Australian family living in a van manage to overcome the cost-of-living crisis spending $500 a week

A young family has managed to keep living their dream life on the road while keeping weekly costs low amid Australia’s surging cost-of-living crisis.

Women’s holistic health dietitian, Maddison Milton, 27, and her stay-at-home partner, Kyle Markham, 29, decided to ditch their Adelaide home and pursue a nomadic lifestyle with their four-year-old son, River.

Having taken to the road in a personally customised 2015 Mercedes Sprinter, they claim their outgoing expenses are about $500 per week – more than half of what they paid before when living in a house.

The van cost $40,000 upfront, and about just as much to have it fitted with a fridge, pantry, storage space and beds.

The family’s weekly expenses include about $250 on food, $150 on petrol, $30 on laundry and $50-100 on phone bills and online subscriptions.

The van, a $40,000 Mercedes Sprinter cost $40,000 upfront, and about just as much to have it fitted with a fridge, pantry, storage space and beds

‘We have managed to almost cut our living expenses in half by not having rent or utilities to pay,’ Ms Milton told Yahoo.

‘We don’t pay for electricity as we are completely solar powered.’ 

The family made the decision after Ms Milton became pregnant with River, deciding to give him a unique start to life filled with adventure.

‘We knew we wanted to spend as much time together as a family as possible,’ she said. 

‘For us, these early years of our son’s life are the most precious to us. 

‘We want to be there, as present as we can be for all of those incredible milestones.

‘By moving into the van we reduced our living expenses to the point where Kyle could quit his job and be home with us while my work and business, which is completely online, keep us going.’

The family’s weekly expenses include about $250 on food, $150 on petrol, $30 on laundry and $50-100 on phone bills and online subscriptions

The family made the decision after Ms Milton became pregnant with River, deciding to give him a unique start to life filled with adventure

So called ‘van life’ – the nomadic lifestyle where people give up on rent and live out of a decked-out vehicle, has become increasingly popular in recent years. 

In the year to February, rent has skyrocketed 14 per cent with some suburbs in places like Sydney jumping 26 per cent.

To make matters worse overall inflation is also soaring.

Australia’s most recent CPI read showed inflation at 6.8 per cent with employee-based households hit the hardest, having to pay 9.6 per cent more on costs such as housing, food and insurance than the year prior.