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IDK... do bums even have cars?
Why would a bum have $5000?
Is a guy living with the parents a bum?
Bums out on the street would qualify for shelters and other support.
I think the question is flawed.
The OP must be referring to the more successful bums who readily have $5K in cash funds available and a car.
Perhaps the OP is thinking of dropping out of society at least for a while, living in the car and has $5K in savings available.
I believe the login is/was Mr. 2089, who shared his experiences about living in a homeless shelter and it didn't sound like any sort of picnic. Even though he got a job as I recall, they tossed everyone out each morning hours before he had to be at work and even though it was very cold outside he had no where to go and would hang out on a bench or something. It sounded miserable. I thankfully have no experience with shelters but I assumed they allow you to hang out there 24/7 so you don't have to be out in the cold and are protected. He also mentioned about what little he had with him, he was concerned it would be stolen and feared for his own safety in the shelter there as people would start fights over the most simplest of things.
I already live like a bum. I'm living on about $200 a month. Mainly restaurant meals. Car is paid for by my father. So for me, $5,000 would last about 2 years. Remember, the more people you parasite off of, the longer it can last.
I already live like a bum. I'm living on about $200 a month. Mainly restaurant meals. Car is paid for by my father. So for me, $5,000 would last about 2 years. Remember, the more people you parasite off of, the longer it can last.
But you are living with your parents, under their roof, and eating food that they pay for. Do they pay for your gas and car insurance as well? Not exactly a bum lifestyle - sounds pretty cushy, actually. Yes, you are being a parasite.
The thread title is "How long could you survive on $5,000 living like a bum.
I replied on how I could live on 5,000. How many "bums" have a car?
I would feel like a bum even in my own home if all I had was 5k per year. I guess I should include a "booze budget" if I were a true "bum".
There are many levels of "bumdom" I suppose. From the guy living in his van to dodge rent to the schizophrenic wino who sleeps on a park bench and begs for change. There is no hard line or delineation between "bum" and "not a bum"
I worked as a rooming house manager for a while in Texas. I got my room for free + $300. a month. That's it.
I lived quite well. Hard work, but I did okay.
Before that, when I was 48 I was homeless for 6 months and lived in a tent, illegally camping o public property in North Carolina. Worked my way out of that, but while i was in the situation, my scant income was about 50 to 100 bucks a month. No, I did not panhandle. I would go to fast food places after they closed and look for change left on the ground at the drive-thru window. I found an old rake and went door to door to rake leaves. (Maybe one person in 30 would hire me to rake their yard. Average was 10 bucks a yard. And I usually had to bag the leaves, too, if they had the bags) When it snowed, I borrowed a shovel from a friend and shoveled snow. Got food from food banks and got $94. a month food stamps back then, too.
Now, I am 59. Had a heart attack in October last year and the doc said I can't work for a few months. My income is $450. a month. That's it. I currently have no medical insurance and the state I am in says that unless I am on some sort of disability, no medical insurance. So, I pay for my own medications ($70. a month. Should be $170., but I stopped getting 4 of the prescribed meds and just get the essential ones), go to a clinic that has a sliding scale (my appointments are $45 and I have only been once), rent a room from friends ($100.) a month. Just applied for and qualified for food stamps, they should get the card to me within a week, so that'll help.
I have a vehicle that I registered in my home state before I left to come down here. Won't have to re-register until October. No insurance (it is not required in my home state)...so I drive very damn little. Like, maybe 10 miles a week. That's one trip to town and back.
I can go back to work in March or April (so the doc said), but who hires a 59 year old these days?
I live *to the bone* frugal.
If you are young and healthy, that 5k should last a good long time. At my age....not so much.
If you live like a typical American and have a plethora of bills it won't last long. If you're able to live like a vagabond or woodsman with skills like Bear Grylls, you could make that $5K last several years, possibly decades. It all depends on what your limitations are. This is a fascinating topic to delve into.
I've often wondered about a similar question. What is the least amount of money that someone could live their entire life off of in America in modern times? I add the modern times component cause the answer would otherwise be $0 since the Native American Indians lived essentially for free up until about a century and a half or so ago.
If you live like a typical American and have a plethora of bills it won't last long. If you're able to live like a vagabond or woodsman with skills like Bear Grylls, you could make that $5K last several years, possibly decades. It all depends on what your limitations are. This is a fascinating topic to delve into.
I've often wondered about a similar question. What is the least amount of money that someone could live their entire life off of in America in modern times? I add the modern times component cause the answer would otherwise be $0 since the Native American Indians lived essentially for free up until about a century and a half or so ago.
When I read about people wanting to do this or have done this, the question keeps coming back to me "Why do this?". Certainly you need some money to survive, but if you have to do manual labor without medical coverage, being able to afford to go to a dentist or pay for prescriptions or many other things, might as well get a regular job which provide those benefits. When you are young you can tolerate many inconveniences, but as you get older I see life as becoming much more harsh.
I understand some people's point that they want to have more freedom perhaps, or they aren't into materialism. I get it, but there are ways to achieve that without becoming a "bum" as in living on the streets, your car/Van or whatever.
Sleeping in your car....
Eating from the Dollar Menu....
Bathing in public bathrooms....
What else?
So how many months or years do you think you could stretch $5,000?
Depending on how fast my mortgage company would kick me out, I roughly calculate I could stay in my current place (not pay mortgage/condo fee/taxes) for 2 years and 1 month before the money would run out.
I'd basically pay electricity, food, and bus fees (I would sell car so I would have more than 5k, but I did not calculate that in).
Heck, if I walked away from it all and lived in a tent... my goodness, I'm sure 5k would last a long time. Eat at soup kitchens, become one of those "beg for money" people. Heck, would I have to touch the 5k (outside of the initial tent and supply purchase when I first started)?
When I read about people wanting to do this or have done this, the question keeps coming back to me "Why do this?". Certainly you need some money to survive, but if you have to do manual labor without medical coverage, being able to afford to go to a dentist or pay for prescriptions or many other things, might as well get a regular job which provide those benefits. When you are young you can tolerate many inconveniences, but as you get older I see life as becoming much more harsh.
I understand some people's point that they want to have more freedom perhaps, or they aren't into materialism. I get it, but there are ways to achieve that without becoming a "bum" as in living on the streets, your car/Van or whatever.
"When you are young you can tolerate many inconveniences, but as you get older I see life as becoming much more harsh."
Bingo! I wish I could give you 10 rep points for this comment. Things change as you get older. You can't do quite as much, and you can't do it as quickly as you used to.
When I read about people wanting to do this or have done this, the question keeps coming back to me "Why do this?". Certainly you need some money to survive, but if you have to do manual labor without medical coverage, being able to afford to go to a dentist or pay for prescriptions or many other things, might as well get a regular job which provide those benefits. When you are young you can tolerate many inconveniences, but as you get older I see life as becoming much more harsh.
I understand some people's point that they want to have more freedom perhaps, or they aren't into materialism. I get it, but there are ways to achieve that without becoming a "bum" as in living on the streets, your car/Van or whatever.
I can't speak for everyone and I can't even really say that I desire to live that way myself, I've just always been interested in the topic. Most people immediately dismiss the topic when I discuss it with them. I think I would sum up my interest in the topic as it would be nice to escape the trap that modern society has turned into.
Anytime you live in an urban area, where you're locked into what some people like to term, the rat race lifestyle, you're kinda stuck with what you have to do to get by. You have to work regularly to pay bills just to get by. You have to rely on grocery stores almost exclusively for sustenance. You have to put up with the perils of society, the road rage and traffic jams, the mass shootings, the crime, the annoying neighbors, the pollution etc. I've just always pondered if maybe there was another way of living.
There obviously is cause our ancestors lived that way and even some people still today, it's just can one make it work? Does the person have the skills to survive and the fortitude to adjust to living a life where they have to sacrifice the modern conveniences to be able to be free and do as they please? Who knows really? I think it would make an interesting premise for a reality TV show or a documentary. Who can survive the longest on X amount of money?
I always feel more alive whenever I'm traveling or out on an adventure. For example I've climbed a couple of mountains before and those were some of the best times of my life. Just being out in the middle of nowhere for an extended period of time and being able to think and live without any distractions or responsibility beyond immediate day to day survival. At the end of the day though for most people it's probably literally just about the money. They're just trying to cut costs, make their money last longer would be my guess.
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