Funds Before Vandwelling, or Vandwelling Before Funds [split]

[gcal]

[Mod's Note: Split from "stranded/not enough cash for repairs" thread https://vanlivingforum.com/Thread-stranded-not-enough-cash-for-repairs]

I see a lot about getting this or that unskilled job on the road (when the OP claimed to be somewhat disabled), but very little emphasis on getting skills that he could use to support himself on the road. To me, that is a very bad mindset. Bookkeeping, medical billing, CADD drafting, taxes, computer programing, photography, pharmacy assistants ... there are all kinds of portable skills a person with disabilities can learn that would bring in needed cash on the road. To me, the idea of just hitting the road in a junker with little money and no good prospects of getting more is barmy. First, you learn the skills you need to get money on the road. Then, you hit the road. First things first. Just because someone has an impulse to do something does not mean that it is a good idea to run off half cocked and do it.

 

[Canine]

Very good advice,ggal.Unfortunately,unwanted and untaken by most.

 

[akrvbob]

That's great advice for some people, bad advice for others. There is no one set way to view life that is guaranteed right for everyone.

It was terrible advice for me and I very much regret how long I followed it
Bob

 

[gcal]

That's great advice for some people, bad advice for others. There is no one set way to view life that is guaranteed right for everyone.

It was terrible advice for me and I very much regret how long I followed it
Bob

If it is me you are talking to, Bob, we are going to have to agree to very strongly disagree. Everybody needs some money to live and keep their vehicle rolling. The OP indicated that he was already disabled.Good health and an accident free life are guaranteed to nobody. Too many of the suggestions that are given to people here with such false confidence involve long hours of unskilled manual labor. You aren't going to be able to walk dogs or pick apples or ship for Amazon with a broken arm or bad asthma. But if you know how to do medical billing or 3-d Autocadd, you can go into a temp agency and get a temporary paycheck, even in a wheelchair. Even if you plan on doing manual labor, you will be better off getting those temporary paychecks if you are trained and skilled in a trade.

 

[rvpopeye]

The easiest job I've had workamping was in a camp store.
Reservations , check ins and outs and running the register selling supplies (and so hard to resist ICE CREAM !

I even got to sit on a stool !

 

[akrvbob]

If it is me you are talking to, Bob, we are going to have to agree to very strongly disagree.

Yes, we are going to have to agree to very strongly disagree. 
Bob

 

[mockturtle]

Some people just have an aversion to work and would like to believe they can get through life without it.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Some people just have an aversion to work and would like to believe they can get through life without it.

I am going to have to agree. Sometimes people work so hard at not working it would have been easier to just work.

 

[GotSmart]

Some people just have an aversion to work and would like to believe they can get through life without it.

True that, but then there are others that would love to work, but their body will not let them.  

Only by walking a mile in their shoes will any of us know who is where.  

After a week of fixing my van, the same work could have been done in a single day.  My arms are cramping, and I am unable to stand up straight.  It sucks being unable to work for a living.  I still have at least one day finding my mistakes in routing vacuum lines and the electrical short.

 

[akrvbob]

Some people just have an aversion to work and would like to believe they can get through life without it.

Some people are like sheep who are most comfortable in the herd, doing as they are told and staying safe. Nothing wrong with that at all!! If it works for you, great!  

But for some of us it is a horrible way to live, we must think and act for ourselves. We don't worship the safety money brings us because we see it as selling ourselves into slavery and de-humanizing. We worship a life lived to its fullest even if it's on the edge--and sometimes over the edge. We can't help it, living as free human beings and not sheep is the only way we can be happy.

"It's no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society."J.Krishnamurti

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!”
Hunter S. Thompson

"I would rather be ashes than dust!
I would rather that my spark should burn out
in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.
I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom
of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet.

The function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not waste my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time."
~ attributed to Jack London

“It is very important that you only do what you love to do. 
you may be poor, you may go hungry, you may lose your car, you may have to move into a shabby place to live, but you will totally live. 

And at the end of your days you will bless your life because you have done what you came here to do. Otherwise, you will live your life as a prostitute, you will do things only for a reason, to please other people, and you will never have lived. and you will not have a pleasant death.” 
Elisabeth Kurbler Ross

 

[AltTransBikes]

Some people just have an aversion to work and would like to believe they can get through life without it.

Some people are like sheep who are most comfortable in the herd, doing as they are told and staying safe. Nothing wrong with that at all!! If it works for you, great!  

But for some of us it is a horrible way to live, we must think and act for ourselves. We don't worship the safety money brings us because we see it as selling ourselves into slavery and de-humanizing. We worship a life lived to its fullest even if it's on the edge--and sometimes over the edge. We can't help it, living as free human beings and not sheep is the only way we can be happy.

And some people offer the most incongruous of replies rife with hyperbole. I fail to see what about a person who knows the dignity of work, a person making their own way, carrying their weight, deserves for them to be called a 'sheep'.

"A body not used soon rusts out. Who would have the gall to eat without labor?" Bodhi Dharma

 

[Canine]

I've been broke and I've had money(from working).Having money to live on is much better.Platitudes about living free,etc,etc.Sound great until you wonder where your next meal is coming from.For most of us,it's either work,beg or steal.I choose work.

 

[DannyB1954]

My advice for dealing with poverty, (not having money to fix van etc.) is don't listen to those who are collecting a pension and social security benefits when they tell you to live wild and be free. They will tell you what an awful existence they had all the while they are now benefiting from it. When you are in your 60's you had better have done as they did and not how they say to do it. They are not going to be sharing their checks with you.
If you are young, get a job. Get an education or trade that will pay enough to give you freedom while you work and a livelihood when you are old. Did I always whistle on my way to work, no. Am I now glad that I worked enough when I was young so I don't have to work now, yes. In your 20's not having a steady income or career is OK, In your 30's you need to get more serious about how you will live in your 60's.

 

[mockturtle]

Bob, I hope you at least show some appreciation for the 'sheep' who grow your food, build and maintain your roads, provide your internet access and provide medical care when you need it.

My post, which was quoted at least twice and deleted, was not in the least 'off topic'. It was, in fact, very pertinent.

[Mod's Note: Post has been restored.]

 

[Canine]

You explained it in a nutshell,Dannyb.Me and Vic are both on SS,drawing a couple thousand a month.Everything we own is paid for.We were not forced to work this summer,and could have kicked back and watched the world go by.Or bounced from 1 place to another and been always on the move.But,to paraphrase a certain blowhard on the radio,I'm not much for a drive by life.We like to stay at least a month wherever we go so we can get to know the people and the area.Working has benefited both our physical and fiscal situation.We will leave here in 6 weeks 40 pounds lighter between us and an extra $24k in the bank.Hope everyone else has had a great summer too.

 

[DannyB1954]

My post, which was quoted at least twice and deleted, was not in the least 'off topic'.  It was, in fact, very pertinent.

I feel your pain, my posts are deleted when someone doesn't like my view.

 

[cyndi]

Mockturtle, the poster asked for advice; not your opinion. And again, you're derailing the thread with your opinion.

 

[mockturtle]

I see how the distinction is drawn: We give OPINIONS but Bob gives ADVICE. This crap happens too often. Enough.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

You don't have to be a "sheep" to work though and there's absolutely no way to live this life with out at least some money. Cars, gas, insurance, food, clothing, all cost money. So I don't quite understand how advocating someone not work to be doing anyone a favor.

I've been self employed part time since I was 23ish and full time around 27. (except the last few years I've been on disability) I've never had to answer to anyone, I never followed the social norms blindly, extended time off and long road trips have been the norm for me most my life and it's doing something I really enjoy that affords me the other stuff I really enjoy as well.

Telling someone to take off down the road in a failing vehicle with no resources with a disability seems a bit unprepared to me, if not outright dangerous.

 

[vsession]

First things first. Just because someone has an impulse to do something does not mean that it is a good idea to run off half cocked and do it.

I agree with gcal, even if you want something so badly, you need to take steps to make sure that you can achieve your goal. Every goal in life has it's own challenges and how you plan for it will usually result in a success or a failure.

My personal experience, I had a work related injury almost 1 years ago and I’m still not back to my job that I’ve done and love for the past 6 years. My plan before that was to quit this job anyway and have that skill that I can use everywhere, but now I’ll probably not be able to do so. I learned trading stock witch involve no physical work, I looked at my situation and found a solution. There's a lot of work that can be done with a computer.

My view is that we live in a world that money give you freedom, you can fight it or embrace it. I choose the later and I’m happy with it.