Off topic posts split from "How do u live on $700/month, truly?"

scaredycat72 · Jun 20, 2022

Catalyst1 said:
It isn't the "germs" in the food that give you food poisoning. It is the toxins they produce, which cannot be destroyed by cooking.

It's not either-or, it's both. Bacteria, viruses, parasites, and/or their toxins can all give you food poisoning.

JDub · Jun 21, 2022

This site is directed towards the prepper crowd so a lot of the posted links won't have much relevance (or appeal) to Nomads, but there ARE a lot of good ideas on frugal living and saving money, how to's, and information resources shotgunned throughout. Well worth a look... Could come in handy as things continue to degrade economically... I like the gardening and food preservation tips myself

https://www.prepperwebsite.com/
Cheers.

D'L · Jun 22, 2022

If you live in the desert, gardening or growing food is not an option. The soil in the desert won't support life, not to mention heat and lack of water. If you manage to make enough good soil and then use enough water to keep veges alive, your water bill will be high enough that you could have just bought organic produce. Not that I, for one, could afford organic produce.

the straw bale van is an interesting and clever idea,....thanks for posting that. Never heard of that before, but why wouldn't it work. I wish the person who put the article up knew the difference between straw and hay, because they keep saying hay bales, and no one would build with hay bales.

I have always lived on less than lot people would think they could live on. But anyone can do it if they put their mind to it. I have never felt poor, just frugal. In this country you can have a decent lifestyle on very little if you know how and can be creative and don't mind cleaning up and using the cast-offs of other people, which this rich society produces in abundance. You can furnish a whole space, one on wheels or not, with things people throw in the dumpster or leave on the street in most cities and towns.

Just my opinion, but I don't think organic food is worth the extra money. Maybe it used to be years ago but these days it's not really possible to buy anything that doesn't have GMOs in it, even if the packaging says it doesn't, because they are everywhere. The seeds of GMO plants are carried on the wind and there's no place on the planet they don't go. Chemicals are in the water and the soil everywhere. Similarly, microplastics are everywhere and in everything these days - they have been found in so called organic produce, in deep sea creatures and in the far artic ice. In some cases, organic food tastes better and if a person can afford to pay more for it, great. But I personally don't think it is much of a health advantage.

I have always just avoided spending any more money than I absolutely have to, and I apply that to everything. That's the bottom line to living on very little money: don't ever spend money where you don't have to. Which doesn't mean you have to do without everything you want; you just may have to wait for it until you find it free or cheap or in a dumpster, or you may have to make your own. That's how I have lived my life and have never felt bad about it, just grateful that I can do it. And I value what I have in a way I have noticed that people who are rich enough to buy whatever they want any time do not. Delayed gratification is a skill I learned in childhood and most people in this country (not of course including nomads) would do well to learn it.

Catalyst1 · Jun 24, 2022

D'L said:
If you live in the desert, gardening or growing food is not an option. The soil in the desert won't support life, not to mention heat and lack of water. If you manage to make enough good soil and then use enough water to keep veges alive, your water bill will be high enough that you could have just bought organic produce. Not that I, for one, could afford organic produce.

the straw bale van is an interesting and clever idea,....thanks for posting that. Never heard of that before, but why wouldn't it work. I wish the person who put the article up knew the difference between straw and hay, because they keep saying hay bales, and no one would build with hay bales.

I have always lived on less than lot people would think they could live on. But anyone can do it if they put their mind to it. I have never felt poor, just frugal. In this country you can have a decent lifestyle on very little if you know how and can be creative and don't mind cleaning up and using the cast-offs of other people, which this rich society produces in abundance. You can furnish a whole space, one on wheels or not, with things people throw in the dumpster or leave on the street in most cities and towns.

Just my opinion, but I don't think organic food is worth the extra money. Maybe it used to be years ago but these days it's not really possible to buy anything that doesn't have GMOs in it, even if the packaging says it doesn't, because they are everywhere. The seeds of GMO plants are carried on the wind and there's no place on the planet they don't go. Chemicals are in the water and the soil everywhere. Similarly, microplastics are everywhere and in everything these days - they have been found in so called organic produce, in deep sea creatures and in the far artic ice. In some cases, organic food tastes better and if a person can afford to pay more for it, great. But I personally don't think it is much of a health advantage.

I have always just avoided spending any more money than I absolutely have to, and I apply that to everything. That's the bottom line to living on very little money: don't ever spend money where you don't have to. Which doesn't mean you have to do without everything you want; you just may have to wait for it until you find it free or cheap or in a dumpster, or you may have to make your own. That's how I have lived my life and have never felt bad about it, just grateful that I can do it. And I value what I have in a way I have noticed that people who are rich enough to buy whatever they want any time do not. Delayed gratification is a skill I learned in childhood and most people in this country (not of course including nomads) would do well to learn it.

There is a correlation between the rise in dementia and the use of glycosophate (Round up) on food crops.

Gypsyjoe#1 · Jun 25, 2022

Catalyst1 said:
There is a correlation between the rise in dementia and the use of glycosophate (Round up) on food crops.

Use of Round up also causes cancer, I know I got cancer from it and recieved a settlement to help pay my medical.

bullfrog · Jun 25, 2022

Once you get rid of the overburden of must have material things live becomes much easier to deal with. Every person is in a different situation. I live in the desert, my neighbor grows a really good garden most years using materials and free water furnished by the National Park Service at the cost of a lifetime parks pass. I get organic vegetables for the cost of a couple flashlight batteries, at least that is what I tell him! Lol!!!

RoamerRV428 · Jun 25, 2022

van dwellers on the move ain't growing gardens on BLM land or are they doing anything in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel. I get 'those stationary' but if nomad and on the road a ton of options are not in one's favor ever. On the road and moving vs. stationary and paying any property taxes or maintaining cost of valued land thru what it takes to work it and more is going against the increased gas prices and cost to eat out or even shop for food as prices inflate dramatically as we are all seeing right now. Move or stay put? That might be the next big question....not can ya move and be on the road or living without any permanence no matter how ya do it, but can you truly do it on your income. 700 is over.....up up up we go so many nomads might truly be forced to become stationary against survive in travel??? A flip might becoming where those who could travel and survive on very low income are now gonna be forced to maybe 'settle' and try to survive? hmmm

SLB_SA · Jun 25, 2022

eDJ_ said:
Here's the link to the straw bale Van Home. Even if you don't have a trailer, you could lay up a spare utility room for more space. Solar or a generator and a couple 55 gallon plastic barrels for rain water that would be kept in the utility room to capture rain water. You could build an elevated platform to set up a food storage hutch which would help keep animals out of it (build a simple ladder to access it) and take advantage of low temperature weather for refrigeration.

Off Grid hay bale Van home

How do you keep critters out of your van/trailer/RV when it is surrounded by your "straw bale home"? Mice, insects, etc. would be lodging in the bales ready for any opportunity to become your roommate. Right?

D'L · Jun 26, 2022

RoamerRV428 said:
van dwellers on the move ain't growing gardens on BLM land or are they doing anything in the parking lot of a Cracker Barrel. I get 'those stationary' but if nomad and on the road a ton of options are not in one's favor ever. On the road and moving vs. stationary and paying any property taxes or maintaining cost of valued land thru what it takes to work it and more is going against the increased gas prices and cost to eat out or even shop for food as prices inflate dramatically as we are all seeing right now. Move or stay put? That might be the next big question....not can ya move and be on the road or living without any permanence no matter how ya do it, but can you truly do it on your income. 700 is over.....up up up we go so many nomads might truly be forced to become stationary against survive in travel??? A flip might becoming where those who could travel and survive on very low income are now gonna be forced to maybe 'settle' and try to survive? hmmm

I have wondered about that lately. Figured it used to be clearly less expensive to be on the road but with gas at $5 a gallon it might not be unless you barely went anywhere, but it is necessary to move from place to place and drive into town to get supplies and so on. I am stationary right now, and it costs more than a lot of people are probably spending as nomads, in utilities and property tax and so on. But I also have and do things I wouldn't if on the road, not frivolous things like going to movies, but things like the electricity bill. Balance that with gas price, maybe a car repair or new tires.....all the things nomads need to do.

If one lived in town in an inexpensive place and could walk to get to any store or other place one needed, maybe did not even have a car at all, that could be pretty cheap. It may just depend on the person and it is probably possible to spend only $700 a month either way. Not easy, and getting harder all the time, but possible if the situation allows it.
Or, if that's all you've got and you have to. Times when I have been really strapped to get by and did not have a job I always made something that I could then sell or occasionally trade to people to get a little money. All these things take ingenuity, but everyone has that if they need to tap into it. Everyone is creative if they try to be.

A Wing and a Prayer · Jun 26, 2022

RonDean said:
It's difficult to stay "on-topic." Can anyone live on $700 a month is one question, The state of income inequality and the need for public assistance is another. To address the latter, my grandmother told me about her struggles raising a family through the Great Depression. If she could have had the credit to drive a better car, I'm sure she would have. It was a different time and different financial/social construct back then. I will not make a judgment if someone looks "poor enough" for help. I do believe all of us could probably find ways to stretch our finances, which I think was the question of the OP. I also think our financial system needs serious reform. This might be the richest country in the world, but it sure doesn't feel like it to me. But, that is really a question for another thread. And it would probably get too political and be quickly canceled. Too bad, because I would enjoy such a discussion.

The American dream wasn’t that everyone would be well off. It’s that everyone has the same opportunity to become well off. Some people will try things and fail, some will be more successful but that is how life is and what motivates people to try harder. Unless someone has a disability then we should help those people out. I can’t believe the salaries they are paying even for menial work these days. And yet businesses can’t find enough workers.

Just curious if someone here is living on a $700 a month salary. Not that that is all they are spending, but that is all they are getting? For some people money isn’t that important so they don’t spend their lives trying to accumulate it. It never was for me. But I did work hard and I made sure I stayed out of debt and paid my bills. But I can’t complain because I don’t have as much as someone who spent their lives trying to make more and accumulate more money. You reap what you sow. I’m content and don’t need a brand new car and big house to be happy. But if someone needs those things they should work for them. Everyone has their own priorities.

RoamerRV428 · Jun 27, 2022

D'L, yea I agree that situations will surely vary. We are all very different in our locations, our needs, our medical, our financials etc. so in the end, it will be interesting to read more about those in vans, on the road, with no backup how far their money is truly taking them cause I have to say I read quite a few 'on the road' began dumping back to small land homes when 'needed' or thru financial issues. Read a few where it was 'the van is dead' and I decided I ain't fixing it again and finding a quiet out of the way spot just for me

But who knows how the future economy and crazy chaos is going to change the landscape of how we live? it is a wait and see game I guess as it is with most of all our lives

Morgana · Jun 27, 2022

rruff said:
2 bd apartments average ~$800 nationwide. ... And I bet you could find some very viable living situations for $200/mo in poorer areas.

This is not what i've been seeing. A year ago I moved to a metropolitan area that always makes the top five "cheapest rent in America" lists and often the top three. Apartments of any size, in any neighborhood, under $800 were rare as hen's teeth (I did finally find one, almost an hour's drive from where I wanted to be, and I grabbed it in a semi-panic because the extended-stay budget hotel I was in had just raised its rates by 30% overnight) (I checked in a multistate area, and many/most hotels in the chain and its main competitor seemed to have done the same).

All my adult life I've been able to luck into a cheap apartment if I looked hard enough, but not this time, and I suspect those days are over. This housing crisis is in a class by itself.

The whole market is changing, too, with large corporations buying up housing stock. The lease I had to sign to get into this place was scary as h3ll.

Are your rental stats maybe pre-Covid?

rruff · Jun 27, 2022

Morgana said:
Are your rental stats maybe pre-Covid?

Ah... yes, they were. This is more up to date; nationwide median is just under $1000/mo (bottom graph), $725 to $1617 by state. https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/average-rent-by-state

SLB_SA · Jun 27, 2022

rruff said:
Ah... yes, they were. This is more up to date; nationwide median is just under $1000/mo (bottom graph), $725 to $1617 by state. https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/average-rent-by-state

I did not notice the definition of an apartment in the article. Studio, one bedroom or two bedroom apartment? An apartment in the Bay area (or in many urban parts of California) for $1500/month would have been hard to find 30 years ago (when I was living in Redwood City).

rruff · Jun 27, 2022

SLB_SA said:
I did not notice the definition of an apartment in the article. Studio, one bedroom or two bedroom apartment? An apartment in the Bay area (or in many urban parts of California) for $1500/month would have been hard to find 30 years ago (when I was living in Redwood City).

Fortunately there are many places in the country (and even in the state) that are a hell of a lot cheaper!

Gypsyjoe#1 · Jun 28, 2022

It boils down to you tighten your belts another notch and you do what you have to do. I don't see the government or anyone else jumping in to change it so I will survive!!!!

bagabum · Jun 29, 2022

david_1 said:
In June 2022---things are much different. Inflation-gas-cost of everything through the roof. I don't know how you guys do it. I am still working at 72, but I hope to retire by this winter.

Exactly, inflation is really being miscommunicated, I am watching grocery prices being marked up daily. It has to be well over 15%.

RoamerRV428 · Jun 29, 2022

not sure what planet others are on but location is key and if one is out in the massive dead boonies you ain't getting a 2 bed for 800 ever

As of February 2022, the average monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the United States reached 1,295 U.S. dollars, up from 1,100 U.S. dollars a year before.

come on, those who ain't living in this real dollar world

ugh

we see it all around us right now, big economy price changes are settling on us monsterously.......that under 1k is gonna be impossible sooner than later and ALL ain't some young'in who thrives well on nothing, many WHO MUST van dwell are having way more issues also in their lives...........so.............there is no black and white here ever, it is a per person, what does one require to not only maybe survive hopefully but can 'maybe thrive and enjoy life' a bit.

massive changes are coming directly at us right now.

BelgianPup · Jun 29, 2022

I don't have the time right now to go thru these eleven pages, so I'm going to add this bit about Social Security for seniors.

I have run across 3 senior ladies who were collecting low SS payments because they were non-working housewives most of their lives. Then their husbands ran off with cocktail waitresses or something and divorced them. They're working low-pay jobs to survive.

Their former hubs told them they can't collect off his SS because of the divorce.

IF THEY WERE MARRIED FOR AT LEAST 10 YEARS, THIS IS A LIE.

Call SS and ask. You may get a pleasant surprise.

RoamerRV428 · Jun 29, 2022

here is a 'tad of it' of it all, a snippet, but many 'what ifs and does this 'fit you' applies before one can be in this situation and take advantage but it is something anyone should look into for sure on what is truly available to them....

in general, a divorced spouse is entitled to a Social Security benefit that's equivalent to 50% of the ex-spouse's retirement benefit even if the ex-spouse has remarried. If the spouse is deceased, the former partner may be eligible for a survivor's benefit of up to 100% of that amount. In either case, the divorced spouse must have reached full retirement age in order to receive the full (50% or 100%) benefit. If the person files before reaching retirement age, the benefit will be permanently reduced.2
(This is true, by the way, for anyone applying for the Social Security old-age benefit. You can file as early as age 62, but the benefit amount will be set at a lower amount.)3 and there is ALOT MORE issues about this situation that one should and can look into for sure

Off topic posts split from "How do u live on $700/month, truly?"

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