6:30 a.m. — After my first Money Diary , there were a lot of questions about how my van is set up and how (and why) I live the way I do. I'll try to answer some of those questions in this Money Diary. To start, I bought my van for $1,500 from a friend's dad. He gave me the “family” price because his daughter and I have been friends for 20 years. This van is a beast and keeps running with minimal maintenance. It has 250,000 miles on it. I originally got into vehicle living because two friends were coming from overseas and I wanted to show them around America (we ended up going to 10 national parks). I thought it would be nice to have the option to camp as we traveled. I liked the lifestyle so much that I just kept living this way after they went home. That was four years ago. Anyway, I wake up as the sun is rising and look out my window. There are towering red rock cliffs, juniper trees, and pale green sage brush all under a peach and gray sunrise sky. After taking a few pictures from bed, I fall asleep again.