How to create a rolling house in Portugal with just 15,000 Euros

If you ended up here, it is surely because you are tired of living in crowded
apartments in Portugal. Maybe your problem is you have a very flexible shift
and you don't want to waste so many hours fighting with landlords in order to
get a new room and recover last deposit back (very usual situation in Portugal
due to the lack of housing and and due to the huge quantity of landlords
stealing room deposits).

Something similar happened to me at the right time. I hope that this recap
helps you.

It came to my mind the idea of living on a rolling house or campervan in the

middle of 2021.

By that time, (I imagine that Google recognized some phrases from my chats) I
found several YouTube videos showing people living on vans in EE.UU. They
were providing a lot of details related to this kind of lifestyle. After watching
several YouTube videos for about 2 months, I finally decided to start my
campervan project with a very low budget, only 15,000 Euros. I couldn't wait
longer (in order to save more money), as the 2022 inflation started right after
COVID-19 exit and there was a huge lack of housing. Rental prices started to
rise and I really needed to escape Portuguese apartaments as fast as possible.

The process of building my campervan was gradual and was carried out
through weekends based on blog information, social media post information,
watching videos by myself and repeated testing and errors. This recap is based
on this. Living on a van is not an easy step and it is not comfortable at the very
beginning, this process will require you changing your personal habits and a lot
of mental strength.
The first thing you should take into account when you start living on a van in
Portugal is the Portuguese law.

Find attached some websites that can help you in order to guide yourself with
the Portuguese vocabulary,
current legislation and possible future legislation changes:

https://seguropordias.pt/blog/nova-lei-autocaravanas
chrome extension://oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm/

https://antigo.ualg.pt/sites/ualg.pt/files/gcp/vi
ver_campi/codigo_estrada.pdf (articles 48º and 50-A are the relevant ones).

https://www.siestacampers.com/pt/blog/wild-camping-portugal

In order to read these websites in English, use the automatic translator of the
web browser. If you cannot find it, switch the web browser.

Remember you need to find regions of the city where you want to live where it
is possible to park campervans or park motorhomes. You can´t park anywhere.
If your van has not been labeled as ´´house over wheels´ by Portugal
authorities (in other words, if your van is still a commercial vehicle) and the
Police see you living inside it, they will consider it also as a motorhome
automatically, no matter if you do not have the label yet.
On the other hand, once you have located a right motorhome site (usually
called --´area´ in Peninsula Iberica), the Police will not be very strict
regarding the maximum overnight time, so that if you spend more than 48
hours overnight in the same place, nothing will happen. I have slept in the
same place for a whole week and nobody has said nothing.

On the other hand, if you are not convinced by the fact of having to move your
vehicle every 48 hours, there is the option
to occupy a private area. Portugal is the country of abandoned land par
excellence. There are thousands of abandoned lands. Many people have
bought land to obtain the European visa but they do not use these lots. There
are many of these vacant lots near metro stations or bus stops. This is a great
advantage since there is a huge range of private terrain connected to the
transport network. If you put your van inside these lots, the van will be inside
the private limits and the Police can´t say anything about it. I want to let you
know that it is difficult to identify public space and private space on public
maps (Municipalities or freguesias do not have pdf files properly uploaded on
public websites) but you can research a little by yourself to determine if a lot of
public or private, just asking some neighbors (for example).

Another important thing to keep in mind is that in Portugal it is not legal to

have a vehicle with foreign plate for more than 6 months. Therefore, it is
important to note that the vehicle must have a Portuguese license plate if you
want to stay in the country for more than 6 months. Find attached the
Portuguese legislation that talks about this:
https://impostosobreveiculos.info/isv/conduzir-um-carro com-matricula-
estrangeira-em-portugal/.
On the other hand, remember that in order to buy a vehicle in Portugal, you
need at least the temporary residence. There are people who say they have
bought a vehicle without having a Portuguese residence but you would have to
ask them how they did it and who approved the new ownership.

Remember that the registration of the new vehicle ownership should be done
at IRN offices (Instituto de registos e notariado). I really recommend to
perform this crucial step with a car dealer, not with a private car seller.
Portugal is not the best country to sell or buy products between figures that
are not companies. Review as well the vehicle history via specialized websites
by using the van VIN number. When managing European cars, the VIN number
is used to be placed on the top of the engine. Make sure your vehicle has not
been stolen or it had been involved in a car accident before. You can check the
car history by entering the VIN number on certain websites and you will be
able to check the car history.

I acquired a restored Dutch van from 2014 that I bought for 12,000 Euros
approx. from a car dealer located in Porto city. I was able to save indirect taxes
(23% out of 15,000 Euros approximately) since I bought it through a company
located in another country inside the European Union. Currently, commercial
transactions between companies located in different EU countries do not levy
indirect taxes. This may change in the future but so far it is valid. Take
advantage of it.

Yes, it is possible to buy a van via other company located in another UE country
and register the van under your name (you as physical person, located in
Portugal and not related to the company). IRN only needs a physical person
with Portuguese residency (temporary or permanent) or a Portuguese
company, they do not need to verify where the money went. In IRN nobody
will ask you about the bill, they just want the signature of the last owner and
the new owner, IRN do not need to check invoices.
On the other hand, it is highly recommended that you get a new authorization
for your van. The van comes with the label as ‘commercial vehicle’ when you
buy it. The authorization should have at least the label of 'special bedroom' (In
Portuguese> 'dormitorio especial') . This authorization change should be done
if you want to show to the Portuguese authorities that you use the van for
housing purposes and not for commercial purposes. If you sleep on a van
without proper authorization, you can be fined. Theoretically, you cannot
sleep on a van that it is still a commercial vehicle. Take this very seriously.
Remember that the concepts: Technical inspection label (Inspecao técnica) and
authorization are different. In order to get a new authorization, you don’t need
to have your Technical inspection label up to date.
This 'special bedroom' label is way more cheaper than other labels
related to Portuguese motorhome authorization (currently, this authorization
price can range between 500 and 700 Euros approximately). The label named
'dormitorio especial' applies when the changes to the van are not very
significant:
-you do not anchor furniture to the van chassis or van structure
-you carry everything with straps (for example, you can strap down a closet
when you drive)
-you can't create lateral windows but yes a small skylight on the van roof
-you do not create installations
-you can open a skylight on the rooftop of your van
-you can tear the division down (I meant the metal division between the van
driving compartment and the rest of the van)

There is another label, a more expensive one, the classic label named
´motorhome´ (in Portuguese: ‘caravana’). When getting this label, more things
are allowed.

Each label approval has a price. You can find more about the van
authorizations
on this website:
https://worldonmyway.com/transformacao-da-carrinha-11-a-legalizacao/.
 Remember as well that when passing the technical inspection, if you
changed parts of your van and you do not have the proper documentation, you
can be fined as well. Review this with a proper agency in Portugal.

I bought a few essentials before buying the van and I kept them in my room for
a couple of weeks. When I already had the van, I put those things inside. With
that I could start to live simply but with enough basics.

This was my list of essentials:

single folding sofa bed (I really recommend click and clack ones, not Ikea ones)
rolling table
cupboard
cooking stove (the ones for camping)
folding bidet
motorhome portable toilet
some kitchen utensils
some textile buckets (like a shelf but made of textile)

Once I got the van I started buying other items little by little, each month, to
build the small house. Thanks to the savings that I generated each month from
my salary I was able to buy items each month.

Since I no longer had postal address where to receive packages, I began to use
a cowork space to do so.

If you do not know what a cowork space is, here I explain it to you:

A cowork space is a shared office where generally, for a very low price, you
have access to a desk, a chair, wifi connection and electrical connection.
Sometimes, when using this kind of services, it may be included parcel
reception. In Portugal, a coworking space montly quote can go between 100
and 200 Euros depending on the area and the access time, tax included.

In my case, I found a cowork right next to a gym and on the outskirts of the
city, which it made my life a lot easier because I was able to save the daily bus
pass to go to the gym to take the shower. In my case, I got a 24/7 cowork
contract, which allowed me to enter whenever I I would need it.
In Portugal, not all coworks offices are 24/7 so keep that detail in mind
because this detail is relevant.

At that time, I also did not have electricity in the van since I did not have a
budget yet for the solar kit. Therefore, the cowork point was the place where
charged the cell phone and where worked during the day as remote full-time
worker.

Also I used the cowork to charge my solar charging station almost every day
(in my case, I bought an Ecoflow station model river 2, which is super light to
be carried with the hands). This station met my electricity requirements during
the time inside the van. This type of solar stations allows you to take electricity
from the van socket (engine socket), take electricity from a standard wall
socket and as well you can take electricity from solar panels via special cable. I
needed 6 months until I was able to buy the solar kit.

If you urgently need electricity in the van and you cannot afford the monthly
fee of a cowork, I would like to inform you that there are small inverters that
can provide you with AC current directly from van engine. You plug this
inverter to the van's cigarette lighter socket to be able to use the van's engine
as an electric generator. That connection will only give you max 300 Watts and
it will force you to keep the engine running while taking electricity. I have used
this system a few times. Most of the times I used this inverter while driving and
I charged my phone on the go. I don't know how profitable this charging
method is compared to paying the monthly cowork fee but remember that the
more you use a vehicle engine, the more risk you have (you could have engine
breakdowns and you could have to spend money on van maintenance).
When I finally received the solar material, I decided to put an end to cowork
office and I got a presential office work to start testing the solar installation. I
still charge this solar station at the office by using the standard wall socket
because I do not want to leave this solar station inside the van when I am not
in the van.

I recommend that you use a lithium batteries instead of lead batteries (called
as well gel batteries or acid batteries) to store the energy that comes from
solar panels. The lithium battery allows it to be discharged almost to 0%
without having to be aware all day that the battery voltage does not drop to a
certain value. Lead batteries are delicate in terms of voltage values and current
values and they need constant attention.

As for the solar installation, I recommend that you go to a campervan

construction workshop and see how they carry out the electrical installation. It
is important that you watch how to build the mc4 terminals and how to
connect the battery to the installation safely. Also it is important to know how
to take the voltages of your installation via voltimeter, as well as to know the
basic components of the solar installation.

Tip based on my experience: with a 450W rigid on-roof solar panel, you can get
up to 60 volts DC as instant voltage on each day (I have read it by myself with
the voltimeter). If you install a 750W flexible on-roof solar panel in paralel with
the rigid one, you can get almost 30 volts DC as instant voltage on each day.
My solar lithium portable baterry station (ecoflow river 2) admits up to 30volts
DC as input. This means that if you need more electricity per day, you should
add more panels to your installation. Remember that in Amazon you can find a
huge variety of solar connectors and solar installation accesories that can help
you in order to create and change your installation easily. Remember as well
the possibility of installing flexible panels, which can be mounted and
dismounted easily. But by checking campervan groups (for example, via
Facebook) you can discover a huge variety of solar installation types that can
satify your needs. It always depends on the power per hour you need.
If you are going to buy solar flexible panels, keep in mind to buy flexible panels
that already have factory holes (drilled in factory) because not all fexible solar
panels have hole. It is not advisable to manually drill a hole in a flexible panel
because water can enter the panel if the hole has not been perfectly sealed.

As for the kitchen, I resolved how to cook without having a fridge. It took me a
lot of time to accept that I was not going to use a fridge but I decided to adapt
myself to this new reality. I started to change my cooking habits and to study
what foods could be preserved without a fridge. These are the
best ´fresh´ foods that I discovered that work pretty well without a
refrigerator. Its duration also depends on the temperature of the van:

-zucchini (lasts up to two weeks without problem once opened)

-potatoes
-onions
-eggs
-garlic
-iceberg lettuce
-kale
-leeks

In Portugal there are several supermarkets that sell bricks with individual
format, such as tomato sauce. There is also a good variety of 1 portion canned
food. These small containers are very useful when living on a van because they
are just disposable.

Little by little I began to plan meals every day instead of planning a weekly
meal plan. Every day I have to go to the grocery store and despite sometimes I
can feel really lazy, I jump from my seat and I do it. I consider my daily trip to
the supermarket as a treadmill session in the gym.

If you do not have budget enough to build cabinets properly anchored to your
van chassis, please do not buy standard furniture. Any kind of standard
furniture will be dissassembled by itself because standard furniture has not
been designed to withstand the van rams. Instead, you can buy camping
furniture, which usually works fine.

As for the van stove, let me tell you that there are very practical portable
stoves that work with 250ml butane cartridges. You can buy one of these
stoves at Decathlon or Amazon (this is only an example). These stoves are no
longer like the old ones. Take into account that this stove should be properly
attached to your furniture when you are not using it (you can use elastic straps
to attach it). You can use as well portable stoves that work with medium-sized
butane tanks (6kg). Review very well the connections because in Portugal, not
all butane tank brands use the same connections (lack of standards).

When cooking on a van, remember that you should use Teflon pans
because nothing sticks to these. On the other hand, you should learn how to
cook without the dependency of the faucet like you do in a conventional home
kitchen. This does not mean that you will never use the faucet, it basically
means you can't depend on it. As a faucet, I use a big water jug with a small
water pump that works with usb charging, it is really practical and you can find
several models on google. I try not to scrub with sponge and soap inside the
van since it is something that involves using and throwing away a lot of water
and this will imply a lot of travels.

When I needed to take the shower, at the very beginning, I was going to
take the shower at the gym. The monthly fee for a monthly gym pass in
Portugal is really cheap, the price can range between 3 and 5 Euros per week.
Not a big deal. But after 11 months living on the camper, I started using the
pressure shower, which actually makes my life easier as I do not need to be
close to a gym. Please check this type of shower by accessing this link:
https://www.decathlon.pt/p/chuveiro-de-pressao-solar-para-campismo-10-
litros/_/R-p-
334665?mc=8650729&utm_source=&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=&utm_c
ontent=&utm_term=&gclid=CjwKCAjwrpOiBhBVEiwA_473dGpVkT8g7s77Oij6_
49KgmftwxFKzD6RlxlixM-wuRiGb4Cyw1KKZhoCTogQAvD_BwE. Check the
instructions (you can check them by checking the pictures) in order to
understand that this device does not need a big installation. It works just a
portable shower and it is fully compliant with the label ‘dormitorio especial’.
 The internet in the van is also another important topic to talk about.
Today mobile phones can be turned into mobile routers just by selecting the
right option via internal settings on your device. However, if you use the cell
phone for several hours a day as an internet router, you are going to kill the
battery of your cell phone in 2 months approx. (people told me this and it
happened to me as well). There are mobile routers on the market which are
designed to have internet connection on places where there´s no dial phone
network or fiber optic network. These routers work with the same sim card
that you use on your cell phone, so you don't need to buy a secondary internet
plan.

When I had enough money once again, I went to a car mechanic and I
ordered him to cut the skylight hole (named claraboya in Portuguese). When
living on a campervan, it is absolutely necessary to have extra ventilation inside
the van during the summer. Otherwise, you're going to need to have the doors
wide open to
to be able to stay in. There are different websites where you can find skylights
according to the hole dimensions. These skylights are very easy to assemble
and are usually sealed with sika, which is the most famous material for
caravane sealings (you can find sika in Leroy Merlin in Portugal but first check
the stock of each store through the web).

I do not recommend you trying to cut the hole by yourself, in spite of the
fact that on YouTube there are many videos of people cutting the hole by
themselves. It is necessary to use a radial tool and this is could be really
dangerous if you have not done it never before. Furtheremore, it is not easy to
find shops to rent tools in Portugal. A handyman who has experience in this
type of sheet metal works will do it quickly and will use the appropriate
protections, so it's worth it. Do not try to reinvent the wheel once again.

Lastly, remember that when driving with a Portuguese van in Spain, the
local Spanish Police won’t be able to review your vehicle documents properly
and verify if these are correct or not. This is a good way to avoid Police fines
(tickets).