Bundle Home & Auto - Live in Vehicle Challenge

[J.P. MoreGains]

Starting a live in vehicle challenge for anyone who lives in a vehicle to save money.

Can share tips and tricks here. Can also share our travels and stories on the way to FI!

So if anyone else is doing this feel free to share how you're living.

Vehicle - The House of MoreGains

I've been living in my Ford Escape since the end of May and I've adapted nicely. I'm on the minimalist side for sure and I don't need a lot of space. It has like 115,000 miles and is running well. Hoping to take it past 200,000 miles.

I made some cardboard window shades that I glued black construction paper to so I can black out the windows and sleep. I also have a curtain across by where the front seats are. Pretty simple "build". I just have a piece of plywood to flatten out where the rear seats go down and a mattress.

I'm big on hanging things. I hang bags and I got a sort of net thingy that hangs that holds clothes also.

I did this years ago for a summer to go to a bunch of national parks so I'm not new to this. I've adapted and I'm having fun. It's not that bad. I'm saving money and I get to travel more.

Routine & Savings

One big advantage I have is I have a kitchen at work and I keep some food in my cubicle. My focus is work so I'm a working vehicle dweller as opposed to the always on the go nomadic dweller. My work also has a locker room and a shower that I use although I'm likely going to get a gym membership soon.

I'm trying to work a lot to stay busy and just get into a good routine so I'm always busy.

I've already saved $2,600 on rent which has more than paid for a Mexico City trip and 2 Moab trips.

Bathroom

A picture of my bathroom which is what people always ask about. I have an emergency trash bag with kitty litter just in case. Obviously double bag it. It's rare that I have to use it - big thing is just getting into a routine where I have a place to go at night before I go to bed and a place to go after I wake up which is usually gym/work.

There is a pyschological factor with never having a home base to use the bathroom. Just one of the things about being a dirt bag. Just got to get used to going at Walmart, Grocery Store, Gas Station, Work, Gym, etc.

Winter

I'm prepping for Winter now. Just bought a warmer sleeping bag. Also checked out some books on polar explorers to help me realize how easy I have it. One exploration had their ship frozen into the ice near Antartica and they didn't see the sun for weeks in the polar winter and they had to survive by eating seal blubber and penguins. I get a warm shower every day I have a grocery store to go to. So I think winter will suck but I think I can do it.

Moab

Sharing a couple photos from a Moab trip - pretty easy location for me to get to for fun. Lots of rocks to look at including this monolith Titan.

[GilesMM]

This is awesome. Curious to know where you go and where you park the rig.

[J.P. MoreGains]

I'm mostly working a lot so mostly in the city. In the summer I go to the Sangre de Cristo mountain range fairly frequently and out to Moab when I have an extra day of. Sometimes go to other ranges.

Mostly park in the really nice and expensive neighborhoods with low car theft. I'd hate to get my car broken into when i'm sleeping in it.

Since I'm in an SUV I'm basically invisible so I can get away with parking in the nice neighborhoods without being too obvious (like living in a giant school bus with solar panels). I'm just another SUV parked on the road which is good to blend in.

[NotJen]

I'm curious about how you manage your mailing address/residency address. 

When I was nomadic for most of last year, what bothered me most was not having a permanent address for the important stuff.  I used a virtual mailbox service, which made getting my mail a snap - but that address couldn't be used as my residential address for several things.  I had to use my previous address as well as an AirB&B address, which made me feel ... like a creeper, or something.  And it wouldn't have worked for longer than a year.

[shadowmoss]

Having a permanent address while being a nomad is a hot topic in the van dweller world.  The 'easy' button is to join Escapees (SKE) in TX.  They run a mailbox program and were established for just this reason.  If you don't want a TX residency, there are places that have mailbox rentals that will give you what you need to get a license an d some that say they will be your residential address for more money.  Moon Mountain mail in Quartzsite, AZ is one.  I am not sure how that works, actually.  South Dakota used to have a plan where you pay for a month at an RV park and declare SD residency.  That may have changed recently also.

I live in my RV and use my summer RV park address as my residency and I have a PO box rental in town.  The only place that wanted my actual residence was for my voter registration.

[NotJen]

I live in my RV and use my summer RV park address as my residency and I have a PO box rental in town.  The only place that wanted my actual residence was for my voter registration.

I needed an actual residential address for drivers license, voter registration, health insurance, car insurance, and certain banks (I churn cards and accounts, some had no problem with a commercial address as my primary, some required a residential address as primary in addition to whatever mailing address).

I'd be fine with your setup - having an address you return to as your permanent address, with PO box or virtual mailbox for mailing address. 

I'm not planning to go fully nomadic, just curious about how the OP deals with this.  The place I claim residency does matter to me - and TX, SD, and AZ don't currently work.  If I needed to, I could use someone in my family as my perm address, the main issue would be healthcare, as they live about as far as possible from the places I would be living.