Moving away from home to go to college is expensive, not to mention the fees. Living in an RV whilst you are studying can be a great way to save money.
Living in an RV can be tough and sometimes more expensive than renting a dorm. This article will detail the best reasons to live in an RV for college and give you the hacks to make it cheaper.
1. RV’s Can Be Cheaper Than A Dorm Room
Living in an RV can be cheaper than renting a dorm room, the average price for a dorm room is $8,887 per school year at public colleges and $10,089 per school year at private colleges. [1]. The average cost for a campground is $500 to $1,000 per month for campsites with full hookups [2]. So that’s about $6,375 per school year, which is a substantial saving.
However, you will need an RV to live in. If you are lucky then a family member may have one you can use or buy for you.
You can get a good RV for around $12,000 (if you look around), this is quite expensive but if you spread the cost over two or four years at college it works out at an extra $6,000 or $3,000 per year respectively.
You can also sell it at the end of your studies or go travelling in it, so you will make some money back.
2. You Don’t Have To Share A Room
A great benefit of living in an RV throughout college is that you can have your own space. Everybody is different and some people might really look forward to sharing a room, but some would prefer to have their own space.
It also will help with your studying as you can get more work done in the quiet of your RV anytime you want.
3. Flexibility
Living in an RV will offer you more flexibility, you can always move around and go travelling in your down time.
Even if you transfer colleges, you can take your home with you so you don’t need to go through the hassle of finding new accommodation.
Even when you’ve finished your studies it will allow you to find new opportunities and jobs without being tied down to one location.
4. Connect with a wider range of people
The RVing community is tight knit and you are guaranteed to meet like minded people at the campsite. This will allow you to connect with a wider range of people than just fellow students.
Because you’ll meet fellow RVers and campers they are likely to be older than you and can offer you great life advice which can be priceless.
You will also make contacts with people from all over the country, which is a great opportunity to go travelling to meet them again.
5. Connect with nature
RVing and camping is the best way to connect with nature, the health effects of being in nature are massive. It really helps to de-stress and ground you, which is important when you’re at college as it can be pretty full on.
There is a large body of research that documents the positive impacts of nature on humans, from our social, psychological, and emotional life. Over 100 studies have shown that being in nature, living near nature, or even viewing nature in paintings and videos can have positive impacts on our brains, bodies, feelings, thought processes, and social interactions.
In particular, viewing nature seems to be inherently rewarding, producing a cascade of position emotions and calming our nervous systems. These in turn help us to cultivate greater openness, creativity, connection, generosity, and resilience. [3] And what better way to connect with nature than living in an RV.
6. Stops You From Buying Crap
Not only can it be cheaper rent wise, but it will save you a ton of money because you won’t be buying things.
You simply can’t fit much into an RV and with all your college books, there just won’t be room for lots of other possessions.
This in turn is an important life lesson to learn, ‘you don’t need things to make you happy’. If you learn this in your college years then the results will be life long and will save you thousands, if not millions of dollars.
Final Thoughts
Living in an RV for College can be extremely rewarding and just financially, if you know someone who will let you use their RV during your college year then I’d highly recommend it.
If you have to buy an RV to live in it for college then it might not be cheaper, but if you do the math right it won’t cost you much more. And you’ll have an RV at the end of college to either sell or go travelling in.
