stranded/not enough cash for repairs

[highdesertranger]

you don't need to hide from the ranger just move if he tells you and you have been in the same spot for 2 weeks. highdesertranger

 

[enginewitty]

I suppose this would be a good time to let everyone know on this thread that yes, shit hit the fan.

finances ran dry and shortly after the van broke down. I have it parked outside my 24 hour gym currently and the best immediate idea I can come up with is to fix it even though I just want to be done with this one at this point.
If I fix it, I'll be driving it with the $2000+ of needed repairs and expired registration. If I pay to fix just the front brakes, starter (so it'll start again) and register it in California, it will cost me upwards of $500 + additional repairs if it doesn't pass smog check (which it most likely will not). If I drive it to AZ to register it after the above mentioned repairs, it'll run me around $400. i will also have the remaining amount of repairs left to pay for.  on top of this, the California DMV let me know that I "might" have to still pay for all the registration, taxes, late fees, etc. even if I register it out of state because it's late already. This as of today would run me around $180 but they also let me know that 2 of the fees on that depending on how long I wait could go up to 60% of the purchase price of the vehicle (about $300 total).
I originally bought this wonderful piece of crap for $500. I've already put $400 into it within 6 weeks. now its broken down again.

my health is too poor to work and my budget is around $500 a month. I'm coming out of Tokyo where my food budget alone was around that amount so it's quite an adaptation. I am also currently receiving $200 a month in California-based food stamps. It's my understanding that I can't take these with me if I switch states. although I may be able to get them in Arizona or another state, nothing is certain right now.

the 3 options I'm playing with are:

1) doing what Bob (administrator) suggested and trying to make it over to the Sedona/Flagstaff area

2) staying in SoCal while continuing to pour money I don't have into a van I don't want just to buy me some time until things can (hopefully) start easing up a bit and I can come up with some better ideas on how to move more comfortably into this lifestyle.  The difficulty with this is I'm in San Diego and the homeless population here is so large it's for lack of a better word, "comfortable". so staying in this environment while being one step away from that myself is less than agreeable. still, it may be one of the better options from here.

3) get in touch with a friend in Oregon I may be able to stay with and ditch the van here
as I haven't transferred title or registered it, this option definitely appeals to me. the downside is, with my health, I think it wouldn't be cohesive for me and would very probably be too much for my friend. I also don't know how long I could actually stay there and have no back up plan if shit goes wrong as it did with my so-called "friend" here in San Diego.

4) get back into a bad relationship with my ex-girlfriend so I have food and a place to live and try to make something work again that didn't work for 8 years. this would also require some serious technicalities as she's in a different country and would have to find work and get a work visa and then move out here to make that work. I don't think even if I chose this that it would happen soon.

at this point, Bob's suggestion sounds best. not sure how my health will fair, but from where I stand now, it sounds like the most solid option: ditch the van, camp, save money, and try to find some clarity on how to get from where I am to where I want to be.

I saw a documentary about a year or so ago about a guy who's been living in a rain forest in, I believe it was Washington, for the last 20 years. Although to that extreme it would probably be way too an intense of a transition for me right now, it is appealing. I've always loved and am compulsively drawn to nature and the outdoors, it's solace, tranquility and rejuvenating qualities.

 

[enginewitty]

How many other cities set up free secure RV parking for homeless?  Seattle is expensive if you have money, but if you are broke it is pretty cheap.

could you pm the details or maybe we could get a conversation going? this is really interesting...
I'm guessing you're based out of Seattle at the moment?

 

[enginewitty]

My advice is to figure out how you got in this situation and stop doing it.

been trying to figure it out as long as I can remember

the best I can come to terms with is that I always wanted people in my life who actually gave a shit about me and I let it go this far before I found out that with the world the way it is now, everywhere I've been, people will defend their beliefs before their humanism and thus I've been left for garbage.

so now I'm stuck with the decision of, do I wanna be a dickhead like 99+% of the people I've come across in my life and not care at all what happens to others?
or do I keep believing there are people out there who will have your back when shit goes wrong? real friends, real family, who will be there for each other not because of social norms or because it's expected of them but because they want to.

so far this is all I got. and since at the core of my being believe people are good-hearted, I can't stop being me. I dunno, maybe I'm just delusional and the reality is that people only care when the chips are up for entirely selfish reasons. I doubt that but it seems far too plentiful in the life I've experiences so far

sage advice though. finding that answer and turning things around can take a lifetime tho. most people don't even come to realize the extent of their influence on their lives.

 

[enginewitty]

Hi Andy,
1. Yes I have been in this situation when everything fell apart at once - divorce, job loss, loss of home.
2. I enrolled in college using education and work grants and  applied for basic assistance as you have (food stamps) to see me through for a couple months until the paychecks rolled in. I worked three part time jobs, gave dance lessons on weekends and studied my ass off so I could apply for scholarships. I slept in a van at the beach, showered at the school, studied at the library and at an all night coffee shop.
3. I live(d) very frugally and save(d) money, even if it's only a few dollars kept in a jar, it is something that grows over time and gives you a cushion.
4, I worked on my vehicles whenever possible becasue I didn't have $ to pay someone else.

One piece of advice and not, I repeat NOT to sound harsh or anything, but I've never used an illness or personal mishap as a weapon against myself or an excuse to not do what needs to be done to improve a situation.  When push comes to shove you WILL find a way through anything if you are serious about wanting to. Just learn to hold your horses a bit and be methodical in problem solving ie don't put yourself in a risky situation, because you already are.

I suggest you first of all start learning how to work on your van.  Even I can do things like hoses, fuel filter,  and wiper blades. These are quick and inexpensive if you do it yourself.  I dropped and replaced the transmission in my van (bought a used one at a junkyard) learning by asking (no internet at the time). I think you could handle replacing the broken window mechanism. I did for my Geo. The window wiper motor is not hard either. I did that as well in the Geo when the blades froze in ice on the windshield when I used water to make the snow go away and broke it.  :blush:

Just stand up, find a job(s) and start fixing stuff.  Yes it is frightening, yes it takes time, but it is also empowering and exhilarating and you will find you get more energy from little successes over time.  Also make sure, and this is most important, that you are eating well ie lots of nourishing fruits and veg, juices, no processed foods at all and you will find your chronic fatigue fading away.  I think it is associated with depression, at least the two seem to go together many times.
To me that serpentine belt is really important as it can mess up a lot of other things if it breaks.

I wish you only the the best of success in pursuing your dreams. You can do it.

there are a few things in here I could respond to but I won't go into detail.

All in all, it was a great post.

thank you

 

[enginewitty]

IGBT: "How many other cities set up free secure RV parking for homeless?  Seattle is expensive if you have money, but if you are broke it is pretty cheap."

There's  more conflict going on about that every day.  And there's the crime rate.  Murder, anyone?

Going on the road with a piece of junk sounds kind of crazy to me.  If you can't find any solutions were you are, you probably won't be finding any in Seattle, Boston, Tallahassee or Boise, either.

I would agree.

suggestions??

 

[enginewitty]

Provo is the only friendly place I have read about.

Better the devil you know, than the one you dont.

where's Prove?

 

[enginewitty]

There are many places where broke-ass vandwellers are rare enough that they elicit sympathy from locals. Often you will get a hand up, not a handout, as the saying goes.

When I was too short of money to travel, I volunteered on organic farms with the WWOOF program. Room and board in exchange for some work, much like an internship. Some will offer paid positions to enthusiastic volunteers. A much slower pace of life, if you get along well with nature it is a great choice. Hard work though, may be difficult for you. Also craigslist odd jobs, one landscaping gig netted a hundred bucks a day for me. Other live-in jobs, get to know friendly locals and tell them you are willing to work in exchange for housing until you can get on your feet again. Some have enough work around the house that you will be able to make money.

Also seasonal jobs in national parks and other remote places. Housing and food provided, and you can make enough money to get your rig up and going again. Probably a better option for you, cashier or receptionist or similar position. If your van can't drive across the country, find someone who will store your van in their back yard for a couple months for a small fee while you rideshare/ride the bus to your seasonal job and make money. Take a week off, bus back, get your van fixed up, then drive it back to your job and continue working.

this is a great post as well!

i wanted to do WWOOFing for years but haven't been well enough

craigslist is a good idea tho
seasonal job might be too hard right now although it sounds appealing

 

[enginewitty]

If that were true I wouldn't be trying to escape from here.  I'm broke alright but aside from the weather it's not the homeless haven it's made out to be.  That is a very popularly perpetuated untruth.


You are right, they are guaranteed to no one but neither is being successful after going deep into debt for an education.


Medical billing/transcription and CAD are specialized skills that take years of training and/or work experience after getting out of school in order to be portable as well as being saddled with big debt.  Many people are fooled into thinking they can do the correspondence courses for medical billing only to find out after being thousands of dollars in debt that many states require you be certified through courses in their state so those online courses mean nothing.  Also, in order to work in another state as a medical biller they would have to take a state exam for it in that state to become certified OR get nationally certified which costs even more.  These are not going to help the OP nor be easily portable for years.  Not only that at least in the Seattle metro area area there have been some pretty painful layoffs in that sector.

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I want to thank those who responded with some care rather than immediately throwing "get a job" at them.  It's as if common courtesy and sympathy have been replaced with being judgemental.  Maybe the OP was having a bad day/week/month and needs to vent and maybe after venting they will see their situation with more clarity.  Maybe they won't.  It's not up to anyone else but the OP to decide.  People make a choice when they prematurely judge someone without knowing anything/very little about their situation.

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Enginewitty my first suggestion at this time is to NOT road trip anyway.  Your vehicle becomes your lifeline of sorts when you choose to live this way.  Your very first concern is to stabilize yourself and your health issues both physically and emotionally(self esteem).  Without either a job will mean nothing because you won't be able to perform it let alone keep it.  I've had to live in my car a few times and you can bet, I may not have been altogether but my cars most certainly were.

SSI is federal welfare.  If you have worked you may get it but the end goal if you are looking at permanent, long term disability is SSDI which is what I am on.  I know people where it took them 9 years to get it, myself was a year and 9 months(which is considered "fast) but only because I had decades of documented issues that someone knowledgeable was able to put together in a timeline proving mental and cognitive issues.  About the only things I didn't have were delusions and anything that made me dangerous which made me harder to diagnose but once it was put together my case went quickly.

You also need housing if your van isn't in good shape and has to be worked on and you have nowhere else to live.  It sucks but I spent almost 10 months in a homeless shelter.  Being there can teach one some valuable lessons in humility and forces you to confront what is most important in your life.  They are also a wealth of information to help you get back on your feet.  Some have free medical clinics, daily work labor and food.  They are no place to stay long term and my depression began to get worse but in many places you won't get help until you prove are destitute.  Preventing these things isn't allowed.

I can't really be of help without knowing what limits you have and what area you are in but also because I'm sweating getting my van prepared for moving into so I may not be very objective.  It means my survival if I don't and I take it very seriously, maybe too seriously but it keeps me calm to know the important things are functioning properly.  Sorry for the novel.  Good luck to you and remember; others are going to judge you based on their own experiences and project that onto you.  Only you are able to decide and control for yourself how you live your life.

This was a beautiful and well-written, compassionate post
thank you m(_ _)m

 

[enginewitty]

This was a beautiful and well-written, compassionate post
thank you m(_ _)m


also wanted to say that my chronic fatigue may not be as bad as some people's but it's pretty debilitating.
essentially, my body works but my mind is in zombie mode. only difference is i'm conscious, flesh is not pealing off my body, I only eat rappers and i smell like wild flowers
ok, ok, all jokes aside-
I can't focus. I'm just unclear and thus any decision I make is almost always a bad one, leading me into an even worse situation than I'm already in. so being in a work situation where dealing with time, communication and performance pressure at a pace I cannot keep up with just makes me crash and worsens everything. did I mention being in social situations is incomprehensibly exhausting??
I really don't know what to do health-wise as SSI if approved will take years to kick in most likely and even then will be about the same amount of money I'm being helped with now (essentially not enough). The only thing I can think of is to get better, but after 12 years of doctors, no help and despite my efforts, research and application, only worsening of symptoms, I dunno, telling me to be hopeful or just keep going ain't gonna cut it anymore.
like you said, most people will label you first and then... no wait there is no then, most people will just label you without understanding your situation is entirely unique and something they never have nor will ever experience, as nothing in this life is identical.

thank you again

 

[enginewitty]

Here's a compiled list of ideas, several have already been mentioned --

1. If you are in a year-around temperate climate like San Diego, don't move to a place that will require you to insulate your van to survive,
2. Don't drive until your van is safe to do so,
3. Park within walking distance of as many amenities as possible (water, trash, groceries, bathrooms, showers, hospital, etc.),
4. Park in a well lit populated place away from illicit activities (drugs, prostitution, etc.),
5. Since you can't work, seek assistance from government and private agencies (foodbanks, food stamps, Social Security, etc.),
6. Avoid attracting unwanted attention from the law, be friendly and keep yourself, your van, and the area around your van clean, 
7. If you are physically able, learn to do as much maintenance on your own van as possible,
8. Ask specific questions in this forum for the cheapest ways to live the vandwelling lifestyle (cooking, bedding, lighting, etc.), and
9. Explore paths to bring in a steady income that would be enough to live in a vehicle and keep it maintained.

Hopefully that's helpful should your situation become such that you are without funds and in a van that needs a lot of work to be safe to drive.

Suanne

any adivce on #6? San Diego doesn't allow people to live in their cars so this has been the biggest issue I've been dealing with here. Also, urban camping is too unideal given my health. I do understand the climate issue tho

 

[enginewitty]

Above all, keep a sense of humor when posting here.  We are a sort of family, (tribe) which argues with passion and love.  Just about everyone will share their last meal with you.  

IMHO, Suanne is most concise with her suggestions.  

If I will be down there soon, I will PM you to see if I can help.  

I do have family in that area I would like to see sometime soon.   Heres hoping.~~~

thank you, would be nice to meet one of us, especially whose got some experience under their belt ^^

 

[highdesertranger]

easy there thunder. you are going to abandoned your van because you need to register it, do front brakes and a starter? your house. front brakes 150 bucks max, starter 50 bucks mas o menos. do your brakes put a starter on and get registration in AZ should be well under 100 bucks. cali might want money they can wait. I will say you should not have waited until your reg. expired. once you are in AZ hang out and get caught up on your routine maintenance. highdesertranger

 

[enginewitty]

you don't need to hide from the ranger just move if he tells you and you have been in the same spot for 2 weeks.  highdesertranger

so to clarify, you're saying there's no penalties, fines, illegalities, etc. associated with camping near the 2 cities Bob mentioned?

 

[enginewitty]

easy there thunder.  you are going to abandoned your van because you need to  register it,  do front brakes and a starter?   your house.  front brakes 150 bucks max,  starter 50 bucks mas o menos.  do your brakes put a starter on and get registration in AZ should be well under 100 bucks.  cali might want money they can wait.  I will say you should not have waited until your reg. expired. once you are in AZ hang out and get caught up on your routine maintenance.  highdesertranger

where are you located that you have those prices? or are they self-repairs?
the cheapest, relieable quotes I've gotten are of the prices I gave and yes registration on this awesome van will only run me just $25 in AZ
and you're right that CA can wait. I've just had bad experiences with debt and as Bob suggests in his book, "buy everything with cash, don't finance."  I tend to agree with that.

here's my thinking- it's got over $2000 of currently necessary repairs. it's broken down. I'm broke. I have no mechanical expertise. am too sick to deal with it currently and can only afford $50-$100 a month in repairs, which so far has not been enough. I've already pretty much run out of gas money this month.

if I ditch it I can get out of all this and save most of my money by camping or staying with a friend. within a few months I would have a higher probability of being able to start over with a more reliable vehicle.

 

[highdesertranger]

you know what, I am not going to argue. there are several points I don't understand, but I will leave it at that. highdesertranger

 

[SoulRaven]

if I ditch it I can get out of all this and save most of my money by camping or staying with a friend. within a few months I would have a higher probability of being able to start over with a more reliable vehicle.

You are probably right on getting rid of the van if it needs$2,000 worth of repairs. I don't know what shape the drivetrain is in, but even if you would have the money to stick that much money into it, there still might be other hidden things that could happen that you would have to keep feeding the thing to keep it going. 

Maybe sell it for a few hundred dollars and purchase a small dome tent, single sleeping pad or self inflating mattress, cheap pillow, blanket, and do like Bob suggested and get back into some woods to live in combination with staying with your friend. This way you can also keep receiving the food stamps. 
I think that you have kinda made your decision. And it seems like a wise choice.

 

[enginewitty]

you know what,  I am not going to argue.  there are several points I don't understand,  but I will leave it at that.  highdesertranger

not trying to argue. just not sure how much of the thread you've read so explaining my situation/present thinking again just in case.

seeking clarity.

thanks for your input

 

[enginewitty]

You are probably right on getting rid of the van if it needs$2,000 worth of repairs. I don't know what shape the drivetrain is in, but even if you would have the money to stick that much money into it, there still might be other hidden things that could happen that you would have to keep feeding the thing to keep it going. 

Maybe sell it for a few hundred dollars and purchase a small dome tent, single sleeping pad or self inflating mattress, cheap pillow, blanket, and do like Bob suggested and get back into some woods to live in combination with staying with your friend. This way you can also keep receiving the food stamps. 
I think that you have kinda made your decision. And it seems like a wise choice.

my thoughts exactly. it's a bit scary given my health but out of the options I've got, it's definitely the easiest to save money. might be a little difficult camping out for a month when I haven't tried that lifestyle either, especially in a place I'm unfamiliar with. but from what I've read about Flagstaff, it seems very similar to a town I grew up in. hoping that's the case.

I like your spin with camping and staying with my friend combination. that's an interesting thought. I'll ask him about his thoughts and camping in the area. the bike riding might get tedious. not sure how hilly it is in Flagstaff but, guess I should check that and bike prices.

thanks for your thoughts ^^

 

[highdesertranger]

I have read the whole thread but still I am confused. highdesertranger