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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?
My daily driver is a compact RV, so I would guess with stealth camping and never paying for an RV space, maybe nine months -- if I didn't want to get on the road and travel. Forget the dollar menu, prepare fresh meals with the two-burner stove and microwave. The sofa in back converts to a queen-size bed. There's a marine toilet and shower onboard.
Not that I would want to live this way for any protracted period of time and I certainly wouldn't want to subject my cat to it.
But if this is something you're seriously considering, check out Glenn Morrissette's blog To Simplify. He spends very little, gets his power from solar and works from the road.
If I didn't have my mortgage, my husband and I would currently be spending around $13k a year, including taxes, insurance and utilities. If we didn't have the house at all and were going to sleep in our cars, we could cut that down to:
$600/year 2 car insurance/registration
$1200/year gas for 2 cars
$3600/year food and toiletries for 2
$400/year 2 phones
$200/year on whatever else I'm not thinking of
That's $6000, but for 2 people, so $3000 each. So about a year and a half if we each had $5000.
If we were going to stay in our home, then probably about 10 months if we each had $5000, or about 5 if we had $5000 total.
I would only need liability as my car is paid for. I figure $700/year and $150 for registration. Like someone mentioned I could probably drop cell service and use free Wifi at McDonald's which would save $360.
I already live without a car! $5000 would get me about 2.5 months where I am in NYC right now. If I were to live like a bum though? Bwahahaha, $1 pizza, $1 bubble tea, $1 for 5 dumplings, $1 for hot chocolate, right now I have free burgers for a year. The cold might be a problem, but just like the ol' Chicago saying goes, "just wear more layers". Not to mention, the subway trains are well regulated temperature wise.
$20 gym membership for the shower, use the cheapest laundromat in town to clean clothes; I don't think I'd want to live like that, but I know how I could do it if I had to!
I don't think I'm street savvy enough to live as a bum. If I'm living in my car, I'm not sure, but probably at least a couple of years. My $5000 would probably go up at least another $7000+ per year because I've got a goal of making at least $20 a day begging on street corners. I'm not big on the $1 menu. I'll have a small microwave bought from a thrift store that I'll keep in my car and randomly plug into unsecured outlets outside of various businesses and gas stations. I can eat fairly healthy with that. If I want cold food storage, I guess I could get a cooler and occasionally beg or buy ice. I'm going to be well read because I'll probably be hanging out at the library to stay warm.
A bum could get free housing and food through shelters and charities, but 5k in assets would disqualify you from most assistance so you'd need to keep it in cash. Assuming you could survive as a bum without getting beat up and the money stolen, 2-3 years.
Would be hard. People would notice your cash, gang up on you on take it.
I don't think I'm street savvy enough to live as a bum. If I'm living in my car, I'm not sure, but probably at least a couple of years. My $5000 would probably go up at least another $7000+ per year because I've got a goal of making at least $20 a day begging on street corners. I'm not big on the $1 menu. I'll have a small microwave bought from a thrift store that I'll keep in my car and randomly plug into unsecured outlets outside of various businesses and gas stations. I can eat fairly healthy with that. If I want cold food storage, I guess I could get a cooler and occasionally beg or buy ice. I'm going to be well read because I'll probably be hanging out at the library to stay warm.
Check out truckers' supplies for 12v appliances that will run off your car power.
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