| One Man's Solution Dan Price, who lives in Oregon, has a partial underground dwelling he made himself. He figures that he can live on about $5000 per year. He made an agreement with the land owner for $100/year. With income from some writing and a part time job he manages to live quite well. There was an article about him in Mother Earth News (Dec/Jan 2002). The worst problem: thieves breaking in and stealing anything they can get. |
| Developing and Sharing Ideas I would like to develop ideas on living inexpensively but well. Lots of people spend everything they have trying to live in a manner promoted by popular (media created) ideas of what contemporary living has to be, and then end up homeless when the money runs out. Millions of people on low fixed incomes could benefit from learning alternative means of living. If you have experience along these lines, or ideas of new possibilities, please let me know. Perhaps you know of areas that are not hostile toward people developing new living concepts. Clyde clyde@homelessamerican.com |
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| Home Sweet Home? Some would consider living like this unthinkable. Are urban slum apartments better? Would you rather live in a cheap run-down trailer in a crouded and noisy mobile home park? |
| Alternatives to Living on the Street |
| What can people with a small income, inadequate to afford most conventional housing, do instead of ending up living on the street? |
| Build-It-Yourself Housing Mother Earth News magazine has articles in the June/July '06 issue on inexpensive cabins that a person with basic woodworking ability can make. One was built for about $2000 by utilizing some used materials, and it looks great. They have loads of articles about how to live inexpensively. |
| Practical Solutions for Energy Some magazines showcase alternative energy systems in expensive homes. These are fine for people who are ecology minded but very wealthy, but are out of reach for most people. Meanwhile there is equipment available that is practical, prices are coming down, and more ideas are coming out all the time. The October/November 2006 issue of Mother Earth News magazine has articles on lower cost solar electric power systems. Many conveniences, such as televisions, now use less power than they used to. LED (light emmiting diode) lighting requires 1/4 the power of conventional bulbs, and with batteries can be put where needed, instead of lighting a large area. Flourescent replacement bulbs for conventional tungsten lighting use a fraction of the power, and last longer. Rechargeable batteries keep improving too. |
| Living Off the Grid For those who want to live farther out in the country where electrical power, and some other conveniences, aren't available there are alternatives. It's possible to have limited electrical power with solar panels or wind power, or a generator for occasional use. Systems for drinking water and waste are also available. These don't have to be very expensive, and eliminate the need to buy such services. If you aren't paying everything you have on rent it can be it possible to buy these systems, and not have to pay ever rising energy costs. |
| Limited Income Some people with very limited resources, as with social security or disability income, can get subsidized housing for just a percentage of their income. There are long waiting lists for these, known as section 8 housing. This may be good for those who depend on some services in urban areas for health reasons. What other possibilities are available for those willing and capable of being more self-sufficient? |
| The Cost of Housing Thousands of people who are homeless due to not being able to afford housing find ways to live in urban environments, but it's certainly not a good way to live. I've seen articles on novel ways people have made shelter for themselves, even if not legal. One person made a home for himself right inside a lift bridge in Chicago, until he got caught. I'm not interested in living like that. What I'm talking about is living legally, peacefully, and with a good quality of life without spending everything just to get a room with a bed and a bathroom in a slum neighborhood. |
| Learning to Deal With It In not so many years I may be living on just a social security check, like millions of others. The prospect of having to live in a cheap trailer park or rental doesn't appeal to me. Many cheap rentals I've seen are absolutely awful, with noise, crime, drug dealing, and neighbors partying and/or fighting past 2AM. I wouldn't walk through some of the areas in the county I live in after dark unless absolutely necessary. It's not a way anyone should have to live. That's one reason I'm thinking of what alternatives there are. |
| Urban vs. Rural For some it may be practical to live just outside urban areas, not too far from services but out of the expensive, and noisy, areas. Some would like living way out in undeveloped areas where land can be bought relatively cheap. Sometimes it may be possible to rent land to camp on for a mimimal cost by negotiating with the owner. There are many possibilities, depending on various factors, but some still can't cut their ties with urban life. I hear so much in the media about people complaining about the conditions in their inner-city slum neighborhoods. So, if they can't do anything about it, and it's literally killing them, why don't they leave? If where you live is full of crime and drugs, pack up and go somewhere else. Could it possibly be any worse? |
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| It wasn't so long ago that people depended on wood stoves for cooking and heat for their homes. It's still possible, but requires more than just turning a knob to a temperature setting. Many people enjoy lighting their fireplace once in a while, but fireplaces or small oil burning stoves used to be a common necessity. |
| SOLAR ELECTRIC PANELS While having enough panels to provide the power people expect for a contemporary home would be extremely expensive, limited power can be affordable. This can make it possible to have a few electrical conveniences while living beyond the power grid, or in something like a conversion van or travel trailer. |
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| Using natural light in a log cabin. Yes, not only it is possible to survive without all the latest high-tech gadgets and luxury cars, but live a peaceful and fulfilling life without destroying the environment. |
| www.homelessamerican.com HOMEPAGE |
| If you're living on a low fixed income in a low cost city apartment this may be your best view of the world outside, while the landlord takes every dollar you get so it becomes necessary to eat at a soup kitchen. ? One thing obviously missing in this picture is the necessary locks on the door. Even then the local crackheads will kick in the door to get whatever they can get from you. |
| The Environmental Elite Some peope will campaign against energy use and pollution in our current society, and yet waste energy like there's no tomorrow. Have you noticed that Al Gore uses 12 times the energy for his mansion as the average American household does? Not to mention flying in private jets everywhere without the slightest consideration of the effects on our environment. Yet he riducules everyone else as being energy hogs and polluters. If everyone lived like him the world would become uninhabitable for human life in a matter of a few years. Outrageously wealthy people squandering our resources and then telling the general public that they have to consume less. I'd like to see even a few of these arrogant, self rightous, multi-millionaires cut back to a rational level of energy consumption. |
| Some people have never even seen what the world looks like outside of their urban environment. It is actually possible to survive outside a city! |
| www.homelessamerican.com |
| Cooperative Housing I've noticed that in some university neighborhoods that cooperative housing (co-ops) are somewhat popular with the student population. The co-op owns or leases the property and members share in expenses and chores. Some have meals for all the residents. In such co-ops it's possible to live for under $300 per month, depending on what you expect from it. Of course, for a co-op to function successfully the residents must cooperate. In ones I've seen, a person interested in joining the co-op must be approved by the current members and agree to house rules. While obviously not for everyone, this type of housing would be excellent for many people on relatively low fixed incomes. |
| In Arizona many Hopi villages have been turning to solar electric power. The Hopi prefer not to have major utility companies intruding on their land and also like solar power as being non-polluting. Over 800 solar power units have been installed for Hopi and other Native American homes. |