Money, Money, Money...

First thing I have to do is make a budget.

I told y'all in the last post that I was able to get the van for $5,000 (a pretty good deal I think). Taking inspiration from other van builders, like Anna, I decided to try to keep the whole endeavor under $10k. That means only 5k for the build out. It will be a challenge, but doable.

Van Interior

The most expensive part of this will probably be the power system, which I will talk about in my next post. I am not counting decorations or extra appliances (pots, pans, camping gear etc.) as part of the $5k budget.

Here are my very rough estimates:

~$1,000 on the power system

~$500 floor and ceiling and walls

~$500 bed and storage for bed

~$750 kitchen (including sink and stove)

~$250 car repairs

These are really rough estimates that only come out to $3k, but I have a feeling it will be a lot more.

On the road

I plan to try to visit at least all 48 contiguous states, and if possible drive through Canada to Alaska. Driving from NY to Cali is about 3k miles. Assuming I am making a loop, that it over 6k miles. Add in driving to Alaska and back, that may add another 4k miles. So far that is 10k. Since I am trying to hit every state, I will not be driving the shortest rout from NY to Cali. I plan to drive through the south in the late winter then make my way through the northern states in the summer. I will estimate that it will add another 4k to my trip (I am trying to estimate over so that I come in under budget instead of over).

With a 14,000 mile round trip, in a car that is probably about 10 MPG, that would be 1,400 gallons of gas. 1,400 gallons at $2 per gallon is $2,800 (round up to $3k since gas prices are slowly going up). So I will be budgeting $3,000 just for gas for my long trip. Yay dimensional analysis!

I will also need to eat. Estimate $50 a month for food. Planning to be on the road from Jan- Sept, so 9 months (or ~40 weeks), thats $2k for food (less than my gas budget, wow). Totaling to $5k so far.

My car's food budget (gas budget) is more than my own food budget.

I will probably want to take a hot shower now and again, or sleep somewhere that had actual plumbing, so I will also budget $1,500 for hotel stays during my time ($50 a night, 3 nights a month for 9 months).

National Parks are obviously something I'll want to explore, so I will make an miscellaneous/adventure category. I really have no idea how much that will be so I'm going to say $2,500?

Car maintenance will probably be the another big expense. 14,000 miles means 5 oil changes (one every 3,000 miles) each at $20-50. That's 250 dollars. Assuming no major problems, I will tack on another $750 for the other regular things like air filter replacements and tire changes.

In total, my budget for the on the road part will also be $10,000.

Making Money (hopefully)

Making Money is nice. One part of my gap year plan was to explore my passions outside of engineering. I enjoy story writing and am in the editing stage of a novel I am working on. Writing is something I can do from anywhere, so I hope to be able to work on the book on the road and maybe have it published by the time my trip is done. I don't expect that to make a lot but it could add a little income.

Maybe this blog could bring in a little money, I don't know. I could also get a real job where I could work remotely, but like I said in the previous blog, my plan was not to get a job right away. And I realize that it is a huge privilege for me to be able to do that, so I don't want to take it for granted.

Also, I am thinking of this entire trip as an investment. If I am not too attached to my car at the end of it I plan on selling it. No less than $10,000 (or as much as it cost for the renovation). So then all I would be paying for is the on road expenses.

Total budget

Shrug

Who knows. The income section is very vague. The amount of money that I hope to spend is $20,000 in total for the year. How much I make back? I have no clue.