A Happy Medium: Keeping to a Budget on the Road

Dan and I are the happy medium of van-lifers. We aren’t wealthy retired folks, and we aren’t no-other-choice-but-the-road folks either. Dan works remotely, which is an amazing and lucky thing. But we aren’t independently wealthy, or even just plain wealthy.

We have to be careful with our spending. If we can make it to the next paycheck without dipping into our slight savings, we call that a win.

We have a few firmly fixed expenses: variable amounts of support for our three college-age children, life and car insurance, family phones and internet costs, laundry, healthcare, etc. (We don’t track our expenses as carefully as we should. If you are interested in specifics, these travel bloggers do a great job of detailing their monthly budgets.)

And we have some flexible expenses as well, namely gas, food, and camping fees. We have enough to live on… if we are careful. But it ain’t always easy. In this post, I’ll bare a few (harsh) realities of (our) van lifestyle and share a few hard-earned tips for traveling on the cheap.

Not on Vacation

One of the things we have to keep in mind as we toodle around the country is that we are not actually on vacation. Though traveling through many scenic, tourist-oriented spots, we are just doing our everyday thing. We can’t afford to live as if we are on permanent vacation.

We don’t (often) pay to go for touristy spots such as museums and amusements. We don’t take jeep tours or horseback rides. In fact, we rarely do anything that costs more than a few dollars for the two of us.

Many days, we park up at a library and work just like we might have at home. For entertainment, we walk… a lot. And hey, this is also something we did at home. Really a lot of what we do on the road is what we did at home, amplified.

Stretching the Budget

Truth is, van living is only as cheap as you make it. We often struggle to stretch Dan’s salary across two weeks, especially if we are in expensive areas that cater towards wealthy tourists (looking at you mountain towns of Colorado!). When we start running low, we slow down and disperse camp. We recently managed to stay in one (free) spot eight days, spending no money at all, which was a fun challenge.

If we are nearing the limit of our budget, we strrrreeeetttttcccchhhh our cupboard as much as we can. When we run out of our preferred items (fresh veggies and fruit) we still have eggs, potatoes and pasta with canned sauce. It isn’t always gourmet, but we have discovered some cheap bottom of the fridge winners: Easy egg foo young, for one.

And some “maybe nots”. One notable last resort was ramen noodles with szechuan sauce and a packet of Korean instant meat substitute. Not recommended, but not too bad either. Here are a few of our more budget oriented meals.

Truth be told, when we are flush, we are not as careful as we maybe could be. We really enjoy eating out. Sampling local foods (and local drinks) is part of the fun of travel. But we don’t buy chatchkas (where would we put them?) and we don’t buy new clothes. When we need an item, we always start at thrift stores and gear exchanges, a great source of bargains.

Generally, food is our biggest nonnegotiable. We have to replenish the fridge about every five days or so. (It’s tiny and we eat A LOT!) Also, we don’t skimp on fresh fruits and veggies, nuts, whole grain bread and pasta, and local beers… even if they are more expensive. We do, generally shop at Walmart (which is about 15-25% cheaper than other chains, as well as the pricey Natural Grocers (one word: FIGS!), and any Asian groceries and scratch & dent discount stores we run across.

Occasionally, we splurge. We went out on the town for Dan’s much delayed birthday in Telluride. But, we also found a lot of free and cheap things to do there. We walked all over the place, hung out in the bookstore, rode the free trolley, and shared a falafel from a food truck. We also enjoyed a soak (and much needed shower) at Ouray’s town hot springs which set us back about $34 and sure felt like it was worth it to us.

When in Taos, we splurged on “the best margarita’s in town” but ate a relatively cheap lunch at a hole-in the wall spot. And, aside from walking the downtown area, we spent a great deal of time at the library, at our super-affordable campsite ($7.50 with our parks pass!), and checking out free tourist spots like the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge and the famous Saint Francis of Asis Church in Rancho de Taos. I even got a new (to me) pair of pants for $1.50 at a terrific local thrift store.

In general, restaurants and hot springs are our Achilles heels. We go out to eat about once a week and have soaked in a more than a few hot springs, ranging in price from free to $34 (Yipes!)

A few hard won tips for managing your budget on the road

Since we’re talking money– and since Dan and I, by now, have quite a lot of experience in “making it work” on a budget– here are a few suggestions for a stellar road trip (or nomadic existence) of your own….without breaking the bank.

1. Don’t drive too much This may seem like a strange road trip suggestion, but gas is a huge expense and there is really no point in putting on the miles. I don’t know about you, but on our long travel days, I stare out the window imagining what it might be like to get out and explore. So, why not do it? Now that we are seasoned “van-lifers”, we rarely travel more than an hour or two at a time. If you are on a fixed vacation schedule, rather than zooming cross country trying to see it all, pick one area you are really excited about and stay there.

2. Prioritize your joy. Before you set off, consider the kinds of things that make you happy. If you aren’t into museums… or walking tours or amusement parks, etc. Why do them? There are no have-tos here. Do the things that make you happy… even if they aren’t what you think you “should” see. Case in point: When our kids were little, we took our first road trip. And though we hiked all over Yellowstone National Park, up Mammoth Hot Springs, along the Firehole River and through the Lamar Valley (all very awesome). You know what the kids remember most? Climbing boulders at a dispersed campsite along the way and driving around a parking lot in Uncle Matt’s jeep.

3. Find a happy balance If you skimp too much, THAT’s what you’ll remember from your trip. If you spend too much, you may never afford another one. There are ways to cut costs without feeling squeezed: go out for lunch instead of dinner, share an appetizer and drinks, check out Happy Hour specials, use Groupon or other apps to find local bargains.

We really (really) like sampling interesting regional foods… but found it doesn’t have to be expensive. “Sampling” is the key word here.

Save your money for what’s most important or enjoyable and cut some corners on the rest. For example, don’t spend all your dough on a place to sleep. Learn how to disperse camp. Not only is this an economical travel solution but it is almost always better than a campground.

4. Use memberships and apps that cut costs. We can’t say enough about our National Parks Pass. If you are 62 years of age or older, your $80 will get you a lifetime of free park entrances and half price campgrounds. We use it every few days (really!)

Harvest Hosts comes in handy too, but we tend to use it more as a last resort or when we are putting on some miles. And Planet Fitness membership is great… if you are in more populated areas and need a shower. You may want to check out Hipcamp, Spotify, and Audible, among others….if they fit your preferred travel style.

5. Cheap hobbies are key! Not all fun things cost a bundle. Day hiking, for example, is free. As are rockhounding, birdwatching, exploring, sketching, photography, reading, swimming, and many, many other things that might bring you joy along the way. A bike, fishing pole or kayak could pay for itself in time well spent. It’s your time, do what makes you happy….but cheaply.

The Struggle is Real

Alright, truth here: money sucks. And being beholden to it, sucks even more.

Though time is the most precious thing we have, it’s the one we give away most readily… to obligations and work and housekeeping, and a hundred other things that seem so important.

My biggest budget travel suggestion is this: If you want to do it; don’t put it off!

Though we try to stay within our budget, we don’t always succeed. Even with Dan’s teacher’s salary, and our relatively frugal lifestyle, there are times we are in the red. And yes, it was a really bad financial decision to give up our double income and house and take to the road (Crazy & brave, right?) Do we regret it? Not a bit.

The beautiful thing about the van-life lifestyle, is we have a certain degree of control over our expenses. We are rarely “flush”, but we can decrease expenses when we need to. And because we love what we’re doing. Every day feels like a blessing.

Appreciating what we have

In truth, all this budget talk brings me down. It’s easy to get caught up in the can’ts and don’ts. We spent many years in that space, and many, many years anxious over every pinched penny, working really hard and going further into debt to support our house and family, two cars, etc. etc.

We are lucky to be able to live the lifestyle of our choosing, albeit an unconventional one that many people think is a bit… well, crazy.

If we had to slow down further, or quit the fresh veggies, we would still be lucky. Our happy medium is exactly that. And there were many years of struggle (and deep wishing) that came before it.

For now, our little, low-budget home on wheels is enough for us.

We’d love to hear from you! Are you thinking about the “van lifestyle”? Do you have any questions or tips for traveling on a budget. Just want to say hi? Catch us here!