Living in a car

[Pickles89]

Has anyone tried it? For weeks/months I mean, either with the aim (and/or effect!) of saving money. How was the experience? Was it worth it for what you saved?

It would be cold. Can you lay hands on a small van, do you think? There are lots of resources for cheaply making a van liveable.

I have also seen at least one video about making a car warm enough too, though.

I bet there will be resources on Reddit.

Don't do this. It's not safe. It's cold and uncomfortable. Sleep on someone's couch if you must to save money.

Don’t do it. Move cities jobs whatever

I hope you're not having to seriously consider this.

I saw on TV a woman who had to live in horse-box - it wasn't easy.

It’s not safe and there are a lot of car parks that don’t allow overnight parking or limit the hours you can be there, even if they’re free.

What would you do for the loo?

Whatever money you might save in rent can't be worth the misery and cold you would suffer. Please think of other options.

Never done it.

Sounds desperate.

If you could do it on a drive of someone’s home maybe….

Surely there are other options

Can you lay hands on a small van, do you think? There are lots of resources for cheaply making a van liveable.

I'd have to sell my car to buy a van, which would cost more than my car's worth so I'd end up worse off, and wouldn't wnat to invest if I wasn't sure I could stick at it. The running cost of a van would be much higher too.

It would be cold.

Yes, it bloody would be! One of the main minus points for me. I don't mind so much as long as it doesn't get to the point it's dangerous. I mean with enough layers and stuff you're not going to die of hypothermia right? Or is it colder in a car than outside in the winter? I genuinely don't know.

Do you live in an urban area?

Nope, rural, South West, though one of the plus points of living in the car is I can travel for work and my accommodation is right there!

Do you have proper outdoor equipment already? ie down sleeping bag, merino clothing?

No, nothing. I'm anxious at the thought of spending my savings on making my car 'livable in' only to find it just doesn't work after a few days of weeks!

Move cities jobs whatever

Sooo much easier said than done!

I hope you're not having to seriously consider this.

I'm not having to, yet, just worrying about the future and money generally. I'm not in debt but go overdrawn a lot and it makes me anxious. I would love to actually start saving money! I'm just wondering how seriously I can consider the car thing as a possible option.

It’s not safe and there are a lot of car parks that don’t allow overnight parking or limit the hours you can be there, even if they’re free.

I know it's considered best to park in well frequented areas but I think I'd feel safer rural or quiet suburban ones. I do worry about the safety aspect, if someone tried to break in. That would be horrible!

What would you do for the loo?

I really don't know!! This is something the people who have done it (or say they have on social media!) seem to skip mentioning! I mean you could pee with a funnel and a bottle I guess, but no. 2s would be a whole different situ!

Whatever money you might save in rent can't be worth the misery and cold you would suffer. Please think of other options.

That's why I'd like to hear from people who've done it. Find out what the reality was for them.

Do you work? I imagine trying to keep yourself clean/presentable/not knackered would be impossible.
Finding somewhere legal/safe to park also might be difficult.
I’d try everything else first.

Sleep on someone's couch if you must to save money.

If you could do it on a drive of someone’s home maybe….

Whose?

Is this worst case scenario planning or are you actively close to doing it? Are you over 80% sure?

If you want to think about money saving perhaps there are other extreme frugal things you could do?

Look on spare room sites? That would let you be safer and warmer and still save loads.

Join the reserves (RAF probably best!) get paid to stay away from home at the weekends. So you'd be earning money and fed and housed!

Lady bugout in YouTube has some good ideas , though more suited to USA weather. Her toilet video us very informative

My friend did. She had one of those airbed things that turn your backseat into a bed, and baskets in the boot for food, clothes and washing etc. She also had a gym membership for showers.

She used and electric blankets under and an electric over blanket plugged into some sort of portable battery thing she had and she used those silver things over the windows....... I was quite impressed with her set up tbh. She did it for a year, kept her spends outside of running her car to around £30 pw and saved enough for a house deposit. She did sofa surf on the insistence of friends during extreme weather tho.

Have you considered being a lodger instead as although not free, it would be a lot cheaper than a flat as no bills normally. In the south west you could get a room for less than 400 a month all in other than food.

@Pickles89

Sleep on someone's couch if you must to save money.

If you could do it on a drive of someone’s home maybe….

Whose?

Your friends and family?

How are we supposed to know the answer to this OP?

@RaininSummer

Have you considered being a lodger instead as although not free, it would be a lot cheaper than a flat as no bills normally. In the south west you could get a room for less than 400 a month all in other than food.

Sensible plan- lodger in a small, single back bedroom.

Just looked on spare room and there are some rooms available for less than £200 including bills. For space and warmth and somewhere to sleep properly and relax it's well worth that £200.

I know it depends on your area, but maybe moving area would be a good plan.

There’s a van life culture, more common abroad. Some live in cars too. Worth looking on Instagram/ YouTube for their experiences.

Tbh I think this is a bit bonkers.

A male friend recently did the same with a van and it wasn't easy. He found out his wife had been cheating for 18 months and had to move out. As he had previously been the SAHD and worked part time from home he couldn't afford rent.

He's now staying with a friend who is recovering from a serious illness and looking after him. One of the highlights was sleeping with the doors open on a hot night and waking up to some weirdo having a wank outside the door. A pretty scary event had he been female I'd imagine.

Condensation is a real issue. Both for mould and health concerns, but also as a give away for passers by, police etc.

The colder the weather, the worse the condensation, and damp air feels colder than dry air too so feels much more unpleasant. Rainy nights are difficult because you can’t open a window for ventilation without letting rain and damp air in. Definitely not good if you have even mild asthma. Any wet clothes, coats or shoes are a problem.

And open windows, even a little, invite thieves and opportunists.

Also what about an address for your work payroll, your car insurance, electoral roll and bank etc? Not having a permanent address can cause many real issues.

Where would you park up? It is easy to find yourself waking at every noise and not sleeping well so feeling more and more tired. Lots of otherwise nice places can feel foreboding and unpleasant at chucking out time or 3 in the morning. And generally it’s more unsafe in the areas you won’t get noticed and moved on from, and in ‘safer’ areas you will get noticed and probably moved on. Supermarkets are often open 24hrs so seem like a good option at first but they attract a whole range of people at odd hours, and if you sleep near the entrance for safety then you are more likely to be noticed by security.

Using a launderette isn’t cheap either, nor is finding hot food. And finding places to change. That can get old really quickly if you don’t have the comfort of friends and family to go to a few times a week.

You will probably find cold weather makes you want to wee at very inconvenient times ie the middle of the night..

It will be difficult to keep the car battery charged for devices and lights, never mind electric blankets, unless you run the engine and that costs money, and draws attention unless you are driving around. Maybe not so difficult if you are driving for work. Cold weather drains a battery more than warm weather so extra difficult in the winter.

It’s a very difficult and uncomfortable way to live for more than a few nights to a week.

With a van/micro camper, the right basic equipment, staying at cheap campsites and with a permanent address at friends or family then it can work and be enjoyable even, but might not to be that much cheaper.

I lived in a tent for 6 months, between March and September. It was ace! I loved it. I bought a big bell tent, found a campsite that would have me for that time and offered to check people in when they first arrived if the campsite owner wasn't available and I wasn't at work. I did save quite a lot of money - enough to cover the purchase of then tent and save some pennies. That said, I also have plenty of friends who live in properly converted vans - even the hardiest of them say that winter is a slog.

I did a no spend year last year in order to get my head straight financially. I paid off a little over 8k in debt and saved close to 9k (a small inheritance and covid helped, I'm a nurse so there was a lot of extra work floating about). If it's just a case of clearing your overdraft and building a bit of a slush fund, you could try that for a couple of months. The winter months are better for that anyway, less socialising!

It also costs money to live like that. You can’t meal plan in the same way. You can’t buy sizes that are efficient if things that you know you will use up because you will be limited on space.

Add in the stress of getting rousted at any moment, possibly facing fines along the way.

It’s not necessarily going to save you money.

Get flatmates, become a lodger, rent the tiniest flat in all of existence, but I wouldn’t

I've lived in a van and I'd be reluctant to try it here in summer, in winter it will be really bloody cold. We had thick blackout curtains, a little gas cooker, a cool box, torches, sleeping bags, headlamps, portable chargers... The kit can get pretty expensive.