van or stuff first?

Van Living Forum

Help Support Van Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

MaximumRide

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 23, 2011
Messages
273
Reaction score
0
So I have a few options.<br><br>a) I am looking at a house tomorrow for 150 per week.<br>b)couch surf till i get moula together.<br>c) Live in my lancer wagon.<br><br>I'm a bit over whelmed. I don't know weather to buy stuff for the van first or buy the van first. If i buy the stuff first people will know and try to talk me out of it. But if i buy the van first it will be empty and i will have no place to sleep.<br><br><br>
 
personally i would buy the van first.. like you said you don't want people to find out.. but you could start collecting a couple of necessities and store them in a duffel bag or something.. <br><br>just my 2 ct<br>&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>
 
Could easily keep them in a plastic tub. its the bigger stuff im worried about.<br>
 
Your question, my thoughts.<div><br></div><div>cheap at $150, so it must be a couch or a small room your sharing in a house right?</div><div>If you buy the Van first, you can always put in a cot, or find a lawnchair or&nbsp;air-mattress.&nbsp;Voilà, place to sleep.</div><div><br></div><div>Personally, buy the vehicle first, as you do not know what you will buy in the way of vehicles, then some items may not fit in there. The vehicle is the best place to start.</div><div>Bed as listed above, heat source, sleeping bags and some crates or plastic containers or shelving, for the first couple of paycheques. Then, start building, look at designs, there are lots of different configurations out there.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>I just used some dressers and a desk I already had, the desk is actually pretty much perfect for me as it has a space at the back for water tanks. I plan on taking out the middle shelf, making it a slide in/out sink, that goes under the main counter so I keep all the counter surface.</div><div><br></div><div>Some might talk you out of it, but some might not as well, it all depends on the person actually.&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>You state you have a wagon, so live in it for now, some live in Cars, which are smaller and not as ready for a bed or anything actually. Your in luck, you can convert the Wagon, or just use it for a bed/sitting area for now, find a van and then convert it, while sleeping in the Wagon. It is much harder to convert something while you are sleeping and living in the thing. This is from personal experience here. I wish I had had more time to convert before moving into it, or even setting up a tent and living in behind would have been better!</div><div><br></div><div>If you couch surf, you will take longer to do this, it will cost you more money and self respect.&nbsp;</div>
 
i don't know if you got the resources but you could rent a storage box for the bigger stuff.. until you got the van and couch surf/life in the lancer for a while<br>
 
I've not seen the place yet, and the guy offering it to me sounds a bit odd.<br><br>Thank you so much for your advice -copy pates-<br><br>
 
I could move out of where i am now and save 440 plus bills. But its so hard for me to give up this beautiful place and face reality.<br><br>
 
I would deff snatch up a van first. In addition to the reasons mentioned, living in an empty van isn't so bad. For one its great motivation. Not only that it will give you a feel for if your into the life style. Also when your actually doing it you figure out what you really need and don't. I planned and prepped but once I was actually doing it, everything changed.

Cheers!
 
Thanks Vanimil. <img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><br>
 
Van first. If you're serious about the lifestyle, that should be your priority. You have no idea what you'll need until you get the van. could be you find a deal on a van you love that's all set up!<br><br>Do you read Ash's blog, <A href="http://thetuckerbag.blogspot.com/" target=_blank><b>Tuckerbag</b></A>? She's living pretty nicely in a small vehicle and doing a little couch surfing on the side. Tons of good ideas, there.<br>
 
If you decide to go ahead and move into a vehicle, don't forget it's COLD outside! I would make sure the first thing I got was a good sleeping bag.
 
Do what you can to save up for the van, if you're serious about making the move. Once it's yours you have a place to sleep whenever necessary. Friends will probably be willing to let you park at their place - less intrusive than sleeping on their couch. Also give you confidence for when your parking in more remote places.

Are you going to need the furniture in the shed? Getting rid of stuff helps cut the imbelical cord and may provided some money. Keeping stuff to a minimum is important when staying in a van.
 
Max, if the guy you are thinking about renting off of is the same guy you posted about before, I would stay away from him he sounds like a pervert and you could be in serious trouble, look for a van that you can trade your Lancer in on, I have no idea how things work in&nbsp;Australia, but a PERVERT&nbsp;&nbsp;is a pervert every where.....sleep on the floor of friends places before you move in with the weird guy...<img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"><img src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle">
 
You can live in a van with amazingly little stuff. The only thing you have to have is a sleeping pad and your bedding from home. Think of it as going camping,&nbsp; One month of roughing it n the van will save you the money to buy more of what you need. Plus, lots of people outfit their van first, then move into it. Then they find out there plans were all wrong and they have to start all over.<br><br>The only essential besides a sleeping pad is organization. You have to have a place for things so you can put them away and find them. There is nothing more frusrating than having all your stuff piled in the van and you have to move everything to find what you are looking for. The best way to do that is with plastic storage containers like plastic drawers and storage bins. All your electronics/entertainment&nbsp; go in one bin, cooking stuff in another, clothes in drawers, and so on. You get the idea. You could even go to a thrift store and buy older chest of drawers and a desk and just put them in the van. See the article on the site about "easy van conversion" on how one guy did it.<br><br>After you live in the van for awhile, you will learn what you want and need. Problems will come up and you will need solutions. THERE ARE SOLUTIONS TO EVERY PROBLEM!! Post them on the forum and we will walk you through them all. Bob<br><br>
 
judycmomx6 said:
If you decide to go ahead and move into a vehicle, don't forget it's COLD outside! I would make sure the first thing I got was a good sleeping bag.
<br><br>I'm In Australia, It's freaking hot outside! <img src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/frown.gif" height="28" width="28" align="absmiddle" border="0">&nbsp; <img src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/crazy.gif" height="29" width="29" align="absmiddle" border="0"><br><br>
 
Seraphim said:
Are you going to need the furniture in the shed? Getting rid of stuff helps cut the imbelical cord and may provided some money. Keeping stuff to a minimum is important when staying in a van.
<br><br>My parents wont let me get rid of them. Mother is a hoarder. I am more than happy to get rid of them. I'll have to tell her I have no room for them in the new house and then she puts them in her shed. If I get rid of them she will lecture me for getting rid of them. And her lectures can go on for years. Not kidding.<br><br>I may take photos of them and try to sell them on Gumtree. (Ozzie version of Creig's list.) and there is always tonnes of free furniture on there, so if I ever need anything I can always go back on there if and when the time comes.<br>
 
akrvbob said:
You can live in a van with amazingly little stuff. The only thing you have to have is a sleeping pad and your bedding from home. <br><br>The only essential besides a sleeping pad is organization. You have to have a place for things so you can put them away and find them. There is nothing more frusrating than having all your stuff piled in the van and you have to move everything to find what you are looking for. The best way to do that is with plastic storage containers like plastic drawers and storage bins. <br><br>After you live in the van for awhile, you will learn what you want and need. Problems will come up and you will need solutions. THERE ARE SOLUTIONS TO EVERY PROBLEM!! Post them on the forum and we will walk you through them all. Bob<br>
<br><br><span style="color: rgb(153, 51, 153);">Thanks Bob!</span> <img src="https://vanlivingforum.com/images/boards/smilies/biggrin.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0"><br>I am used to living on very little things, i'm good as long as i have: my laptop, internet, slr, phone, sketch book, book to read. Oh and my folder with notes for my novel.<br>I'm also used to camping I do it pretty much every year for a month in rosebud caravan park.<br><br>After moving so much, I have tonnes of 60l plastic tubs and a new love: space bags.<br><br><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 153);">Again just worried about my can in my lancer, I just got in it and It was sizzling. any cooling idea? and a way so that people wont see a cat in a car?</span><br><br>Can't trade in the Lancer, again the 'rents will kill me. The car is not in my name and I owe them money for it. (Cost them $300 to buy, my step father is a mechanic, so he fixed it up.) Also cant let them in on the van idea until I have already done it. My 'rents are the kind to have no faith until they see it in physical proof.<br><br><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">Guy with room didn't show, and I was putting out to the universe that I didn't want another place to rent.</span><br><br>
 

Latest posts

Top