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yes because my pay is so low. never had a lot of money in my life. i've always lived very poorly with low wage jobs. poor life and i'm still poor after all these years despite going to college. im living with my parents because i've always been poor as dirt. i'd have to resort to living in the van if my parents died. just making plans in a worst case scenario. or when i'm older.
You make $750/week and "can't afford" to even pay your parents $500/month in rent?
It certainly has a lot of down sides, but they also have a certain freedom from responsibility that is otherwise only enjoyed by people who are independently wealthy.
"At both ends of the ecomomic spectrum, there exists a leisure class."
Unlike all the post I've read here and even the OP, I have some experience with this. I quit my corporate career, built a camper on the back of my Toyota pickup, and lived in that for ~13 years. I wasn't planning to do it that long, but I loved it more than I thought I would.
I lived in the wilderness mostly, far from other people. It was very frugal. I spent a lot less than I thought, $3-4k/yr including depreciation. The truck was a real champ and never needed major repairs, even though I beat it to death.
Freedom! Yep, that's the main thing. All the time in the world. Nothing to be, nothing to think about, nothing to do. No fear or anxiety. The complete absence of that psychic interference that comes from being plugged into society and all its BS.
It wasn't an easy decision to make, letting go of my societal status and everything I enjoyed. I didn't have any experience doing this sort of thing. I didn't even know how to camp. But I took to it immediately. I was basically in ecstatic joy for the first few months.
Thought I'd answer a few of the questions and objections that have been mentioned:
1) Smelling bad. I usually wouldn't bath unless I was going to town. Then I'd take a dip in a cold stream if one was near, or use a couple gallons to wash up. While in town I'd get a proper shower at a truck stop, public pool, community college, etc.
2) Girlfriends. Never had a problem if I met a woman I liked. And no they weren't crack whores. They were attractive intelligent and down to earth real women. Much better than the ones I met when I was making lots of money! Three became my roommates for awhile but they really didn't enjoy the life.
3) Danger. Sure. Where I was, falling or stepping on a rattlesnake were probably the biggest risks. I had several close calls with both. If I had been seriously injured I either would have had a major adventure getting out, or it would have been months before my buzzard picked bones were found. The couple mountain lions I met didn't seem interested in eating me, and the dozens of bears just ran away. The thousands of coyotes I encountered weren't interested either. Humans are the scariest animal in the wilderness, I guess.
The truck broke down a couple times. The first one when the oil pressure sensor blew and all the oil spewed out (really dumb design), I walked to the nearest road and hitched to the parts store and hitched back. The 2nd one the fuel pump had died and I met someone in a pickup who offered to tow me into town. Dropped me off in a parking lot and a couple of drunk Indians helped me fix it (they got gas all over them) for $20. I had several flat tires and got stuck in sand and mud many times but I always made it out.
4) Police harassment. Being a white formerly upper class male I was clueless about this one. But apparently dropping in socio-economic status down to the bottom puts you in a "harass with impunity" category. For the most part it was no big deal, but I did have one very dicey moment when a cop thought it would be fun to manhandle me for no reason, and I barely suppressed an instinctive reaction to take him down.
-------------------------
I only hung out for a few months total in town, but I got a pretty good idea of how the street homeless lived. These are the ones you normally don't see panhandling. Most either had serious mental or drug issues, and they weren't going to be a part of normal society period. A sizable number usually landed in the streets by accident and seemed capable of functionality, but they didn't care enough about the things society offered to make the considerable effort to do the dance. And a few seemed very functional but preferred the freedom.
In general I liked the homeless. Real people. Not trying so hard to pretend they are something.
You make $750/week and "can't afford" to even pay your parents $500/month in rent?
Yes. It sounds like you are saving just about everything you earn. Don't have to pay for a car, for meals, for much of anything. Why can't you "afford" to pay some rent to your parents?
yes because my pay is so low. never had a lot of money in my life. i've always lived very poorly with low wage jobs. poor life and i'm still poor after all these years despite going to college. im living with my parents because i've always been poor as dirt. i'd have to resort to living in the van if my parents died. just making plans in a worst case scenario. or when i'm older.
Many people responsibly support themselves on less than what you earn: $39k
Am amazed your parents go along with your tale of poverty.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
34,712 posts, read 58,054,000 times
Reputation: 46182
Homeless = river view, and no property taxes (living under a bridge)
= a new grocery cart as needed, no license or insurance required.
= great food (mission) and gov support options.
Quote:
zie92mg9z
. Your luck / support might dry up... I was caring for my disabled parent when I was age 18,,,, besides supporting BOTH my parents.... They brought a lot of debt I had to pay off. >$100,000 of bills to settle using my $1.65/hr pay. I worked 3 jobs at a time for over 10 yrs.... There are plenty of those jobs available. One job was cleaning 28 toilets per night, that was fun!
"At both ends of the ecomomic spectrum, there exists a leisure class."
Unlike all the post I've read here and even the OP, I have some experience with this. I quit my corporate career, built a camper on the back of my Toyota pickup, and lived in that for ~13 years. I wasn't planning to do it that long, but I loved it more than I thought I would.
I lived in the wilderness mostly, far from other people. It was very frugal. I spent a lot less than I thought, $3-4k/yr including depreciation. The truck was a real champ and never needed major repairs, even though I beat it to death.
Freedom! Yep, that's the main thing. All the time in the world. Nothing to be, nothing to think about, nothing to do. No fear or anxiety. The complete absence of that psychic interference that comes from being plugged into society and all its BS.
It wasn't an easy decision to make, letting go of my societal status and everything I enjoyed. I didn't have any experience doing this sort of thing. I didn't even know how to camp. But I took to it immediately. I was basically in ecstatic joy for the first few months.
Thought I'd answer a few of the questions and objections that have been mentioned:
1) Smelling bad. I usually wouldn't bath unless I was going to town. Then I'd take a dip in a cold stream if one was near, or use a couple gallons to wash up. While in town I'd get a proper shower at a truck stop, public pool, community college, etc.
2) Girlfriends. Never had a problem if I met a woman I liked. And no they weren't crack whores. They were attractive intelligent and down to earth real women. Much better than the ones I met when I was making lots of money! Three became my roommates for awhile but they really didn't enjoy the life.
3) Danger. Sure. Where I was, falling or stepping on a rattlesnake were probably the biggest risks. I had several close calls with both. If I had been seriously injured I either would have had a major adventure getting out, or it would have been months before my buzzard picked bones were found. The couple mountain lions I met didn't seem interested in eating me, and the dozens of bears just ran away. The thousands of coyotes I encountered weren't interested either. Humans are the scariest animal in the wilderness, I guess.
The truck broke down a couple times. The first one when the oil pressure sensor blew and all the oil spewed out (really dumb design), I walked to the nearest road and hitched to the parts store and hitched back. The 2nd one the fuel pump had died and I met someone in a pickup who offered to tow me into town. Dropped me off in a parking lot and a couple of drunk Indians helped me fix it (they got gas all over them) for $20. I had several flat tires and got stuck in sand and mud many times but I always made it out.
4) Police harassment. Being a white formerly upper class male I was clueless about this one. But apparently dropping in socio-economic status down to the bottom puts you in a "harass with impunity" category. For the most part it was no big deal, but I did have one very dicey moment when a cop thought it would be fun to manhandle me for no reason, and I barely suppressed an instinctive reaction to take him down.
-------------------------
I only hung out for a few months total in town, but I got a pretty good idea of how the street homeless lived. These are the ones you normally don't see panhandling. Most either had serious mental or drug issues, and they weren't going to be a part of normal society period. A sizable number usually landed in the streets by accident and seemed capable of functionality, but they didn't care enough about the things society offered to make the considerable effort to do the dance. And a few seemed very functional but preferred the freedom.
In general I liked the homeless. Real people. Not trying so hard to pretend they are something.
Awesome and insightful. If I were ever going to be "homeless", this is something I would do. Not an option for me now, though, as I have a wife and child to help support. I could see my younger self doing something like this, though, and sometimes I wish I had the experience of experiencing that level of total freedom.
Awesome and insightful. If I were ever going to be "homeless", this is something I would do. Not an option for me now, though, as I have a wife and child to help support. I could see my younger self doing something like this, though, and sometimes I wish I had the experience of experiencing that level of total freedom.
Nuhah, being homeless would be the last option for me, whereas the political steadiness and the justice thrive not.
You see: if you cannot have even a wash towel of your own, then why bother a home? The senseless people are going to take away your very life sooner or later.
Ok, troll post or not, the question has been asked. Answer: nothing.
Living homeless is a very selfish lifestyle. Homeless people don't contribute to anything. They take things: social services, use homeless places to eat, use other people's property and degrade their land with their junk and non-sanitation. They use up a lot of police time, etc. They ride their bikes on bike paths but pay no taxes for these roads.
As for having a job and quitting whenever they want, who needs employees like that? We've had some. They can't be counted on for anything. We've had them walk out just because they've had some paychecks and are no longer motivated to earn a living. And what about when they get sick? Go to a hospital and who pays those bills?
Living homeless is a very selfish lifestyle. Homeless people don't contribute to anything. They take things: social services, use homeless places to eat, use other people's property and degrade their land with their junk and non-sanitation. They use up a lot of police time, etc. They ride their bikes on bike paths but pay no taxes for these roads.
I think you'd be surprised how little the homeless take. I didn't know any who took more than foodstamps, which is a pittance. The great majority weren't out looking for handouts or bothering people either. Do you imagine that it's some kind of moral obligation to society and selflessness that keeps you from being homeless? Having a job and buying things isn't a "contribution" to anyone but yourself.
Meanwhile we have people making millions and even billions of $$$ while harming society, and there is little concern about that. Rather they are regarded as heros, just because so many wish they could be that rich!
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(living under a bridge)
