Frugal living trend associated with ER

E

explanade

Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Joined
May 10, 2008
Messages
7,442
Apparently people are glamorizing living in vans on social media.

But it sounds like really young people who are pursuing the #vanlife.

They associate it with FIRE.

The #vanlife movement has a lot of overlap with the “FIRE” movement, which stands for “financial independence, retire early.”

At the core of both: a belief that material things don’t make you happy. Ditching your earthly belongings and consolidating, maybe down to living in a van full-time, is where real meaning is, and work doesn’t have to mean sitting at a desk 24/7.
Click to expand...

I know some here are doing a lot of RV travel, but not only live in RVs?

And we have that Blow the dough thread.
 
from previous acqaintances , van-life isn't automatically cheaper but is as flexible as you want it to be .

one might be wise to reseach the costs of van-life , trailer-park/camping ground fees ( if you like fancy stuff like electricity and Wi-Fi ) and some areas ( at least in Australia ) don't like you 'slumming it ' to close to their cities and tourist traps .

i won't say van-life sucks , but there are sometimes some inconvenient trade-offs , that might test the comfort of some
 
Yeah that is what they said, this couple found parking in RV parks will cost almost as much as hotels, but why wouldn’t it be, to have access to water, electricity and sanitation?

Yeah I don’t recall too many campers or RVs in Australia. But didn’t occur to me that they’re trying to force tourists into hotels and motels.

In Europe there are camping places since they can drive across continent. Also lot of RV parks in the US.

I guess only locals would RV in Australia.
 

Cher was a big hit over here , maybe some attitude stuck , retiree travellers have their own social stigma ( especially with impatient motorists , instead of blaming inadequate road funding )

( that said two such touring retirees have been a fantastic source of knowlegde and a big help to my investing decisions )

but i do cynically call many popular places tourist traps for a reason ( we could do MUCH better , for both local and international tourists )

if planning RV in Australa , break out the magnifying glass and read the distances first , it is not that hard to be 'stranded in the middle of nowhere ' ( even on the populous East Coast )
 
Watch some youtube vids on van life... most are not FI and not RE'd. They're still working mobile/freelance gigs. Few have the resolve to save enough to FIRE either... they just take longer breaks between gigs when they have more $.

Another popular fad is the tiny house. But I've watched several of those update to say they couldn't take crawling over their SO at night to go pee anymore and moved into a bigger place.
 
We bought an Airstream trailer in 2018 and have been camping with it a good bit this spring/ summer. We 've learned alot so far by talking with numerous people who are enjoying their RV Life. For most it was not about frugal living or $$, but the independence.



Agree - some campgrounds can be pretty expensive ! And in summer may require more advanced reservations than hotels.
 
explanade said:
Apparently people are glamorizing living in vans on social media.

But it sounds like really young people who are pursuing the #vanlife.

They associate it with FIRE.



I know some here are doing a lot of RV travel, but not only live in RVs?

And we have that Blow the dough thread.
Click to expand...

With each passing day I'm finding the "Blow that Dough" approach more appealing than the frugal lifestyle.
 
explanade said:
Apparently people are glamorizing living in vans on social media.

But it sounds like really young people who are pursuing the #vanlife.

They associate it with FIRE.



I know some here are doing a lot of RV travel, but not only live in RVs?

And we have that Blow the dough thread.
Click to expand...


Is there an article that goes with your quote?
 
RV life is not cheap. Last year we took a 4K mile trip with 3 dogs with one being large. It was cheaper to take our car and stay in motels than take the RV. The only downside is that the dogs took up the entire backseat so we needed a car top carrier.
 
Teacher Terry said:
RV life is not cheap. Last year we took a 4K mile trip with 3 dogs with one being large. It was cheaper to take our car and stay in motels than take the RV. The only downside is that the dogs took up the entire backseat so we needed a car top carrier.
Click to expand...

Did your dog like being in the car top carrier? :LOL:
 
So funny. His food was on top:)). Noki was 80 lbs and the 2 tiny dogs were in a car seat so they could look out the window and be safe in a accident.
 
How was this article associated with ER?

They bought a van and outfitted it, couldn’t take off to wander full time because of full-time schedules. Tried it out - it was a fail because husband wasn’t comfortable sleeping in it. They sold the van. Life lesson.

We did full time RVing for 5 years. It was great being self contained. Wandering, going wherever we wanted, often waking up to wonderful surrounds. Overnight fees were actually rather low, as we often stayed at state parks or federal campgrounds - that’s where the views are. Even commercial campgrounds we rarely paid over $25 a night.

Our annual spend dropped considerably over those 5 years, although it didn’t make up for purchasing a nice motorhome up front.

Most of the people we met RVing were retired, vast majority of them at normal retirement age.
 
We've had a motorhome for about 10 years now. 34', 39', 45', and now a 36' we're spending the summer in Alaska with it. Our average for campsites are probably around $35/night. We stay in a variety of types of campgrounds from small ones with very few amenities to an occasional stay at a resort type, with BLM free or very low cost, and state campgrounds. Maybe the same cost/night or lower if you compare our 8mpg to a smaller higher mpg vehicle and staying in hotels and eating in restaurants every day. But we frequently stay at places with monthly rates of $500 or so.
We've met some of the younger (30-40 YO) ones living full-time in anything from vans to large bus conversions. Most if not all of them are still working doing some kind of remote work, commonly in the IT field. Most of them don't have children, although we did see a family last week in a 40' motorhome. They are on a crusade to promote alternative energy according to their website.
We are comfortable in our 36' but a van? Full-time? No way!
 
The reason we are not fond of state or federal campgrounds is because they are mostly dirt instead of grass. Our Maltese get very dirty because they have hair hence our motor home and us get dirty. The private campgrounds have gotten very pricey.
 
I remember when living in a car/van was called "being homeless".

I guess times change...
 
The #vanlife movement has a lot of overlap with the “FIRE” movement, which stands for “financial independence, retire early.” At the core of both: a belief that material things don’t make you happy. Ditching your earthly belongings and consolidating, maybe down to living in a van full-time, is where real meaning is, and work doesn’t have to mean sitting at a desk 24/7.

I found these comments to be profoundly inaccurate. While nomadic living can be a means to an end (retire early), it is hardly representative of the early retirees I know (as well as most members here, based upon posted comments). I think van living is more applicable to younger folks seeking to ditch the traditional 8-5 grind and achieve a different work/life balance. Nothing against that, but not seeing any significant overlap with FIRE.

I have learned to set my expectations very, very low with respect to MarketWatch.
 
Teacher Terry said:
The reason we are not fond of state or federal campgrounds is because they are mostly dirt instead of grass. Our Maltese get very dirty because they have hair hence our motor home and us get dirty. The private campgrounds have gotten very pricey.
Click to expand...

When myself and two friends were going to travel from TX to the MI U.P. last summer (boat building trip - two weeks), it was less expensive to stay at motels on the way up and back and rent a cottage on the lake for 10 days than it was for us to use the 32' RV, rent a car in the U.P., and stay in campgrounds.

Consequently, we did that and had a fabulous time with no RV hassles (which there always are in a 4,000 mile trip!).

After that trip, my friend who owned the RV sold it.
 
Over the last several days I have seriously considered going to take a look at this truck for the potential of full time living. I probably won't do it because I still have a pending work comp case and need to stay local until things are sorted out. Otherwise I think I would have already looked at and probably purchased this. I'm single and plan to stay that way so it is big enough for me. It's very stealth and could therefore stay anyway there is free legal overnight parking rather than campgrounds. I could get a membership to one of the chain 24 hour gyms for showers. It would be doable and cheap. Maybe I should just buy it and store it until my case is settled?

https://appleton.craigslist.org/rvs/d/appleton-toyota-micro-rv-off-grid/6932210644.html
 
aaronc879 said:
Over the last several days I have seriously considered going to take a look at this truck for the potential of full time living. I probably won't do it because I still have a pending work comp case and need to stay local until things are sorted out. Otherwise I think I would have already looked at and probably purchased this. I'm single and plan to stay that way so it is big enough for me. It's very stealth and could therefore stay anyway there is free legal overnight parking rather than campgrounds. I could get a membership to one of the chain 24 hour gyms for showers. It would be doable and cheap. Maybe I should just buy it and store it until my case is settled?

https://appleton.craigslist.org/rvs/d/appleton-toyota-micro-rv-off-grid/6932210644.html
Click to expand...

Pretty cool setup but a 2001 model with 95,000 miles? Yeah, it's a Toyota, but that is still a lotta miles.

Also, full FT'ing, I think that space would get very claustrophobic real quick.
 
In Palo Alto, on El Camino Real, not too far from the entrances to the expansive Stanford University, there is a long row of RVs parked along this street.

I wouldn't imagine it's parents of students staying while visiting. These RVs are there year round and they rarely move at all.

I think it's probably people who work in the area but can't afford or won't buy homes at the high prices in the peninsula. Apt. rents are also sky high too.

There are no electricity or water hookups. It's a wide street, with some nice shopping centers along the way, not too far from this long row of RVs.

https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news...e-inside-the-rvs-on-palo-altos-el-camino-real
 
Aja, trying to get my husband to sell it. Last week someone knocked on the door wanting to buy it. This happens occasionally.
 
Living RV full-time is quite different than RV traveling.

In my 10,000-mile RV treks that lasted 2 months or more , I burned gasoline at expensive prices that added up to more than 2 business classes from the West coast to Europe. But that is about the only way we got to see scenery that cannot be seen otherwise.

Full-time RVers do not drive around that much. It would be too tiring, more than just about money. They are in no hurry, because they do not have a home to go back to, and a pool that may be turning into an algae pond like what we have.
 
ExFlyBoy5 said:
Pretty cool setup but a 2001 model with 95,000 miles? Yeah, it's a Toyota, but that is still a lotta miles.

Also, full FT'ing, I think that space would get very claustrophobic real quick.
Click to expand...

I think much would depend on how many of those are highway miles, and how much is local driving. My friend has a small Toyota truck. IIRC, it's an SR5 and about 20-25 years old. It has 400,000 miles on it, with little else other than regular, standard maintenance. However, he has a long weekly commute, so almost all of those miles are highway miles.

As for FT'ing in a space like that, I think it would be very doable if you're outside populated areas, and are an outdoorsy person, so you can set up camp, and live a good part of your home life in the area around the truck.

It's a neat set-up!
 
ExFlyBoy5 said:
Pretty cool setup but a 2001 model with 95,000 miles? Yeah, it's a Toyota, but that is still a lotta miles.

Also, full FT'ing, I think that space would get very claustrophobic real quick.
Click to expand...

I would pretty much only be in the back at night when sleeping. During the day I would take advantage of free wi-fi, electricity, heat/AC in libraries, wal-marts, malls etc. I think it would be better than spending another 20 years doing hard labor work so I can afford to spend more in retirement. My expenses would likely average under $1000/mo, maybe even half that. HI would be free(Medicaid) or highly subsidized(ACA).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom