Why?

Twelve weeks ago I moved out of a two-bedroom, one bath, full basement, large-yarded house that I was renting.  I didn't move into another place.  Instead, my belongings went into a tiny storage unit and I sleep in my car.  A few people know; most do not.  I'm 42, work two part-time jobs and am not what you likely think of when you think of a homeless person.  The question I get when I tell someone of my living situation is, "Why?"

Because.  I'm happier and less stressed than I have been in years. I'm taking care of myself, mentally and physically.  This wasn't happening six months ago.  One day I came home from work, tired of interacting with people all day to a messy, unorganized house.  I didn't feel like cleaning or even straightening up.  That happened each night for the next year.  My house wasn't hoarder-worthy, but I didn't let people inside.

In December of 2015 I paid my rent.  That was it.  I didn't have money for anything else.  Thanks to my boss giving me a Christmas bonus, I paid my car payment that month.  A good friend I had done some work for in August had finally gotten paid for that same job and she shared the wealth.  I was able to go out two days before Christmas and get some gifts for my 18-year old.  I felt blessed.

I had some serious decisions to make.  I had been trying to get a second job for some time.  I work 27 hours a week, days, Monday-Thursday.  I wasn't willing to give up my weekend hobby for a job, so that left nights and Fridays.  No one I applied to (Kohl's, AC Moore, Michaels, CVS, Harris Teeter, Ingles, etc.) was willing to work around my schedule, including the places open twenty-four hours.  I made $1200 a month, with my rent being $750 (which is incredibility low for this area), and utilities adding another $115.  My housing was eating away at 72% of my income.

Before you send me links to budgeting sites...I had no cable, no internet and no netflix. I had already cancelled those months ago.  I don't smoke, drink Starbucks or have my nails done.  I shop second-hand stores and buy groceries at grocery outlets.  I don't buy soda, meat, or healthy organic food.  My hobby costs me extra gas money, and I had already missed out on several events I had planned on going to.  Housing was the biggest and easiest thing I could change.

So I did.  I hated telling my landlord on such short notice, but I had to.  Once that part was over I felt such relief - like I was no longer drowning.  I paid the minimum on everything once again in January, caught up on bills in February (when I didn't have rent) and now, in April, have money in my savings account and am paying extra on my credit cards.  I will have my two credit cards paid off in November (around $5000 between the two) and plan on having $12,000 in the bank by next December to pay off my car.

Money drove me to do this, but it also came at I time I needed to radically simplify my life.  There are so many things I'm interested in and want to learn about - and having my toe dabbed in too many of them meant I wasn't enjoying anything fully.  My house was disorganized, my mind was scattered and I wasn't getting most things done.  Like the dishes.  Getting rid of about 80% of my belongings was hard.  Looking at the money I had spent on those - I wished I could have afforded a larger storage unit to at least keep items until I could have a yard sale.  I did sell a few things on craigslist, which was a time-sucking hassle.

Living out of my car wasn't something completely new to me.  One year ago I made the decision to lease a new vehicle.  It was either put down money on that or on my 11-year old car that needed brakes, a new transmission, an emergency brake, a passenger side mirror, a new windshield, a power window motor, etc.  (Before you ask, this wasn't what drove me to the poor house.  My lease is $257/month and I get $270/month donating plasma.  Yes.  I donate plasma.  I needed a new car.)  Anyway, going to derby events would cost a little more in gas than I was used to.  My compromise was to sleep in my car and not get a hotel (except for 3-day events - showering is necessary for those).  So I spent a few weekends last year hanging out in Wal-Mart parking lots and washing my pits with baby wipes.

I'm happy.  I have a place to go if I need to. I'm paying off debt and am able to start doing things I haven't done in years, like go to the eye doctor and gynecologist.  I'm safe.  I'm ok with this.  I went from being inside my house 90% of the time to being outside 90% of the time.  When I open my eyes in the morning, I get to see this looking back at me:

Who knew a Wal-Mart parking lot could be so pretty?