She 'Couldn't Afford Rent In Cramped Flat So Moved To Van' & Saved $15k In One Year

Oct 20, 2021 by apost team

Anyone living in a studio apartment has probably dreamed of packing their belongings and moving out to the country or taking to the open road. This is especially true if your rent is reaching up to $500 a week for a cramped apartment that smells damp and musty. That is what 
Brittany Cosgrove was dealing with until she made the decision to buy a camper van and move in full-time. 

Cosgrove is 27 and from Wellington, New Zealand. She bought her 1991 Nissan van for $6,000, or £3,220, and it costs her around $100 a week to live in it because she only has to pay for registration, maintenance, parking, and gas. Cosgrove is actually able to save her money now, and in a year, she saved £11,000 (approx. $15,000 USD).

The young woman owns her own clothing business called Nope Sisters Clothing and works remotely from anywhere. Cosgrove also added that not paying rent means she can work as much or as little as she desires. The financial freedom had also allowed her to try out odd jobs that she would never have considered when she was reliant on her income to pay rent, like at a petting zoo, for example. 

In 2021, Cosgrove has been living in her van for about a year and says she loves it. 
The only challenge with van living is locating places to bathe since the vehicle doesn't have a shower. However, it does have a bed, kitchenette toilet, and tons of space for storage. Cosgrove said the van actually isn't much smaller than some of the studio apartments she considered renting.

Keep reading to learn more about Cosgrove's day-to-day life as she lives out of her van.

The biggest factor in Cosgrove's decision to leave renting behind was that she was paying outrageous prices for poor-quality living conditions. In an interview with Daily Mail, she said, "The only difference is my van doesn't have its own bathroom or come with mushrooms and black mold in the walls."

Cosgrove added: "I can do whatever I want, go wherever I want and because my lifestyle has no huge expenses I can work as much or as little as I want." The young woman already had a successful career when she made the choice to live in her van. 

Her brand Nope Sisters Clothing is run entirely online, so Cosgrove can work from anywhere. "My manufacturers now pack and send all of the stock out so I don't need to be in the city. And my new lifestyle is great for my brand because creative ideas come out of boredom and I have a lot of free time now," she said.

Now that she isn't worried about affording rent, Cosgrove has put less focus on working and more on living. She explained, "I have so much time now, once you cut out the rent factor you can have spare money which is nice or you can have an extra day or two off a week." 

This lifestyle brings more peace and wellness into Cosgrove's life. She shared, "When you are constantly working there is no time to sleep or look after yourself properly - I don't know how people are supposed to thrive in that environment."

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What do you think of this woman's decision to live in her van? Would you ever do something like this? Let us know your thoughts, and be sure to send this along to your loved ones.