Living in a van. Money on the road?

Hello, how is everything? I had a quick question. I'm planning on buying a conversion van, and start van dwelling. I want too live the life of traveling, and living in my van, but I wanted too know how too make money on the road beside busking? If anyone has had experience and can share, I'll greatly appreciate it! Thanks

 

first off... TOO means 'also', the word you're looking for is TO.

Second, why not take up photography while you're on the road, and sell the photos? Most Walgreens services same day development of 35mm film still, and has pretty decent prices for printing the photos, they also can reprint again and again, so you can keep your negatives!

Then there is a number of crafts you could get into, like making stuff out of road side debris, or collect stones from each visit and chronologue the adventure, and maybe make Mancala boards? Think outside the box, but ultimately, think CHEAP!!!

Gas prices are up, vans are TERRIBLE for gas mileage. Think smart, and good luck

 

Flea marketing, set up a stand. Sell jewelry ... Check out dealextreme.com for buying shit to resell
My uncle and family would buy super wholesale bulk jeans and socks and make a couple hundred a day sellin em on the street any things possible...

 

Pedantic Vincent, Is Pedantic...



Cheers Glen.

 

But I know the difference between too and to.... Now, if I can JUST master the issue of Lay and Lie...

 

Having survived years vaning it I've found specimen minerals & crystals, herbs & spices, quality tools, quality cookware, books, and antiques to all be good sellers. Minerals and herbs can be located and harvested during the week and the other things at garage sales etc and then sold at swap meets on the weekends.

 

Well, I am into photography. Also, where would I begin to sell the photos at? And What would be a recomended car if vans aren't smart? I appreciate the post, and ideas!

 

I'm not all that savvy on cars/trucks that are gas friendly---- Just remember the cost of gas, and needing to make up for that and food when selling stuff.

Sell the photos at a road side stand? A couple poles and a blanket can make a nice canopy for the van, and then just sit there with the photos on display in decorated shoe boxes?

 

Platnumb,

My screen name tells you how I make enough to live. Although flea markets have gone to hell in recent years, they're still "good enough". Go to a few markets and check things out. Look hard at the prices. GOOD used stuff sells better than new but what is "good" changes by market. It used to cost me more in gas to go to yard sales and pick through trash at the curb than it did to but new stuff. I'm in a Class C now but even when I had my van new stuff was cheaper.

In Florida you can set up every day if you want, and most folks have to in order to just get by. I'll be heading into the panhandle in the next couple of weeks to see how it goes. I'm making a winter loop from Ohio through KY and TN dropping to Louisiana and MS along the gulf. I'll start heading back through MS and AL and up through TN soon. The season in OH and PA really starts when the little darlings get out of school.

Photographs can sell OK at festivals and craft shows but the fees to set up are steep. I'm talking about hundreds of dollars paid months in advance for good events. You can try selling them at the side of the road but don't invest a lot in merchandise until you see how it goes. For what it's worth, I've never seen anybody selling photographs for very long in OH, PA, and MI. There has to be a reason.

In some areas handmade jewelry sells but not in all areas. Competition in all jewelry is fierce. There are a few jewelry vendors who sell "everything for a buck" and rent 30- 60 feet of space. They pretty much kill a market for at least a month as far a costume jewelry goes.

If you can draw, sketches and caricatures sell OK in some places. And the overhead is low.

Vans do burn more gas than cars but cars have to be a miserable place to live. At least in a van you can wash up, have a camping toilet or even just a 5 gallon bucket. There are worse things than having to go out in a pouring rain at 1 AM to take a dump at Walmart. Let's see... one would be getting back into your car in your wet clothes and trying to sleep after taking said dump. You get the idea.

You WILL get sick sometime- especially if you handle cash. The flu is bad anywhere. In an RV or a van it is bad enough but being sick in a car would be the absolute pits. Imagine throwing up sitting in a car without getting it all over everything. Just kind of think ahead.

Anyway, good luck. Flea markets are just one option. A guy here in MS, down from Washington state uses the temporary day labor places. Most larger towns have agencies.

fleamarketvendor

 

For anyone looking for a place to sell (or just kind of hang out) there is a new SMALL market northeast of Murphy, NC. You can set up in a 25' wide by 30' deep spot for $5 a day or $20 a week. For appearances, you really should set up to sell at least on the weekend. The market is only closed on Mondays but you can still stay there. The operator is a nice guy and he could use some help making his rent or the market will close. If you've got anything at all to sell you should be able to make out.

There is a porta-john but that's about it as far as services.

The address is 5405 US HWY 19; Marble, NC. By my old Streets and Trips, US 19 and US 129 run together there. It's about 4 miles past the Walmart, on the left, as you leave Murphy. By the way, the Murphy Walmart no longer allows RV's to overnight. There is another market on the right between this one and Murphey but I don't know anything about it.

Unless he gets some vendors, it will close in about 3 weeks. I'll be gone before then but it's such a nice place, I'd hate to see it close.

fleamarketvendor

 

buy a small bus, a diesel, and convert to a WVO system and travek for free. there are tons of ways to make money, I sold hemp jewlery I ranged from 100 to 500 a day, some people fly signs, surprisingly they made more money then I did. washing windows, painting addresess on curbs with a stencil and spraypaint.. craigslist you can find labour gigs and just go from location to location.. just get creative youll find its easier then you think I lived on the rd for over a decade.. I quite miss it actually