Financially preparing for vanlife was no easy feat. It took a lot of discipline and hard work and most of all – a lot of time and patience.
There are a few big things that went into saving for both the van itself and the travel once the van was complete.
As you might have learned already from our About Us page, neither Jonlee nor I had real careers before doing this.
Jonlee went to college and has a Bachelor’s degree but ultimately didn’t end up working in the field that he studied (biology/ecology). I, on the other hand, didn’t go to college at all.
I tell you this so you understand we are coming from an average background. We were not wealthy and we did not make six figure salaries!
That being said, we both did well enough for ourselves to pay our bills and still set money aside each month.
Jonlee is very smart and responsible with his money but I needed some more discipline. Like I said, I did alright but definitely could’ve done better.
I used to be very, very bad. (200 pairs of shoes bad…)
As I got older and lived on my own for a while before meeting Jonlee, I pretty much had no choice but to be better with money because it was literally a matter of survival at that point.
I had to live on a strict budget and stick to it, otherwise, I was looking at a whole lot of financial trouble in the future. I saw how quickly debt could snowball and I knew I didn’t want to be caught up in that trap.
Our money-saving habits have changed our lives, and I hope they can help guide you, too.
A lot of this is thanks to Jonlee for being a partner that is so financially responsible; therefore, helping me to be more responsible, as well.
I understand not all of these things will seem feasible in certain circumstances but over time, they are absolutely possible. Like I said earlier – it just takes time and patience.
It ultimately comes down to how badly you want it. I’m not just talking about travel here. This applies to any goal and dream you have in your life.
This was the driving force behind all this saving for us.
Jonlee and I both understand that money creates opportunity and we were determined to get ourselves where we wanted to be – even if it was living in a van down by the river!
Once you start to see the growth in your bank account, you will feel just how rewarding it is to save your money instead of buying things you really don’t need.
I promise you: money in the bank is wayyy better than having that new pair of shoes.
You can always purchase that “thing” in the future. Some things are an exception, and you still need to live your life, but having all that stuff is just material.
Be selective with your money – you work hard for it!
Having money in the bank is empowering. It feels like you actually have control over your life and where it’s going to go.
Don’t sabotage your own success by succumbing to your every desire. Always think of the bigger picture and remember your why.
Now let me get down from this soapbox and tell you how we did it!
These are the 8 habits that changed our lives:
1. CHANGED WHERE WE SHOP
One of the first changes we made while financially preparing for the van was changing where we shop for food, clothing, and household items.
We always shopped at cheaper places for food, such as Walmart, but we switched to going to Aldi and other discount grocery stores, instead. We shop at Aldi first and then whatever they don’t have, we get at Walmart.
Going out to eat is something we both enjoy, especially to a place that is one-of-a-kind or well known for something. As big foodies, it would be a crime for me to tell you to stop going out to eat because we don’t abide by that ourselves.
However, we have changed the way we do it. We look at a place’s menu online first and see if we can swing a meal for $10 or less each, totaling about $20. If that can be achieved, then we will eat there, otherwise, we pick someplace else or just share a meal instead.
Sharing meals has definitely become more of a thing for us since being in the van. Keeping this discipline when it comes to eating out has saved us a lot of money!
I also use apps like Too Good To Go and Clipp for special discounts and coupon codes. I typically look at these first to help decide where to go.
For clothing, I shop online at ThredUp or go to Plato’s Closet. This has been a great alternative for me. I’ve always loved clothing and shoes and fashion and switching to thrifting has actually been really fun. I love looking through all the stuff and finding something unique.
Once you get an outfit for under $10, you’ll never be able to pay full price again!
Anything needed for the house, such as detergents, kitchen supplies, personal items, etc. we started getting from a dollar store. I found a toothpaste at Dollar Tree that is fluoride free, gluten free, and has whitening for only $1.25. Seriously, you can’t beat that!
The other big change here is that we don’t really ever buy anything brand new. I’ve learned that there is almost always a way to get something cheaper or discounted in some way. Check online and ask around first.
There are great resources like RetailMeNot and Groupon that offer discount codes for all kinds of things. Don’t assume you have to pay full price!
I’ve even started taking advantage of the surveys and questionnaires at the bottom of our receipts for a chance to win gift cards and free items. Every little bit helps. Don’t pass up these free offers.
Changing where you shop for things is a simple way to save serious money. It takes a little adjusting and keeping an open mind but it does pay off.
2. NO MORE BUYING "STUFF"
This was kind of a tough one for me… It’s where the whole discipline thing really came into play.
Before, if I had the money to get something, I usually just bought it without thinking much of it. But once we made the commitment to save a lot of money, I had to get a lot more disciplined and conscious of what I was spending.
Now, I’ve embraced a “budget like I’m broke” mentality. All the money that could be used for something gets tucked away into savings, never to be seen again. So really, there is no money to play with and we treat it as if we don’t have it.
I started thinking to myself, “do I really need this?” anytime I wanted to purchase something. Most of the time, the answer is no.
This has been the biggest gamechanger in my money-saving habits.
I’m a big reader and this mentality has even changed the way I read. I used to buy whatever book I wanted to read next at Target or Barnes & Noble or wherever I could find it, but now I read for free from the Libby app or buy the book secondhand.
I literally think, “would I rather have this than money in my account?”
Having this thought every time I want to buy something has saved me enough money to buy a van to travel in!
Eventually the thought became second nature and I still think it every time I buy something, even today.
It may sound simple but it really works!
3. SOLD UNWANTED AND UNNEEDED THINGS
Jonlee is a bit of hoarder and had A TON of stuff that he’d collected from family members over the years. Most of it was intended to be sold but ended up just sitting in the basement or garage.
So we participated in our local yard sale days and got rid of most of the stuff and then donated what didn’t sell. Jonlee sold some stuff on Poshmark and Facebook marketplace, as well.
I had a ton of clothing that I went through and took to Plato’s Closet to sell. This is another reason I started shopping there because not only would they give me cash for my clothes, but I could buy something “new” that I needed for very cheap. Whatever they didn’t buy from me I gave away to friends and family.
We went through a cleaning out process when we initially moved in together and then repeated the process and downsized even more once we moved into the van.
Wherever and whenever you can put stuff up for grabs, do it. It will make you some extra cash and lighten your load.
4. GOT RID OF AS MANY MONTHLY PAYMENTS AS POSSIBLE
Reviewing everything we pay for and creating a monthly budget was essential to financially preparing for vanlife.
Once we reviewed what we were paying monthly, we cut anything that wasn’t deemed necessary for living on the road. We bought a cool gadget called a VSee Box that took away the need for paying for cable and streaming services.
We also both bought cars with cash and got rid of having a monthly car payment. As far as car insurance, I was paying mine monthly until it went up for sale but Jonlee paid his yearly in advance. This is the smarter way to do it, as it saves you money by paying in full and you don’t have to worry about it for a year.
In general, I recommend pre-paying for as much as you can yearly. Insurance, car registration, phone bills/plans, etc. This allows you to then save whatever income you’re making without needing to put anything else toward those bills. Plus, you have the peace of mind knowing they are already accounted for.
When it comes to our cell phones, we discovered a new way to get them: from Amazon. We both needed new phones after having ours for about four years. We started looking online and saw that Amazon actually sells refurbished phones for cheap. And not just old, out of date phones, but, like, really new and expensive phones for 1/3 of the price!
This is an awesome option for people looking to save money because not only do you get a new phone for significantly less than at a major carrier’s store, but you don’t have the added monthly payment for the phone on your service bill while you pay it off.
I also switched my phone plan from Verizon to Visible. This has been one of the best decisions I’ve made so far. Visible is a Verizon company but it’s a cheaper service plan. I believe it’s like their “grandma plan” – geared toward older people who don’t want the fuss. But anyone is allowed to have it.
I was paying about $70 a month for a solo plan with 5GB of data and unlimited talk and text. Now with Visible, I pay $20 a month for UNLIMITED data, talk, and text and there is absolutely no difference in the service and coverage! It has been great! AND I got to keep my phone number.
It almost seemed too good to be true when I signed up but I’m about five months in now and it’s been nothing but great. I highly recommend switching to a phone plan that’s cheap like this one.
Jonlee is on a family plan with his mom and siblings. We thought about getting a plan together but ultimately it worked better for him and his family to stay on the same plan, so nobody’s payment would go up, and for me to switch to Visible.
I’ve also read about Mint Mobile and Cricket and pay per month plans. I haven’t tried those personally but they might be worth a try, as well.
Review your monthly spending and see what you can cut out of your current roster. You will be amazed at how much you can save by changing just these few things.
5. GOT RID OF DEBT
A really large factor, if not THE largest factor, of saving money is getting rid of all your debt. Whether that’s from credit cards, student loans, a car payment, a mortgage, etc. This has to be reconciled before anything else can come into play.
Jonlee had a student loan debt of $8,000 left when we moved in together. This was the first priority when we talked about vanlife. Instead of saving money each month, he put anything extra he had leftover toward the student loan.
Doing this, he was able to pay the loan off in less than a year! That was a huge weight lifted.
I didn’t have much debt other than a car lease I was stuck in at the time. So really, we had a pretty good start as far as clearing debt goes.
If you have debt on credit cards, make a plan for getting it paid off and stick to it. This has to become the most important thing.
The more you don’t pay or the longer you go with paying the minimum, the more in debt you’re going to be and the more money you’re actually giving away to the credit card company!
Only put what you can afford in cash on the card and pay it off in full every month.
Jonlee and I both have reward credit cards – his with Cabela’s and mine with Capital One Venture. So anything we do buy gets us points toward travel and gear.
Consider switching to a credit card that gives you perks toward what your goals are, even if it’s just cashback. This is essentially free money for things you would already be buying!
6. SOLD OUR CARS
This one will differ for some people, as not everybody needs to sell their car to save money! We did this because we moved into a van full-time and didn’t need our cars anymore.
A few years ago we bought cars with cash to reduce our monthly spending by eliminating a car payment. Then, we sold them when we were ready to move and it gave us a nice chunk of money to add to our travel fund!
Once upon a time, I leased a vehicle and was stuck in a 3-year contract paying over $300 a month for the car. This was one of the worst financial decisions I ever made. Plus, I committed to the lease right before I moved out on my own, pre-Jonlee.
I’m embarrassed to even say I did that. If you want my honest advice, cars are always a waste of money and you should never make payments on them; whether that’s through a lease or buying it. Always buy it outright with cash and don’t get a new one until it’s dead.
Nobody cares what you’re driving. Keep your money in the bank!
7. RENTED OUT OUR HOUSE
As I mentioned earlier, Jonlee is a property owner and has tenants. Essentially, the tenants pay the mortgages on the homes and Jonlee doesn’t have to put any of his own money toward them.
So, when it came time to move out of the house we were living in, we looked for a tenant about three to four months before leaving and that gave us plenty of time to get the house ready for someone new to move in.
This, again, is not going to apply to everybody who needs to save money. This is a specific circumstance that applied to vanlife for us. We no longer needed a house to live in, therefore, we could rent it out.
One way you could save money, though, without moving, is to get a roommate to help cover costs. Or, if it’s the right time, consider moving in with a partner. This way you can split the rent/mortgage and other utilities and save a lot of money that way.
I have found that housing is the hardest area to conserve money in because you need a place to live and nothing is cheap anymore. It can be extremely hard to live on your own and, even with a partner, it can be unaffordable.
Maybe you’re in a situation where this change isn’t possible right now but going forward into the next time, you can make a more aligned decision based on the goals that you have.
That’s all this money saving thing really is – just seeing things from a different perspective that causes you to make decisions that work for your dreams instead of against them.
8. WORKING OVERTIME
Working overtime has personally given me an enormous leg up in my money saving goals. Thankfully, I worked at a job where I could pretty much do overtime anytime I wanted and for however long I pleased.
So I took advantage of it! I worked an extra 10 hours a week to accumulate a total of 20 hours of overtime on my paychecks every pay period. That was HUGE. Doing that much overtime largely affected where I am today.
Jonlee had a job that was kind of opposite of mine – he had to work from 8am to 5pm, five days a week, period. There were very rare opportunities for overtime but when there were, he always took advantage of it, too.
Put in the work and you will have something to show for it! Committing just a few extra hours of your time each week can increase your savings tenfold.
These are the 8 money-saving hacks that Jonlee and I used to save for our van and the journey to follow. We still use these everyday to save money and achieve our goals. They’ve become deeply engrained in how we live now on the road.
I hope this helped to give you some insight into where we came from and how we did it and see that you can do this, too. No matter the goal, you can achieve it with time and patience.
Take it from me, I’ve lived it and learned it and this vanlife thing has been one of the biggest reflections of my hard work. Having a partner is a huge help. Keeping each other motivated and excited about the journey is half the battle.
Many, many people have done it before and you are no exception. Keep working hard and making the right decisions and in time, the growth will come.
Have you done any of these money-saving hacks? What big dreams are you working toward?
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
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See you guys in the next one😊
This is a great post! I learned a lot on how I can cut corners to save!!
Thank you! Glad it helped 🙂
Great advice and very useful. Very proud of you Sarah!
Thank you!❤️