1 MONTH VAN LIFE EXPENSES | how much living in a van actually costs
1 MONTH VAN LIFE EXPENSES | how much living in a van actually costs
Our guide to saving enough money to live this lifestyle yourself: https://thematneys.co/course
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When we started living in a van, we had no idea what our monthly van life expenses would be. We knew that our van life expenses would be lower than our apartment expenses, and they are, but it was hard to gauge how much living in a van actually costs before we lived it.
Hopefully, this helps YOU gauge how much living in a van will cost you and what your 1 month van life expenses will be. Any questions? Comment below!
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BILLS: (2:14)
Car insurance: $184
Health insurance: $249
Internet & phone: $120
Gym membership: $40
TOTAL: $593
OTHER MONTHLY: (7:28)
Investments: $200
Life insurance: $50
Spotify: $15
TOTAL: $265
LIVING: (8:57)
Coffee: $300
Groceries: $350
Eating out: $350
Gas: $300
TOTAL: $1300
TOTAL: $2158 (13:53)
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What about gas that should be in your first category
well, like we have to have coffee and the latest cellphone and like, you cant wear clothes that are 4 months old because they are, like, out of fashion…. jesus christ. millennials are like heroin addicts making excuses for why they cant give up the drug. no wonder you cant afford anything.
you guys are awesome. I think finances should be way more openly talked about as it is and that there’s a lot of stigma since it seems to be so attached to power and placement in society. bleh. thanks for sharing 🙂
Good job guys. You appear to be on the same page. Cool! Studying the numbers is very important & ignorance ultimately leads to failure. So many don’t. A coffee drinker myself one can easily justify the actions. You can always find ways to either improve or erode your living costs. Answers are right in front of you. All boils down to assets & liabilities. Make sure that you include all costs as they are real. If I can suggest a typical "barometer" is to take your monthly expenses & calculate your average cost per mile driven. You’ll find very quickly just where the sweet spot is to sustain your lifestyle as well as where you can improve even further. (Total monthly costs divided by total monthly miles driven). Keeping score is smart. This will change yet average out. There are 30.4 days on average per month. 4.3 weeks average per month. 4 months per year have 5 weeks. Cheers!
$300 for coffee? are you a coffeholic?
Wait, so where does the rest of your money go? Please tell me it’s not just sitting in a bank account earning 0.5% or something! Why are your investment numbers not higher?
Oh. It’s weed, isn’t it? $2K on weed each month sounds about right, especially after drinking all that coffee!
From an accounting point of view …. Your van is not bricks and mortar but actually a depreciating asset. So what does that mean? Let me give you an example …. You buy a van for $10k and then put $5k into with alterations. That means you spent $15k. Life expectancy on a van is normally five to ten years so let’s be generous and say the latter. That means in ten years time, you will need to spend at least $15k to replace the van and just keep yourself in the same situation that you are now. So, the asset which is your van needs to be depreciated at $1,500 a year …. Therefore, you need to be putting that much away every year. Now I don’t know what your actual figures for purchase and alterations were ….. Or the age of the van (that ten year age would be based on a new van …. An older van may only have a three of four year lifetime expectancy). But you really do need to figure it out and put that money in a completely separate account. By the way, not sure on the US side but on the UK side because you work out of the van, you can claim as a business asset and that means you would pay less tax.
Why is it so expensive to be alive?..
What do you do to make do much so much money on the road?
Also totally spotify is necessary I totally get it
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This was very helpful! Thank you!!
What do you two do for a living?
dont forget a buffer cost savings when the car breaks
you get all these off the amazon.com where do where do you send all these things and what address for your YouTube videos?
I always see people spend a lot on coffee but I hate coffee so I’ll really be saving
I know this is an old video and you might already know all of this… but a bucket can count as a bathroom and a solar bag shower counts as a shower. Only other thing you need to qualify for RV insurance is a kitchen, which you have. This info is from an RV insurance rep. Makes insurance a lot cheaper and you don’t run the risk of the renter’s insurance not covering you if they deem you are actually living in your van full-time.
How are you guys doing now? Are you still on the road?
I’ll so glad I don’t drink coffee. That stuff is so expensive……
I wonder how they’re showering now that gyms are closed?
This is the first video I’ve seen from you guys and I’m definitely a new subscriber! I love your comfortability on camera and the energy you two have together. Can’t wait to see more!
one of you should get a planet fitness black card, one person pays 20 a month with an unlimited guest so one of you could be the member and one could be the guest! an extra 20 saved
Omg. Christian’s Hair is so much better. Could be GQ. Aubrey has crazy hair.
$500/mo for me to live in a van. One person, i am a minimalist. I now live in a house so its a tad more but not much really, im a major minimalist
Me servicing my own vehicle for 400dollars
you can buy a big old house in ok for 50k. Use some vet’s VA home loan and you wont need a down payment. Then convert it to a lot of small weekly rental rooms, $100 to $200 a week per room depending upon location. you can clear 30k a year or more per place. You can get into it for 10k or less. So it doesn’t take long to have 3 such places, with a property management company, and CPA to ride herd on your live in (veteran) tenant managers) clearing 50 a year, total, and you can live like a king in the third world on 40k a year.
so basically more expensive than living in an apartment 🤣
You guys are rich. Wish I had that income
Super !! https://youtu.be/I60vvS7YMeM
Hi! Guys, I just tried the link for your health insurance. Is that what you are still using?
Just fyi when guns are closed for covid use trucker stops that have showers
What do you do for work
I love how real and honest this was! As a 24 yr old from the Midwest this is about what I spend monthly as well, but no savings, no health, no gym, no life insurance. So even tho I have a “stick and brick” this has encouraged me to see how IM MESSING UP SO BAD 😂 it’s all those coffees, they get away from you. But in all seriousness this has encouraged me to be more mindful about how I’m using my money! I could’ve had all these same things and I’ve just been so unaware!!!! 💜 thanks for sharing
Random note: I remember my science teacher saying that her sister lives in a van and you look just like her no joke
Piece of advice: stop filing "tax" reports; "taxation" is not only theft, but it’s also slavery because it erroneously makes the claim that part of what you produce is somehow "owned" by someone else, therefore erroneously claiming that that "someone else" owns you. That is called slavery.
Don’t consent to the slavery and don’t make the extortionists’ and slavers’ job easier, by telling them how much they’re to rip you off for.
In other words, don’t pay "taxes". Don’t let yourself extorted.
He doesn’t let you speak and when you do, he interrupts you.
Omg about time you cut your hair. I love it keep it like that.
I watch your videos often , I think about van life all the time…thanks for the breakdown of expenses it’s really helpful.
What about laundry expenses?
It’s nuts to me you guys only have 130k+ subscribers. You guys should be up there with Eamon & Bec!!!!
Insurance is stupid. When I reached 65, my insurance ended and I lost all the money I put into it for years. Make sure you have permanent life or you will loose a lot of money and this is how these companies get away with murder.
definitely taking tips, thanks for the much needed semi glance into what i need to do in the future
Dave back me up on this – let’s congratulate their parents the M’s don’t sound like valley girls – no uptalk, they fully pronounce T’s & no vocal fry noticed on this video – a miracle I say !!!
Dang… I spend $10 a month on coffee. What I spend in a month is what you spend in one day!
what are your jobs?
Both your eyes are so beautiful. Wow
Im really debating on buying a van and moving out 😕 but I’m only 18.
Liked and subscribed for the "Oh is it, really? I didn’t know that, thats gangster" line about insurance, thank you for putting this information out there!
Hey guys! A lot of you have been concerned about our coffee expenses, which is understandable 😉 I don’t think we were quite clear in the video. We need wifi to work so we work at cafes because we love getting to know the coffee scene in the different cities we’re in. The reason the bill is so high is because we value supporting independently owned cafes and will tip well and order multiple drinks if we’re there for a long time. We’re fully aware that there are other ways to go about finding internet, but we find that we’re more productive in these settings.
They are a really cute couple.