3rd month anniversary

 In preparation for the 3-month anniversary mark, I thought I'd post a little differently. 

Look at what I can do now:

I can sign up for CEU classes, which I've been putting off for 1.5 years. I can even choose to take 2 or 3 classes. $ is not the deciding factor. I can decide based on how much time I have.

I can either rent a car of fly to get home. (I chose to fly).

I can either get my hair braided or trimmed. (Without money, the only option was to keep it trimmed. That's cheaper).

I can go 2 weeks without counting the days until the next payday. I almost forgot that today was payday.

I can choose between buying something I need and paying extra on debt this month.

What do I have to celebrate this month:

1. We brought one of our credit cards current. I was $600 behind. I couldn't pay more on debt because I have to pay for CEU classes this week and take them over Christmas break. It feels good to take these classes that I've been putting off for 1 1/2 years due to lack of funds.

2. I learned to use Sterno to cook at the park.

3. I found more McDonald's restaurants to work at on my computer.  (Sometimes people bash homeless bloggers by telling them to sell their computers to make money. It doesn't seem to enter their minds that maybe these people have unsaleable, outdated, 6-year old computers like mine). It makes more financial sense to keep the computer than to get rid of an item that helps you stay organized and connected to others. But I digress)

4. I added pictures to my online journal (this blog).

5.  I've gotten used to sleeping in 30 degree weather. That seemed scary two months ago. Now, it's all about mastering 20 degrees and preparing for single digits.

6. I created a Debt Snowball and made plans to create and use an Envelope System. I listened to Dave Ramsey CDs.

Who wants to read about a strong, independent, mentally-healthy homeless person?

I was reading today about a woman in the UK named Anya Peters. She published a book in 2006, but a lot of people online think she’s a fraud - someone who arranged her homelessness and refused to accept help to create a good story and ultimately a book deal. Some homeless bloggers have made book deals (I’ve never read any of their books). David Gardner has a blog at homelessteacher.blogspot.com. He took down all of his posts and replaced them with “Blog suspended in anticipation of the book.”

I’m very different from Anya Peters and probably most other homeless bloggers (I don't know about David Gardner). I’m very upbeat and positive. I have no mental health issues (don’t ask my sister for her opinion on that!). I work full time. I wasn’t abused growing up, and I have family, friends, and great coworkers. My situation is as temporary as I want it to be.   

My story wouldn’t make a good book deal, and I’m not searching for one.

I don’t tell my loved ones about my situation/choice because (#1) I need help (which I’m not against asking for) but I need months and months of help. I don’t think anyone is capable or prepared to help me with that. My friends have little space in their homes (or live far away from my job) and they have debts of their own. Why would I ask them to give me their limited space for free for a year while I happily pay off my own debts and they continue to struggle?

(#2) They will worry for me. I don’t need people to be so upset that they need me to console them. I don’t want people giving me warnings and reminding me how dangerous things are. One thing that helps me daily is the feeling that I am strong and capable and vigilant. I pay attention to local news stories of people getting assaulted. I don’t need to hear it from all sides.

I obviously don’t mind accepting help – which I why I posted the thermometer and the Paypal button. But, who wants to hear the story of a strong, determined homeless person who will do whatever it takes (legally and ethically) to improve her life?

First day of Thanksgiving break

Nov 27

I have a feeling this Thanksgiving break will pass quicker than I imagined. Today is Wednesday and I had a full day.

This morning I left the parking lot at the hospital and drove to a Taco Bell parking lot where I had leftover chicken and cole slaw for breakfast. While eating, I designed a worksheet for my class. Then, I drove to a university to use their library, but their parking rules were still in force so I couldn’t use any of the free parking lots for faculty. So, I drove to the public library and cleaned out my glove compartment while waiting for it to open. That was a good use of time. I had a ton of old condiments to throw away, and more space when I was done

cleaning. 

When the library opened. I sat down for 4 hours and here is what I did:

1.    

bought a plane ticket – I’ve been procrastinating on this for a month (wasn’t sure if I wanted to fly or rent a car, but I the return ticket was on sale today!)

2.    completed 3 company docs that are due Friday and sent them in electronically

3.    Bought a battery for my computer on Amazon

4.    drove to bosses office to deliver documents for her to sign so I can take CEUs

5.    spent at least 90 minutes signing up for the CEU classes on the computer. One of the classes is supposed to start in 6 days. They cancelled the class due to low enrollment. They needed 6 students and only had 5! I would have been number 6. I prayed that if it was God’s will that He would make the class happen. I really want to take that class and this is the perfect time for it (approaching Christmas break). I called the school with an unrelated question, and when the lady on the phone discovered the closed class, she made some contacts and the class was reopened!

6.    blogged

7.    watched Judge Judy while walking on the treadmill

8.    showered

9.    ate at Ledos and surfed the Internet

1.  went to bed at 10:00

If the rest of Thanksgiving break is like today, it will go by very fast. 

Brother homeless, too

I found out last night that my brother Braxton has been sleeping in hotels and with our brother Taylor for two months. Braxton sorta broke up with his girlfriend. 

Man, I hate hearing that. I know how awful it can be for other people to be without a place of their own. Shoot, I would like to have a place of my own that I can afford comfortably. 

I think Braxton and his girlfriend are good together. I hope they work it out. They’re still talking, and he did stay at home last night. All of his clothes are in Sasha's truck. 

Unlike me, he has no job although he would really like to have one. I wish I had a money-making idea for him. I can’t imagine him 10 years from now in his fifties still lounging around every day doing nothing. Finding a job
doesn’t get easier with age.

I was reading a blog post last night from a woman who didn't like "homeless" to be defined as "people who live with friends or relatives." Maybe if you pay a competitive rent price to rent a room, then you aren't homeless. However, there are a large number of people without their own place who can't even afford a room (like me). 

Will I be in my car for 7.5 years or 4 years?

November 27, 2013


So, how come during the month of October, when I was driving to church 4 extra days a week, the gas prices dropped down to $3.15? How come I managed to go a whole week on one tank of gas each week when I had trouble doing that during September? God really stretched the gas. Now that October has ended and gas prices have gone back up to $3.35, I've still managed to get by on one tank of gas each week.  


I’m so blessed - even while living in my car to pay off debt. 

I've been informed that my company will probably cut jobs in January and February. For those who remain, I don’t know if they’ll cut the pay as well. 

My coworker Liesl and I talked about that. She said if they cut her pay in half they might as well cut her in half. She just became full time this year and has started to see light at the end of the debt-paying tunnel. She described how slow progress is – don't I know it! 

I have seen so little progress over the years (and I WAS working full-time – not part time). That’s part of the reason I decided to go to extremes.

If I rented an apartment right now, $1000 a month would go to rent, $1000 a month to debt (those are just the required minimum payments - not extra, and $400 would have to be split between insurance, food, gas, utilities, 
toiletries, etc. Of course, that won’t work. $400 is not enough for all that. 

That’s why I have to pay down this debt and get back to a reasonable level of disposable income.

If I pay $1000 a month on debt (above and beyond the minimums), it will take 90 months to pay it off. That’s 7.5 years of living in my car. So far, we’ve paid off $4k in two months. If we keep up the double rate, that’s 3 years 9 months of car living. Either way, it’s way too long.

Organizing Nazi

September 23, 2013

I am proud of how I’ve organized storage. I’m glad that I don’t have to keep more in my classroom than what’s already there. I don’t want my classroom looking like living space. I’m glad that I can drive around with my back seat cleared off, even if that means the trunk is packed full. I feel good having a gassed up car, outfits ironed for the week, and storage places (storage unit, classroom, and car) that are not packed to capacity. I’ve done a good job over the years of organizing and dwindling down.

I’m not a clutter bug. I declutter well. Everything in storage is books, classroom manipulatives, necessary clothing, cooking utensils. There is nothing old, unusable, unused. I don’t have things to throw away, just things waiting to be used.

However, I’ve got to get even better. During Thanksgiving, one of my goals is to digitize and computerize or throw out some of my paper. Some of it consists of ideas that need to go on TPT. I need to really find ways to super-manage my time and super-organize like an organizing-Nazi. 

One day I took a box out of storage and put it in the back seat. Minutes later, while driving I spotted a huge cockroach climbing on my passenger seat. Ugh! I stopped at a store and sprayed the car with Raid, which I keep under my seat. I couldn’t find the little booger, but I hope the spray got him.

Hot Dog Sleeping/ Reddit post

November 24, 2013

The weather is consistently down to 25 degrees. I have created what I call “hot dog sleeping.” I put a red comforter on the back seat to cover the bottom and the back where your back goes. Then I lie down under a white blanket and a blue comforter that is doubled over. Then I fold the red comforter down on top of me. So I’m lying on one layer of red comforter with a white blanket, two layers of blue comforter, and one layer of red comforter on top of me. I sleep in my winter coat, two hats, gloves, and long johns. Last night I was generally warm. It took all that and I was generally warm.

I think sleeping in the garage always feel warmer because it blocks the wind. On really cold nights, that’s where I need to be.

Here s what someone wrote on Reddit under the title “I am a college university student that lived in my van.”
“I’m not trying to victimize myself or make people feel sorry for me. I don’t blame anyone because no one is at fault for anything. It’s just a choice I made. No one is to blame for something I knowingly got myself into. I’m doing this AMA because I thought I had an interesting story and wondered if anyone would like to hear it. In addition, there are other people who are considering this path (for whatever reason) and I’m glad to share my experiences so they know what they’re in for.”


Ditto it all.