Tips to Save Money On the Van Build
If you’re about to embark on a van build you will quickly learn it is quite the investment. Here are the money saving strategies we used when building out our van.
Tip 1: DIY (Do It Yourself!)
The “do it yourself” route is definitely going to save you a lot of money however not much time, unless you're a skilled handyman or have expereince building things. Truthfully you can do every step of the van build process yourself and you can get most of your education from YouTube. There may be areas you will need extra help in like electrical or plumbing but ultimately, with enough research and trial and error you really can DIY an entire van build. If you have no experience building things, it will take a lot longer so don't give yourself a hard deadline. And plan to spend countless hours researching every step along the way.
Remember, measure twice, cut once.
Sunny and I were both working full time during our van build with a 3 month deadline so we did end up hiring out some help so we could reach our deadline. If you do allocate some money in your budget to hire out, try to find someone who is an experienced carpenter or handyman. You don't have to hire someone who specializes in van builds as their hourly rates run around $135+/hour! The person we hired was my family's handyman who had never worked on a van before but was a retired contractor and was vetted. He ended up giving us a friends & family discount rate for only $15/hour! If you need to hire some help, look online to find local handymen and be sure to confirm they have a portfolio of good work.
Tip 2: BUY A USED VAN
(Photographed above is us at the car lot where we bought Stella from.)
Buying a used van is the first thing you should consider when building on a budget. This simple decision has the greatest positive impact on your overall conversion budget before even starting the build! We are so happy we purchased a slightly used van. Be sure to do a lot of research on the dealer you get it from and have it checked out immediately after taking her off the car lot with a contract to return if any issues are found.
Tip 3: ELIMINATE PAYING RENT
(Thanks Mom & Dad!)
(Photographed above is our van parked out front of my parents home where we lived during our build.)
Paying for housing is typically the biggest expense on a person. Imagine how much more money you'd have to spend on your van build if you weren't paying rent. You might be wondering “how do I eliminate paying my rent?". While it may not be possible for all, there is a good chance you can figure out a way to make it happen. Pictured above is our van parked out front of my parents house. We went there to quarantine and ended up deciding to buy a van to convert in their driveway. In order to get out of paying rent, we drove back to our LA apartment, moved all of our belongings into storage and got sub-letters to live out the rest of our lease. Once we took care of that, we immediately had over $2,000 a month to put towards the van, also being our new tiny home. We wouldn't have been able to finish the build in the 3 month period if it wasn't for eliminating our rent.
If you have a friend or family with a driveway who will allow you to live in your van or on their couch or spare bedroom during your build, you will be able to save a substantial amount of money, have more to put towards your van and finish it in a quicker time frame.