A married couple ditched their rental property and moved to living and working out of a campervan. Robert and Mariona Bolohan reckon the move has saved them around £1,400 as they look to save for a property.
The couple, who live in London, struggled to get their feet on the property ladder, despite saying they had a £40,000 deposit to buy their dream home. While they are enjoying van life for now, the pair say they ultimately want to settle down and buy a house in either the UK or Spain.
The couple, who founded translation agency lotuly.com, both work remotely from the van. It has meant they've been able to save around £900 a month on rent, £150 on council tax, and even more on various other bills, instead, only spending £400 a month on fuelling the converted van.
Robert, 28, told CashLady.com: "My wife and I ditched renting in London to live and work from our van, and it’s the best decision we’ve made. Not only has it transformed our lifestyle for the better, allowing us to travel as much as we like, but we have also saved a fortune in the process.
We initially made the decision after we struggled to buy a house, despite having a £40k deposit. And so far believe we are saving around £1,400 per month.”
Robert says the couple were inspired to convert the minibus into a camper after seeing the #vanlife trend during the coronavirus pandemic. And, with the pair both fans of travel and struggling to buy a house, felt it was the "perfect time to make a change".
He added: “We bought the minibus in April 2022 and took eight months to convert it into a fully electric, self-sufficient and off-grid campervan. We opted for a minibus over a normal van as they tend to be bigger. It has its own challenges but I think we made the right choice.
“We sold our other car and reinvested the money into the van, recovering part of the investment, so to speak. There was a lot of work which needed to be done, and we did almost all of it ourselves rather than paying for someone else to do it.
"We had to ensure the vehicle was in order mechanically, fixing everything and then making sure there was no rust. Then we rust-proofed and soundproofed it and made sure the insulation was sufficient.
"Then we added plumbing and electricity, built the walls and the furniture, and added the final homely touches. One of our top priorities was installing solar panels and batteries so that we never run out of energy.
“We saved money during the process wherever we could. Thorough research was key to making sure we got the best quality items for our money, and we often bought in bulk where we could, to cut costs.”
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Having spent five months in the van, the pair think they could have saved around £7,000 in expenses. And the lifestyle change has meant they've saved in other ways, having to live in a minimalistic fashion due to the size of their mobile home.
Robert continued: "We find free spaces to park where we can, and we enjoy shopping at local markets for groceries which is usually cheaper than the supermarket. We used to live in a 29sqm studio in London with no balcony, and afterwards we moved in with my parents into a small bedroom in a flat while we built the van, so we’re used to living in small spaces.
“Even though the minibus may be the smallest of them all, it feels huge because we have the whole world as our garden. The move hasn’t impacted anything with our jobs as we have been running our business remotely for the past eight years anyway.
Our campervan has Wi-Fi like any other house, and we feel that it’s helped us to run Lotuly even better. Being able to go outside and explore after work has helped us to prevent burnout.
“Ultimately, the goal is to save up to buy a house in the UK or Spain, but right now we’re focusing on enjoying the van life. We’ve been working non-stop for 10 years, and even though we are still working, moving into a van has changed our whole lifestyle in incomprehensible ways and will allow us to visit places where we may want to live one day. When the time is right, we can then sell the van and upgrade to a house.”
