Kaylee's not-a-blog » Human stuff » Expenses » summary of my expenses for ALL years

There's been considerable interest in my expenses, so I created this page to give a quick summary/overview of all years.
It should highlight how important it is to buy a vehicle in good condition.

"Vehicle repairs" includes routine maintenance (i.e. oil changes).
"Vehicle other" consists of insurance, registration and title fees.

year Total Monthly   vehicle
Repairs 		vehicle
Gas 		vehicle
other 		Miles
driven 		  Food food cost/
calorie-day 		  Everything
Else 		  non-van
monthly
2018 (December) $3,501.27 $3,501.27 $2,602.69 $484.65 $209.35 2638 $111.57 (not tracked) $93.01 $204.58
2019 $7,985.41 $665.45 $4,418.72 $1,263.99 $519.71 6133 $1,079.74 (not tracked) $703.25 $148.58
2020 $2,676.48 $223.04 $86.83 $751.83 $160.11 5056 $1,164.93  ($2.58) $512.78 $139.81
2021 $2,381.46 $198.46 $519.49 $722.71 $158.14 3130 $489.05  ($2.52) $492.07 $81.76
2022 $2,958.64 $246.55 $772.89 $258.17 $169.01 671 $1,038.89  ($2.24) $719.68 $146.55
2023 $1,656.18 $138.02 $60.00 $175.20 $192.32 567 $828.34  ($2.18) $400.32 $102.39
2024 (YTD: Mar) $489.82 $163.27 $ 0.00 $33.94 $31.98 131 $110.19  ($2.55~) $313.71 $141.30
cumulative Totals $21,649.26   $8,460.62 $3,690.49 $1,440.62 18,326 $4,822.71   $3,234.82
Monthly Average $338.27   $132.20 $57.66 $22.51 286 $75.35   $50.54 $125.90

Average Monthly Costs:

As of the end of Mar 2024, I've been a van dweller for 64 months.

My average non vehicle specific costs have been $125.90 / month (i.e. "Food" and "Everything Else").

The total cost for my first 4 months (during which I had 2 major breakdowns) was $7,836.29 for a monthly average cost of $1,959.07.
The total cost for my next 60 months was $13,812.97 for a monthly average cost of $230.22.

Notes:

Current Year "unusual" expenses:

My "zombie" AGM House Batteries finally died. :(
I don't have enough money to do a full replacement, so instead bought a single 55~ AH AGM replacement.
So far, it has been performing extremely well! :)

My food costs will (probably) go up significantly this year, because the local discount grocery store has become unuseable, due to a switch from terrible to crippling noise-zak. :(
I may be able to get help from local Friends, and/or make an Americans with Disabilities Act complaint.
I also plan to use local food pantries.

Vehicle Repairs:

During the first two months after buying my van, it had two major breakdowns, including a seized engine which required a replacement.
I alone had made a major error in judgement in blithely trusting several online individuals, and failing to have the van inspected by a trustworthy professional.
I hope others will learn from my mistake.

After my 2nd major breakdown, several generous people donated a total of $2,342.70 to help cover my costs.
Throughout my original journey to pick up & return in the van, then during all my first year breakdowns, many people provided priceless technical and morale support - thanks to you all! :)

Vehicle Gas:

The Covid pandemic hit early in 2020, which both limited my travel options and temporarily reduced the cost of gas (just in time for Spring Migration!).
In mid-2021 I had another major repair issue, and yet again a shop bungled the repair so badly, that I could not risk migrating South for the winter, which was physically & mentally gruelling, however did reduce my gas expenses for late 2021 and early 2022.
In early 2022, gas prices skyrocketed. :(
From Fall 2021 thru now, I have skipped winter migrations to save money (the first time, it was due to yet-another major mechanical issue).

Vehicle other:

At the end of 2019 I switched insurers, which is saving me over $400/year.
I only have liability insurance, and am a middle aged female with a squeaky clean driving record, hence the low rate.

My van is registered in South Dakota, under their "Nomad" provision (as far as I know, it's the only state that allows the homeless to register without hassles).

Food:

Note that I do not have a fridge in my van, which can be somewhat challenging.

Throughout 2020, I gradually increased my food stocking levels, partially as a result of COVID shortages, partially due to having gained enough experience that I better understood what foods worked best for me.

In mid 2021 I had another major mechanical problem, which dramatically limited my van's movement, so I ended up depleting most of my food stockpile (i.e. the actual cost of the food I ate in 2021 was about eight hundred dollars).

In 2022, I rebuilt my food stockpile, to the highest level ever, largely to have a better baseline, and partly due to aggressive buying whenever there were particularly good sales (there was rapid inflation through most of 2022).

I've received some modest donations of food (e.g. free meals while visiting Friends), and (starting in Sep 2021) three times have gone to a food pantry (each time I was given about two weeks worth of food).
I have tracked free food by days, and am excluding them from the total used to calculate "Cost per Calorie Day".

Contrary to popular opinion (and the USDA's policy), it's extremely difficult for the rural homeless to get SNAP (aka "Food Stamps"), and food banks/pantries are often very minimal (e.g. the closest one to me allows only one visit per three months, and provides only two weeks of food per visit).

food cost / calorie-day:

Since early 2020 I have been tracking the calories of all food bought (yes, that's tedious, yet interesting, and an easy way to estimate my food inventory).
Beside the "Food" column, I've added "cost/calorie-day", which is the total spent on food divided by the total calorie days of that food, for that year (I've excluded the calories & days of all gifted food).
In other words, this is my average spent to buy one calorie day of food, based on a 1700 calorie day (i.e. the average for a female).

My daily cost went down for 2022, mainly because:

For 2023, initially my daily cost went up somewhat ($2.48/day), mainly because I did a major pre-Deep-Freeze supply run that included stocking up on several pricier food staples (cheese... lots & lots of cheese!).
Since then, my 2023 daily cost went down ($2.18/day) to somewhat below my 2022 average, which initially surprised me!
I reviewed my purchases, crunched some numbers, and the main factor is that I stocked up on several very low cost staples, including (listed low-to-high by cost for a "woman" day (i.e. 1700 calories/day)): If anything, I'm now (almost) overstocked on such staples, and I expect my cost/day to gradually increase for the rest of the year, particularly since I'm trying to buy more fresh vegetables & fruits. :)
This year, I'm experimenting with growing small batches of sprouts, which is working out well, and saving me money on lettuce (which is overpriced and far less nutritious than sprouts).
My tentative goal was to be close to $2.30/day for 2023, which I more than achieved. :)

Everything Else:

After my first two major breakdowns (both occurred during my first two months of van dwelling), I realized I would have to reduce my budget significantly, and set these limits: I've had no difficulty keeping well within these limits. :)
For all non "personal" expenses (e.g. equipment, and the equivalent of "utilities" in a conventional house), I have no set limits, however I strive to be very frugal.

General Frugality:

Other areas where I save:

Updates:

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Last update: 2024-Apr-24