How Much Does Skoolie Travel Cost?: 6 Months of Expenses on the Road in our DIY RV
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
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In this video we breakdown exactly how much it cost us to travel full time as a family of 3 living and adventuring in our self-built 1987 School Bus Conversion. We talk about Fuel, Food, Shopping, Healthcare, Maintenance, and everything in-between. Traveling full time as a family has it's unique challenges, but for us it has absolutely been worth it!
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Interesting. $30,000 for 6 months comes out to $5,000 a month divided by 3 comes out to $1,667
Per person. That money per person would cover my mortgage, my energy bill, water, emergency, food, clothes, insurance and cell phone and leave me with over a hundred bucks. Interesting...... makes one think about being off the grid.👍
Right?! 30k is over my family of three's yearly income. X'D just another dream for the rich I guess.
I shared every little expense with you so that you can adjust it to your own income and needs. You can park for free most nights, you can spend much less on food by not buying expensive food like we do, and most importantly you don't have to drive 12K miles in a bus in 6 months. Plenty of families out there doing it much cheaper.
Can’t imagine leaving my dog! Your dog must have been so sad when you left her!
It was sad for us and sad for our dog and I'm sad that it's made you sad too!
Where is he now??!
@@astr3298 As soon as we got back home we picked her up and she's with us now. At the moment our pace of travel is much different and we aren't faced with 100 degree plus days in the Arizona and Utah desert like last summer.
@@MobileDwellings nice to hear
As a small CZcams channel creator (compared to yours)
myself, I appreciate the time you spend creating and editing very entertaining
content! I'm coming late to the game to your channel and always looking
forward to the next and watching those I haven't seen yet!
Thanks for all the great content and the time it takes to produce!
This is life goals, once I finish my Active Duty service
Congratulations on the new born she is spoiled already. Thank you for taking us along with you. I am sure that many families would have wanted to tour America in some way I know I do. I am glad you arrived safely to all of the pl;aces that you toured.
I kinda want to build a skoolie, but just for camping trips. That way it will be better built, cheaper, and safer than a traditional rv.
I agree
@@astr3298 His build is awesome, but 80k is way beyond my budget. Plus 2 kids in a tiny bus and we'd go nuts.
@@justinfowler2857 you can get an old used bus for like 5k, to make it an rv really just toss a propane stove and a mattress in it lol
@@BigCroca Old buses that go for $5k might have some issues with the tranny or engine or other expensive parts (bad tires) that aren’t easily seen and which could show up about 10 miles down a dirt road out in the middle of nowhere. Are you ready for no wifi, no cell reception, and no way back? Just mentioning it because this video was about a man with his wife and toddler. If you travel alone, it’s only your life at risk. Just something to consider.
Just noticed comments are finally open on your vidoes. Really appreciate all of your videos and open honesty about finances! Helps me plan better for my wife and I's future :).
For saving on food….highly recommend shopping at Aldi. They have somewhat less selection, but they get good deals on the good stuff they have. We spend about 200 a week for a family of 5.
This is great information!! I hope to pick up a well built out shorty as a starting point. I’ll be watching this video again, probably many times.
Thanks for the breakdown. I'm planning on being a 99% stationary solo, senior. I saw where I could significantly cut back on my expenses.
BTW, congrats on your sweet little RIVER (Song)! She is gorgeous.
Thank you! Glad you got some value from our video!
I can’t imagine leaving my dog😢I’m tearing up omg
Congratulations you are a beautiful special family an honour to follow you on this incredible journey sharing your precious memories...love your channel an.yiur beautiful positive outlook much love to you an your beautiful girls ...God bless x
Liking the new look buddy and nice to see the comments turned on.
You did great on the costs.
Thank you!
Time with your family is priceless, Your daughter has stories for life and I think you did great! America is a wonderful place to explore and if you can work on the road... there are many pluses!
Recently retired firefighter here, going to pick up our schooling next week! Also most of my family is from Charleston /Edisto/monks corner area….. had no choice but to subscribe, lol! Hopefully we’ll meet out on the road somewhere! We wont be full time living, we bought a duplex and plan to rent one side out and the other be home base but with no mortgage …… I was mostly interested in how you find someone in each little town that can do the major mechanical work if needed. Ive been my own mechanic my whole life but never on anything bigger than f250, lol. So all the stuff you’ve mentioned will be no trouble for me, just nervous about the big stuff
So interesting, thanks for sharing it!
I'm so glad we have informational ppl like you guys.!! 👋👋☺️☺️👍👍
Beautiful family!
I love your videos, I already watched all of them! Please keep them coming!
Buying my bus this week.....cant freaking wait.. 40' 99 bluebird pusher with the 8.3L cummins to Allison. beyond excited.
Love the 8.3 Cummins with an great Allison Transmission. Sweet bus! I hope the build goes well!
I would love to live in an off the grid plastic Hexacube house. I wish someone would bring them back!!!
Perfect Vídeo
wow! I spend 1000 a month with 5 of us in the house!
Excellent well done to the point detailed video ! I myself travel the southwest northwest region full time in my 2020 palomino camper 1251 model on my 2017 nissan pick up 4x4 free off the grid bLM living love it ...... that goodness no major machical issues. Waking up having to think where am I
Is awesome and beautiful to boot. I wish you and family great success and mostly great heath as I'm Battling cancer for the next year unfortunately to be my last. ☮🛐❤
That sounds like a fantastic life and I'm so sorry that you've had to take up the horrible fight against cancer.
Ah we didn't get to see a proper tour of your skoolie. That would've been nice 👍
Thanks for sharing your experience. Grateful for your beautiful 2nd princess.
And here I thought I ate well on about $200 a month. WOWZA!
If I don't go out to eat, I can just barely survive on $400/mo for food.
You should move to Oregon. You were here. You know. I am purchasing 2 properties that had fire run through. One on the coast and on in Eastern Oregon. Both have utilities. Only 250 miles apart but 2 different worlds.
Oregon was very cool! Especially along the coast. I don't think we'll ever leave our family on the east coast though.
Beautiful bus. Have you ever been refused to stay in a rv park? That would be my biggest fear.
One time. And when we drove away they ran after us and invited us to come back lol. But RV parks are not the point of this lifestyle. They generally cost $45+ and offer little amenities and we don't need their hookups so what's the point? National park and state campgrounds and free camping and harvest hosts is the way to go.
This is why we should have Medicare 4 all in the US, l had good insurance when l was working but always had to worry about in network and going out of state. It sucked but now that I'm on Medicare it's like going to a children's hospital and everything is taken care of. Sometimes my meds cost a little but never a lot. The US needs to catch up with the restof the world 🌎 on health care.
Medicare works only because the debt is being accumulated for later generations to pay off. What we need is to control health costs. Like $848.00 for 10 migraine pills. Yet is sold in other countries for far less.
@@justinfowler2857
Both need to happen, we are the only wealthy Country in the world that doesn't have decent health care and that's because ours is run by scam artist insurance companies
@@zedwolf1589 Exactly. We have the most expensive yet have one of the highest mortality rate in the world. I wasn't kidding about the migraine pills. That's actually what gets charged to my insurance. Shitty part is they don't even work that well.
@@justinfowler2857
Yeah I take imetrex for my migraines too, l also take a once a month shot that's $680. But with Medicare and what CA picks up all of its under $10. We're getting scammed and screwed over
@@zedwolf1589 10 migraine pills costs 10$ in Norway...
Isn't that manufacturer price?
We pay for it ourselves in Norway, unless we get a prescription from the doctor, then it's free.
Thanks for the info!
Are y'all coming back to Charleston at all?
If you’re listening or can’t at the moment, I pray your humble happiness makes you happy
I have family through out the united states and hawaii. I wanna do what you guys are doing
Awesome!thanks
Thanks for all of the great information Justin!
Great video!!!
Do you happen to use First Net for your hotspot? What do you think of it?
Yes and it's amazing
Great
Great life very challenging, keep always have safe travel.
Do more road trips please, we want to see more. Thanks
Really well done. Informative, entertaining, and inspiring. Thank you for the great content!
Hey thanks so much. Really glad you appreciated it!
Thanks for sharing, very informative😊.
YAY, comments are back!! At least for this one. Hopefully they stay!
This was a really good one. You answered a lot of questions I was wondering about, like health coverage. I also didn't realize the ACA was so state specific. The stuff you can learn from a youtube vid. At least you know now it's time for an upgrade on health coverage.
I think you did great for the first 6 months as newbies. Only a couple of ooops, I don't think is so bad. I think that's a pretty standard learning curve for any new adventure, no matter what it is. But man you people can eat, holy cow!! Who knew such a little body could cost that much to feed??? But like you said, you like to eat well, and that costs some bucks to do.
It also looks like your skill share time is paying off as well. Your vid quality has def improved over the course of your travels, and I think it def shows how much you've learned. Strong work on that Justin!!
Keep up the good work. Glad to hear your fam of four are all doing well. Looking forward to the next ep.
As a suggestion, AAA (American Automobile Association) do have emergency travel medical insurance coverages for an ENTIRE YEAR (about $500 per person for one year) which you pay upfront which works in EVERY STATE and IN CANADA too! I think it's called TravelGold or something similar these days. It pays doctors right away and protects you against sickness and accident wherever you go.
This multi-state coverage just needs a few small forms to fill out and some previous medical history and is a GREAT way to cover catastrophic emergency medical expenses. Blue Cross ALSO offers individual secondary medical checkup and minor medical expense plans that work in almost all states IF you stay in their nation-wide hospital and doctor networks. They can also be bought on an entire-year's basis upfront so you don't have to worry about monthly premiums. When purchased with the TravelGold plans, these combined coverages lets you cover many typical medical and dental expenses except for pregnancy which requires an extras and fairly expensive rider policy. Just remember to STAY in the urgent care and hospital networks proscribed and you are fine for coverage!
For Canadians who are interested in this type of coverage, CAA (Canadian Automobile Association) and their individual provincial groups (i.e. BCAA) have the same type of yearly TravelGold emergency medical travel insurance plans which you purchase in concert with a Blue Cross medical/dental plan for form a unified an quite inexpensive insurance system that works in BOTH Canada and the USA!
If you ALSO get the AAA or CAA road care coverages, a lot of other hotel/campground/attraction discounts are available AND many towing charges could be insured for and taken care of for a mere $100 per year plus you get those free really thick maps and attractions books which are very handy to plan your country-wide tours!
v
Enjoyed the latest video today .Thanks
Wao a The end for 6 months or More u travel you spend around 3,662.662 Alot of Money im just like maybe i should not travel anymore 🤣 AND congrast Brother for The new baby 🙌🏼👣
The Earth's ecology is much more important than the economy.
Looked a fantastic trip and what you got out of it as a family is invaluable and yeah you would have spent maybe slightly less in a house ? But look at the experience you had. Congratulations on new baby and both your daughters have great names, your never live it down saying ‘ laundry 🧺 was ENJOYABLE’ 😂
Love you folks. Heard you met London while visiting Philly. Would love for you to come see Big Blue (our skoolie) if you are ever around again before we get on the road
Hey Victor. If you're in Philly I'll definitely come meet you. gilliganphantom@gmail.com hit me up. Thanks!
Yes, comments!!!!!
It was more expensive than I thought!!
I thought we'd spend less too
Awesome Bro
I feel the sparkling water and kombucha expense.
Peace
Well… found the answer to one part f my two-part question. Lol
Bus tour please?
Imagine you also ripped out the engine, transmission and everything and put in electric motors (and major batteries) - way less maintenance, fuel, break downs, etc. If you stay in one place long enough- free fuel sun ☀️ 😎
… you will need slide out solar panels on top of what you already have.
That would be absolutely amazing!!!
And it would be incredibly impractical😂
Not much space for batteries after the big motor(s) needed.
Range wouldn't be great.
Really enjoyed this video an you being so transparent about each category. Great video I hope one day in the future to have my little family live this way or at least just me & the hubby once our kids are off to college!💚
What do y’all do for a living ?
Uncle iam from sri lanka
I lived in Sri Lanka for over a year
I want have it one.. how I can get it??? 😭😭😭
I was excited at the possibility of converting a bus, but after watching your video I am totally depressed.
Ron you've gotta read between the lines a little. The only reason that I told you every dollar we spent is so that you can adapt this info to your own life. In the end...if you want...living in a bus is going to cost the same for you as living in a house. OR don't drive 12,000 miles and save $5K in fuel plus the maintenance. Don't have a family? Great you can spend less on food. Don't have a couple hundred a month to spend on stuff? No problem. Got real problems? Tell us about them. maybe me or somebody here can help.
Do to ongoing pandemic concerns, my family and I are extremely interested in having a bus created for us. Could you please respond to this post so we can further discuss how we can use your services to get us one. Time is of the essence 😌
Hi Ladonna. I can do remote consulting to help you expedite the building and decision making process, but I can't take on any labor at this time. Feel free to send me an email at gilliganphantom@gmail.com or there are professional bus builders in most areas of the country. Thanks!
Im glad that Im a Brit, so I can spend my life not worrying about being made bankrupt in the event of a medical emergency.
Lol for real.
How much for total cost build of the bus and how long did it take
He posted a video a while back and it was 80k. Yikes!!
@@justinfowler2857 that's to much
Bout time they reinstated comments. Grats on the imminent channel growth explosion
That's why electrical is better.
You didn’t use reclaimed materials, everything was brand new , this is for a rich people or very financially secure family, not encouraging I love builds on a budget.
I'm a single mom with an eviction can't really get my own place is there a way to buy one already made does it cost a lot next year I'm getting one I don't really want to travel it would just be my house on wheels yeah paying monthly $500 for a lot space doesn't sound bad either I just want to find something that's for two people just me and my son He's going to be one on the 22nd of this month He's growing so fast but it's just me and him we live with family right now I just tired of the same things living with people I want my own thing total how much would it be for me to buy a bus already put together like an apartment for two people
What happened to your friend?
👍👍👍👌❤
I love uuu
1k a month in food...on a family of 3. That's a hell of a lot.
Not really
Your food budget is ludicrous.
Honestly it's insane
More than some people’s rent !
True but it most likely keep their health costs low moving forward
Expense grocery. I could live a year at that cost
czcams.com/play/PLXxV2294FuOhB9abZ63YIyZ85bC6vZVXS.html hope you see it......🙃
How did you get your insurance to not drop you? I’ve had two separate plans get dropped and have heard lots of new Skoolie’s having issues with insurance too. I’ve also heard good Sam is no longer covering buses