This story comes at an interesting time in our lives. First of all, we own a 1995 Econoline van. Second of all, my husband has not been able to work since August. We have talked about the possibilities of “living in a van down by the river.” Now we know, it can be done.
After incurring and paying off $32,000 in student loans, Ken Ilgunas was determined to attend grad school debt free.
The more money I had borrowed, I came to realize, the more freedom I had surrendered.
I pledged that I wouldn’t take out loans. Nor would I accept money from anybody, especially my mother, who, appalled by my experiment, offered to rent me an apartment each time I called home. My heat would be a sleeping bag; my air conditioning, an open window. I’d shower at the gym, eat the bare minimum and find a job to pay tuition. And — for fear of being caught — I wouldn’t tell anybody.
How does he do it? He lives in a 1994 Econoline van parked on campus at Duke University.
And so: I decided to buy a van. Though I had never lived in one, I knew I had the personality for it. I had a penchant for rugged living, a sixth sense for cheapness, and an unequaled tolerance for squalor.
Instead of trying to find a way to make more money, Ilgunas cut his daily living expenses to the extreme.
My “radical living” experiment convinced me that the things plunging students further into debt — the iPhones, designer clothes, and even “needs” like heat and air conditioning, for instance — were by no means “necessary.” And I found it easier to “do without” than I ever thought it would be. Easier by far than the jobs I’d been forced to take in order to pay off my loans.
We should all appreciate and be content with what we have instead of yearning for what we don’t have. We live in a nation where excess is king. We have become so accustomed to satisfying our every want and lust that we can no longer identify what is a “need” and what is a “want.”
Today I still live in the van. I haven’t taken out loans or borrowed money from anyone. Really, the only thing that’s different is that I’ve set up my laundry area by the passenger seat. Also, after another summer with the Park Service, I have more money than I possibly need. Now, instead of being poor, I am radically frugal. Sometimes, though, I think it would be nice to have an ironing board, plumbing and a wood stove.
It would be nice. A middle-class family might think it would be nice to have an in-ground swimming pool. A millionaire might think it would be nice to have a yacht. The billionaire, a private jet. Someone, somewhere might think it would be nice to have food to feed her family tonight. Someone, somewhere might think it would be nice to live in a van in order to afford to go to a wonderful school. I could begin satisfying my desires and buying comforts, but I’ve learned to appreciate what little I have instead of longing for what I do not.
Ilgunas has learned at an early age what a burden debt is. He is wise to pay off his debt and do what it takes to stay far away from it. After being debt-free except for our mortgage for several years, I can say that it is wonderful not to be a slave to it. It certainly has made the last few months much more pleasant than it might have been for our family.
Staying out of debt is an important thing young couples can do for their families. It is tough to do, you will have to make some hard choices, but life will be so much better for it.
You can read the full article here. Be advised that it is for mature audiences only.
