Van(Ram Promaster 159 WB 2500): $33,208.76

Insulation + Sound Deadening: $704.11

Solar and Electricity: $5,263.00

Nature’s Head Toilet: $1,020.96

CRLawrence Bunk Windows: $548.11

Isotherm Refrigerator: $964.00

Materials and Misc: $12,500.92

Our Budget

Our original build budget was $45,000. Early on, we realized we would NOT meet this goal for many reasons! For reference, we purchased a used Ram Promaster 159 wheelbase with 50k miles in Feb 2021. Our build lasted until August 2021.

Reasons why we did not meet our budget:

Lumber pricing skyrocketed: Because of COVID-19, materials tripled if not, quadrupled when we were building.

Vans in high demand: Amazon bought out fleets of Promasters around the time we bought ours so prices went up due to high demand. It took us weeks to find the one we got. We originally budgeted $30k for the van itself and ended up spending $3k more.

Grossly Underestimated: Estimates were based on builds from as early as 2018

Worth The Money?

M&M and Money

Yes, we know the build cost us a lot of money! We also know that not everyone can afford to spend this much on their van. Since becoming financially free, we have been pretty adamant about making smart decisions with our money because neither of us came from wealth.

The van to us, is an investment in our future. No rent or mortgage means more of our income will go towards savings and investments!

No matter what, we will always have a home… and as long as Ruthie continues to run, we will have an adventure mobile! We’re pretty happy about that!