I was homeless for 8 years and a good portion of that I lived in my car
What I wouldn't have given to have a safe place to park each night during that time
It's better than a tent, but not by much
this post was submitted on 06 Jan 2024
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Any pro tips on that? Shit feels like I can share this fate anytime soon.
Having financial plans in place is very important, I know it's hard but making a savings account will help a lot. Even if you just set it up so that $20 a week goes to it it will help.
Most Americans can't afford a $500 emergency so your first goal will be getting to that point in a savings account. Your second goal will be getting to that point plus having funds in your account for you deductibles for your insurances (car, health, renters, etc). Then your out of pocket max for health.
It's a slow roll building a savings account and it's hard to leave it alone but it will help a lot.
Of course even then it's still pretty nerve wracking so one thing that I've done is get a line of credit with my credit union and some credit cards with really high limits that I pay off every month and only use for like gas or groceries. That way they stay open and in the event of a financial emergency that surpasses my savings I'm not completely fucked. Which saved my ass 2 years ago when I had to have emergency dental surgery 3 times in one year. ($10k that I'm still paying off)
Basically trying not to over extend yourself financially will help immensely.
But a massive help is having a healthy social safety net.
Thank you for writing that. I felt like credit card taught me to be a little irresponsible with cash (even though I payed for everything from debit straight away - I thought this two-step payment would better my score and limit for the future, lol), so I blocked it, but from that angle it really makes sense to have one in case of emergencies.
Paying for three dentals in a row can be only topped by the constant dental pain itself. If you budget didn't crumble under that weight, with your situation, you are a tugboat called Unsinkable (or even Unthinkable?). I'm not joking, I can't imagine it now, even though I'm housed and have some people I can loan from. It's just too much.
Why's that much discipline and intellect is needed to stay alive while poor? Stereotypes paints poor people as lazy and stupid. Is there a special program I can apply to and stop caring at all? Doubt so ):
My finances took a huge hit due to that and basically had me plate spinning for awhile.
Now that I've only got a few thousand left to pay it's a lot easier.
The fun thing about stereotypes is that they are just blanket statements that apply to basically none of them.
Are there some lazy and stupid poor people? Yes, but they exist all along the financial spectrum.
The discipline necessary for having credit cards with high limits makes things really tough (trust me I know)
Honestly, this is a lot better / more hopeful than other stories. These people are doing far better than the homeless in tents. In winter.
Like these poor people: https://www.startribune.com/minneapolis-nenookaasi-homeless-encampment-packs-up-and-moves-three-blocks-south/600332431/
the land is being developed, and crime was getting out of control. and they only had to move three blocks to a different one, supplied by the city. to cite the very article you posted:
There were more than 100 emergency calls for drug use, sex acts, theft, vandalism and unresponsive people in and around the camp. A number of neighboring American Indian nonprofit organizations urged the city to close it.
it’s a little more nuanced than mean people kicking out poor defenseless citizens.
I agree that the situation in the article is complicated and that these homeless people were not exactly saints.
My point above is that these homeless people living in tents in an empty lot in January are worse off than the homeless people in the article that OP references. Those homeless people live in cars in a protected lot which I think is a big improvement from tent life.
tru. at least it’s been a pretty mild winter in mn so far, fingers crossed.
Is jesus f***ing christ incest?
More likely masturbation
Totally normal fucking country we got here
I think step one is universal healthcare. For many reasons that we all are familiar with by now. (being tied to a job that has income limitations because you need the healthcare(ish) it provides, becoming bankrupted by healthcare costs, getting kicked out of your housing due to medical costs)
The revolutionary silver bullet to begin increasing housing availability is to eliminate the ability to depreciate assets via the tax code if they are single family detached homes. Many of these rentals are already fully depreciated and will remain rentals. But recently purchased (within 10 yrs.) rentals will likely be sold and importantly they will not be purchased by 'investors'. That shift will provide a flood of homes into the market which will apply downward pressure on prices. More people being able to afford to purchase those homes will free up rental availability, thus applying downward pressure on rental affordability.
Now that only addresses single family homes; there remains multifamily housing to be addressed which will be more complex. A robust government regulatory agency for housing is not something we currently have in the usa, obviously. (see picture) Reforms of those regulatory bodies are needed whereby penalties they assess would have actual teeth. I imagine penalties that remove ownership. I also imagine the countless tax incentives used in constructing and rehabilitating these structures being negotiated quite differently, to include public ownership.
Just a few thoughts here; I haven't all the answers. I'm curious when the last housing project was built in the usa.
This isn't cringe. This is wince.
We didn't make big cars because we wanted to drive big cars. We knew we'd need them as small homes.
Such an inefficient use of space. We should make parking garages for them! /j
We call them outdoor people.