• Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    7·
    11 months ago

    I was homeless for 8 years and a good portion of that I lived in my car

    What I wouldn’t have given to have a safe place to park each night during that time

    It’s better than a tent, but not by much

      • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        1·
        11 months ago

        Having financial plans in place is very important, I know it’s hard but making a savings account will help a lot. Even if you just set it up so that $20 a week goes to it it will help.

        Most Americans can’t afford a $500 emergency so your first goal will be getting to that point in a savings account. Your second goal will be getting to that point plus having funds in your account for you deductibles for your insurances (car, health, renters, etc). Then your out of pocket max for health.

        It’s a slow roll building a savings account and it’s hard to leave it alone but it will help a lot.

        Of course even then it’s still pretty nerve wracking so one thing that I’ve done is get a line of credit with my credit union and some credit cards with really high limits that I pay off every month and only use for like gas or groceries. That way they stay open and in the event of a financial emergency that surpasses my savings I’m not completely fucked. Which saved my ass 2 years ago when I had to have emergency dental surgery 3 times in one year. ($10k that I’m still paying off)

        Basically trying not to over extend yourself financially will help immensely.

        But a massive help is having a healthy social safety net.