But an upscale lifestyle often brings hefty rent or mortgage bills, and typically demands higher-paying jobs and added stress.
Maybe you’re drawn to less traditional approaches to securing shelter, both in how you fund it and what form that shelter takes. Perhaps you’d prefer cheaper and more intriguing ways to live overall.
For instance, you could spend years working as a house sitter or caretaker to reap the benefits of living in attractive homes without the financial burden of ownership.
Or, if you want a temporary shift, you might purchase a bus and travel across the country for a year before deciding where to settle down.
No matter your aim, here are genuine examples of alternative living arrangements. Would you give any of these a try?
1. Camping as a Way of Life
Nancy Bolam says she was paying $500 a month for an unheated room inside a trailer outside Aspen, Colorado — and it lacked a closet and even a door!
So she opted to try living outdoors for a spell instead.
She purchased a cloth dome tent and ran electricity to it from a friend’s nearby garage. She warmed it with a wood stove and hauled in the water she needed.
After more than three years living that way, she had accumulated enough for a house down payment.
Still, she notes, “I will greatly miss camping as a lifestyle.”
2. Living Out of a Truck
When he discovered how steep rent was near his new Google job, 23-year-old Brandon (last name withheld) bought a box truck to live in, according to Business Insider.
His 128-square-foot space includes a bed, a dresser and spots to hang clothes. He showers and eats on the Google campus and keeps the truck parked there as well.
Brandon says it works because he mostly uses the truck just to sleep. He figured he’d quickly recoup the $10,000 he spent on the truck since he saves over $2,000 a month by avoiding rent.
He chronicles his experience on his blog, FromInsideTheBox.com.
3. Choosing to Be Homeless
A truck is a very simple shelter, and a fabric dome even more so, but Daniel Suelo doesn’t even own a tent.
He doesn’t use money at all,reports The Atlantic.
Suelo is voluntarily homeless — sometimes residing in caves near eastern Utah or around Sedona, Arizona.
He forages wild edibles or raids dumpsters, cooking on stoves fashioned from discarded cans. He drinks from natural streams.
He’s run into legal trouble because BLM land rules limit camping in one spot to 14 days, but for the most part he stays low-key and is left alone.
Suelo occasionally house sits. He’s also lived with anarchist squatters in Portland, Oregon, and in communal residences. Yet he spends the majority of his nights outdoors and has lived this way for over a decade.
4. Living in an RV
Bob Wells lives out of his RV on a $1,100 monthly pension and says he knows “dozens of people who live in their vans and make much less than $1,000 per month.”
Traveling extensively in an RV can be pricey, so he recommends alternating between working and traveling — while still living in your RV, naturally.
Here are some ways to earn money on the road, according to Wells:
- Work as a campground host
- Craft and sell handmade items
- Sell goods on eBay
- Build websites
- Paint houses
- Offer handyman services
- Provide pet-grooming services
See our collection of 103 ways to earn income from home for additional ideas you can pursue while mobile.
5. Living Aboard a Sailboat
Yes, living on a sailboat can be affordable — if you approach it wisely.
HoboSailor.com’s Leann and Chad say it involves buying an inexpensive used boat, anchoring in free spots, and keeping a strict budget. Their life, which includes a cat and a large-screen TV aboard the compact sailboat, costs roughly $1,000 per month.
Because maintaining a boat takes effort, it may work best as a couple’s lifestyle. Chad even calls it “a great pre-marriage test that I would recommend to anyone.”
6. Staying in a Storage Unit
Living in a storage unit isn’t something most people would suggest as permanent housing, and it can raise legal concerns.
Yet some people do pick this option out of necessity for a short period.
Take Becky Blanton’s experience. When her freelance writing income dropped, she put a bed inside her 10-by-20 storage unit and moved in. The facility managers opted not to intervene.
After four months of taking odd jobs and eating cheaply at buffets, Blanton saved enough to move into more traditional housing.
7. Living as a Nomad
Britany Robinson says at 27 she’s part of “generation rent.”
She has no intention of buying a house. In fact, she recently decided to drive around the country hunting for a new place to live.
“I’m addicted to the freedom of renting over buying, as are many of my friends and peers,” Robinson says. For now, she’ll be staying in hotel rooms.
There appears to be a shift toward more nomadic lives, helped by the many ways to work online (and by decreasing job stability). Naturally, the expense of this lifestyle depends largely on the types of places you rent.
Your Turn: Would you consider any of these budget-friendly alternative lifestyles?
Savinly is the publisher of practical tips for living affordably. Our writer has explored many odd ways to earn a living — from house sitting to web work — and finds writing one of the most enjoyable of those ventures.
If you’re interested in other ways to lower living costs or rethink where you live, check out resources on lower housing costs affordable small towns, alternative housing, and affordable places to live.
