# Why do people with good jobs still live out of their cars? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 1, 2018, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927 "2018-08-01T13:54:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/81 "2018-08-02T13:06:02Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > So, one thing we’ve learned from this thread is that people disagree over the relative awfulness of living out of one’s car vs. living in Kansas. I’m tempted to make a poll… Yes, please. I’d be interested to see the results. > [@Shodan](#): > > Still not clear on where she keeps the husband and the two dogs. In the trunk? > > Regards, > Shodan Isn’t that where they all go? 😉 Well, maybe not the dogs, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/82 "2018-08-02T15:05:12Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > So what’s so bad about living out of your car? > > I mean, specifically, not just any car, but a vehicle that is suited for the purpose. Either a van converted into a camper, an actual RV, or if it’s a car, a Toyota Prius. (the Prius is a good vehicle to live out of because it’s both roomy on the inside and the hybrid drivetrain lets you run the A/C and heat and keep your devices charged with minimal noise and fuel consumption) > > You could shower at a gym and do your laundry at a laundromat. So you’ll be clean and have clean clothes. You can park in safe spots, the streets of somewhere like the Bay Area in California are probably pretty safe. You can hang out at starbucks or the hundreds of more specialized places a major city will have until bedtime after work. > > And you’re saving on the order of $24,000+ every year. So when vacation time rolls around you can actually go somewhere. I think its more a sign that living standards are declining rather than going up. For the last few hundred years there has been an unspoken agreement that each generation’s children will have it better than their parents on several fronts (economically, politically, equality-wise, etc). The fact that our parents generation lived in houses while we live in cars is a sign we are moving backwards. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/83 "2018-08-02T15:14:53Z")
> [@SamuelA](#): > > So what’s so bad about living out of your car? During the gasoline crisis of the late 70s I found myself almost out of gas and no open gas stations to be found. I pulled my MG Midget up to a gas pump of a closed station and tried to get comfortable. It was a shitty night, but when the station opened the next morning I was first in line. Two of us live in a 3 BR, 3 Bath home with a full basement, a barn, 2 sheds, etc. Sometimes I feel cramped. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/84 "2018-08-02T16:14:19Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > This just sounds like a person with absolutely no common sense. > > …James-Penney used to be an admin in high tech, but was laid off in the dot-com bust and was forced to live on her savings. > > She went back to school and paid tuition with student loans. > > “I’m $143,000 in debt. And I’m in my 50s. But I pay that loan back every month,” said James-Penney. “That is mandatory for me. But that chunk I pay also affects how much I can afford in rent.”… > > OK, it’s stupid to take on an extreme level of student loan in your 40s or so. Second, it’s incredibly stupid to live in your car and not forbear the loan payments. > > So, I don’t think this is an epidemic. This is just one woman with NO common sense. uh, wait a minute. I’m constantly hearing how people should “re-train” if they can’t find work in the field they’re currently in. Yet she’s an idiot for spending the money to get “re-trained” for something new? can’t win. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/85 "2018-08-02T16:34:15Z")
I have a girlfriend who didn’t end up homeless, but did live on the edge as a college English professor - and I think her parents helped. This is Minnesota - so the cost of living isn’t Bay Area like. As an adjunct she was making $16k a year. She’d just gotten divorced (her husband was sleeping around) and had three kids. Her ex got 50% custody, so no child support and, since she was working, no alimony (plus he was on a path to rock bottom and went through a successive series of job losses, so you wouldn’t have counted on it anyway). With three kids she couldn’t move away from where he was. So, at 40someyearsold she moved in with her parents. After a few years, she was able to get promoted to full tenured professor and - with her divorce settlement - was able to buy a home - not a great home, and not in a fantastic neighborhood. And, as I said, I think her parents helped. Moving would have gotten her very little - she could teach at an outstate community college where her cost of living would have smaller, but she would have had to give up a local support network - her parents, her friends - and would have less access to her kids. Staying put her in a position to get a full time job when it opened (she does love what she does), and gave her access to people who treated her to dinner or movies when her ex had the kids. Her other option would have been to start over in a different career. And that’s hard to do successfully at 40ish. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/86 "2018-08-02T17:14:10Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I wonder, its not unheard of for companies to provide employee housing. Couldnt her college find her a place to live in one of its student dorms? San Jose State University does have housing available for faculty and staff. [According to this, an unfurnished efficiency is $1,625/month.](http://www.housing.sjsu.edu/docs/2018-2019-ay-license-materials/Fall_2018_Faculty-Staff.pdf) If she’s making $2,500/mo. (and remember, that’s for nine months) that’s 65% of her take home pay. But remember, she isn’t even a “real” employee, she’s an adjunct professor. She doesn’t get a W-2, she gets a 1099. She doesn’t get any benefits. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/87 "2018-08-02T17:47:30Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > But remember, she isn’t even a “real” employee, she’s an adjunct professor. She doesn’t get a W-2, she gets a 1099. She doesn’t get any benefits. And, what’s more, she’s responsible for paying the [self-employment tax](https://www.fool.com/taxes/2018/01/17/self-employment-tax-in-2018-heres-how-much-youll-h.aspx) (which is a not-insignificant chunk of change, at about 15% of your income). ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/88 "2018-08-02T18:11:47Z")
If you have bad credit you’re not going to be buying a house or renting an apartment. Not in San Jose or Lawrence, KS. Living basically for free in a location with good weather and higher salaries could be the couple’s best plan of attack for paying down debt, getting their credit score up and getting settled in a permanent place. Even if they could afford to rent somewhere, it might just seem like a waste of money to them at this time. If they can handle living in a car for 6 months, they can save that much more money. If you have $0 or less, what does living in Kansas get you? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/89 "2018-08-02T18:25:07Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > There are also cultural factors to consider. Rural or rural adjacent areas where rent it cheap are sometimes cultural wastelands and depression induced by living in such places outweighs the depression caused by having to live out of a car. The low-rent rural and rural adjacent areas can also be flat out dangerous to anyone who isn’t white, Protestant, heterosexual and steeped in whatever the local community is. What the hell is “rural adjacent”? ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/90 "2018-08-02T18:35:59Z")
Best Fajitas I’ve ever had were in Topeka, Kansas. Just sayin’. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/91 "2018-08-02T18:40:13Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > What the hell is “rural adjacent”? Low density housing in areas that aren’t really rural, but don’t have access to mass transit. Essentially far-flung suburbanite hell. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/92 "2018-08-02T18:44:48Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > uh, wait a minute. I’m constantly hearing how people should “re-train” if they can’t find work in the field they’re currently in. Yet she’s an idiot for spending the money to get “re-trained” for something new? > > can’t win. The question I’d have is what sort of degree she got, and where. Assuming that she went back to get her Master’s degree, you’re looking at something like 30-35 credit hours, and maybe a thesis. $143,000 seems like maybe 2-3x what that should cost, assuming she went to a state school. If she went to a private school, or powered through to get both degrees at once, that seems like poor decision making to me. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/93 "2018-08-02T18:54:45Z")
I just noticed this article was from last year. Has there been any follow up? ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/94 "2018-08-02T19:26:59Z")
> [@bump](#): > > The question I’d have is what sort of degree she got, and where. Assuming that she went back to get her Master’s degree, you’re looking at something like 30-35 credit hours, and maybe a thesis. $143,000 seems like maybe 2-3x what that should cost, assuming she went to a state school. > > If she went to a private school, or powered through to get both degrees at once, that seems like poor decision making to me. Exactly. I completely agree that retraining is sometimes necessary. But, she was an admin for a tech firm, not exactly a coal miner or steel worker. OK, nothing wrong at all with going back to college to at least get the Bachelor’s degree. But taking on $143,000 in debt for someone that was at least 40 or so and then plunging on for a Master’s is very questionable decision making. I wish the article did tell us exactly where she went for these degrees and what the majors were. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/95 "2018-08-02T19:49:49Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > uh, wait a minute. I’m constantly hearing how people should “re-train” if they can’t find work in the field they’re currently in. Yet she’s an idiot for spending the money to get “re-trained” for something new? > > can’t win. Yep. I’m also in my 50’s now. When my prior profession evaporated in the Great Recession I considered going back to school, but it did appear cost-effective for me. So I dialed back on my lifestyle and took a job in retail that paid less but didn’t require me to go into debt to get it. Was it the right decision? Well… I live in a 2 bedroom apartment with ample storage and own two vehicles. And still no debt. Hmm… I think the “re-train” thing was oversold. I mean, I’m sure it worked out for some people, but it wasn’t the only alternative, or even a good one for some folks. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/96 "2018-08-02T20:02:35Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Low density housing in areas that aren’t really rural, but don’t have access to mass transit. Essentially far-flung suburbanite hell. Heh. Welcome to my neighborhood. I live here by choice; you couldn’t pay me to live in an urban or suburban setting. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/97 "2018-08-02T20:42:29Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > Low density housing in areas that aren’t really rural, but don’t have access to mass transit. Essentially far-flung suburbanite hell. That describes much of southern New Hampshire ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/98 "2018-08-02T20:45:41Z")
If they have cars, then why don’t they live \*in \*them instead of “out of” them? Da-bump-dump. Tish! ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/99 "2018-08-02T20:54:17Z")
What’s that “bump-dump”? George Carlin rolling in his grave? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2018, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927/100 "2018-08-02T20:56:02Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I just noticed this article was from last year. Has there been any follow up? Here’s an article from April that says [she was still homeless](https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2018-04-03/is-there-hope-for-californias-housing-crisis). The link says she taught four courses in the fall semester, bringing her income up to $3,100/mo., but was back to three courses this spring. She has pages on [Linkedin](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellen-tara-james-penney-332a3778/), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/ellentjp/), and [Blogspot](http://ahomelessprofessor.blogspot.com/). As far as I can see, she hasn’t posted to any of them since December. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-with-good-jobs-still-live-out-of-their-cars/818927.md?page=6)