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I am a 23 year old who, after making some really "young and dumb" mistakes (and spending too much money), found himself living with his mother in a backwater rural/post-industrial area in a tiny house near the highway and the airport and with plenty of spastic cats. There is no space for me here. I have a panic attack every day I feel so claustrophobic, and I can't stand my mother's constant nagging. She does not want me here, and I do not want to be here. I think I would get more peace and quiet sleeping in my car parked in the woods somewhere -- at least I probably wouldn't have to lie awake in bed listening to the roar of the interstate.
I have just over $1,000, a 2011 Honda Civic -- which I was fortunate enough to receive used as a college graduation gift. I own a lot of other expensive things, but I'd like to keep most of them. I have never had any trouble finding low-level retail and restaurant work when there's reason to. I have the charm and looks to get what I want from people.
What are some hypothetical ways I could make this work? Let's pretend staying here is not an option.
Sell the Honda, and buy an older van you can stealth camp in. And I'm being serious. A Chevy Astro cargo van, or even a Toyota Previa or Sienna.
Then, drive it to wherever you'd like to live, and start looking for a job, while sleeping in your van. You can find a lot of videos on Youtube on how to set up a van simply and cheaply for stealth camping.
I knew a young man who wanted to move to Santa Barbara, where my daughter went to college with other friends from their same high school. He bought a pickup truck with a shell, and slept in his truck. He got a gym membership where he could shower and shave. He got a job as a waiter, and eventually got an apartment.
It can be done. But, trying to sleep in your car would be uncomfortable, and you'd be more likely to get caught. So, given what you said, I'd start by replacing the Honda car with a van.
I've been researching which types of minivans I want to buy to turn into a mini-camper, and those are the ones I'd choose. I'm leaning toward the Astro cargo van as it's bigger and has less windows. I'll be camping in campgrounds a lot, but I want the option to be able to just park it somewhere inconspicuously sometimes, and I think that's the best option.
Go to a community with a strong work ethic -- you can probably find one within an hour's drive
Rent a room, not an apartment -- sometimes you can find them with some discreet inquiries at a local bar (assuming the place isn't an absolute "dive");
Get yourself a job with a reputable temp agency -- if that doesn't work, use Labor Ready or the like as a last resort;
Make some friends -- or at least, present yourself as a stable personality.
The rest will likely take care of itself.
As an afterthought, here's an example worthy of admiration:
I am a 23 year old who, after making some really "young and dumb" mistakes (and spending too much money), found himself living with his mother in a backwater rural/post-industrial area in a tiny house near the highway and the airport and with plenty of spastic cats. There is no space for me here. I have a panic attack every day I feel so claustrophobic, and I can't stand my mother's constant nagging. She does not want me here, and I do not want to be here. I think I would get more peace and quiet sleeping in my car parked in the woods somewhere -- at least I probably wouldn't have to lie awake in bed listening to the roar of the interstate.
I have just over $1,000, a 2011 Honda Civic -- which I was fortunate enough to receive used as a college graduation gift. I own a lot of other expensive things, but I'd like to keep most of them. I have never had any trouble finding low-level retail and restaurant work when there's reason to. I have the charm and looks to get what I want from people.
What are some hypothetical ways I could make this work? Let's pretend staying here is not an option.
I would keep the car and as the other post mentioned look for a room for rent in a city where you can afford to live (Craigslist is usually a good source), find a job easily and have the desire to live in. It appears maybe you live in Iowa (?) so perhaps cities like Nashville or Louisville (both booming towns for twenty-somethings) would offer a low cost of living/rent, a decent job market and are not a huge distance away.
Yikes, you're right ..I just looked. It's really shot up over the past few years. Scratch Nashville then!
Louisville is still a good option and then perhaps St Louis or Kansas City which are both still quite affordable.
You can add Omaha to the list -- back in the fall of 1999, I drove in with a Ford Tempo with 120K miles, and a couple of thou -- knew absolutely no one; found a job in 3 days, a "real" job in 2 weeks, bought a used pickup and paid for it with a courier's route.
Keep the car. Keep your stuff. Rent a storage unit just big enough to store your stuff into - it shouldn't cost you more than $100-150 per month. Find a college town nearby and look into becoming a roommate at off-campus housing. The kids are just going back to college now, and there should be plenty of roommate ads everywhere. This is the cheapest housing you can get.
You can do all this on far less than the $1,000 you have. Once settled, look for a job, and you should be off to the races.
First, get a full time job. Then look for one or more other people your age who want to share the costs for a cheap apartment.
I realize that you are miserable right now, but it's hard to find a job when you don't even have an address to give the employer. And, it's hard to rent if you don't have a job. So right now, as miserable as it may be, living with your mother has provided you with a great opportunity to get started.
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