To live in my car/camp full time??

[NevilleLuna]

28 and live in a shit area surrounded by drug users, alcoholics and the unemployed. I’m by no means judging but I just don’t fit in here at all and I begrudge spending a fortune in rent for somewhere I hate.

I’m actually debating living in my car/camping full time.

Slept in my car many times before and while it is small- it would be comfortable with bedding. I’d find safe areas to park up that wouldn’t cause nuisance for anyone else.

I’d cook my meals at work, charge phones/tablets at work. Shower when I go to the gym and do my laundry when I visit my parents every weekend.

I’d do it for a year or two which means I can save enough money for a house deposit

AIBU?

My colleague and her boyfriend did this for a while - in a van tho. Another colleague has just bought a boat.

I definately couldn't do it myself. Is it an option to put a cheap caravan at your parents house?

No, don’t do this. You’ll just be homeless, and you could freeze to death. If will be utterly miserable and your mental health will be shot. Go back to your parents and get a job near them

Sleeping in your car will be fine.

But you don’t just sleep in your home do you?

What are you going to do on your days off? Sit in the car all day? All evening after work if you don’t have plans?

What’s the plan for when you get hit by a stomach bug and can’t stop throwing up/have diarrhoea? Where’s your toilet that you have to be almost next to?

Where and how are you ironing your clothes if needed?

Probably lots of other practical reasons it would be a very bad idea.

I'd definitely look into a caravan park and a cheap, old caravan to live in, keep the car for transport and store important docs & valuables at your parents' house. A cheap caravan could be cleaned up and made much more livable than your car. Plus you'd have a toilet for the middle of the night, ability to make a hot drink in the evenings in winter, have lights on past 5 o'clock in the winter without drawing attention to yourself & making yourself vulnerable. You'd still save a load of money.

It sounds like one of those ideas that's fine in theory but not so much in practice. People have a habit of finding out things and what if someone at work found out you were sleeping in your car? Perhaps move in with parents/relatives for a year or if it must be camping then a proper campsite with showers etc as someone else has suggested.

sounds great to me OP!!!! I'd go for it, you do need a van though rather than a car, and you need to make sure its insulated as much as possible, re. the coming Winter!!!!

papercranes nice grazia link.

though i do notice its Summer in the pictures

What would you do for cooking/showering for the weekend? Where would you park and be safe? It’s a great idea in theory, but how much could you actually save?

It does sound utterly joyless and pretty unstable, but if it is just you, you’ll save a massive chunk for a deposit and you have the financial means to be able to get another place if you want to chuck it in, I’d go for it, but it sounds like you’d be in for an awful couple of years.

Good luck!

That sounds horrible. How much would a room in a shared house cost in a not too bad area?

Camper van, caravan or boat - definitely!

It’s an awful idea . Go home.

my friend lives in a shed. She is very low impact living, forages alot of her food, etc. The shed is insulated and her son fitted a window that was being thrown away from a build. It is a TINY shed 8 x 10 ft. She has access to an electricity supply but really only uses that for a one ring stove. She is very happy.

Where would you go to the toilet?
Where would you park at night? Most free car parks lock up at night and not many people would want someone living in a car parked outside their house. If the area is as rough as you say would you be safe in the car at night?

You’d feel much more aware of the drug users and alcoholics living in a car.

I guess youre not being unreasonable but it might get a bit much.

What about lodging? We used to have a lodger for a while and we only charged him £50 per week incl all bills

Nettle where is your friend’s shed? It’s surely not the size of the building that’s the issue but where you put it? You can’t just build a shed in a park or in someone’s land

It’s a terrible idea. You’d be very very cold in the winter.

Go home with your parents I think is the best idea.

There must be steps that you can take before getting to stage of needing to sleep in your car?

It's a terrible idea, surely you know that.

Why do people trot out tripe like 'Go home'. Her parents may live too far from her job, may not have room, may say no.

That's just being homeless, sadly. If you visit your parents every weekend you'd do better to ask if you can move in temporarily while you save.

It’s not a sensible idea. You’ll freeze in winter. Do you have to live and work where you are now? Are there other options?

“Today 15:58 LeftRightCentre

Why do people trot out tripe like 'Go home'. Her parents may live too far from her job, may not have room, may say no.”

She is going to stay with her parents at the weekend so doesn’t seem to be an issue

LeftRight exploring all options before deciding to live in your car is essential. Living in your car is homelessness. It's not a sensible thing to plan to do, it's a fairly desperate situation to end up in.

What do you do when you are ill? Having a stomach bug is miserable enough, I cannot imagine being sick and not having access to a bathroom.