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I ditched my house to live full time in a van – I’m now rent free, but there’s still lots of hidden costs
Scroll down to learn more about the rise of van life
A WOMAN who ditched her house to live full time in a van has revealed that although she is now rent and mortgage free, their are still lots of hidden costs of her lifestyle.
Linnea spent seven months converting a van into her dream home, which she now lives in full time.
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The van lifer travels around in her van, and parks in up wherever she likes, meaning that she doesn't have to pay campsite fees.
She said that she is constantly bombarded with requests from people asking how much her lifestyle costs so compiled a list of her monthly expenses.
Taking to YouTube, she shared that her monthly petrol costs are around £210.
On top of this, she also has to pay £230 a month towards the cost of her van and £106 in insurance.
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Van's use a lot more fuel than traditional cars and are often more expensive to insure.
However, as your home and car are combined into one when living in a van, these costs are often still far cheaper than paying rent and paying for a car as well.
Linnea said she spends £207 on food a month which she said is far less than she spent when she lived in a house, as she doesn't always have access to a supermarket when she's travelling around, so just has to use up the food that she already has.
The van lifer uses a hotspot to get internet in her van, but when this runs out, she has to go to a coffee shop to get Wi-Fi and often ends up spending a hefty amount on coffee and food.
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Linnea said she spends a total of £77 on coffees throughout the month.
She also has to pay for food and vet bills for her dog, which can get expensive, and a number of other expenses, such as outdoor equipment for her van.
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Maintenance and repairs on the van can also get pretty expensive, and Linnea said she has had a to spend a few hundred pounds on "small repairs" in the last few months.
Her van also has to get an oil change every 10,000 miles, which costs an average of £100.
In total, Linnea worked out that she spends £1240 a month to live in her van.
She said that this is much cheaper than her expenses when she lived in a house, which came to £1550 a month.
The Rise Of Van Life
The rise of van life began during the pandemic in 2020. With no one able to leave the country, staycations became popular for many say camping blog venturecampers.
On top of that, the rising cost of renting a house has put many off doing so, especially when wages have failed to keep up with the cost of living crisis.
Although it has gained popularity again, many people opted for van life in the 60s and 70s.
"I guarantee you that many people even living in a simple way like this spend much more than that, and I also guarantee that there are many people that manage to spend much less", she said.
"It totally depends on how you live as an individual and the the things that you value,.
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"Just take that into account if you are considering van life, as things might be different in my life than they are in your life."
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