Total Van life expenses for 2023 | Solo Female Van Life Australia
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ม.ค. 2024
- Do you want to know how my much I spent on everything in 2023? I share all my expenses of living in my van and travelling around Australia.
#vanlife
#vanlifeaustralia
#solofemaletraveler
You can contact me at brennalynn@iinet.net.au
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Forget most of your expenses because you'd have them in any event. I'm seeing : $38 a week rent, and $22 for the storage unit. Basically, your additional costs are $60 a week which includes your rent. Brenna - you are saving a damn fortune! Most people's rent is at least $450 a week. Well done you!
Oh my Brenna, the expenditures on Abby are worth many times that amount. She is priceless to you and your viewers. Love you both.
I agree 😊🐶
Thanks for the honest assessment Brenna. You would have been paying rates and taxes plus insurance on a residential house if you lived in one and probably paying to go away on holidays too. So all in all, you get to travel around wherever and whenever you want and enjoy Australia! 👍 😊
So true 😊
That's about $23,000 in the US. You are living frugally! Great video. thank you for sharing.
😊
Rent for a house is $550 - $600 in a country town. You are inspiring Brenna. Thanks for sharing.
This was a brave share and not easy to do with strangers! I began van life in December 2023. 'Honestly' tracking my expenses has made me aware of my spending habits. I now work casually and live frugally but am able to enjoy life with far less stress than ever - go figure!! So happy that I found your channel, your videos are a joy to watch, Thank you 🌻
Thanks Michelle 😊
This gives me hope, once my kids fly the coop in the next couple of years. I would much rather be spending money on anything but rent. Vanlife really can be affordable. That sounds pretty good for freedom to go wherever you like and really living.
Thank you Brenna. Lots of you tubers out there are saying $1000 is not enough! Great to hear from someone who is doing it cheaper. Well done.
Love your videos! Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
So grateful for you being so open about it, and when broken down into each week it seems frugal! I'm in NZ and still house-living and I'm not great at keeping track of my outgoings. But I was prompted to calculate my Greyhound's costs. She eats $1700 of kibble per year (no treats) & I can't find insurance as she's over 8, and in the last year, she's chewed through 4 leads, at $100 each! Abby is a bargain!! :D
😂😂
Also calculated you did an average of 500km per week, which (I'd say) is a more than most van-lifers. I met a couple who said they travel
I'm good about keeping an eye on my income and paying my bills on time, however, I've never kept track of my yearly spending. After watching this I am inspired to start doing this when I get on the road. I just got my ambulance titled and tagged. Next step: off to the diesel mechanic to get her checked out stem to stern! Then the transformation begins!
It’s really good to see how much I spend on everything and then I can make sure informed decisions in the future.
I know a heap of people that pay $500++ per week just for rent they couldn’t eat let alone pay everything else for $156 a week
Well done and all the priceless experiences thrown in. Australia has become outrageously expensive since 2020 for everything including basics. ❤️
We agree!
Oh bummer. That's more than my yearly income. (I'm on the disability support pension). I've been thinking of selling my inexpensive house to move full time into a small motor home. I'm finding it difficult keeping up with the expenses of owning an aging house. Also, now I'm in my mid 50s, I'm finding central Queensland summers unbearably hot. I didn't think travelling slowly around Australia would necessarily be any cheaper than living in my house. However, I wasn't counting on it being more expensive. I guess we all live within our means, though, so I won't give up hope yet. 🙂
These are just my expenses, you can definitely do it cheaper with sacrificing
Valuable information Brenna…thank you for sharing 💜🙏🏽🌷
You are so welcome!
Wow, very impressed that you managed to keep track of your finances. Inspiring us to keep track of ours so we can tally up how much our van build cost and then travelling around australia, would be interesting (and scary) to see haha! Thanks for sharing
OMG, I love you both and I have been following your van build and travels in Australia. I would love to meet up when you get to WA😊
Awesome breakdown of your spending and it really does help! ❤
Glad it was helpful!
Onya Brenna. This is such a math's person's video. I would go nuts keeping tabs on every cent I spent in categories, though I am careful to live within my means. That said I am eternally grateful to you for keeping tabs on your expenditure to remind me of what our cost of living is like here in Australia. My utilities bills are crippling in my house, especially living in a cold climate like Ballarat. You are doing so well. living in your van. I keep on doing casual teaching, to be able to cover my cost of living, as well as hosting dog homestays and taking in the occasional boarder, just to make ends meet and those extras essentially include house land taxes and gas, water and electricity bills. You are doing very, very well! Hats off to you!
Thanks, sounds like you are doing great too😊
Missing Brenna updates, hope you're enjoying this welcome change in the weather. Hope it's not too crowded where you be over Easter.
Love to your beautiful Abby.
Quality of life.
Hey Brenna, Loved your video ❤. My soul died a little at the costs. Just at the beginning stage of a almost 30yr relationship breakup. I'm 62yrs old and thought screw it, gonna buy a sml bus and travel at last!, when the house sells. Now I don't know if I could afford it for long really. Oh boy, I got some homework to do! I'm off to go and watch your other vids.
Love to you ❤
Australian prices might seem closer if you do a currency conversion.
I think the costs of vanlife are those expenses you would not otherwise incur. so, fuel, camping, some maintenance on your van, perhaps some of you phone plan. And discount that by the costs of living in your (most recent) house. I live alone, so I often go to a cafe. If I go vanliving, visits would not be a cost of vanliving, they would be a cost of my lifestyle. I might adjust cafe costs, Cocklebiddy could be more expensive than Tods in Mandurah. If I chose to dine out all the time, then the extra cost would be an optional cost of vanliving.
Litres of petrol would be a useful stat more useful than cost of fuel. Knowing how many litres of petrol you used, I might be able to get into the right ballpark for feeding my van on diesel.
I don’t keep track of the litres.
I've been waiting for your 2023 Budget video too (so thanks Harry for inspiring Brenna to do it!) I write down all the numbers and hope to keep a similar budget (minus a pet) one day when I can get in the road. Well done for keeping to your budget, Brenna!!
Thanks
So, I added up your costs, which would be the same costs as living in a house (power, internet, phone, accommodation, laundry, etc), and it came to a little over $200 per week.
I feel fortune (!!!) that my rent is under $500 a week, but that’s _just_ my rent. If I add power, internet, phone, etc, then it skyrockets.
My sincere goal is to live the life you’re living. I would love to have a bit more (well, any really) disposable income, and I feel like living in a van would achieve that.
The cost really varies a lot.
Brilliant van life video Brenna! Really enjoyed everything about it :) If possible in the future, could you do a video revving up your van? So we can hear how it sounds!!
thanks brenna that is so helpful to know . i just love your videos and look forward to seeing you and abby. congrats on the hearing aids.!!!!!!! its going to be an even better year this year
I love my hearing aids 😊
Thankyou it was a great budget
You’re welcome 😊
I do hope you continue doing these yearly, because it really highlights how affordable van life can be.
And that’s _exactly_ why I aim to live in my van one day.
I will try😊
"Affordable"? 😲
Great break down if expenses, make you look at how I spend money. You look at this is what I have and what I spend and save❤
Absolutely!!
Thanks for this info and really handy. I'm still working out my expenses as well.
Glad it was helpful!
Excellent Thank-you Brenna❤great to hear about costs so that when I'm ready I know how much money I will need. Planning on selling some art, getting creative and maybe an online job. Thank-you again.. also how do you go about house sitting for people if you want a break ❤
I’m house sitting at the moment and I found it through a website.
@@BrennaLivingJoyfully thanks Brenna
Hello from Salt Lake City, Utah US I just found you on youtube. Love your videos!
Thanks
Hello Brenna 💕 I actually gave you a shout out in one of my latest videos ❤ I have also been asked to do an expenses video, but that's not what I'm about, I have so little money I don't think it matters 🤭😂🤣 I hope that you are having a super awesome Australia Day 🎉🇦🇺🙃 and hey, stay beautiful 🌻🦋
Awesome! Thank you!
Thanks Brenna, I pay that living in bricks and mortar. Bet you have more fun travelling and living your best life..
I do!
Can you share in a video HOW you keep track of your expenses? Is it an app? Do you sit down each night with excel on your laptop (probably how I'd do it)? Or keep the receipts in a shoebox into the end of the year?! Please show us your everyday routine to do that!!
Yes I can
Thanks for your help and your tips.
My pleasure!
Hey Brenna just checking you are OK, haven't seen you online for a while 🌻🌻🌻
Thanks!How did I miss this video! I'm sorry bestie.
No problem 😊 I wondered where you were.
Thank you, BTW. Everyone thinks that van life is the soft landing. It is not. It works for some souls, because they work hard to make it work. Their dividends are good, and blessings to them. But for those souls with little start up capital and no backups (like someone to act as a residential address for mail, or rest space whilst van gets repaired), then this is not a good option. It is also good for young adults ready to explore the world, just like backpacking and other "roughing it" options. It is not a solution for those looking for stability going into vulnerable or retirement phases.
Thanks for sharing Brenna! The only one that really surprised me was your food/groceries. How often do you eat meat?
I think I just eat too much food 😄
Thanks for your honest breakdown of costs. I was planning van life as retirement, but you've convinced me now to retire overseas. As an Australian, it is just way too expensive here. I urge all those about to retire, grab your super, get the overseas pension rate. And have a great life out of this ...thole.
Thanks!
No problem!
Can’t believe we are in opposite sides of the world. Love your videos.
Thanks! 😊
Thank you 🙏
Hope you are doing well. Would love to see new video.
Hi Brenna, I've just found you and your videos, really enjoying them. I was just wondering with your budget you didn't mention anything regarding fees. Fees to enter somewhere, costs for sightseeing. Is that included? Thanks for the videos, great work
That would come under my “spending “ category
Hard to work it out, British pound is about half Australian dollars I think. And we have different travel costs for insurance tax etc. So it's hard to compare
Toni uk
I think it is impossible to compare between countries, so many variables 😊
Pro's and con's. As a Brit now living in NZ, I've found food far cheaper in Australia than NZ and fruit and veg were huge in size! In South Island NZ, I can only buy seasonal fruit and veg as almost no fresh food is imported due to transportation costs. When I speak with my UK friends, petrol always seems (surprisingly) cheaper in NZ and eating out is definitely a lot cheaper. So while you may think you cannot compare, I think as an overall average, there's probably not much difference.
Hello lovely lady I’m hoping everything is ok with you as you haven’t posted in quite a while 🇦🇺👍🏽😊
All good
@@BrennaLivingJoyfully ohh thank you for replying.. I’m so glad you’re ok 💕👍🏽😊
This was interesting. I was wondering about your petrol expenses, how long would you stay in place usually? Are there many weeks where you wouldn’t travel at all?
Yes, sometimes I sit still for weeks at a time and sometimes I drive 1000km in one week.
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤👍👍👍👍😉😉😉😉😉👏👏👏👍👍👍
What is your business please?
Bookkeeping
For the experiences you had I think it’s cheap 😁
Me too 😊