Can you do this on $1,000/mo.?

[Day Dreamer]

Can I caravan with you? Sound like fun. LOL

How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? 

How did you just jump into partying with spring breakers and such?

 

[Cammalu]

Shoot. I don’t think I could have done all that on 10,000 a month!

 

[Almost There]

One can do it on what ever amount of money one has. Some people can not exist on less than $2,000 a month per person, others can do quite nicely on half of that.

It all depends on the lifestyle you choose to lead.

I don't pay for campsites for most of the winter - only paying when there was no other choice on the route of my touring. I pay during the summer because I'm working and need electricity and a stable home.

Free camping means that my only expenses other than standard ones (insurance, etc) are adjustable - gas depends on how much you drive and what you drive; food depends on how you want to eat; internet costs depend on what level of service you want.

I spend more amounts on gas for a month while I'm going from summer area to winter area and then back again in the spring. During the winter in AZ I spend very little on gas unless I choose to go touring/sightseeing a lot.

My food bills vary very little and can cost more than my gas bill since I like to eat well. Ramen is NOT in my vocabulary.. I don't eat out a lot because I actually like my cooking better than most restaurants.

And yes, I generally live on much less than a $1,000. a month. In my case, currency exchange excluded...sigh!

It all depends on your expectations and your ability to figure out a suitable budget!

 

[IGBT]

I mean if you can survive the climate you are in, costs are essentially just food and water if you do not have medical issues.

What is that, like $300 a month?

 

[Elbear1]

Not a few dozen generations ago the entire world lived off $0 and did so for like hundreds of thousands of years. People now on communes doing it.

 

[Dingfelder]

It is reasonable to think you could make $200-$500 selling on ebay I have been doing it for about 2 years working appox 15-20 hours a week my sales monthly are $4000-$5000 on average (profit around $2500) but you have to go on ebay and find what people are buying you look through the sold listings and see what sells

Everything I sell comes from garage sales and thrift stores it's not hard but does take work In The beginning to learn what people will buy

One of easier ways to learn is watch Youtubers that make videos on what to sell on. Ebay

This is interesting but - and I don't think this is your intent so please forgive me - but so vague as to be effectively useless.  I doubt more than 1 in a 100 readers will look at your post and have any idea how to follow through.

 

[WanderingRose]

The thing about trying to “van” with very little income is the inherent difference between living in a vehicle vs a more traditional sticks and bricks.

A vehicle has to be fueled, maintained, repaired, etc., and repairs can be costly.  We can try to anticipate and plan, but wear and tear happens, stuff breaks and wears out.

An emergency fund, and the means to replenish it, is the difference between dealing with the repair and being dead in the water somewhere, minus not only your means of transportation but also your home.

One can eat on a shoestring budget, we all know that, it’s the vehicle expenses that can eat you up.  Being  broken down somewhere is not fun, it’s not living a dream, it’s a crisis, and can happen anywhere.

Think carefully.

My two cents. :s

 

[Elbear1]

Alot of the high costs for repair can be mitigated by having decent set of tools and common spare parts, a means to get the community to come to aid, being with caravans. Individual parts are never expensive. A remaned transmission can be had for usually for $1500 or less. A junkyard unit much less. Thats extreme.

Dropping a trans roadside is not impossible. Ive done it. On a van the bell housing is exposed. Another person helps a bunch and 2 jacks are needed.

You can even put a new crank bearing in by dropping oil pan enough to work around it.

Everything on a vehicle is bolted on. Its comes off the same way. Its figuring out what to change, getting the part, and having the tools. And decent tools are not that expensive anymore.

 

[IGBT]

Alternatively, you could buy a discounted new van, use it for 5 years during the warranty period, sell it and buy another similar new van.

We paid less than $30,000 for a brand new 2018 Ford Transit 250 mid roof van with 148" wheelbase.   5 year 60,000 mile powertrain warranty, 3 y ear 36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty.   Figure that with oil changes now recommended at the 10,000 mile mark and the transmission doesn't even need a fluid change ever, the van will only need max of maybe $100 a year in maintenance.

So...after 5 years you can sell the van for about $18,000.   That means the van cost you $2,400 a year, or $200 a month.  Think about that.   You have the reliability, road side service (included!) and never have to turn a wrench in 100 degree weather.

That still leaves you $800 a month for gas, food and insurance.   Sock away the $200 a month and buy a new van in 5 years, trading in the old one.

The trick is to not let feature creep suck you into a more expensive van.   Get the basics you need...heated seats and latte warmers are not really required for van living.   We did go with the ecoboost and could have even saved $2000 more by going with the standard V6.  I do like the ecoboost though.

 

[Riverman]

Who's got $30.000 in cash for a van? By the time I saved $200 a month for 5-years ($12,000) the van price would be $50k.

 

[cherterr]

I enjoy adding up my receipts every night to see what I spend, it's like a hobby to improve your financial well being.

LOL.. are we twins?   Once you go 'Dave Ramsey" you never go back!! lol   I have a little spiral notebook instead of checkbook register.  It's easier to keep up with ALL spending, cash, credit (oops..I didn't say that) and debit.

As to the OP and SS:
I also have part B which pays 80% of Doctor after 'deductible' (a set amount I always forget but just under $200 a year); and it costs around $150.. cause.. I was a bad girl in the past.  I had it, got rid of it ..cause.. frankly I just don't 'DO" Drs. and when I got back on they MADE me at age 65; charged me a fine for getting off of it for a while; and started takin out the bucks.  Oh well.

(Drs. are great for Major stuff.. everything else.. not so much.  Pill pushers which give you More problems. JMO.  Not meaning to offend any Docs out there! )

 

[Riverman]

Hey twin... I have probably 50-file folders with every receipt that I spend. I never buy a gallon of gas without getting a receipt either. I hate looking for a receipt (or anything) so I had to become organized in order to function well. Best wishes....

 

[Elbear1]

Who's got $30.000 in cash for a van? By the time I saved $200 a month for 5-years ($12,000) the van price would be $50k.

Seems like you could lease way easier. Sir, I swear the bed and permanent ass odor was there when I got it.

 

[IGBT]

Seems like you could lease way easier. Sir, I swear the bed and permanent ass odor was there when I got it.

Maybe.   I see the leases for a $30k van are around $3,000 down and a $425 a month payment or thereabouts.  This is for a 3 year lease with 12,000 miles/yr allowance.  

I was thinking if you didn't put quite that many miles on the van, maybe 6,000 miles a year just moving around climate zones while van living, that you would benefit more from ownership than leasing, as the residual value of the van would be higher.   If at the end of 5 years the $30,000 van only had 30,000 miles on it, then it is very likely it could be traded in or sold for ~$18,000 which gives the $2400 a year cost, minus the opportunity costs of the $30,000 you have tied up in it.  At a 2% return, that is another $600 a year, so call the true cost of owning the van $3,000 a year, or $250 a month.

Yes, coming up with $30,000 cash to do this is a big nut, but it *can* be done.   Essentially you only have to do it once, since there-after you will be getting $18,000 back plus the $250 you set aside each month to purchase a newer van.   If inflation runs higher, then you will probably get more than $18,000 back...and the $250 you set aside each month for the five years could be put in a bond that matches inflation such that even if the van 5 years from now is $35,000, you would still have enough to purchase it.


Actually just out of curiosity I put in our 2018 van specs (medium roof, 3.5L ecoboost, LWB cargo) into KBB as if it was a 2015 with 30,000 miles and it gives a private sale value of over $24,000. Take that with a grain of salt since we only paid $30,000 but it does show that vans do seem to hold their value if low miles and not too old. Really makes buying new quite attractive.

 

[bullfrog]

What about taxes, insurance costs, tires and the build out?

 

[IGBT]

What about taxes, insurance costs, tires and the build out?

Taxes at 7% would be $2100, which is $35 a month over 5 years.

Liability insurance can be pretty cheap, full coverage is around $1000 a year, $85 a month.

Tires you can probably get by with the factory ones for the full 30,000 miles

Build out is going to be an expense no matter what van you get, but it can be cheap and simple or expensive and complicated.  I have done the complicated expensive build and now prefer the bare bones, easy to dismantle simple builds.

But yes we are up to $250 + $35 + $85 = $370 a month.

$40 a month for cell phone, $100 a month for gas

Now we are at $510

That leaves $490 for food, fees, and misc. stuff.   Tight, but probably workable.

 

[rvwandering]

No politics please! All political posts have been deleted. Vannstein - read your PMs

 

[vannstein]

My bad.

 

[Elbear1]

$40 a month for cell phone

You can get that phone down if you unlock it and go with a tracfone SIM. like $10-15 a month and its been plenty enough call time for me.

 

[Dingfelder]

What about taxes, insurance costs, tires and the build out?

THIS is what made the argument fall apart for me.  Who wants to sleep in a van that is just set up for ordinary driving around, with racks of seats in the back, no fridge or cooking areas, etc.?  I'm thinking you're bound to want to strip it out, insulate, and build it back out to how you'd like to live in int ... and then what auto manufacturer is going to take it back?  For most people, or at least your average soccer mom, that would be a monstrosity, not an improvement.