I’m going to end up broke in a few months. Give me some tips on reducing the impact. What things can I do in advance? What are things I should know? Give me some financial advice too, if you can
Mod question: I think this is a really good question with a lot of potential for info many might find useful/helpful. Do you mind if I sticky it?
EDIT: Stickied. I’ll unsticky it after a reasonable amount of time.
I don’t mind. I need all the advice I can get.
Thank you everyone for your answers. You people are very resourceful!!
Buy big bags of rice and beans
Start learning how and where to ask for help.
What I mean is that you’re going to have a lot of unmet needs, and you’ll need others to help boost you up. Many of us live like we are islands, but the reality is people support people. But only when you are specifically able to ask for the help you need in clear language. And that is a skill that takes time to develop.
This is probably the most important yet the hardest thing.
Beyond your own personal support, depending on where you live there are a lot of resources available from your government, either local, county, state, or wherever. There are also private organizations that help out.
Unfortunately, this is my wife’s job, and I say unfortunately because I don’t have specifics, I only know of their existence. But resources for shelter, food, even money, they are out there, and you just need to know where to look.
Maybe consider living in a vehicle.
When I had to move out due to abusive family, I lived in my car for several months traveling and looking for my future home.
I had time to setup the car like a mini camper. Had everything I needed. Twin bed, fridge, solar power, etc. I recommend watching the YouTube “cheap rv living” and other channels about car camping. It’s quite affordable to live in a vehicle and not pay rent, utilities, etc.
As others said the gym is a great place for showers.
Canned foods are extremely cheap and last for a very long time. Wear multiple layers when it’s cold, don’t turn on the heat unless you’ll damn near die without it. Buy the cheapest sundries regardless of your preferences. Don’t buy name brand items unless they’re the only ones available. Use coupons as much as possible.
Food and personal hygiene ARE your morale. Prioritise those two above almost everything else. (Apart from your personal safety obviously)
I would add shelter. Not having stable shelter results in those two not being easy to obtain.
A gym membership and storage unit are much cheaper than rent. The storage unit provides a secure place to keep the shit you can’t carry with you. And the gym provides 24 hour access to showers, lockers, clean drinking water, physical activity, and potentially even socialization in fitness classes. If you get a membership for a big chain gym, you could likely even travel around and simply stop wherever the local gym is.
The local library is free, and you can exist there all day as long as you’re not sleeping or causing a disturbance. They probably have classes and meet groups for things you’re interested in, so you can stay social. You can charge your devices at the library while you’re there, so you can keep your phone/laptop/portable battery bank/etc working. In most cases, you don’t even need a library card to hang out and read in the library. You’d only need a card for checking things out.
You could likely even work from a laptop while at the library, to keep the gym membership and food paid for. Transcription jobs are easy to find on a freelance basis, and only require a laptop with Internet access.
This pretty much leaves overnight shelter. And depending on where you live, (local climate, friendly management that doesn’t harass you for staying in their parking lot, etc) the overnight shelter may be manageable with a car. You could potentially exist indefinitely without a traditional form of shelter (like an apartment or house) as long as you’re able to reliably sleep in your car or have a safe place for a tent.
But a lack of food and clean water will kill you in hours or days. And a lack of hygiene will quickly make it impossible to exist in society without immediately standing out. Lack of hygiene will also impact your mental health drastically, as discomfort and stink quickly becomes a nagging, omnipresent feeling. And the ostracism from being unhygienic is hard to come back from.
Drink lots of water and refill your bottle whenever you can. Shower regularly, so your clothes stay clean longer. Wash your clothes as regularly as you can afford. Avoid sliding into filth, because existing in society while homeless is infinitely harder when people immediately recognize you as homeless. Your goal is to blend in, and that requires a baseline of cleanliness and being able to socialize.
Pretty sure AI has killed transcription. It was on its way out a decade ago :(
I’d suggest looking for foodservice work. Kinda kills two birds with one stone. Keep after finding any job you can. Some income is vastly better than none.
Yeah, food service was actually something I considered suggesting, because it also gives you access to cheap/free food. But it’s also hell on your body, leaves you/your clothes feeling disgusting after every shift, and ties you down to a specific place.
One of the only real perks to being homeless is that you’re able to freely travel without needing to maintain something like a house or pay rent. So you could likely pack up and be a drifter, while working from home on a laptop. Don’t tell the employer about your financial situation, simply tell them you travel a lot and enjoy the freedom that WFH provides.
If anyone questions it, just say the van life was appealing because you wanted to travel. That goes back to the “fitting in is extremely hard if people suspect you’re homeless” thing, because people tend to get judgey and/or avoid you if you’re homeless. People seem to think it’s contagious. So being able to work from a laptop at least offers the “I wanted to travel” excuse if anyone gets too pushy about it. It makes it seem intentional, rather than being something you were forced into. And that tends to be received much better. People will tend to go “I thought about doing that but I have too many things keeping me here” instead of avoiding you.
But yeah, to go back to your point… Regardless of what the job is, some income is vastly better than none.
Not talking of a house or apartment, but a place where you can say safely park your car and it won’t be towed. Places to meet food and hygiene needs. Might want to setup a PO Box or if a friend is in the area use their mailing address for correspondence. Shelter in this context with me is more of being safe, especially when it comes time to sleep.
Sure, for your immediate survival shelter, and water, obviously rank above hygiene, however, in the long term your morale is incredibly important and always underestimated. It’s easier to manage a night without shelter (unless the environment is life threatening) than to recover from low morale on your own. Especially because sadly people will be so much nicer to you if you don’t smell, and maybe even treat you like a fellow human being.
A gym membership is cheaper than an apartment, and will allow you access to restrooms and showers. If a public pool is cheaper, even better.
Familiarize yourself with food banks and other resources now, because access to both transit and the Internet is going to get a lot more tenuous.
Find a storage option for anything you truly value, even if it’s just renting a lockable closet somewhere.
Try to find a housesitting gig if you can, which will give you shelter and maybe even income. Do not reveal your financial situation to your new employers.
I was only homeless for a few months, thank God, and like you I knew it was coming and had time to prepare. Some of the above is things I’ve done and some is things I learned later or wished Zid done. It took me a lot longer to climb out of that hole than to fall into it, but with hard work and luck and a lot of help I made it. I hope you can, too.
This is good advice. I would also suggest that if you’re currently paying rent and don’t have a car, but are reasonably certain you won’t be able to pay rent in the future, it’s maybe better to stop paying rent now (or as soon as you can to avoid an eviction) and use that money towards a car instead so you also have somewhere reliable and safe to sleep. A car and a gym membership might not be an ideal living situation but that will allow you to stay clean and presentable and potentially work to save up enough for rent in the future.
If you’re going to lose your housing, start advertising for live-in pet sitting.
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First, know that the majority of people who are poor or homeless are only in that situation temporarily. Unless you have debilitating addictions or mental health issues that prevent you from functioning within society, you WILL get through this.
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Buy a small notebook and make a list of local poverty resources: homeless shelters, food banks, hospitals, public restrooms, churches mosques and temples, libraries, employment offices, etc. If you don’t have these things where you live, you make have to migrate to somewhere that does.
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Make a list of friends and family, and their phone numbers too. Swallow your pride and call as many of these people as you can and explain your situation to them. Be prepared to gracefully ask them for help, and be prepared to be denied. But if even 1 person can give you a short lifeline it might be enough to help you prevent the situation.
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Remember and prioritize what is essential to survival–food, water, shelter, clothing and medicine. Those are first and foremost. After those have been figured out, then you need to focus on finding some kind of employment and income.
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In a worst case scenario, you will be on your feet with only the possessions you can carry. You will need your personal identifying documents, medications, your phone (and a charger or two), and anything truly sentimental to you. You will need warm and cool weather clothing, as well as a blanket. A water bottle can also be useful. Any other possessions can be sold for cash and replaced later, if absolutely necessary.
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Consider what lead you to this point and do your best to address it in the future. You will make it through this, but you still need to change how you’ve been living to avoid falling back down to rock bottom again. Seek help for mental health issues and addictions. Always remember that you are a human being who is entitled to life and worthy of love. Good luck!
As someone who was homeless, living on the streets for years, this is the comment I think is the most valuable. You need to find out where to get shelter and food, and you need to know people’s contact info - it all needs to be written down and kept safe.
This is temporary. Everything is temporary. Don’t give up.
@SystemDisc @mrmaplebar that’s you ? Lived in the streets for years ?
I’m not sure what you’re asking. I was saying @[email protected] ’s comment is the most valuable reply I’ve read here, and that I have first hand experience living on the streets with no place to stay, and no money to speak of most of the time for years.
@SystemDisc you’ve spent a portion of your life in this manner ? And how are you doing now ?
Now I’m a software engineer making six figures. I went from nothing to what I consider very successful, albeit with tons and tons of really intense trauma.
@SystemDisc l do nothing. And so my figures are absolutely 0. You said you make in 6 figures.
I make $155,000 USD per year. When I was homeless, obviously I had essentially no money most of the time.
@SystemDisc the wheel of karma turned around !!
Yes, but it took decades and lots of very hard work. I nearly gave up several times. In fact, I attempted suicide more than once, so I guess I did give up multiple times. But, I survived and I’m glad. Overall, I survived a lot of abuse and violence. It’s been a very difficult life, but it’s finally peaceful and I have a lot of happiness today.
Ask a family member if you can leave a box of belongings with them- important paperwork, copy of ID, anything you’ll need but don’t want to risk losing.
Just wanted to confirm the first bullet point: There and then, poverty might seem like it’s a self-perpetuating condition, but it is indeed temporary. It takes effort to get through it, but I’m sure OP will.
Source: Ended up both unemployed and heavily in debt once upon a time (a combination of bad luck and poor choices), but I got through it and managed to pay down everything after five years. Important life lesson learned.
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Lots of great advice. One thing to add, pets. If you have family that can look after them ask if they will. Ask friends, even contact the local animal shelter. In fact if you’re lack for things to do you can volunteer there as well. I know it may seem rough but don’t abandon them somewhere, though I doubt you’d do that. Make sure they’re taken care of even if it’s not with you.
Sell stuff you don’t want(if possible), save stuff that you want. Save money as much as you can, work at any job, even if it’s a cafeteria, even if it’s a part time. Ask for help from friends and family if possible. If you are loosing your home too, save stuff that you want, give them to a relative or friend.
Connect to all neighbors and friends and former friends and relatives. Renew relationships.
Think how you can find a better job. Also ask this question to all friends etc.
Search for benefits from your country or local / regional governments. Search for organisations who help the poor.
Make your own life less expensive. Look where you spend money, and change everything to cheaper alternatives. Leave all your addictions.
Leave all your addictions is the best advice imo.
Also cancel all your subscriptions!
I feel like there’s a significant overlap between those two nowadays 😅
Snus + Godtlevert 🤔
Leave all your addictions.
How about no? /s
I love cows
I’ll suck off hobos before I give up Adderall and THC.
Hobos don’t have any money. Target at least middle-class people for a good ROI.
Try to address any medical issues as best as possible now.
First off:
Good luck! You’ll get through this ❤️
I’m not claiming I went through a situation like your sentence implies in that extreme, my advice comes from a bit less drastic situation - and I’ll assume no safety net.
The hard truth: you are broke. Not in the future, right now. Treat your money like it. If you can’t pay rent in a few months time you can’t now. Same for all other invoices.
Reason: shit has hit the fan already. Now you’re standing there and wondering which the biggest piece will be to hit you.
If you start with that today then you’ll stretch the time out overall.
Your job is threfold: priority one: reduce spending to near zero. Short term survival beats anything. Including and especially credit score and the likes. The details depend on your situation, laws and standards.
The second is even harder: What can you do to increase cash income? This is a shitty situation and your reaction most likely is “well, yes. Of course dumb fuck what do you think I’m doing??”.
I can fully emphasize if it is. That said: I’m not only talking about applications. Use your social circle to ask for help, both money and job. Reach out to former colleagues or school friends. Use everything and everyone you have in your environment.
The last part is the easiest but very annoying: read your local laws and statutes. What social security structures exist? What are eviction regulations? What about late payment terms? Re education sponsorship? And so on. Most countries have at least something but it’s often hidden in highly formal bullshit. Get your shovel and dig through legalese. And if you can’t do that: the second point automatically applies here as well.
This is good advice, I’d just add that any odd job that brings in a bit of cash is useful - not just for the cash, but as a distraction from not having a home. Plus it can keep you in shape without a gym membership :-P
Shoveling shit, working in meat packing, picking fruit, etc keeps from starvation and often opens up friend groups amongst people with little money … when you have little to nothing, those are essential.
If there are fewer opportunities for work (eg. unemployment is at 30% in your region, and you can’t afford to leave), then allowing flexibility of morals can provide a way to survive. That’s a last resort for most normal people, though.
