The idea of living in a van will appeal to those who admire the nomadic lifestyle and the freedom it presents. However, with housing prices and rent constantly on the rise, more and more people may be curious whether living in a van is a more affordable option.
In general, living in a van can save you plenty of money in the long run, but you will need to invest a substantial initial sum to be genuinely comfortable. Additionally, you will have to account for other costs such as showering, doing the laundry, and cooking, all of which are much harder to accomplish when living in a van.
Keep in mind that some camping grounds will also incur a charge for their use, and those found on the west coast are notoriously expensive.
Whether or not these expenses are cheaper than paying rent will greatly depend upon where you live; for example, a single-bedroom apartment in San Francisco can cost you anywhere between $1.8k and $2.5k, minus groceries, which is much greater than the average cost per month of living in a van (around $1.2k if you mostly stay on free camping grounds). However, some smaller states have an abundance of cheap rent options which are far superior to the van life in terms of cost alone.
The van lifestyle presents a multitude of challenges to overcome and opportunities to explore. In this article, we will examine the costs of living in a van, along with everything that you will need to consider before taking the leap.
How much can you expect to spend when living in a van?
Van living has its fair share of expenses that will need to be taken into account. You will first need to purchase a working van, which can set you back quite a bit if you cannot find any good deals. In general, you should expect to spend between $3k to $4k on a second-hand van, which is a hefty initial payment to make for some people.
You have two options when it comes to purchasing a van: either you pay straight out of your own pocket or bank account, or you request a loan. The amount of the loan (along with the interest it accrues) and the duration will determine how much you pay per month.
Next, you will need to consider insurance expenses. Fortunately, van insurance will only cost you $30 to $50 per month and an additional $10 for breakdown coverage.
You will now need to consider the same basic amenities of living in an apartment, namely food, water, and gas. The exact price of these amenities will be dependent on several factors. For example, if you plan to drive every day, you can expect to pay anywhere between $200 and $300 per month for gas. Or, if you plan on living with somebody else, the cost of food for the month can be as high as $300 or more, and less so if you plan to live by yourself.
If you can afford everything that we have mentioned up to this point, you should be able to live in your van reasonably comfortably. However, it would help if you also considered the cost of phones with data plans (usually around $100 per month) and camping ground charges, which is something many prospective van-lifers fail to consider. The latter will be especially prevalent if you plan on living on the west coast; however, the east coast is full of free camping sites for you to make use of.
What makes living in a van less expensive than renting an apartment?
It should come as no surprise that living in a van is usually cheaper (and sometimes more comfortable) than renting an apartment. Most decent apartments charge at least $800 or more for rent, which does not include any of the other amenities you need to survive. In contrast, when living in a van, you may need to pay for the use of camping grounds (which can easily go as high as $200 per night), but there are free sites as well which can save you some money.
You can save 100% of your monthly rental payments
Rent is expensive and can easily cost you over $2000 a month or more, particularly in the San Francisco Bay area, Boston, or New York, where apartment living is the standard. Beyond the initial cost of rent, there are plenty of other factors which make living in a van much cheaper.
1 year rent contracts generally come with a fixed rate (for example, $1.5k per month). However, the rate can increase should you renew your contract, and you will end up paying a large sum every month for as long as you choose to stay there.
In contrast, a van can be purchased with a tidy upfront sum, after which it is yours to own. If you take out a loan, you will have to pay it off over a specified period of time, but the van will still be yours thereafter.
You save money on basic amenities/appliances
The same basic amenities that we mentioned earlier will cost you significantly more when renting an apartment. In the San Francisco Bay area, you will usually end up paying at least $100 for electricity alone – even if you barely make use of any electrical appliances. Naturally, when living in a van, electricity becomes a non-issue.
Additionally, most studio apartments rarely come furnished. This means that you will have to pay for new furniture and any additional appliances that you may want to make use of. Fully furnishing an empty apartment can cost you anywhere between $5k and $8k, assuming you have no furniture to begin with.
You save on transportation
Owning a car is a significant expense in addition to your rental payments. Like vans, you can take out a loan on your car, but you will end up paying yet another large sum of money every month to pay it off. With vans, there is no additional expense – your form of transportation is also your home.
You save on a few other things as well
There are other expenses associated with apartment living, such as health insurance, which is another $500 every month. One may only offset the overall cost of living in an apartment by living with other people, which is often challenging, and something that can easily be avoided by living in a van.
What are the most expensive places to live in a van (and how much will you spend per month on average?
Although you can save plenty of money while living in a van, parking in camping sites will cost you. In general, the west coast is full of paid camping grounds, whose prices range anywhere between $50 to $200 per night. For example, the Motorcoach Country Club in Indio, California, is considered one of the most luxurious and scenic places to camp, but staying overnight will cost you up to $200 for every night that you stay there.
Naturally, most van-lifers will avoid places like this, but even the cheaper camping grounds can still put a dent in your wallet. In total, if you are living by yourself, you can expect to pay around $1000 for all your basic amenities, camping, and recreational sites, insurance, and dining out, minus the cost of loan payments.
What are the cheapest places to live in a van?
As we mentioned earlier, living in a van on the east coast is much more affordable than living on the west coast. This is mainly due to the number of free camping grounds that you can take advantage of; paid camping sites will have similar fees to those found on the west coast, however.
Living in a van by yourself on the east coast should cost you around $800 per month on average. This total includes all of your basic amenities, minor camping fees, and a cheap gym membership (for showering). It does not include the cost of loan payments.
Under what circumstances can living in a van be more expensive than renting an apartment?
While living in a van is often cheaper than renting an apartment in general, certain circumstances may arise where this is no longer the case.
Living in a van will become more expensive if you make frequent use of paid camping grounds For example, paying around $20 per night will cost you $600 per month, which is just below the average price of renting an apartment – it’s a difference, but a marginal one. This issue will present itself frequently on the west coast, and while it may still be cheaper than renting an apartment, the margin between them is so minimal it almost becomes obsolete.
Additionally, you may also need to pay for maintenance services (which are very expensive) and a gym membership to use showers.
List of variables
- Campgrounds on the west coast (up to $2k/month for luxury spots) vs. Rent of an apartment (around $1.8k)
- Number of occupants (at least $100/person)
- Gym memberships (around $45/month per person)
Conclusion
Hopefully, you have gleaned all the information about van-living you need from this article.
There is no doubt that it is often cheaper than living in an apartment if you are on the east coast (around $800/m versus $1.5k rent).
However, living in a van on the west coast is much more expensive, and can easily cost you more than $2k per month if you make use of paid camping grounds. Take care to read up as much as possible before committing yourself to the nomadic ideal.
