Is It Cheaper To Live In A Campervan | Everything You Need To Know

You might be wondering, is it cheaper to live in a campervan?

And the real answer is, it depends.

There are, of course, a lot of factors to consider.

First, there’s the price of your campervan versus the cost of rent or mortgage payments. A campervan is a vehicle, so even though its resale value can be greatly increased via conversion, no vehicle is immune to its own inevitable depreciating value.

Whereas stationary homes are often an appreciating asset (but not always).

Second, it depends on your cost of living. And in both regular lifestyles and campervan lifestyles there is a large range.

You may be transitioning from an expensive metro area, or maybe your vision of vanlife involves a simple and frugal life.  So your definition of “cheaper” might be vastly different from someone else’s.  But don’t worry, I’m here to help you evaluate the cost of living for different lifestyles.

Or similar to us, you might need to live in a campervan for a year to qualify living in a campervan “cheaper” than renting or owning your own place (more details on this below).

So there are a few different factors to account for when deciding if living in a campervan is overall less expensive. Let’s break it down to see if it is cheaper to live in a campervan for you.

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How Much Are You Willing To Spend On A Campervan?

First, you need to figure out the amount of money you are going to spend on a campervan. Because the price of a campervan can range from as little as $1,000 to over $150,000.

This will ultimately help you decide if it is cheaper to live in a campervan or not. For example, Jake and I spent $17,500 on our van and conversion. While a vehicle is a depreciating asset, we will still probably be able to sell the campervan for a decent percentage of the money we put in.

Therefore, you need to decipher how much you are willing to spend on a campervan.

If you want it to be cheaper to live in a campervan, then choosing a less expensive campervan is a great place to start.

But do note, that a less expensive campervan might experience more mechanical problems. So while you might pay under $10,000 for a campervan, it might have some other costs that increase the overall price.

But it might be easier to pay small mechanical fees over time versus a more expensive overall campervan build (which could still have mechanical issues). 

Example Of Different DIY Self-Converted Campervan Builds

Here are a few different examples of campervan builds. 

• Two Wandering Soles: built out a 1994 campervan conversion (including van purchase) for under $3,000
• Two Roaming Souls: Our campervan conversion is in the middle price range. We self-converted our 2010 campervan which cost (including van) around $17,500
• Sara and Alex James: For an example of a more luxury build out. Sara and Alex James built out a 2014 Sprinter (including van) for $56,564

Example Of Different Professionally Converted Campervan Builds

Here are a few different examples of professional campervan conversion companies.

Do note that the price will significantly increase because you will be paying for labor. And most professional built-outs are done in newer vans such as a Mercedes Sprinter, RAM ProMaster, Ford Transit, etc. These are some of the best vans with standing height.

But ultimately it means the campervan has a longer lifespan and has a higher resale value. 

• Contravans: The prices for Contravan are relatively inexpensive. A basic build-out (not including van) starts around $7,000. They will build out smaller vans, box trucks, mini-vans, etc.
• Dave & Matt Vans: Prices for a basic campervan build-out (including van) starts around $53,000.
• Sportsmobile: Or if you are looking for a van conversion with all the bells and whistles Sportsmobile builds out vans which typically range around $100k+ (including van).

And if you plan to completely start from scratch, by buying a brand new van and having it professionally built out, you might even end up with a monthly payment.

Jake and I were able to keep our overall cost down because we built the campervan ourselves. Whereas, if you get it professionally built out, then you must account for labor costs.

Read: How much does a DIY van conversion cost?

Read: How expensive is a Professional Van Conversion?

I believe this is the main deciding factor in determining if it’s cheaper to live in a campervan. It all depends on how much you spend on your campervan, and what your typical cost of living is.

But there are still a few questions to ask that might help you decide if it is cheaper or not. 

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What is your current living situation? 

Do you rent or own a house? If you are a renter, then you basically pay a monthly rate for a place to sleep, cook, and for bathroom purposes. You really don’t get anything at the end of your rental period. 

If you own a house, then you are paying off a mortgage to essentially own the house outright at the end. But a house can be both an appreciating and depreciating asset depending on how well you take care of it and market forces.

If you pump money into your house to maintain or improve its value, then your house might be an appreciating asset. But if you don’t do the necessary work to upkeep the house then you might lose money if you were to sell the house at the end.

Therefore, if you sell the house to switch to living in a campervan full-time, will you make money, break even, or lose money?

Example:

So for example, when Jake and I rented a place in Denver, CO, it cost us a total of $1750 per month (including utilities). And with spending $17,500 on a campervan we would only need to live out of the van for 10 months to “break even” vs paying rent.

But this hinges on the fact that we (usually) don’t pay for a place to park. (Here’s how we find FREE places to park or camp).

Plus we still own the campervan outright, so we could still make money off of the campervan if we were to sell it. And since we have lived in the campervan for over 1 ½ years, we have already broken even. So for us, it is cheaper to live in a campervan because we no longer have a rent payment.

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What Do You Plan To Do In The Campervan?

Another important deciding factor for whether it’s cheaper to live in a campervan is what you plan to do in the campervan.

Are you working a full-time job while living out of the campervan? Or do you plan to travel the country and visit all the National Parks?

If your answer is the latter, then you might spend more on gas than you normally would in day-to-day life. But if you plan to stay stationary and work a full-time job, then you might break even much quicker. You can add up rent payments to see how long it would take you to make “living in a campervan cheaper” than paying rent.

Or if you don’t want a remote job, you can work seasonal jobs to pay the bills.

Also be sure to check out our post: How much does vanlife actually cost? In this post, we break down what we spend monthly while living in our campervan full-time. We typically need about $1800 per month to live comfortably and pay all our bills (for two people).

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Where Do You Plan To Park The Campervan?

An important question to ask is do you plan to park the campervan on free land (BLM, national forest, Walmart parking lots, friends/family’s property, etc) or do you need to rent a spot?

If you are often traveling you can easily find free camping via apps/websites like iOverlander, Freecampsites.net, Sekr, or Campendium.

But if you pay to park at a campground often or RV park, then you are still technically paying rent for a place to be. And those costs can add up quickly. An average campground in the US costs about $35 per night.

In our experience, the West is Best for van dwelling. Simply, the Western US has many more free parking options than the East. There is just so much more public land and land in general. Plus cities and towns typically have less stigma towards mobile living, or even embrace it.

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Do you like to cook your own meals or will you mainly be eating out?

If you plan to cook your own meals while living in a campervan, then it will overall be cheaper. But if you like to go out to eat and plan to get take-out often, the price of food will be much more expensive than someone who makes their own meals.

Sometimes the lack of kitchen amenities in a campervan will encourage you to eat out more often. Many campervans do not have an oven, microwave, freezer, dishwasher, etc. There is also typically a limited supply of water. All these factors could make you eat out more often for the convenience and variety.

Or you could be like us, and just feel the overwhelming urge to try different restaurants when you travel to new places.

But I would compare it to your current living situation. Will you be eating out as much as you do at your current home? Or do you think by owning a campervan, you will change your eating habits?

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Takeaway: Is It Cheaper To Live In A Campervan?

Overall, answering the question “is it cheaper to live in a campervan” really depends on your current living situation.

But for most people, I would say it totally is!

Especially when you consider the rising cost of housing.

Living smaller also forces you to spend less on material items. You simply have less space for things.

If you plan to get the top of line campervan with all the bells and whistles, it’s going to take a lot longer to break even. But if you live in a campervan that was $5,000 total, then you will basically even out the cost of living in only a few months and it will be cheaper to live in a campervan.

But, if you are not comfortable living in a cheaper campervan, then you might quickly give up the lifestyle and be right back in a house or apartment.

And ultimately, you will need to decide what you will spend monthly overall in the campervan. Use our monthly expenses post to get an idea of what you can expect to pay for living in a campervan full time.

So, Is It Cheaper To Live In A Campervan?

Generally, it is cheaper to live in a campervan, but it just depends on how you spend your money. If you like to cook your own meals, are in an area where you can camp for free and don’t drive 200 miles each day, it will most likely be cheaper to live in a campervan. 

Jake and I had a plan to basically make living in a campervan cheaper, so we did the necessary things to make it a life that was attainable.

We were sick of working for “the man” and not having the ultimate freedom to travel to all the places we wanted to see in the world. We try not to travel too fast, which saves money on gas, we make most of our own meals on a budget, and choose free activities when we visit places.

We have already surpassed breaking even, and for us, it is cheaper to live in a campervan.

However, it doesn’t really help you build long-term equity. So that’s something to keep in mind.

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