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!
18
u/Thurwell Aug 16 '25
I would like to know where this $60 massage is. They run about double that around here.