The cost of April 2014

April was a big month, financially. I spent a lot more than I like to spend on van-living on a monthly basis. With only a glance it becomes obvious why I spent nearly double my norm; two big projects were completed in April.

The first project was getting my South Dakotan residency ($217) and registering both vehicles ($61) in South Dakota. It cost me more money this year but will save much more in the future years. I listed both of these under “Vehicle Registration” as that was the primary goal behind the residency change. Unfortunately, my registration is due in July so I have the annual payment for both vehicles coming up in a few months.

The second project was the interior rebuild of the van ($278 + $58 from March); version 3.0… or the 2014 rebuild, which ever slips off your tongue easier. I spent a bit more than I originally planned, but the extra cost was worth it in the end. The new bed layout is much more comfortable to sleep on, and the rest of the van is that much more useful as well. And in all honestly, it looks better than the old setup which makes me feel a little more at ease when people ask, “can I see inside your van?” which is quite common from other full-timers.

Take those two big-ticket items out of the equation and my spending was not much more than my 2013-norm. Within that $1160 is two more purchases that fall outside my normal budget; the $130 in clothing (I found some jeans worth picking up), and $103 in shooting supplies (I finally found the extra magazines for my S&W after 2 years searching). Take those out of the equation and I am back within my comfort zone of under $1000 each month and everything else looks fairly normal.

As usual, urban camping shifted my expenses from gasoline-based to camping-based… instead of fueling up, I paid for camping. It is all a wash, balancing out to the same either way I decide to live. Not much more to say on my normal daily-life expenses.