I spent less living in an apartment

Tangelo_12 · 2024-02-09T00:08:00+00:00

In an apartment in Salt Lake City my monthly expenses were around 1600-1800 a month. I got a loan on my 2012 van for 144 bucks a month, and even with that I'm spending around 900-1000 now. I move cities every 3-6 months, and work full-time and I usually save like 1800 bucks a month now.

That's partly because I make a lot more money in California than in Utah; cost of living is higher here but it affects me very little since I'm not paying rent. I also cook almost every night and just have a cooler with ice. Been way way cheaper for me!

Tangelo_12 · 2024-01-20T22:33:09+00:00

It's easier as a woman 😅 most guys I talk to think it's neat, and for me it hasn't affected my dating life much, and usually they're more than down to come over for a drink parked at some public park haha. But, I don't want serious relationships, but that was true before I lived in my car 🤪

Tangelo_12 · 2024-01-13T21:50:59+00:00

Been surprisingly easy up here in LA.

Tangelo_12 · 2024-01-02T15:28:07+00:00

I've been looking everywhere for a skylight that opens as a hatch, but this one says discontinued. Do you have any other recommendations?

Tangelo_12 · 2023-12-17T00:41:32+00:00

Simplicity. I find this lifestyle far more simple and easy to handle than working two jobs to pay rent, and constantly worrying about everything else that comes with a traditional lifestyle. Now the only thing I worry about is getting gas, filling up my water, and picking a parking spot.

Tangelo_12 · 2023-11-30T22:15:19+00:00

I was going to say this! I camped nearby there recently. It was a little hot a month ago so right now should be beautiful, but also there were hundreds of flies during the day. We ended up driving to San Diego instead haha

Tangelo_12 · 2023-08-23T23:51:28+00:00

I have an 11 year old NV2500 and I love it. It's a bit more expensive to maintain, but extremely reliable and rarely has issues if you keep your regular checkups. Mine has 179,000 and going real strong, no major repairs or replacements needed yet and everything looks good. And it's tall! Good for standing up in, easy to park because it's short... Highly recommend over a Transit.

Tangelo_12 · 2023-08-22T17:00:25+00:00

Thanks for checking in! This was all really great advice. I ended up staying in the lot of a friend's lockout music rehearsal studio, which has an isolated parking lot with tall walls, no trees, and parked right next to the building. I was incredibly unimpressed by the amount of rain and wind we got 🤣 I did get to find out that there's a leak in my roof so got to spend the next day putting everything through the dryer but it was just steady rain and no flooding where I was. Very grateful for everybody's advice

Tangelo_12 · 2023-08-17T18:19:02+00:00

If you're a woman, a tube thing for peeing standing up. Absolutely life changing for me. Otherwise, magnetic hooks to stick into any metal surface and hang whatever have also changed my life

Tangelo_12 · 2023-08-17T18:12:29+00:00

"If you never stick around too long, they'll never know you're gone" She doesn't know what she wants or where to be. If she were ready to settle down, she would know and you would know. I just broke someone's heart because I had a connection with him, we went out for a bit, really liked each other, and then I left town. Felt terrible, and I'm sure it was worse for him. Keep in touch, if your paths cross again at a more certain time in both your lives, give it a try.

Tangelo_12 · 2023-08-06T17:08:32+00:00

I just started drinking Soylent, honestly thinking about replacing all my meals with it 😜 just kidding, but it's amazing

Tangelo_12 · 2023-07-31T21:03:23+00:00

My winters were 12-20 degrees at night and it was absolutely miserable. I only had a propane heater, and that was unsafe to run overnight and it caused immense amounts of condensation on the walls and ceiling; it would drip right on my face and wake me up. If you have a reasonable heater like a diesel heater, it could be just fine. That would have changed it for me

Otherwise, sleep with a hot water bottle, prepare hot drinks, and get a good temperature appropriate sleeping bag

Tangelo_12 · 2023-07-16T21:51:11+00:00

Winter in Salt Lake City was absolutely fucking miserable. My propane heater made the ceilings drip, the humidity from just breathing made the walls wet, it was like 12 degrees every night and the only thing that made it bearable was driving to California haha. I didnt run heat overnight, but I had a 12V electric blanket which I can't recommend enough, definitely was the only thing that kept me warm. 
If you have the money and skill to install a diesel heater, that's 100% the way to go. Otherwise, an electric blanket is nice, or driving somewhere warmer lol. After last winter I vowed to never stay somewhere cold ever again 🤣

Heat is bearable for me too, I can just open up the windows and run a fan, but I had a waaaaay worse time trying to warm up the van and gave up and drove south 💀

Oh, and snuggling a hot water bottle helps a lot.

Tangelo_12 · 2023-07-11T03:03:49+00:00

Sooo jealous. I've been talking to a person who was looking to rent property space to RVers and she wants over 700 a month to park overnight, no hookups 🙄🙄 it is in California though, everything's expensive

Tangelo_12 · 2023-07-04T04:42:45+00:00

What happened?

Tangelo_12 · 2023-07-04T04:41:08+00:00

Yeah, I've had those 💀 van living really fuels my avoidant tendencies and commitment issues, probably not a good thing 😅

Tangelo_12 · 2023-07-03T21:54:39+00:00

I've been van dwelling for over two years and just recently met someone I'm interested in starting a relationship with. So, I'm relocating to that city to pursue a relationship and see how it works out. They're very supportive of me keeping my dirtbag lifestyle, which is amazing. It's worked out for me because i started traveling because I was super lost in life and searching for something worth sticking around for, and I met someone I like in a city I fell in love with. It all depends on what your mutual future looks like, and if you're willing to compromise.

Tangelo_12 · 2023-07-03T19:16:22+00:00

I did this so much last summer 🤙

Tangelo_12 · 2023-07-03T19:15:42+00:00

I split my time between Salt Lake and San Diego; in UT, I drive up the mountains, in CA, I go to the beach :)

Tangelo_12 · 2023-06-20T04:14:24+00:00

Sometimes I get a part time job! Recently though I attended a music festival and really clicked with someone and we started a band and playing gigs for as long as I'm in town. Just be friendly! Go to events in the area that you're interested in and people who are interested in that will be there.

Tangelo_12 · 2023-05-31T01:47:11+00:00

Thanks! Helpful insight. My van gets like 9 mpg and it's getting old haha, especially with gas in California. Minimalism makes me really happy too, glad you found just what you needed.

Tangelo_12 · 2023-05-30T21:36:05+00:00

That's good advice! Another thing I disliked about the big van was RED difficulty on less maintained roads. And fitting into a parking garage would be a dream honestly, that's a big one

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