This is a rumination on the process I am going and have been going through with buying a van. This is a Van I plan to travel and live in. 

It all started in September 2016 when I was researching tiny houses. I have the GI Bill Housing Voucher and am able to purchase a home with no money down. I was wanting to live with people for I was feeling lost and alone and could not do this in my apartment.

For days I looked at tiny houses, read plans, thought about it, and started making plans on building a tiny house. But, there was this gut feeling of why would I want to get involved in this endeavor? Is this all I have to live for, is there not something different I could do. Am I just going to live in this place till I die, paying bills, fixing house problems, uncertain about anything. Alone with no prospects for a mate or desire to have one. Is this all there is? If so, then death can not come fast enough.

That was when I came to a web site called Cheapliving.com. It showed me about people living in vans and trailers and living a life where they could go where ever they chose with out having to pay a mortgage bill or rent. If they get tired of a spot they can pick up and go to a different one. I liked that.

At the same time I was thinking of going to Virginia Beach, Va for a spring break in March. After researching it I saw it would of cost me over $3000, 00 for air fare, hotel, car rental, food, and entertainment. Where was I going to get that kind of money. It was not going to happen. For years I've been wanting to go somewhere to visit and it was just too expensive and I was restricted from working by my housing situation. Make money and lose my subsidize housing. I got it because I had been homeless too many times. And homeless is not something I wanted to do again. I am unable to hold on to a job for any length of time and losing it in Colorado is not a fun trip. So no job or vacation.

That is when I came up with the bright idea to save a set amount of money each month and I would be able to buy a van. That process would take two years, and if I have any funds over $2000.00 my housing cost would go up and negate any savings. It would have to happen in a year.

The election of 2016 was upon us and I had not received my ballot. So I went to get one at the Denver Elections Office. Got the ballot and a job for the next three weeks as an Election Judge. Took it right then. Made over two grand and put it all in the bank. My nest egg had begun.

It was easier then I thought to save money. But it would not be enough to buy a good van. I needed one that I could stand up in for reasons of lower back. So the choice was limited and expensive. UHaul has one they sale that would work but it cost $11,000 and that was not possible on my savings plan. Even if I increased the amount saved to where I would be eating very poorly it would still not be enough.

The next step available was to get a loan, ha ha, me a loan, my credit is so bad it is used as an example of what not to do. Did not even look into it. But a friend of mine insisted I check out Credit Karma. I told him I did just that and could not get my credit reports because the answers for the questions were not available to me. My ex had taken me for all that I did not have and then more. The result was I did not know what credit cards she had or banks she borrowed from. But I persisted and was able to get one report. From that one the other. The third just was not going to happen. I had a credit score of 640, I could get a credit card and start building credit. So I did just that.

Enough for now.