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

^^^many places have them but don’t normally enforce them. According to Goggle Douglas County did adopt them as of October 2021, just do a little searching on the internet. Things get changed as growth occurs and government gets involved.

well that 700 would be wiped out very fast and I would be in the hole and then some on this trip.

Dodge Mega Cab got DEF sensor light come on for our beach trip.
Hubby got it to Dodge and onto computer diagnostic and sensor is bad. If we don't replace at any second it can 'go' and truck just stops.

Dodge ordering part at around $500 and 2-3 hrs labor, at a tad reduced cost per hr cause they took pity on hubby HA, should be out the door at about 800 give or take.

So anyone living on 700 now I feel for ya big time and I know any thing.....any whatever thing can put one in the hole extremely fast.
without replacing this sensor I have no truck to pull the rv home in 5 days

I tell ya all, no matter what you do have to live on the ol' savings acct has to be fed to truly just afford any life.

The tighter the money becomes because of hardships or inflation the more important it is to be able to cut costs. Simple rigs that have simple systems that anyone can repair or have repaired can save a lot of money. As an example a gravity fed water system fed by a 5 gallon water can and a camp stove to heat water with compared to a commercially build camper with a water tank with a level sensor, electric pump, accumulator and lines and valves as well as a water heater that have to be drained in freezing weather unless heated. If you run out of propane in cold weather a good sleeping bag can keep you alive and a water bottle in the bag with you won’t freeze and you will have very little damage with the simple system, the commercial camper trailer could have a lot of damage unless the owner knows how to drain and protect the total system. Freezing weather won’t wait till you can afford to buy propane or get into a shop to have the needed things done.

Carla618 said:

There is no requirement that you must be able to repair the rig yourself.

Click to expand...

No, but it sure helps if you have the aptitude and experience to deal with issues on your own. Mechanics in most places will take advantage of you if they think you are clueless... and you need to get to the mechanic in the first place.

rruff said:

No, but it sure helps if you have the aptitude and experience to deal with issues on your own. Mechanics in most places will take advantage of you if they think you are clueless... and you need to get to the mechanic in the first place.

Click to expand...

Of course.

^^^No apology necessary, you thought right only all areas of nomadic living need to be considered. The more you know when making choices and the more you are able to do can drastically affect how much money it will cost you to live the nomadic lifestyle. Keeping an open mind to learning opportunities when you confront them can pay big benefits latter on when you are short on cash. After all you most likely will be living out of your vehicle.

bullfrog said:

Simple rigs that have simple systems that anyone can repair or have repaired can save a lot of money.

Click to expand...

I like simple systems regardless of cost. Complex stuff is always breaking down.

Lizmccal said:

If you can get on food stamps Amazon is only $5.99 a month. Just an fyi, but you probably already know that.

Click to expand...

We get on Food Stamps for 1 month a year for the discounted $10 a month internet. Otherwise I believe it's about $40.

Met a couple who lives in Truckee, CA. They stay about 6.5-7 the year. They ride the City bus which is free. Bible study is at a local church for 1.5 hrs. There is a drive thru food bank every Tues but you can also be dropped off to pick up your food.

I'm not sure I'd agree that using food stamps and other social services = a way to live cheaply.
At least, it's not in the same category as living frugally, doing without conveniences, learning to repair your rig, seeking out seasonal jobs, etc.

Benefits like food stamps and food banks are not cheap. Someone is paying for them. Someone is also paying indirectly for those internet and Amazon subsidies, and you can bet it's not Jeff Bezos.

This thread covers two very different questions --
(1) how to survive financial hard times that came on you uninvited, and
(2) how to afford a very attractive (but potentially expensive) lifestyle by living frugally.
Much of the information is the same for both questions. But using costly social services is only a legitimate solution to question #1.

I wholeheartedly support these services being there for people who genuinely need them. But they're not there to finance a preferred lifestyle. A good chunk of them is paid for, directly or indirectly, by working people, many of whom are themselves struggling to make ends meet and deferring their own dreams.

Maybe this ^^ seems self-evident, but I'll just feel better if it is said explicitly. I'm not trying to imply that anyone here doesn't know that or would advocate abusing these privileges.

^^^I would imagine anyone trying to live on $700 a month would be deserving of and need required social services at one time or another simply due to emergency or unexpected situations. There is no reason a person should hesitate to use them to survive and improve their lives because by doing so improves life for everyone else. If people “choose” to live long term using social services in my opinion it is generally because they have a problem that requires treatment which social services should be able to provide but hasn’t been able to. Helping people improve their lives should be the goal not criminalizing being poor. In my opinion nobody that is in their right mind “wants” to be unable to support themselves.

^^ Nothing I said contradicts that. But this >500-post thread has covered a lot of ground that has gone well beyond sheer survival, and going on food stamps for the purpose of getting cheap internet or Amazon Prime is skating pretty close to a grey area. I don't think anyone has argued that people want to be unable to support themselves (rather, the argument is that some people want to not have to support themselves) (and you can agree or disagree about whether or how often that happens, but saying let's make sure not to cross that line is a very long way from "criminalizing being poor").

I managed to live on about $500 a month in Mexico and Argentina but due to my elderly father needing knee replacement surgery I came back to live with him in mid 2021. He's almost 84 now and it looks like I'll be staying with him for at least a few years but no rent or utilities so still living cheaply. And formulating plans to live out in New Mexico.

Living overseas can be cheap but my Spanish vocabulary is about 50 words so gets old not being able to converse. And it's just easier to navigate through everything in the States. So am planning to buy a Toyota hybrid of some sort for the climate control, battery charging, fuel economy, and reliability. Considering buying some cheap land to park on but most likely will try New Mexico state parks. Like being near town for amenities and having access to restrooms and showers.

I don't plan to sleep in the car unless there's a huge storm raging outside. I've been reading about camping in various countries for years and no one seems to do it better than Australians. They have these small canvas tents called swags that are very durable. If you get a traditional swag without poles you can just roll it out and climb in. Comes with a dense foam mattress for comfort. Similar to a cowboy bedroll but better. For added comfort they often use these on top of cots which makes it easy to get in. So basically will set up my cot, roll the swag out on top of it, climb in and go to sleep. Otherwise sit in the car or camp chair.

I can see the attraction of having a van, minivan, etc but with today's gas prices kind of feel like it would blow my budget very quickly. Not to mention trying to keep an older van going. I knowing buying a new car will be expensive up front, but once I'm out there my costs should be minimal for years and the Toyota will likely outlast me. Of course if you need to be working and living in town then the van setup or at least a car you can sleep in is the way to go. I spent 7 months in 2020 living in a Honda Element. Had its plusses for living in town but I'd rather be at a state park these days.

So getting the best traditional swag sent to me from Australia. Have already gotten a tent cot sent up from there that sets up in about 30 seconds. It'll be my go to when it's warm out. Will have Visible for phone and wifi. Have their cheaper $30 a month service now and it works well. What I want after years of tinkering with this stuff is to be mobile as possible. No gas guzzler, no trailer, just quick set up to sleep in a reasonably secure location and to easily move every 14 days to another close by state park then back again in 14 days. Use a butane stove to sear a piece of meat for dinner. Take off once in awhile to go to a bigger city for the day then back again. Definitely doable on $700 or less once the initial set up costs are met.

Happy New Year everyone!

Morgana said:

I'm not sure I'd agree that using food stamps and other social services = a way to live cheaply.
At least, it's not in the same category as living frugally, doing without conveniences, learning to repair your rig, seeking out seasonal jobs, etc.

Click to expand...

How about all of the above? I don't have a bit of a problem with someone dropping to the bottom of the socio-economic scale, and taking advantage (legally and respectfully) of the social services available to them. If someone can be happy and content at that level, more power to them!

Back through the 90s and early 2000s when I was a fulltime vagabond I lived on under $700/mo in today's money with no subsidies at all, but that is impossible now. If you actually pay out of pocket for the mandated healthcare we are required to have, that's >$1,000 all by itself!... even with an $8k deductible. Medicaid which has no deductible or copays would be even more. I paid <$50/mo back then for catastrophic insurance. It's insane.

I think the benefits you can get if you are a poor person with no kids is food and healthcare. You still have to supply the rest somehow... and hopefully not by begging.

I do have a problem with the growing hoard of mostly drug addicted homeless people squatting on public land and generally being a nuisance... but they aren't there because of social services or benefits.

Morgana said:

I'm not sure I'd agree that using food stamps and other social services = a way to live cheaply.
At least, it's not in the same category as living frugally, doing without conveniences, learning to repair your rig, seeking out seasonal jobs, etc.

Benefits like food stamps and food banks are not cheap. Someone is paying for them. Someone is also paying indirectly for those internet and Amazon subsidies, and you can bet it's not Jeff Bezos.

This thread covers two very different questions --
(1) how to survive financial hard times that came on you uninvited, and
(2) how to afford a very attractive (but potentially expensive) lifestyle by living frugally.
Much of the information is the same for both questions. But using costly social services is only a legitimate solution to question #1.

I wholeheartedly support these services being there for people who genuinely need them. But they're not there to finance a preferred lifestyle. A good chunk of them is paid for, directly or indirectly, by working people, many of whom are themselves struggling to make ends meet and deferring their own dreams.

Maybe this ^^ seems self-evident, but I'll just feel better if it is said explicitly. I'm not trying to imply that anyone here doesn't know that or would advocate abusing these privileges.

Click to expand...

Who posted that they don't work in order to get food stamps or in order to be extremely broke, but living "a preferred lifestyle"?

I can only speak for Illinois 25 years ago (when I became a single parent and used food stamps), but at that time nobody was getting food stamps or cash assistance unless they had A) a disability and/or B) children.

Most likely, those who post about other forms of aid for low income folks are people already on food stamps who learned of phones, half price on Amazon Prime, food pantries, etc.

Doesn't sound like you "wholeheartedly support these services...".

Morgana said:

I'm not sure I'd agree that using food stamps and other social services = a way to live cheaply.
At least, it's not in the same category as living frugally, doing without conveniences, learning to repair your rig, seeking out seasonal jobs, etc.

Benefits like food stamps and food banks are not cheap. Someone is paying for them. Someone is also paying indirectly for those internet and Amazon subsidies, and you can bet it's not Jeff Bezos.

This thread covers two very different questions --
(1) how to survive financial hard times that came on you uninvited, and
(2) how to afford a very attractive (but potentially expensive) lifestyle by living frugally.
Much of the information is the same for both questions. But using costly social services is only a legitimate solution to question #1.

I wholeheartedly support these services being there for people who genuinely need them. But they're not there to finance a preferred lifestyle. A good chunk of them is paid for, directly or indirectly, by working people, many of whom are themselves struggling to make ends meet and deferring their own dreams.

Maybe this ^^ seems self-evident, but I'll just feel better if it is said explicitly. I'm not trying to imply that anyone here doesn't know that or would advocate abusing these privileges.

Click to expand...

I understand your points and agree to an extent IMHO, Frugality should extend to taxpayer dollars.
I am on welfare, to an extent, thru being Native American. Signed up fairly recently, not been on it my whole life
Laid off due to COVID, unemployment benefits non-existent as they deliberately played gams with their software
to deny me benefits. Most people in CA didn't get anything until months later.

So I qualify to attend a clinical level of care at a Native American Health Clinic

What do I receive and how much is it?

1. I received a $600 boost to income. How?Not penalized thru IRS for not having health insurance. heck even while employed with a great Indemnity Plan, they charged us $600 per person because it wasn't "credible". However, it wasn't catastrophic insurance with a 3-6k deductible before you could use it. I used the $2k dental up every year.

The Native American health clinic charged the taxpayers $250 for my cleaning and dental exam. It is $50 to be on the rolls, yes I did the research at a credible website. I also visited the Clinic when I got COVID and the bill was $200 for the COVID test, drive-Thru exam while sitting in the car by a Nurse Practitioner, and meds. Cost? About $225.

So...$50 per month+ I'll round it to $250 per month

It's $91 per month for me to be on welfare. My husband has no health insurance so we pay cash for him to see the dentist at the Indian Clinic. It's just $300. AND my Nurse Practitioner did me a favor by calling in an extra set of medication when I lied saying someone stole it out of my car. And I am so sick from COVID. Well he had it too per a free COVID test we got from the county. He got well for just $1

A job interview at Safeway should take place, if they like me, within a few weeks.
16 hrs a week at $21 per hr in the most expensive Tourist area in Northern Calif. Ski resorts abound and they have issues getting staff due to it being the busiest store in Northern Ca. Will they hire a 54 year old? I think so. It will keep me fit.

We eat mostly organic. Any meat is grass fed. Juice vegetables and some fruit 1x a day. He works a physical enough job so that keeps him fit.

Future plans and welfare is incorporated in these plans.
1. I will continue to work 16 hrs per wk at $21 per hr. TWO hour round trip over half the year, 3 months it is 3 hrs due to snow.
2. DH will take Social Security at age 65. $1450 per month and work but likely less. Probably earning about 1k a month but gone 3 days a week, thank goodness. Difficult if he his home too much and he's home a lot during winter.
3. Safeway doesn't offer health benefits to 16 hr a week employees but our income will be over the Medicaid limit.
NO I will absolutely not sign up with the Affordable Care Act charging taxpayers over 2k per month for just myself. I will continue to exercise at work by default and eat healthy. At age 65, then I will be majorly covered with Medicare and my Indian Clinic. I will NOT sign up for a Medicare Supplement either, as in our town, everyone pays at least $200 a piece. We have no HMO's here, just PPO's.

If DH is too old to do his business, which I suspect will be around age 67-68, we can increase our $300 per month income selling on Ebay. We drive over the state boarder to do big grocery shopping and buying cheap stuff we need for the house and inventory to sell online.


When he is 78-80 years old, he will likely die. Having a full life but not much more due to so many yrs of breathing difficulties until the ACA allowed him to get on Medicaid and get a Breathing device. Thousands of dollars for that device. His heart has to be very weak.

Okay so I am widowed, earring $1450 per month as a Survivor benefit (or it's about close to my own) I am on welfare thru the Indian Health Service and I have Medicare. I replace everything in the house, buy a new electric car, pay a company to do a better hokey DIY Solar system. I choose to live in only half the house now. I start looking for a room-mate for the upstairs.

Why do I want to only take 4K a year, all at once? Because the 11 months I do not take it, I only earn $1450 per month. Those months if I have a medical emergency, Medicaid will BACK PAY It. No insurance company involved so they will only pay for whatever services incur. Even though I never signed up for Medicaid, in the month you have the medical emergency if your income is low enough, you have up to 30 days to retro-sign up to have it covered.

So, again, I will continue to be on Welfare via the Indian Health Clinic. And just in case, I *could* be on welfare in my later years if any medical emergencies arise.

What is my long term care plan? To either have someone living upstairs who is an oddball, a loner of sorts, someone who just got by in society who finds living in this house really nice. A couple maybe. Someone(s) with the ability to help me when/if I need it. Drive me around since I already have eye disabilities which mean 95% of the few jobs around here, or within 1 hr, I cannot do. Someone I maybe can pay an extra $300 a month to plus housing to help me. When you live in a town out in BFE, these people are here. We have an RV someone could also stay in in the yard with full solar hookups, internet & water. There is another $500 per month in value for help. I don't want to go into an old folks home. Oh!!! and since I am taking a lump sum of RMD's, I could qualify for IHSS (In home support services) which pays someone to help you at home. I think by then, the insurance companies will have someone specially trained to stop by your home to bathe you, or even a nurse comes by a few times a month. This is now offered by Sutter Medical to people who are not ready for Hospice but are going downhill. It keeps people in their home and out of nursing homes. House will be paid off by then so $ won't be as tight.

So I do see, depending upon someone's abilities and resources, where getting on welfare can be wrong. But it isn't necessarily wrong to actually incorporate it into a Healthcare Plan. Everyone has their own opinions of course.

If you were born after 1950 I believe you will have to wait till you are older than 65 years old to get full Social Security benefits which if you can afford to will help later on. My wife who turned 65 this year has to wait til she is 66 1/2 years old but it varies by age I believe. If you have property you wish to rent take a look at AirBnb as in remote areas of Utah many wealthy hikers and tourists pay really well to stay a night in a traditional hogan and maybe get a ride to a trail head in a 4 wheel drive truck where their car won’t go.

bullfrog said:

If you were born after 1950 I believe you will have to wait till you are older than 65 years old to get full Social Security benefits which if you can afford to will help later on. My wife who turned 65 this year has to wait til she is 66 1/2 years old but it varies by age I believe. If you have property you wish to rent take a look at AirBnb as in remote areas of Utah many wealthy hikers and tourists pay really well to stay a night in a traditional hogan and maybe get a ride to a trail head in a 4 wheel drive truck where their car won’t go.

Click to expand...

Thanks. Yes true, I do believe it is 1960 though. I cannot take my benefits until age 67. My benefit would be around $1300-$1350 depending.

We have restrictions in this county on short term rentals which make it difficult. Though we live out on BFE, I live in a Sub Division with. may current and ex county workers. No way is this an option unless you pay out so much it's not worth it anymore. More thinking along the lines of when I find someone I am comfortable with, giving them such reduced rent that they will want to live upstairs here in our house. Someone with little potential to ever get anywhere in life but is honest and would be open to driving me to church, to the grocery store and bible study 3x a week. That's 9 hrs a week. Without a long term care plan, it's essential to keep your eyes open early and make connections with good people you meet. That's my thinking anyhow. Especially if they are a Christian so would be attending church anyhow but now they are getting paid to be there.

You might check with your church. I have seen older people who were on their own sponsor people from other countries who have through the church come to the United States to start a new life and would possibly benefit you both.

bullfrog said:

You might check with your church. I have seen older people who were on their own sponsor people from other countries who have through the church come to the United States to start a new life and would possibly benefit you both.

Click to expand...

Interesting, good to know

So far almost no-one who has "responded" to my posts seems to have actually read them. I am not going to waste my time or yours trying a third time to say something that is clearly not being heard. If someone wants to know what I said, please read my post, not a post about my post. Thank you.