Early last year I was finally pushed into living in my minivan. I was in a very shit living situation, schooling wasn't working out, couldn't keep a job, struggling with my disability and just the whole life shabang. I was scared out of my mind but I put many many months and years of research into making a VERY minimal no build setup and moved into my car a day after my birthday. It was insane!!!! I had free reign of where I could go, what I could do, as long as I had enough money to put gas in the tank I was golden!
I fought for years to find some sense of normal in the traditional lifestyle of rent a room with 3 roommates and work overtime every week or struggle through debt and college and just plan somewhere down the road to be happy when I had the time for it. I found some sense of peace in this hunk of metal and wheels with everything I owned in it. I took a seasonal job and moved across the whole country. I earned absolutely shit money and was worked to the bone, but I was happy.
Then in September my car started to slowly shit out. It scared the hell out of me. That was my home, and if my home broke down I didn't earn enough to fix or replace it. Winter was coming too and I didn't want to move back down south. I chickened out and got hired full time at a factory. I earn okay money. Then I got into a room (fought tooth and nail with property management to make it happen), a horrible nightmare roommate situation unfortunately, so I found an apartment owned by a private landlord and started renting that.
Holy fuck, I earn $23.50 an hour and work about 42 hours a week. I walk to work many days, I make my own food at home, I have liability only insurance, and I can just barely afford to live. Rent is $1400 including utilities which is somehow great for the area?? So many people are saying "just do a side hustle during the weekends/after work for extra money!", mother fucker I get home and I have 4 1/2 HOURS to myself to get ready for work the next day and do everything else I need to do before I have to go to sleep. Both damn and bless the early morning shift. I got a bad filling that had to turn into a root canal, and now that $500 crown I'm wondering where am I going to get the money to pay for it, I have a half done tooth but I have rent to pay.
Car living was not all sunshine and rainbows I will say. Shitting in a bucket in a trailhead parking lot is definitely an experience to get used to. I started to get uncomfortable with sleeping in a house too. The space was too cramped, houses are always filled with too many things, it felt like a luxury to always have whatever utilities you want immediately. Heated space and as much water as you want????? spoiled.
But I will also say, I have never felt more free to be myself, more supported on my own, and generally just had so many open options for where my future could go. Some folks at my old seasonal job literally went to argentina to live and work for the winter! Some went back home, some went to ski resorts, some are suffering as I am in a full time year round job not really able to make ends meet. I'm tired of faking it till I make it, because no one ever really makes it. They just get numb to suffering all the time. I'm planning in the spring to buy a work/utility van or a truck so I can build out a more flushed out space. How will I do that? I have no fucking idea. I don't have any savings. but honestly fuck it all, I'm throwing it all away again so I can live. I'll definitely at least have enough when I get my deposit back so there we go.
Thanks for coming to my mouth spaghetti ted talk. Life's a shit storm for everyone and by golly there is no plumber around. It's been a very long time since I've been on here, but I appreciate y'all for being cool folk.
I fought for years to find some sense of normal in the traditional lifestyle of rent a room with 3 roommates and work overtime every week or struggle through debt and college and just plan somewhere down the road to be happy when I had the time for it. I found some sense of peace in this hunk of metal and wheels with everything I owned in it. I took a seasonal job and moved across the whole country. I earned absolutely shit money and was worked to the bone, but I was happy.
Then in September my car started to slowly shit out. It scared the hell out of me. That was my home, and if my home broke down I didn't earn enough to fix or replace it. Winter was coming too and I didn't want to move back down south. I chickened out and got hired full time at a factory. I earn okay money. Then I got into a room (fought tooth and nail with property management to make it happen), a horrible nightmare roommate situation unfortunately, so I found an apartment owned by a private landlord and started renting that.
Holy fuck, I earn $23.50 an hour and work about 42 hours a week. I walk to work many days, I make my own food at home, I have liability only insurance, and I can just barely afford to live. Rent is $1400 including utilities which is somehow great for the area?? So many people are saying "just do a side hustle during the weekends/after work for extra money!", mother fucker I get home and I have 4 1/2 HOURS to myself to get ready for work the next day and do everything else I need to do before I have to go to sleep. Both damn and bless the early morning shift. I got a bad filling that had to turn into a root canal, and now that $500 crown I'm wondering where am I going to get the money to pay for it, I have a half done tooth but I have rent to pay.
Car living was not all sunshine and rainbows I will say. Shitting in a bucket in a trailhead parking lot is definitely an experience to get used to. I started to get uncomfortable with sleeping in a house too. The space was too cramped, houses are always filled with too many things, it felt like a luxury to always have whatever utilities you want immediately. Heated space and as much water as you want????? spoiled.
But I will also say, I have never felt more free to be myself, more supported on my own, and generally just had so many open options for where my future could go. Some folks at my old seasonal job literally went to argentina to live and work for the winter! Some went back home, some went to ski resorts, some are suffering as I am in a full time year round job not really able to make ends meet. I'm tired of faking it till I make it, because no one ever really makes it. They just get numb to suffering all the time. I'm planning in the spring to buy a work/utility van or a truck so I can build out a more flushed out space. How will I do that? I have no fucking idea. I don't have any savings. but honestly fuck it all, I'm throwing it all away again so I can live. I'll definitely at least have enough when I get my deposit back so there we go.
Thanks for coming to my mouth spaghetti ted talk. Life's a shit storm for everyone and by golly there is no plumber around. It's been a very long time since I've been on here, but I appreciate y'all for being cool folk.
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