Van Life Archives - Making Sense Of Cents

Living In A Boat Or RV? What Is Better?

Last Updated: February 21, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 14 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Which do you like better? The boat or RV?

Do you miss RVing?

How long do you think you’ll sail for? Do you think you’ll ever go back to a normal home?

The questions are never-ending.

Now that we’ve switched to sailing, we get these questions ALL THE TIME.

As a refresher, we RVed for around four years, and we have been living on our sailboat for almost two years now.

We really love both lifestyles and everything that they allow us to do.

There are a lot of similarities between living in a boat or RV, such as:

You can bring your home with you as you travel.
Marinas are kind of like campgrounds.
Anchorages are similar to boondocking.
They have a lot of the same systems, such as a battery bank, solar, dump, water tank, and so on.
Smaller space than a “normal” home.

But, there are also a ton of things that are completely different between the two. [Read more…]

The Honest Truth About Van Dwelling: Answers To The Most Common Van Life Questions

Last Updated: March 4, 2021 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 16 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Van dwelling, or the lifestyle of living in a van, is becoming more and more popular as a way to travel full-time. Since we bought a van a few months ago to live in, I have received a lot of questions about van dwelling.

While they seem funny to us now, I know that we had some of these same questions before we started RVing.

Some of the questions we are asked are from those who think we are crazy for living in a van. Whereas, others are from people who are interested in van dwelling but are unsure about certain things. Either way, I hope to clear up a lot of the common questions we receive about living in a van.

You never know, maybe I’ll convert some of you. 🙂

Below are questions that I’ve been asked by friends, family, readers, and even strangers. It’s always interesting trying to explain RVing/van dwelling to strangers who stop me at the store after they’ve seen me get out of our van.

It’s a lot of fun, though. I love answering questions about what it’s like living in a van full-time and getting others hooked on this lifestyle! [Read more…]

How I’ve Paid Off $29,000 In Debt By Living In a Van

Last Updated: May 25, 2023 BY Michelle Schroeder-Gardner - 30 Comments

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through my links, at no cost to you. Please read my disclosure for more info.

Michelle’s quick note: Today, I have a great article from Sarah of Tiny Van Big Living about how living in a van is saving her money. She has paid off $29,000 in debt so far by living in a van and is working on paying off the rest. I heard her story and I asked her to share it with all of you. Enjoy this #vanlife article!

Hello there, my name is Sarah, and I currently live in a tiny van full-time! I am a traveling Occupational Therapist who has taken on the minimalist lifestyle, in order to pay off student loans and gain more experiences while doing so.

May 2016, I decided to make a leap from a spacious two bedroom apartment in Los Angeles to full-time living in a van in Alaska. This decision was not made overnight. It evolved over time when I became more knowledgeable about minimal lifestyle and personal finance. I have been living full-time in a 2010 Ford Transit Connect for over a year now and have no plans to return to standard housing anytime soon!

Van life and RV-related content:

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