Money Saving Tips For Vanlifers & RV’ers

Most full-time vanlifers or RV’ers are very careful about how they spend money. The lifestyle is ultimately about freedom, but money is a close-second for most of us.

Full-timers save money on rent and other costs associated with living in a house or apartment. We are able to live longer on smaller amounts of money.

And a lot of us don’t have much income rolling in, therefore saving money is a crucial part of our bottom-line. Whether it be groceries, gas, lifestyle changes or getting cash back on the purchases we already have to make. 

Here are some money saving tips for vanlifers and RV’ers.

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Gas Buddy:

Gas buddy is an app that allows you to compare gas prices all around North America. If you are traveling to new places, then you probably wont know regionally how gas prices differ. So gas buddy is great for helping to plan your fill-ups strategically. Gas Buddy has saved us hundreds on gas fill-ups.

Lot’s of newer vehicles keep track of how many “miles until empty” your gas tank is. Or if you have an older vehicle, you can use the trip odometer or gas gauge to estimate your “range” before running out. Keep track of how many miles you have left on your current tank, then search for the cheapest gas within that range.

We use this method religiously to make sure that we never pay more for gas than we need to. When we were traveling in California, we would sometimes save up to $15 per fill up, because we found gas for $1+ cheaper per gallon!

Our favorite way to search is the “Map View”. Click “Find Gas” and then press the “Map” button in the top right corner.

You can use Gas Buddy for FREE without signing up.  But they do have additional incentives if you sign up and pay with Gas Buddy.

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Grocery Store Gas Points:

Another great way to save money on gas is grocery store points. Often times grocery stores have partnerships with gas stations that reward grocery purchasing points with discounts on gas. You can sometimes save 10+ cents per gallon when filling up with your grocery store points!

But, this means that you need to shop at the same brand of grocery stores, which can be tough if you are on a long roadtrip through multiple states.  Lots of these programs work on a month-to-month basis, so you can strategically try to stick to one grocery store chain for chunks of time.

If you are traveling around the west coast, Safeway is a consistent grocery store that rewards grocery store purchases into gas points.

But here is a complete list of all the gas station / grocery store partnerships.

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Discount Grocery Stores:

Honestly we have had great luck with finding grocery stores with quality food for decent prices! It’s simply one of the best money saving tips for vanlifers and RV’ers. 

When searching for grocery stores, try to find “cheaper” grocery stores. For example when we were traveling in California, they have a grocery store called Grocery Outlet Bargain Market. It was a “hit or miss” grocery store depending on the area, but if it was a hit, you could get AMAZING deals on some great food! Or another favorite is Aldi’s or Trader Joe’s. 

One thing we have found useful is google filters (more information later in the post). Search grocery stores near me and check the $ sign in the filters. It will list grocery stores that have decent prices. But check some reviews if the place you find is unfamiliar to you. People will let you know if the produce isn’t good or worth the price. But of course if you choose different grocery stores often, then you may lose out on the gas points listed above.

Be strategic and buy foods that are on sale or are cheaper than you usually would find them! And grocery stores charge more for things that require more labor. So any fruit, veggies, and meats that have been cut, washed, or prepped will usually cost more. You can save money by purchasing groceries in their “rawest” form and doing the prep work yourself. These tips will help keep money in your pocket!

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Choose FREE activities:

Obviously one crucial way to save money is to cut costs on activities. Choose free activities such as hiking, museums or swimming in the ocean. There are a lot of free activities that are a blast and cost nothing! 

Google free activities in the area you are traveling to and there is sure to be a list of great FREE activities to choose from!  

Avoid choosing the most pricey tourist activities like helicopter tours, skydiving, scuba diving, etc. And avoid walking downtown in popular destinations, so you aren’t tempted to buy anything unnecessary. 

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iOverlander/Free Campsites:

We absolutely live by these two online platforms for money saving tips for vanlifers and RV’ers.

iOverlander is super easy to use on your phone and gives you great options to park overnight for free.

And freecampsites.net is a great platform to find you places to stay all around the country. But they don’t have an app, so you need to access it through an internet browser.

These two websites have saved us so much money over the years, because we don’t pay for campsites.

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Avoid Going Out To Eat:

The easiest way to drop money fast is by going out to eat often. Don’t get me wrong, we like to treat ourselves by going out to eat occasionally. But, we use it more as a special occasion. I would try to limit it to one or two times a month if possible. Which means cooking all your own food yourself!

We find that going out to eat costs us almost our whole weekly grocery store bill. So it’s nice to try and get creative in the kitchen and cook our own meals.

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Make Your Own Coffee

I know getting a beautiful latte made for you by the cute barista is a nice way to start the day, but it can easily drain your bank account.

Coffee shops are a great way to get internet but coffee is expensive. And not for nothing, van’s and RV’s get terrible gas mileage.

So driving somewhere to buy a coffee might cost as much as the coffee itself. So making your own cup of coffee will significantly cut the cost.

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Google Maps Filters:

For those times you do want to splurge and go out to eat, use the Google Maps filters. We usually put “restaurants near me” into the search bar and then click the filters.

You then have the option of putting one dollar sign ($) into the filter and search for cheaper food. Then, obviously look for restaurants with good star (*) ratings! You can also filter for the type of food you are searching for.

Look at peoples reviews and see if people enjoy the food, or if the reason it is really cheap is because it’s awful.

But using this method we always find the hidden gems that have good food, but without charging an arm and a leg.

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Coupons:

Or another great money-saving tip is to search for deals at places you want to visit. Use apps like Groupon or rewards programs for places you often go out to eat at/ visit. 

For example, we often go out to Buffalo Wild Wings when it’s football season and about every few meals we earn enough points for free wings or an appetizer. 

Or Groupon often has great deals at restaurants, salons or activities. So if you need a haircut, check out if their is a great deal at a local salon. Or check into coupons for 2 for 1 apps or $10 off $40 at a local restaurant.

One great deal we found is from Mcdonalds. On the receipt from a previous purchase, you can get a 2 for 1 deal on sandwiches if you fill out a short survey about the service of the restaurant you visited.  Also, they have top-notch WiFi, which is the main reason why we end up there.

Sign up for Groupon here!

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Stay In One Place:

Living in a van full-time doesn’t mean you have to travel non-stop. If you are trying to stay on a budget, sometimes it can be good to just stay put and not travel far distances.

There are 14 day limits on BLM land, but you can then move onto another BLM area that is nearby! You then can save up money that you normally would spend if you were on the move traveling to new places.

This could also be a good time to grab a job if you are running low on money. We find it best to choose a spot that is vanlife or RV friendly and has a few different places you can camp at, so you don’t break the 14 day rule. 

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Buy Second-Hand

If there is anything you need to buy, check to see if someone is selling it second hand. We have found that you can sometimes get a steal on a barely used item if you just take the time to search for it. Great websites are Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Offer Up, etc.  

Or visit thrift stores to buy clothes or other items you need.  Just make sure you don’t start buying random stuff just because it’s in front of you.  Stay disciplined.

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Web Browser Extensions

Web browser extensions are the best way to make money without even lifting a finger.

All you need to do is download the web browser extension and it will notify you anytime you can save money at checkout. Most of the time it just has coupon codes that can save you a percentage off. But other times you might just get cashback.

The extensions just run in the background and automatically pop-up if you are on a website it supports and you just have to accept that you want money back from your purchase. 

Sign up for Rakuten and get a $30 bonus when you make your first purchase of $30 or more! It’s one of the best deals and no-brainer when it comes to money saving tips for vanlifers.

Another web browser extension that we use is Honey. It’s free to sign up and you can save hundreds to thousands of dollars over time!

Or use this referral code to sign up for Swagbucks and get $3 for signing up.

Ibotta is a little different because you can use it in store too. So if you purchase certain items that ibotta gives special rewards for, you scan your receipt and they will add the cash back to you account. Ibotta requires a little extra work, but it’s great for groceries or if you often shop at larger retailer stores.

And use this referral code to sign up for ibotta.

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Calculate Your Monthly Spending

We have found it super helpful to calculate our monthly spending and to see where we are maybe spending a little too much.

Before we left for full-time travel, we calculated a budget we wanted to stick to. But, shortly found out, we spend about $500 more than anticipated. But being able to look at what we spend the most money on, we can now learn to be more frugal and follow some of the tips listed above.

Be careful that you don’t ignore bi-annual costs. For example, we always pay our van insurance 6-months at a time. So, we have to be sure to divide that cost out into our monthly spending.

There are also apps you can use to help calculate your monthly spending such as Trail Wallet, Mint, Digit.

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Takeaway For money saving tips for vanlifers and RV’ers:

Big saving always starts with small saving! Having many tools and techniques can turn a few bucks here and there into big savings that allow you to work less and relax more.

It’s easy to get stressed about money, especially when you don’t have a traditional income. But using these money saving tips for full-time vanlifers and rv’ers can help keep a little extra money in your pocket.

We hope you found this useful and you can now save a little extra money towards your future goals and dreams!

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