Creative Life Series - Housing
By Steve GillmanI have written a lot about creativity in the business world. Innovations and inventions and ideas will always be interesting to me. But what about getting more creative in one’s everyday life? That’s what I’m going to write about today, and again soon. Consider this the first installment of my “Creative Life Series.”
For today’s post I want to suggest some new ways to provide yourself with housing. Some of you who are reading this already own a home and perhaps have no plans to move anytime soon. Others are perhaps renting and not sure if you want to buy. Let me start by saying that those are certainly not the only two options.
I once lived in a shed. Why? Because it was behind the home that I owned and was renting out and I needed a place to live after a break up (many years ago) and I wanted the rental income to continue and also didn’t want to make the renters (friends) move too quickly. That’s a long story made short, but the details that matter are about the numbers.
The home cost me less than $20,000 and was paid off. The shed cost me $200 to build with recylcled materials. It had a bed, a heater, a window, a hotplate and carpeting. All I needed to go in the house for was showers and to use the toilet.
I’m not recommending it, but it meant that the seemingly small income of $10,000 I had that year paid all the bills and left me with money to travel overseas, where I met the most beautiful woman, who later became my wife (we’ve been married for eight years now). In other words, there are many alternative ways to house oneself that people are often not aware of.
By the way, I later added a small efficiency apartment to the home mentioned so I could rent out the three bedrooms for $300 per month each. I also rented out that shed for $45 weekly. That made my home more than cheap. It was an income and a free place to live.
More Creative Housing Options
A friend once lived in a tent in a state park for months on end in order to avoid high rent and save some money from the casino job he had. Then when winter came and rents in the cheap hotels on the beach dropped (it was a summer resort town) he moved indoors.
I have seen lakes and reservoirs full of houseboats down south. I asked about it and discovered that many people choose to live on their boats both to be on the water and to avoid property taxes.
I have also known people who live in other people’s houses without paying rent in exchange for working on or around the house.
As my wife and I traveled around the country on several extended home-hunting trips, we met people who lived in recreational vehicles, school buses and vans.
Here are a few more ways you can put a roof over your head:
Rent a room. This can be a cheap and temporary solution while you save money for a better place.
Rent an office. In some areas an office with a shower rents for less than an apartment. You can make it home (quietly) and run a business too.
Mobile homes. Renting them costs as much as renting an apartment in many areas, but you can often buy one cheap and pay only lot rent. I just saw a decent one (almost bought it as an investment) for $2,500 in a park that charged only $200 rent per month.
Babysit houses. There are websites and newsletters that list houses, cabins and other properties that people need caretakers for. Sometimes this is for a week or two, sometimes for long periods of time, and you either get free rent or sometimes even a small stipend.
Couch surfing. there are also websites where people offer there couches to travelers. If you like to travel and can usually find work, you could move around the world in this way.
Hostels. Unlike a hotel, where you rent a room, in a hostel you rent a bed for the night or week or month. Some people use these as long term homes if there is work in the area.
Caves. Okay, I really wouldn’t recommend this, but I did read a story about a man who lived in a cave for a year while commuting to town on a bicycle.
Mansions. If you don’t have the money to buy a mansion on the beach with a swimming pool, you can always get a job in one that includes a room or servant’s house.
What else? Train cars and even shipping containers have been converted into living space. Abandoned buildings have been “squatted” in. Igloos, cars and tepees come to mind. I’m sure there are more creative housing options than what I have covered here. And I’ll have more in this “creative life series” soon.
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