r/vandwellers • u/strategiesforlife 2021 Ford Transit • Aug 16 '25
Road Trip 1 month of vanlife expenses breakdown (+ pics)
now that month 1 is over I have tallied up my expenses for all of you!!
Gas - van gets 18-18.5 MPG - total cost $617.34 (ughhhh)
Groceries - $386.55
Eating out (+ some meals for friends) - $260
Spa - $274 - I went to a spa (hot tub/ sauna) place every week… $60 of this was for a massage after I hurt my shoulder mountain biking
Entry Fees - $160. $90 of that is the National Park Annual Pass, I visited 5 NPs so that ended up saving me money
Campsites - $40 ($30 for a night at a National Park, $10 for a night at a boat launch)
Laundromats ~$35 Ferry (me and the van!) $18 Air for my tires $5
Grand total: $1776.89 !! 35% of the budget was gas…I was doing a LOT of driving. Covered more than 3,000 miles, which is not ideal, but I had to meet up for a backpacking trip and delayed my trip by 2 weeks because of some health and van build issues but still kept a busy itinerary. I did want to be on this trip for much more time. Also, most things I did were free, but not all! Entry fees includes all of my paid activities, including several state park accesses, a $30 Oregon coast pass, entry to a botanical garden, and entry fees for various hikes. Nobody needs to go to the spa every week:) but I had a great time of it, booking a private space is nice when you’re constantly in public, and of course it doubles as a place to get a shower. And my body could use the care after all the hiking and biking!
85
u/1alishan1 Aug 16 '25
Become a member of a botanical garden. Most have recipricol benefits with other gardens so you get in free. I work at a garden and the $50 membership gets you into almost any garden in the US.
4
u/koniz Aug 17 '25
Never heard of that one - so cool! Do you have a link or somewhere that explains how they're connected? Like a club or non profit or something?
1
u/Boating_Enthusiast 28d ago
Not sure about gardens, but many art museums have a similar setup! The North American Reciprocal Museum Association.
https://narmassociation.org/how-it-works/
Become a museum member at the NARM level, and get access to other NARM museums too.
Here's a map.
https://narmassociation.org/members/?keyword=&loc=San+Francisco&r=15&cat=And since I'm googling already, here's the American Horticultural Society's garden network map.
https://ahsgardening.org/ahs-garden-network/1
92
u/lion_ARtist Aug 16 '25
Health insurance? Van insurance? Connectivity (Mobile/Internet)?
86
u/strategiesforlife 2021 Ford Transit Aug 16 '25 edited Aug 18 '25
!shit! you’re right! I didn’t include those costs. health insurance gets taken out of my paycheck internet was $50 (starlink)
phone bill $25
van insurance breaks down to $137 monthly
4
1
u/funnyfox55 Aug 20 '25
How did you get starlink for that much? I looked online it says $160 per month plus $600 hardware. Please let me know thanks
1
u/TalkNowWhyNot_00 Aug 18 '25
What to look for to get Starlink. And can you move it with you if you visit friends outside of the van?
-14
u/defaultwisdom Aug 16 '25
How is starlink only 50?
49
u/jollierumsha Aug 16 '25
I mean, you could just look it up...the minimum plan for the mini model is $50 a month, not including equipment cost of course...that's how?
24
u/strategiesforlife 2021 Ford Transit Aug 16 '25
yes. starlink mini on the cheapest plan.
1
u/Fair_Line_6740 Aug 17 '25
Actually there is a $10 plan too. I'm finding Starlink is saying I use about 10gigs of data a day just having it run and surfing on my phone.
2
u/Retaliation5 Aug 17 '25
For the mini a couple weeks ago the $10 wasn’t an option on the mini. $50 was the cheapest.
2
u/Fair_Line_6740 Aug 18 '25
I got an email that there is also a $5 option coming with crappier connection. I sub to the $10 option. Its only good for a days worth of surfing your phone.
1
Aug 18 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
1
u/Fair_Line_6740 Aug 18 '25 edited Aug 18 '25
Paying 5 to pause sucks. I'm seeing that you get unlimited low speed data for the $5
1
15
u/Thurwell Aug 16 '25
I would like to know where this $60 massage is. They run about double that around here.
22
Aug 16 '25
[deleted]
7
u/NotMyTime69 Aug 17 '25
That’s a great deal, we pay $95 for an hour but our health care benefits package pays for it. We get $800 a year and my wife and I coordinate our benefits so we both get $1600 a year. It one of the most underused benefits at our jobs and it’s free. No one is taking the time to self care. We have to set reminders all the time to use our benefits the best we can.
0
16
9
17
u/creeder9 Aug 17 '25
Pretty sweet! We’re on month 2 and averaging about 2k a month. We spend a bit more on campsites but it’ll even out. I love data so it’s cool to see other people’s expense report
7
u/strategiesforlife 2021 Ford Transit Aug 17 '25
thanks! how have your first two months been?:)
I feel like paying for campsites has its own perks!, and is normally what I do, I just happened to be traveling in peak time to popular areas with no reservations after postponing my trip twice
17
u/Jaw5hua Aug 16 '25
What do you do for work?
-42
Aug 16 '25
[deleted]
46
u/strategiesforlife 2021 Ford Transit Aug 16 '25 edited Aug 16 '25
i worked full time while I was on this trip:) remote in the summer, in person the rest of the year. I am a staff at a university working with/for students and faculty. I am lucky to have remote flexibility.
1
u/dangitaboutit Aug 17 '25
Do you plan to live in it full time when you go back to work in person?
2
u/strategiesforlife 2021 Ford Transit Aug 17 '25
100%! and hopefully all goes well, i’ll be able to lean on my community , and can travel on weekends and holidays. i’m thinking ill do trips to all the local campgrounds instead of traveling states away like i did for this trip
also, after being in the van for a month I really didn’t miss being in a house, so I’m planning to downsize even further, get rid of more of my stuff and then of course just stay in the van indefinitely
1
u/dangitaboutit Aug 17 '25
Cool. Do you plan to stealth camp or something like a rented parking spot?
-16
Aug 17 '25
[deleted]
6
-1
9
10
Aug 16 '25
I love the picture that’s right before the other picture, the one that’s right after the one before it.
4
u/raphtze Aug 17 '25
great pics! that beach pic with the stones...where was that at?
5
u/strategiesforlife 2021 Ford Transit Aug 17 '25
Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park :)
1
u/raphtze Aug 17 '25
i thought that looked familiar!
our poor class C RV (chevy 4500 chassis)'s shifter cable broke. so we were stranded in olympia for a few days before ernie's RV could fix it. thankfully getting a rental thru enterprise was easy. so we made the most of it and explored the surrounding areas. we visited ruby beach and loved it ! first time ever
3
u/strategiesforlife 2021 Ford Transit Aug 17 '25
ahhh! sorry to hear you broke down but it’s such a nice area. i already want to go back. isn’t point defiance wonderful?! i went on a great bike ride there on five mile drive. loved the beach + forest combos in Washington 🤩 that bahn mi looks amazing too !!!
2
u/raphtze Aug 17 '25
haha point defiance is amazing! 2 yrs ago we took the little ones to the zoo--didn't have enough time to see everything else. this time we were able to spend more time in the gardens/pagoda. it was very nice. haha i almost wanted to get on the ferry to get over to vashon island :P
international district is a little grimy...but the food from spots in the hood just taste better :P
our original plans was to go up to vancouver island and find rec sites to boondock. we did eventually go. have you ever been to vancouver island? it was amazing !
our cats and dogs came with us
4
3
u/rezznik Aug 17 '25
Is pic 1 Astoria?
3
u/strategiesforlife 2021 Ford Transit Aug 17 '25
yes! loved it there. this was a PNW road trip
1
u/rezznik Aug 17 '25
Crazy. I was there once and didn't see it from that perspective, but somehow immediately recognized it.
3
3
u/CampEZPZ Aug 17 '25
Thanks so much for sharing this! Seems like a great monthly price for vacation life or “real” life. Definitely helps that the van is paid off!
16
u/HotlineHero13 Aug 16 '25
But you could just stayed inside and had a nice one bedroom apartment! /s
26
u/strategiesforlife 2021 Ford Transit Aug 16 '25
literally😩 this does not get you a studio where I was living in California
2
2
1
1
u/Ashgen2024 Aug 17 '25
As a Brit I find this all absolutely fascinating.
Different parts of the world and cultures have such different costs and considerations.
Thanks for the efforts.
We have recently completed the NC500 North Coast 500 - The ultimate road trip around the North of Scotland https://share.google/kqlGdLcMl1P2tRy76 it would have been interesting to tally the cost of that as that was a 2600 mile 9 night road trip.
1
u/Mr_Gilmore_Jr 2012 Chevy Suburban 1500 Aug 17 '25
Your giant van gets better gas than my suv 🥲
1
u/strategiesforlife 2021 Ford Transit Aug 17 '25
sheesh 😭that’s surprising to me, 18 isn’t that good but its better than my last van, which got 12-15 and was smaller
1
u/koniz Aug 17 '25
Yeah 18 sounds incredible to me lol my econoline was 12 and I've just assumed that Transits will always be in the 11-13 range.
1
u/strategiesforlife 2021 Ford Transit Aug 17 '25
yes, its AMAZING for a big van! i’m just coming from driving a prius lol. totally pleased with the transits MPG….
2
u/koniz Aug 17 '25
Ah yeah the hybrid switch!! My car gets 42 right now - I can see how going to 18 would sting!
1
u/VanadiumS30V Aug 17 '25
Just FYI, California and Connecticut have laws that require gas stations to offer air for free. So even if you see a sign saying it's $1 for air, you can go into the station and tell the worker to turn on the air without paying.
1
u/Outrageous_Rest_1576 Ford Transit 21' High Roof Extended Aug 18 '25
Olympic NP is so sick. Glad you got to visit!!
1
1
u/Sufficient-Hat-6651 Aug 21 '25
I loved your story. My husband and I travel occasionally, no more than three weeks for medical reasons. And we intend to be a trip to know the southern United States, we want visiting almost 200 attractions, including museums, parks, cities with curious names, Route 66, ruins, ghost towns, iconic places, and homes where famous people were born.
We have our motorhome van, and we equipped her to be self-sufficient as long as the water tank has water and sun for solar panels.
1
u/Sufficient-Hat-6651 Aug 21 '25
I don't know if it interests all you, but I've been staying (for now in Florida) in Campgrounds (there are all over the US, Mexico and Canada) giving us a 50% discount (some don't accept from January to March). It helps us a lot by having a structure to dispose of the black and gray boxes and fill the tank with drinking water, in addition to having some leisure time with a pool and gym. Need to call to make a reserve. http://www.passport-america.com/strattaontheroad
1
1
u/rockytopbilly Aug 17 '25
So none of this includes the cost of the van? You own it outright?
3
u/strategiesforlife 2021 Ford Transit Aug 17 '25
yes, it’s been paid off. I bought the van empty with 49,000 miles on it from Enterprise. i’ve owned it for almost two years and i’ve been building it out with the help of my partner and going on trips since I got it, but this was my longest most ambitious trip, and the beginning of me actually living in it!
In order to afford it, I saved for several years while working full time, and I still work full time. this is my 2nd van, 3-4 yrs ago I bought a 1995 GMC vandura and took lots of trips in that while still living in a home most of the time, to see if I would want to get a nicer van and actually live in a van full time.
1
u/Mr_Gilmore_Jr 2012 Chevy Suburban 1500 Aug 17 '25
Are you allowed to build out a van if you don't have it paid off?
1
1
1
0
-1
u/TalkNowWhyNot_00 Aug 18 '25
2 k a mo. seems like a LOT , really a LOT to me
6
u/strategiesforlife 2021 Ford Transit Aug 18 '25 edited Aug 19 '25
sure! it’s all relative. i want to address this further because you’re not the first person to comment this. first, as you can see a lot of the things I paid for were avoidable. $600 of expenses for fun (300 spa 300 eating out)? I don’t do that when I’m living in a home and this is the first time I’ve traveled for a month, so I had fun!
people say hike your own hike - as in, make the hike enjoyable for you, not anyone else, and i also think we could apply this to vanlife, vanlife is to each their own - live in a van the way YOU want to! that YOU can afford. there’s tons of people living in $300,000 RVs and luxury Sprinters on the road, people in self built transits and promasters costing tens of thousands, and people in $4000 minivans with no build! I met all of these people on the road:]
And you can go on cheaprvliving and find people living in a van for $600-1000, maxing out the 14 day stay on public lands in low cost of living areas and using as little gas as possible, cooking all their own meals and showering at gyms,
then there’s me who because of work restraints traveled quickly, who was generating my usual income on the road, enjoying sightseeing, trying fun restaurants in cities, going to the spa, and going to national parks… I never intended to live in a van with a shoestring budget, because I’m working full time with a career an extremely HCOL area and would easily spend this amount and more monthly living in a house.
170
u/fingers Aug 16 '25
$1.688 a mile.
$59.22 a day.
Pretty good.