I’ve lived in a van for the past 8 years – I couldn’t afford rent but this is so much cheaper, I only spend £300 a month
WITH mortgage rates rocketing and the cost of living rising, it seems that more and more people are struggling financially at the moment.
But one couple have proved that life doesn’t have to be as tough as you think.
Known on TikTok as ‘sheisthelostgirl’, one couple, Beth and Jake, are living full-time in their van and have managed to keep their cost of living extremely low.
Living in the van means that the couple don’t have to pay any rent or mortgage costs, or any gas or electricity bills, meaning that they spend around £300 each every month.
The couple have 169.2k followers and 3.3million likes on the video sharing platform and regularly give TikTok users an insight at their unique life.
Beth has been travelling full-time since 2014 and bought an old builder’s van with Jake back in 2016.
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She said: “When I say I’ve been travelling full-time for almost 8 years, it almost sounds glamorous.
“But really I’m just a working class kid, working the road with no fixed abode.
“Living as a nomad is cheap, rewarding, challenging and exciting.
“People always ask me how to travel full-time and as long as you can work a seasonal job or work online, as long as you don’t need a fixed abode then it’s doable.
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“Being a nomad is challenging but this simple and happy existence is all I need”.
Beth explained how she and Ben ended up living full-time together in their van.
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She continued: “We live in a van because of the pandemic, here’s our story.
“I’ve been a nomad since 2014, I met my boyfriend in 2016 and we’ve been travelling together ever since.
“But then the pandemic came – we needed a base so we decided to buy an old builder’s van since we couldn’t afford a house.
“We spent four months and £3k building the home of our dreams inside this rolling metal box.
“We worked online anyway so transitioning in between life wasn’t too difficult for us, but we soon realised how lucky we were to have made the decision to get the van when we did.
“We spent the first lockdown in the wilderness, we are forever grateful for that.
“Livin in the van has saved us so much money, as well as giving us the freedom we needed”.
The couple bought their van for £4,900 and spent £3,000 on the van build.
Inside the van, there is a wooden kitchen area with plenty of storage and a raised bed area where the couple sleep.
The social media user then took to YouTube to share a breakdown of her monthly costs living full-time in the van.
She said: “I’ve been practising ways to keep my costs low.
“Travelling is a very cheap lifestyle, but I’ve got different ways of keeping the costs down.
“Vehicle tax – we pay it per year as it’s cheaper, that was £275, obviously split between two people that’s £137, divided by 12, so that’s £11 a month.
“For breakdown cover it’s a total of £119 a year, divided that by 12, so for me that’s £10 a month.
“Fuel could be any but in the last month we spent £122, so divided by two, that’s £61.
“For food shopping this month, we spent £186, so divided by two, that’s £93.
“Next we have eating out, we spent £35, so divided by two that’s £17.
“On laundry it was £6”.
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The couple also have a Netflix subscription, phone internet, campsites and car parking costs.
Beth explained that her monthly cost was £325.50.
Social media users were very impressed with Beth’s way of living and took to the comments to express this.
One person said: “I love your van, you guys did a great job”.
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Another added: “You must have had so many incredible experiences in 8 years”.
A third commented: “WHAT I WOULD DO FIR THIS”.
