What It Actually Costs to Live Simply
I don't waste and I don't buy things I don't need.
People ask me all the time how I do it — how I live on the road, out of a tiny Louisiana home, a black Volvo, and a gray camper van, and still sleep at night. They picture something romantic. Sunsets. Freedom. No bills.
Here’s the truth: there are bills. There’s just fewer of them, and I’ve made peace with every single one.
I’m not an accountant. I never claimed to be. But I keep a record, because when you’re living on a little over $1,000 a month, you have to know where every dollar goes. No guessing. No “I think I’m fine.” You know, or you don’t eat.
So here’s the breakdown, laid bare, the way I’d tell it to you on the porch.
The Numbers
Electric & Water — $195 Solar takes some of the sting out of this one. It doesn’t erase the bill, but it knocks it down enough that I notice the difference every month.
Cell Phone & Internet — $95 Non-negotiable when your office is a camper van. This is how I stay connected to the work, the readers, the world.
Food & Misc — $240 This is the one that flexes. Some months it’s tighter, some months it breathes a little. I don’t eat fancy. I eat enough.
Unexpected — $150 Because something always comes up. A tire. A part. A thing you didn’t see coming. I stopped pretending “unexpected” wasn’t a real line item years ago. Now it’s just part of the plan.
Substack Memberships — $50 I support other writers. Other voices out here doing the same thing I’m doing — telling the truth about a life most people don’t understand. It matters to me to put money behind that.
Other Programs — Adobe Express and the like Small tools that keep the work looking like something worth reading. And every once in a while, I’ll drop a few bucks buying someone a coffee on Gumroad. Small kindness, small cost, still counts.
What’s Not on the List
Clothes. I don’t buy clothes. I’m wearing things I bought ten years ago, and there’s nothing wrong with them — they still fit, they’re still me. The older I get, the less I want in the way of things. That’s not a budgeting trick. That’s just where I’ve landed.
Personal items — toothpaste, hairspray, body wash, all of it — don’t show up in the monthly number either. I don’t buy that stuff every month. When I need it, I get it, and I tally it up as misc at the end of the fiscal year. It’s accounted for, just not here, not monthly.
The Honest Total
Add it up and it lands at a little over $1,000 a month. That’s the real number. Not a number I’m proud of because it’s small — a number I’m proud of because it’s mine. I built this life on purpose, dollar by dollar, and I know exactly what it costs to keep it running.
Living simply isn’t about deprivation. It’s about knowing what you actually need, and letting go of the noise around everything else.
Want the full breakdown of how I built this life on the road — the gear, the spots, the mindset? Head over to my Gumroad shop for the guides and resources I’ve put together for women doing this exact thing. Real tools, real experience, no fluff. Check them out here.
Thanks for reading!
Kindly-Carol
Very interesting, but what about gasoline?