I know several people who stayed in their workplace for at least a few consecutive nights. Sure, it’s against the office’s lease, but there’s at least a microwave, toilet and sink available. Take a shower at the gym, wash your clothes at a laundromat, and you can live there forever.
I’ve also heard of people either renting or using someone else’s storage unit to sleep.
Some people get a YMCA membership and with that, you can go cross country and you always have a place to shower and use the bathroom at least and possibly free wifi spots.
There seems to be a whole movement called “stealth camping” where you have an ordinary looking vehicle that looks on the outside like say a service vehicle but is really a camper inside. The big trick is avoiding any light getting out from the inside.
I am thinking about building one when I retire just for the thrill of being able to stay for free at places like shopping center parking lots.
Getting the planet fitness black card is also a good idea, for $20/month you have access to the showers at any PF location.
I’ve heard box trucks are good for stealth camping. But people will see you get in and out of it, which kind of ruins the stealth.
I knew a woman who did this in the 1980s when she decided to finish her degree after retiring; she and her husband are both deceased now. They already owned the RV, and decided this would be less wear and tear on them, and their vehicles, than commuting 50 miles one day, every day.
I also knew of a woman who did full-time housesitting; unfortunately, having known her before she did this, I suspect it was out of necessity. She got divorced a few years before doing this, and it looks like she and her daughter, who was in elementary school at the time, are estranged, and knowing the mom, it’s “gee, I wonder why” kind of thing, as in she fell on hard times, it gave her daughter the final excuse to move in with her dad, and nobody was willing to help her out because nobody liked her. :eek:
I have an uncle who lived in Montreal but spent every winter in the Florida Keys back in the 70s.
He’d mostly play guitar and throw frisby on the beach then play gigs at night. He’d live in a tent hidden on the beach, couch surf, etc. He’d take menial jobs like washing dishes, digging ditches, etc… for a little bit of cash.
It wasn’t the high life, but it beats trudging through the snow every day.
I don’t know anyone like this personally, but I know of lots of people like that. Hell, the part of the country where I live is a magnet for transients, hobos, drug abusers, sex offenders, and off-the-grid types. It’s comically easy to disappear into the National Forest, and I’ve seen everything from shacks to crumbling campers to campsites with tents.
Not for nothing, my retirement plan is to move into an RV in a campground not far from here.
Well, I know of someone on a different message board who had a great thread about the commercial RAM van [classic white, no windows] he picked up at an auto auction that he converted into a residence. He was geting tired and stressed out with working full time and still not having enough to have an apartment, he didn’t want to move home to his parents or couch surf.
He installed some sort of solar panels and battery system to run a couple tiny high efficiency lights, and recharge/power his laptop and cell phone. He had a small workbench to prep and cook food upon/use as a desk for his laptop. All his storage was in bins except for a small area for hanging clothes. He did belong to a gym, he worked out every morning and got his shower there, did his laundry at a laundromat, and if the weather was particularly inclement and he was worried about running his batteries down he would occasionally spend a few days parked in his parent’s driveway. He said he was way happier when he didn’t have to drop most of his income on rent, so he was able to keep a job he actually enjoyed.
Me, my ex husband and I lived in a small campground for several months while working a nuke plant outtage in Surry VA - with our cat Pyewackett … we used one of those big green canvas 4 man issue boy scout tents I stole from my dad, our ‘king sized bed’ was actually 2 army cots cable tied together with a futon on top, and we showered in the camp bath house. Coking was done on one of those oval cast iron hibachis and a classic 2 burner coleman white gas fuelled stove, and I baked in one of those coleman ovens that goes on top of the stove. Lighting was a string of the little LED party lights [brand new for 1988] and a coleman battery lantern, we recharged the batteries where we plugged in the party light string. While I have no issue with camping, I now need to be up off the ground all the time so I would prefer something like one of those sweet-jumping-jebus extra tall, extra long Sprinter conversions.
[I will fess up to having had a recurring dream over the past several years where for some reason I am living on a small pension and living in one of those converted sprinters with my cat. I have a laptop, and a tablet, and somehow manage to hook up online for email and occasional limited surfing on my phone and have a satellite dish thing for cable tv … much of my ‘living’ is outside under one of those off the side canopies with mosquito netting, and most of my cooking is done outside on a coleman stove and a hibachi. I travel from state or federal park a week at a time as there is some sort of program for retirees/park members that you can get a week or two free but not consecutively … I leave sunday morning, shop for the weeks needs then head to the next park.]
For being handicapped, I have very little in the way of high maintenance needs, I am happy reading and listening to music, I do require good nutrition, access to medical care [going to be accentuated for the next 5 years thanks to my recent bout with colorectal stage 3 cancer, my current high blood pressure and diabetes] and I can no longer sleep or sit on the ground/floor. While cable and internet is nice, I could deal with just catching free wifi somewhere a few times a week [or find a camp ground that includes wifi] I don’t do the expensive wardrobe/makeup thing, neither of us really drinks much, we mainly use wine in cooking, neither of us does recreational pharmaceuticals so we really have minimal outlay normally. mrAru and I could actually manage to live in an RV at need … we would just have to somehow arrange an address of convenience for mail and legal purposes.
I just checked into getting a YMCA membership for that use. It required that at least 50% of my monthly visits had to be in my “home” location, so it wouldn’t work for constant travel. The Planet Fitness black card, as mentioned by Wesley Clark, doesn’t have that restriction.
I’ve lived in a motorhome traveling around for 16 years now. Things have changed **dramatically **in that time, and not for the better. Many more people doing it, and in cases where forgiveness might be sought instead of permission, when you have a lot of people doing it, forgiveness is taken off the table as an option.
If living in an RV or tiny home and paying for a place to park it, it might be cheaper than living in a house or it might not–depending on where you are. With more people doing this, the rates at RV parks have increased significantly in recent years. And of course you have to pay for the RV, and its maintenance. Although I’ve seen plenty of them on the streets in California where the people living in them appear to be eschewing maintenance entirely.
Stealth camping can get old because every moment of your day is an existential event–where am I and where is my vehicle, and am I going to get rousted out?
That’s why a lot of people mooch off friends–it’s cheaper and you have permission. Or you do until the neighbors complain.
There’s a guy who has a project of walking every block in the five boroughs of New York City. He doesn’t have a place to live, and instead strings together pet-sitting gigs. But like people who live fulltime by stealth camping, I’d say he has a personality that is well suited for that.
I had a relative that had a custom home built.
The contractor and his extended family lived on the property during construction. Nearly everyone in that family did construction. I was told there was a licensed electrician and plumber in that family.
They did a great job and the house was built quickly. Permits were issued and everything passed inspection.
I assume they had a home base, but most of the time they were building someone a home and living on site.
It must of been very profitable. No commute to work. All the labor $$$ went to them.
Kids these days! What ever happen to living/leaching off of someone and then moving on once your welcome was worn out? I know a lot of guys that got by like this when I was younger, still know a few women that still do. They basically eat their food, sit around watching TV while getting wasted, “borrow” the car and act like they are doing the other person a favor by keeping them company.
Something similar, I heard of a family that moved around and lived in a converted school bus. Their “business” and how they made money was they had a machine and equipment that painted lines in parking lots. When they went into a city they would just look around and find someone who needed it done. They always had customers.
For those of us old enough to remember: “Me and You and a Dog named Boo!”.
There’s a State park at a nearby lake that has a fairly large camping area. My wife and I used to go there to camp and cook-out for the weekend. We’d bring the kayaks and have a great time at the lake. Each campsite was fairly private, with a small parking area and a clear, level area that would fit a couple huge tents quite easily. Each had a fire pit and a (old and rusted but functional) barbecue. There was a common shower and bathroom facility just a couple minutes away.
We went one time after taking a break of about a year and were shocked to find that the campsites were virtually all occupied by large families. Most of them appeared to be immigrants. (I had no objections to this, of course, it’s just that this was pretty obvious.) The camping fee was about $10 a night, so it was costing them about $300 a month. The bathrooms and hot water were included, so it was really pretty reasonable.
Shortly thereafter, the policy was changed so you could not rent a campsite for more than seven consecutive days. They also increased the fee substantially.
I’ve lived a…less-homed life than most, so I’m glad to be in a thread where I can give some advice as somebody who’s done most of these. I’ll sum up my thoughts on some of these modes in worst to best order:
Car living: rough - awful sleep, no bed or comfort, difficult to stay warm without running the engine, the windows steam up so it’s obvious you’re sleeping in there, not a lot of room for your stuff. No bathroom, kitchen, etc. On a 1-10 scale with 1 being least desirable and 10 living comfortably in the home of your dreams, car living is a 2. It beats literally living on the streets, but that’s about it.
Van living: Just like a car, but with a bed and more space. Same shortcomings otherwise. 3 out of 10.
Tent living: Depending on the locale, this can be terrible or it can be great. The “great” case requires that it be basically semi-permanent, in a nice location, with amenities like showers nearby (a house that you’re paying “tent rent” to, a campsite with showers and grills like ZonexandScout mentioned, or other similar options), but if you have those things, it can actually be a decent option. More space for your stuff, more comfortable sleeping - heck, you can even get an air mattress if the tent’s big enough. I’d give this a 5 out of 10.
If you’re mobile and need to move around, tent living sucks. All the downsides of car/van with less protection and mobility, probably a 2 out of 10, maybe even a 1 out of 10.
RV or boat living: At last! The queen / king of mobile living! If you’re used to camping or living in a car/van, living in an RV will seem like you’ve been transported to a magical Shangri-la of amenities, privacy, and luxury. You have a real bed - often several to choose from. You have a refrigerator and stove and microwave. You have AC and heat! You have a toilet right there!! There’s no doubt about it, living in an RV beats the crap out of the other options for amenities. An RV is a solid 7 out of 10.
The only problem, as alluded to by Broomstick is parking and fuel bills if you want to drive it around a lot. RV’s are big and awkward, and RV parks suck and charge a lot in any even halfway nice area. In or near cities, you might as well get a cheap apartment, because RV parks charge enough that $(small apartment rent in city X) is how much you’ll be paying just to park your RV in their crappy trailer park for a month.
You used to be able to park in Walmart parking lots free for a few nights in a row in your RV without being hassled, I’m not sure if they still do that. If you do and there’s enough Walmart’s nearby, I guess you could do some sort of rotation, but you’ll still have to stop at RV parks once every week or two to dump your tanks and take on fresh water.
The ideal RV use case is if you have a good friends / family network where you can park your RV at their house for a week at a time that you can rotate around in. Throw in some campsites and national and state parks you visit regularly and there’s a real nice lifestyle!
So if you have the choice and the urge for mobile living, RV is definitely the best option you’ve listed, and how good it is is highly dependent on what your employment and geographical needs are. If you need to be near a large city most of the year for work, parking will be your biggest headache (but on the plus side, you don’t need to worry about spending a lot on gas). But if you can get your parking sorted, either via rotation or paying somebody a nominal rent to park on their land / driveway, the RV kicks the crap out of living in a van, car, or tent.
Hotel / consulting living: If you’re savvy with credit cards and points, if you have an expense account at least part of the time, or some combination of these things, you can live cheaper than prevailing market rent in hotels. I’ve done it, and know others currently doing it, so know it’s possible. It requires a lot of time shopping for deals, paying attention to points, getting the right credit cards and sign-up bonuses, and ideally your work paying for at least part of your hotel stays, but you can actually live inside in real rooms cheaply if you’ve got these things in the right mix.
Hotel living has the same downsides of all the other modes - you’ve got to travel light and not own much, you’ve got to get your mail forwarded or sent to family, you’ve got to change locations frequently, but in terms of amenities a hotel beats an RV because you never have to empty dump tanks, you never have to repair stuff, and there’s no worries about gas or parking. Hotel living is a solid 8 out of 10.
But wait, there’s an option for cheap living you haven’t considered!
Living overseas: Living in a low cost of living country with first-world level income (even if only retirement or Social Security income) is the ultimate cheap living option.
In SE Asia, you can live in a nice house right on the beach, have a cook, maid, and driver, and eat top-shelf fresh seafood for every meal and your expenses will still be under $2k a month. Want to cut your expenses lower than that? Just take off some of those amenities, you can live on hundreds a month if you cut things to the bone, and there’s millions of folks who do live on hundreds a month (or less) over there. SE Asia isn’t the only option either - I know people do this in Central America, India, and a number of other low cost of living countries.
Obviously this option requires passive income, retirement income, or a job you can work remotely, so again, highly dependent on your employment and geographical needs. But this is a 9 or 10 out of 10 “cheap living” option if you can swing it - barely any compromises, and living well while being kind to your bank balance, so I thought I’d put it out there as a potential option to consider.
If you’re of that generation you probably also remember Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon. A little road trip, a little camping, a lot of living off the land and the kindness of strangers.
I know some Loopers.
These are people who sold off everything, moved onto a rather decent-sized boat, and live the floating tiny home life. They perpetually travel The Great Loop.
The great thing about The Great Loop is that people who commit to it as a way of life or just a temporary journey are supported by decades of resources that are committed to it; it’s a journey; it’s been done (so there’s a ‘book’ on how to do it), and there is community of support.
But it’s not cheap. But then there are others who have moved onto boats that are old, float well, but don’t sail. Generally, I don’t hear good things about this.
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I’ve also heard of people (who don’t live in houses) having gym memberships for showering and personal hygiene (preferably at Planet Fitness since it’s only $10 per month) even though it may not be the most hygienic option since gyms are public places…