[deMolay]

This is interesting. But good info. Especially the peanut butter thing. It doesn't need refrigeration. It is portable and it is high protein. Reminds me of my lecherous youth as an apprentice Millwright. Spent all my 38/bucks a week on women/booze/marijuana the rest I wasted. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090803/ten_things

[timmac]

Better yet cash out a RV while you still have money, its a lot better than living on the streets on sleeping on someone's couch, RV's can be park almost anywhere, friends/families back yard, empty lot edge of town, low cost rent at some camp grounds, etc, etc, if you don't own your property out right and owe bank thousands more than a 2-5000 dollar RV is a good insurance policy..

[Aaron]

Knowing constitutional amendments, legal precedents and human rights provisions can help you

Organize your own CopWatch--and photograph, videotape and publicize instances of police abuse.

Learn about campaigns against homelessness in other nations, including the Landless Workers' Movement in Brazil and the Anti-Eviction Campaign in South Africa.

Start your own organization, with homeless people themselves shaping the fight for a better life and world.

I'm gonna guess the author has never spent 1 second homeless...

[pup55]

Start your own organization

This one is the most laughable. Homeless people are that way because, for the most part, they do not want any part of any "organization"....

[outcast]

Start your own organization

This one is the most laughable. Homeless people are that way because, for the most part, they do not want any part of any "organization"....

That's funny, I was under the impression they were homeless because they were unemployable for various reasons (usually drug & alchohol addiction)

[SeaGypsy]

I was part of the Sydney squatters scene in it's heyday of the mid 80's.
There were squatters and wannabe squatters, with jobs according to talents.
The paranoid were used as spotters; back then we would wait until a property had been vacant 3 months.
The aggressive and adrenaline junkies would do the break, usually at 3.45am on a Tuesday.
The suits would show up in the morning and replace the locks.
The office would hand these keys to the allotted wannabees.
This worked pretty damn well for a long time; at one stage a group of us occupied a heritage building and were granted an anuity to look after it.
Police laws allow immediate eviction in some circumstances but squatting will always re-emerge in fashion; to suit the times.

[vision-master]

Better yet cash out a RV while you still have money, its a lot better than living on the streets on sleeping on someone's couch, RV's can be park almost anywhere, friends/families back yard, empty lot edge of town, low cost rent at some camp grounds, etc, etc, if you don't own your property out right and owe bank thousands more than a 2-5000 dollar RV is a good insurance policy..

I can pick up a big fiberglass RV with 50,000 miles for under $4,000 right now. Nice inside and everything works.

[jdmartin]

Better yet cash out a RV while you still have money, its a lot better than living on the streets on sleeping on someone's couch, RV's can be park almost anywhere, friends/families back yard, empty lot edge of town, low cost rent at some camp grounds, etc, etc, if you don't own your property out right and owe bank thousands more than a 2-5000 dollar RV is a good insurance policy..

Exactly. This is a rational approach to losing a house. Hell, even a tent in a campground is fairly rational. Most true homeless people on the streets have mental health issues. Poor people are not as stupid as others would like to believe, be it media or the rich, and if they're not mentally ill they can find solutions such as this. I drive past a Wallyworld every day out in the sticks and I've noticed 3 RVs that appear to be there every day.

[vision-master]

Better yet cash out a RV while you still have money, its a lot better than living on the streets on sleeping on someone's couch, RV's can be park almost anywhere, friends/families back yard, empty lot edge of town, low cost rent at some camp grounds, etc, etc, if you don't own your property out right and owe bank thousands more than a 2-5000 dollar RV is a good insurance policy..

Exactly. This is a rational approach to losing a house. Hell, even a tent in a campground is fairly rational. Most true homeless people on the streets have mental health issues. Poor people are not as stupid as others would like to believe, be it media or the rich, and if they're not mentally ill they can find solutions such as this. I drive past a Wallyworld every day out in the sticks and I've noticed 3 RVs that appear to be there every day.

Domestic Violence: Battered women who live in poverty are often forced to choose between abusive relationships and homelessness. In a study of 777 homeless parents (the majority of whom were mothers) in ten U.S. cities, 22% said they had left their last place of residence because of domestic violence (Homes for the Homeless, 1998). In addition, 50% of the cities surveyed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors identified domestic violence as a primary cause of homelessness (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005). Studying the entire country, though, reveals that the problem is even more serious. Nationally, approximately half of all women and children experiencing homelessness are fleeing domestic violence (Zorza, 1991; National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 2001).

[rangerone314]

Better yet cash out a RV while you still have money, its a lot better than living on the streets on sleeping on someone's couch, RV's can be park almost anywhere, friends/families back yard, empty lot edge of town, low cost rent at some camp grounds, etc, etc, if you don't own your property out right and owe bank thousands more than a 2-5000 dollar RV is a good insurance policy..

I lived in a Toyota Tercel once for more than 3 months. That's when I realized that October can be as cold as a bitch at night!

[RedStateGreen]

Domestic Violence: Battered women who live in poverty are often forced to choose between abusive relationships and homelessness. In a study of 777 homeless parents (the majority of whom were mothers) in ten U.S. cities, 22% said they had left their last place of residence because of domestic violence (Homes for the Homeless, 1998). In addition, 50% of the cities surveyed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors identified domestic violence as a primary cause of homelessness (U.S. Conference of Mayors, 2005). Studying the entire country, though, reveals that the problem is even more serious. Nationally, approximately half of all women and children experiencing homelessness are fleeing domestic violence (Zorza, 1991; National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 2001).

Having worked with battered women, I can tell you that for a long time before they're faced with this choice, their "man" has gotten them so they have no friends, no family, no work, no outside income, and sometimes even no clothes -- no lie, sometimes these men dictate what the woman will wear and keep their clothes and/or shoes locked up while he's at work so they can't run away. These women are terrified to leave because he's told them if they do then he'll find and kill them, their children, family pets, their extended families, you name it. And they also think that if they were "better" somehow than the guy would change and start loving them. It's really sad.

So buying an RV is out of their reach in most cases. They're often lucky to be alive.

[frankthetank]

Hell yes... Even ff you've got to give hj's in the backseat of a LeSabre to get by...

I'd buy one of those enclosed trailers and put a window in it... Lock myself inside every night.

[timmac]

Better yet cash out a RV while you still have money, its a lot better than living on the streets on sleeping on someone's couch, RV's can be park almost anywhere, friends/families back yard, empty lot edge of town, low cost rent at some camp grounds, etc, etc, if you don't own your property out right and owe bank thousands more than a 2-5000 dollar RV is a good insurance policy..

I can pick up a big fiberglass RV with 50,000 miles for under $4,000 right now. Nice inside and everything works.

If anyone thinks the government/economy system is going to tank further and don't have a property/doom stead paid for than a older RV is the next best thing, cash out or short term make payments, it's a lot better than bumming a bed from family or where ever, a RV has every thing, its a small house on wheels, I have mine and I also use it often and it's paid for, also you never know when that next big quake might happen if you live in Cali or that next big hurricane if you live in the south, there was thousands of people sleeping in the back of there cars when Katerina hit because of lack of hotel rooms out of town not to mention the price of that hotel over a month, remember all those folks stuck on the highway out of Houston on that hurricane scare, they were stuck there for 8 hours and no restroom but those RV's that were there with them had it made.

Vision-master if you are looking for a RV this is a great time to buy there prices both new and used are very low.

[BigTex]

RE homeless strategies, I used to see a fellow in Austin (which has a vibrant homeless population) who had a hammock that he would string up at night in the top of a tree. It struck me as brilliant. We used to call him "The GI Joe Bum."

I tend to agree that those who don't want to be homeless but have fallen on hard times can find many different ways of avoiding it at a very low cost.

I have owned four RVs in my life. The first one I paid $800 for and was about as comfortable as a studio apartment. The second one I owned I bought for $6000 and it was nicer. I had the opportunity to live in it off and on for two years (I was working in two different cities and used the RV as my home in one of them). It cost me about $250 a month to park it, and this included water, electricity and cable.

It is stunning to learn how simple life can be living in an RV. I am shocked that more people don't do it. It's really kind of fun, in addition to being cheap.

But let's say that you had almost NO money. If one is creative in looking around at property for sale, it is possible to purchase small lots at tax sales, from homeowners associations, and from banks. A nice piece of property can often be located for $2,000 or less. I have seen many lake lots basically given away for a few hundred dollars in back taxes at less desirable areas around the lake. My old $800 RV on a $2,000 lot would make a very nice home for as long as one wanted to live there. Property tax: less than $100 per year. Electricity: $15 per month.

The book "Travel Trailer Homesteading For Under $5,000" is a must read for those who are interested in this topic. It will flat out give you a doomer boner.

I used to have a buddy who I ran into one day and he smelled like a garbage can. I asked him what happened to him and he said "oh, you know, I've been doing some camping in the city." I said "you mean like a bum." He said "Oh, the bums do it too."

That was one of the funniest things I've ever heard.

[frankthetank]

Found an RV for Vision. All you have to do is get plates that say "Sex Machine"... They'll come running.

[BigTex]

If one has a sincere desire, anything is possible...

[timmac]

If one has a sincere desire, anything is possible...

I hope that is not yours bigtex, because I have seen many similar to that over the years and will have to say don't do it or buy it, the suspension system and tires will not hold up for long, brakes are to week and small and dangerous at any speed.

[frankthetank]

From someone who has hauled a boat with a 90hp Ford Escort a couple hundred miles, it has nothing to do with going, it has everything to do with STOPPING! Its not hard for a any car to pull a lot of weight, its the brakes to stop that load once its rolling 70mph. My Escort required all new suspension (struts) after a few years...

I'm putting a hitch on a Ford Focus right now. I like to pull a little trailer i have and i also have a hitch mount bike carrier (they are awesome for carrying bikes)...