Yes, please. I’d be interested to see the results.
Isn’t that where they all go? 
Well, maybe not the dogs, I guess.
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.
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.
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.
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.
San Jose State University does have housing available for faculty and staff. According to this, an unfurnished efficiency is $1,625/month.
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.
And, what’s more, she’s responsible for paying the self-employment tax (which is a not-insignificant chunk of change, at about 15% of your income).
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?
What the hell is “rural adjacent”?
Best Fajitas I’ve ever had were in Topeka, Kansas. Just sayin’. 
Low density housing in areas that aren’t really rural, but don’t have access to mass transit. Essentially far-flung suburbanite hell.
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.
I just noticed this article was from last year. Has there been any follow up?
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.
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.
Heh. Welcome to my neighborhood. I live here by choice; you couldn’t pay me to live in an urban or suburban setting.
That describes much of southern New Hampshire
If they have cars, then why don’t they live *in *them instead of “out of” them? Da-bump-dump. Tish!
What’s that “bump-dump”? George Carlin rolling in his grave? 
Here’s an article from April that says she was still homeless.
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, Facebook, and Blogspot. As far as I can see, she hasn’t posted to any of them since December.