and Publix (two most expensive places for groceries), vapes ($34 a month, which he justifies because it's cheaper than cigarettes) and has cable t.v. and internet for $100/mo.). He and his girlfriend have never heard of a budget, I don't think. I told her I shop at Aldi, and she said she buys cheese there -- but it's the expensive, gourmet cheese, not the $1.59 block cheese I eat.

 

[AntiGroundhogDay]

Since I (currently ) plan to live a nomadic life the rest of my life, I plan for things like depreciation and replacement costs.  I also include healthcare plan costs and copays which I rarely see referenced elsewhere, so I wonder how folks address this.  Anyway, these are only estimated, not real costs as I have not hit the road yet, so take it with a grain of salt.  Always a work in progress. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_WDQxBW5dk8jsnGDSM6JuNNHhXdj5d6MzPNtOgRg7KM/edit?usp=sharing

 

[simply lesa]

Did you see Bobs interview with me about living on $250 a month? My income and expenses for bills is more than that. Thats my chosen Living Expenses including gasoline for each month. I live in my SUV 3-4 months in the winter.

Sent from my SM-T713 using Tapatalk

 

[S.IX:Phoebe]

My wife and I live out of a Saturn SC1 Coupe year-round as of June 2017 in Canada but she started in a Geo Metro back in 2012. We spend around $400/mth but we really budget down and don't require much. We vape (maybe $70 for three months and we are chain-vapors), our car is super comfy even with five duffel bags, our cooler and our butane stove, we just folded down the rear seats and put a four inch foam pad in and that's our bed. We can do -30 celsius temperatures easily without needing to run the car. We have our little "doggy-door" behind the driver's door which provides easy access in and out of the 'bunk' and park wherever we see fit and safe, such as truck stops, campgrounds, gas stations (after hours we could say we ran out of fuel) and even highway rest stops.