Monthly Van Life Expenses: It's Cheaper Than You Think

The Ground Rules

Before the numbers, a quick note on methodology. The goal here is to show what van life specifically costs versus traditional housing — not total cost of living. So I'm excluding expenses you'd have no matter where you live: groceries, restaurants, and your cell phone. Those bills exist whether you're in a van or an apartment.

What I'm tracking are the costs that are unique to how you house yourself — fuel, vehicle insurance, and any van-specific overhead like a storage unit. That gives you a true apples-to-apples comparison against rent.

I'm also in a box truck that gets about 9 miles per gallon. That's a conscious trade-off — I wanted the living space. If you're in a smaller van or a car, your fuel costs will be significantly lower.

Month 1: Stationary in Austin, Texas

June 14 – July 12, 2023. I was living in Austin, running normal daily errands — grocery store, gym, occasional drives around the city. This is the closest to what most people would experience as a baseline van life month.

Category	Notes	Amount
Groceries	Excluded — you pay this anywhere	$486
Restaurants	Excluded — you pay this anywhere	$108
Gas	Local driving, Austin area	$361
Vehicle Insurance	Progressive commercial liability	$80
Planet Fitness	Gym + shower access	$25
Storage Unit	Replaces apartment closet/garage	$126
Cell Phone	Excluded — you pay this anywhere	—
Van Life Expenses	Gas + insurance + gym + storage	$592

Less than $600 to cover your housing and transportation for an entire month. Not a typo.

How $592 Compares to Renting

To give this number context, here are studio apartment costs across the US (2021 data — prices have gone up since, which only makes van life look better):

State	Avg. Studio Rent/Month
Hawaii	$1,200
California	$1,280
Oregon	$693
Ohio	$620
Van Life (Brad's box truck, Austin)	$592
Arkansas	$577

Van life slots in cheaper than every state except Arkansas — and that's before you factor in that renters in those states still need a car on top of their rent. Add a few hundred for a fuel-efficient car with insurance and suddenly van life has a clear financial advantage almost everywhere in the country.

Month 2: Road Trip — Texas to New Mexico to Oklahoma

July 25 – August 30, 2023. A 1,758-mile loop through three states. This is what happens to your expenses when you actually travel — the best case for van life critics to say "see, it's expensive."

Category	Notes	Amount
Groceries	Excluded	$292
Restaurants	Excluded	$190
Gas	1,758 miles at ~9 mpg	$840
Vehicle Insurance	Same every month	$80
Planet Fitness	Same every month	$25
Storage Unit	Same every month	$126
Vehicle Repairs	Breakdown in New Mexico	$552
Van Life Expenses	Full road trip month	$1,623

Yes, $1,623 is more than $592. But think about what that bought: a month-long, 1,758-mile road trip through three states. In Austin — one of the cheaper major Texas cities — that's about what you'd pay for one month's rent on a basic apartment, going nowhere.

Also worth noting: most van lifers don't drive 1,700+ miles every month. This was a big trip at the start of a season. The typical rhythm is a long drive to a new area, then a few months of lower-mileage local living — much closer to Month 1's numbers than Month 2's.

The Honest Summary

Van life isn't free. You still need income. You still have groceries, a phone, and basic human needs. But the overhead — the cost of simply having a place to sleep and a way to get around — is dramatically lower than traditional housing.

Stationary month: $592. Active road trip month: $1,623 — for 1,758 miles of travel. Compare either number to what you're currently paying for rent plus a car, and the math usually speaks for itself.

If you're on the fence, run your own numbers. Add up your rent, your car payment, your insurance, your utilities. Then ask yourself what you'd do with the difference.