Future Skoolie Budgeting

[Stuff]

find the bus for cheap, get that donor rv for the appliances, forget the furniture unless you can unbolt it! sticks and staples do not come apart easy!

[bapos]

I think the hardest thing I am finding about the conversion is you never know what you will come across (used) and the price goes down from what you thought about as well as somethings go up.

Example. I planned on a couple of hundred dollars for the toilet alone. Yes you can find some cheaper made ones but I am in the process of buying one from a member on here and its a higher quality unit for about what I was going to spend on a lesser one.

The designs in my head have changed as I have read on here so that in turns makes the things I said above apply?

You can do a bare bones rig I would think pretty cheap? Just depends on how you do it, where you find the parts, and how plush you want it.

[Diesel Dan]

I think it would be hard to put something decent together for less than $5,000 including original bus purchase price. I will be spending more like $10,000 by the time I'm done and while mine will have all the basic RV stuff and a WVO system, it is not a "high-end" conversion by any means.

[lornaschinske]

But you can convert "out of pocket". That's what we are doing and we have holes in our pockets! I figure we can make a nice RV but it will take a while. We know what we want and what we need to do. I do know that we will be in the bus and in another town before the interior is finished. I'm just trying to get the exterior ready to go, the toilet installed (with sink), the freezer and refrigerator bolted into place along with my gas range. Oh and the bed put back together. Then we change towns... and convert the bus on the sly.

[swhite832]

It can be as cheap or expensive as you want. How nice do you want it? What do you want it to do? Are you skilled? How much is your time worth? Do you have time? Do you have access to "good" junk.
I think I am skilled enough to do most of the things needed( A trim carpenter I am not) and I will spend $10,000...easy, unless I get tired of it.
It's entertainment for me. Anything else and I wouldnt be able to justify it.
S

[syke]

Our plan is to build a full time rig. Plenty of solar and capacity to be off full hook ups for extended time frames. Educated guess looks like about $15,000 with bus purchase.

[Stuff]

dont let the $$$ intimidate you though. just have to save up for the bus, then save up to buy parts you will need. like shower, sink, ac, lumber etc etc. and lots are freebies on your local buy/sell/trade sites

[syke]

I do agree with Stuff.... don't let the dollar figures scare you. There are a 100 different ways to build your bus and all of them are correct. Main thing is to have fun and post pictures.

[madpsalmer]

"As far as amenities go, I'm envisioning less of a "mobile home" and more of a "rustic cabin on wheels," if that makes sense. Something to keep the weather out and offer a bit of comfort, but nothing lavish.

I guess the answer to most of my questions would probably be "it depends." Let me put it this way: If you were to go back in time and do your conversion over, how much money would you budget for it and why?"

Our skoolie is as you have described above. We have no plumbing I have basic electricity 3 outlets for shore power ( I wired in a 20amp fuse on these. Buckets for sinks, screens on the windows NO AC gotta keep the bugs out. I have purchased a wood cook stove and have not installed it. We are into out bus $2800 including the bus see my thread on skoolie conversions for details (cloud 9). It is basic but usable and we have used it to move as well as live in short term. We camp in it and all I have done is change the oil and adjust the timing mechanically to this rig.

I have used a lot of free items from Craigs List and Free cycle you may find some materials there. For us it is about simple and clean. No frills but it suits our lifestyle. Good luck!