Jess Hill said her mortgage and bills reached “ridiculous amounts” which left her no money left at the end of the month so decided to drop it all and live a more “simple” life travelling the world
One 24-year-old university graduate chose to sell her three-bedroom house to live in a van full time to help save money on her rising household bills.
After splitting from her partner, Jess Hill began to struggle to cover her monthly expenses, even though she had a relatively cheap mortgage at £425 a month for her north Yorkshire home. She told the Manchester Evening News that at the end of each month, she had no disposable income, which made things incredibly difficult for her.
Jess said: “My £425 mortgage was one of the cheapest I’ve seen around and I still struggled with the bills for it on my own – I had no disposable income at all. All of the bills just add up to a ridiculous amount, they come out of your bank account and then you’re like ‘oh my goodness, my whole wage has disappeared.'”
Alongside this, the University of Salford graduate also faced a long and painful commute to her nine-to-five corporate job, which she had also “fallen out of love” with. Jess commuted to the office three days a week, which took her three hours overall. This led her to decide that the “conventional 9-5” way of life simply wasn’t meant to be for her.
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Jess then put her £125,000 home onto the market and moved back in with her parents in Wigan. Once the home was sold, the 24-year-old used the money to buy a spacious Citroën Relay for £13,000, which she then started renovating into her soon to be full-time homestead.
So far, Jess has installed a bed, kitchen, shower, storage, and solar panels onboard the van. Jess – who was brought up as a keen Scout – now believes her living costs will be dramatically cut thanks to “van life”.
She has so far spent £6,000 on renovations. This is something she again saved money on, as Jess had a degree apprenticeship in the construction trade from her time in Salford and worked as a building surveyor for a firm in Manchester in the past.
Once completed, she will need to fork out £80 a month to insure it. After this, the main things Jess will need to cover is petrol and food. After that her money can be spent on whatever else she fancies.
Jess said: “Being in the van, all I’ve got to pay for is the insurance, the fuel and the food. That’s going to be a lot cheaper than living in a house. If I get short of money I’ll just travel less that month as fuel is the variable.”
“I’m trying to do it as cheap as possible so I can keep money either as a back-up fund or for in the future if I ever settle down.”
Jess hopes to earn even more money on the side by sharing her insight into creating a new home on wheels with followers online. She also hopes to document all of her travels on social media. Jess has already quit her full-time job and plans to travel the UK before heading to Europe, to places such as Montenegro, Austria, and Bosnia.
She added: “I love hiking, canoeing and wild swimming, but living near towns and cities restricts this. Working 9-5 also doesn’t work for this – you can’t finish work and nip off to the Lake District or Peak District because there’s just not enough time.
“By the time I’ve spent an hour-and-a-half commuting home from the office, it doesn’t feel like I have any time to actually do what I enjoy. You get on the train and it’s packed, it’s disgusting and all I want is peace, tranquillity and the opportunity to be sociable.
“I want to keep things really simple and enjoy a life outdoors and see the world. Living in my van is going to help me live the life I enjoy.”
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