Living in my car and a shelter

[Firewoman]

This is my 2nd time being homeless and it really isn't that bad. Having a car helps a lot. I stay at a shelter. Mostly I just sleep and shower there. I drive around during the day and use my food stamps because I would rather not eat meals at the shelter. I have a few part-time gigs. One of them requires a lot of travel. Unfortunately I am disabled now and I can't work full-time to support myself. My disability hearing is in September. I am thinking about buying a van when I get my disability instead of moving into an apartment. I have moved so many times in my life, I wonder if I am just a traveler and not meant to stay in one place. I thought bad of myself for being this way but then I started reading blogs about van life and I see that there are a lot of people doing this in a practical way and they are enjoying their lives.

 

[highdesertranger]

Welcome Firewoman to the CRVL forums! To help you learn the ins and outs of these forums, this "Tips, Tricks and Rules" post lists some helpful information to get you started.

Most of our rules boil down to two simple over-riding principles: 1) What you post should provide good information (like your introductory post), and 2) Any response to someone else's post should make them feel glad they are part of this forum community.

We look forward to hearing more from you.

highdesertranger

 

[annabell]

Hi Firewoman

Sorry about the spot you are in.

Many people live out of their cars, so I bet you could, too! If you could buy a van, that would be better, but if you can't, you could make your car something that would work for you.

I wish you luck with your hearing.

 

[travelaround]

Hi Firewoman . . . I think vanlife is a lot more fun than shelterlife... I hope you can get a van soon. Meanwhile, the car is a good way to go... if you can deal with the small sleeping space.

 

[Firewoman]

Sleeping in my car is so uncomfortable. I really need a firm mattress and also I use a cpap machine. I am however limited by the rules of the shelter, so I am not completely free. My car also eats, a lot of gas, 18 mpg. Most of my money goes into gas. I've heard that a Honda minivan gets much better gas mileage than this thing.

 

[michaelwnoakes]

I had a used Honda mini van for three years, it averaged 27 mpg. It had almost 300,000 miles out of it before it became problematic with breaking down every week.

 

[travelaround]

My van gets about 16 mpg . . . I also use a CPAP machine with a Rockpals 300w lithium power station, which I charge with the 12v car charger ... works well. There's an extra (kind of expensive) cord/converter thing to buy to make Rockpals work well with the CPAP... but so far it is all working fine.