An Australian family living in a van manages to overcome cost-of-living crisis by spending $500 a week
How one family managed to overcome the cost of living crisis – and spend just $500 a week
- Family of three leaves home to live in a van
- In addition, they have halved their weekly expenses
A young family has managed to continue living their dream life on the road while keeping weekly costs low amid Australia’s rising cost of living.
Maddison Milton, 27, a holistic women’s health dietitian, and her stay-at-home partner, Kyle Markham, 29, decided to leave their home in Adelaide and pursue a nomadic lifestyle with their four-year-old son, River.
After hitting the road in a personally modified 2015 Mercedes Sprinter, they claim their outgoing expenses are about $500 a week — more than half of what they previously paid when they lived in a house.
The van cost $40,000 upfront, and about the same to have it outfitted with a refrigerator, pantry, storage, and beds.
The family’s weekly expenses include about $250 in food, $150 in gas, $30 in laundry, and $50-100 in phone bills and online subscriptions.
Maddison Milton, 27, a holistic women’s health dietitian, and her stay-at-home partner, Kyle Markham, 29, decided to leave their home in Adelaide and pursue a nomadic lifestyle with their 4-year-old son, River (family pictured together)
The van, a $40,000 Mercedes Sprinter, cost $40,000 upfront, and about the same to have it outfitted with a refrigerator, pantry, storage, and beds
“We’ve managed to almost halve our cost of living by not paying rent or utilities,” Ms. Milton told Yahoo.
‘We don’t pay for electricity because we work entirely on solar energy.’
The family made the decision after Mrs. Milton got pregnant with River and decided to give him a unique start to a life of adventure.
“We knew we wanted to spend as much time together as a family as possible,” she said.
“For us, these early years of our son’s life are the most precious to us.
“We want to be there, as present as we can be for all those incredible milestones.
“By moving into the van, we’ve lowered our cost of living to the point where Kyle could quit his job and be home with us, while my work and business, which is completely online, keeps us going.”
The family’s weekly expenses include about $250 in food, $150 in gas, $30 in laundry, and $50-100 in phone bills and online subscriptions
The family made the decision after Mrs. Milton got pregnant with River and decided to give him a unique start to a life of adventure
The so-called ‘van life’ – the nomadic lifestyle where people give up their rent and live in a decked out car – has become increasingly popular in recent years.
In the year to February, rents have skyrocketed 14 percent, with some suburbs in places like Sydney rising 26 percent.
To make matters worse, overall inflation is also rising.
Australia’s most recent CPI readout showed an inflation rate of 6.8 percent, with households with employees hardest hit, paying 9.6 percent more on costs such as housing, food and insurance than the year before.