My situation just became critical...again

[Left Coast2020]

Last edited Fri Jan 24, 2014, 06:31 PM - Edit history (1)

Got word a few minutes ago that I have to vacate my camper trailer living situation. Apparently a neighbor complained and I have to go. Just one of those nosy, in your business kind of people I guess. Tonight is last night in trailer, then I will likely be in a friggin shelter since I have no where else to go.

Was hoping it would not come to this. Nonetheless, I have an offer to relocate to Albuquerque which is my plan. But I can't go unless I can get a moving truck. Apparently Paypal is working as I have seen a donation for $50 in my email (please see previous post "I have Paypal&quot That encourages me. Thank you. But I need to move a little faster. If you can donate to this, please PM me and I will tell you how to help. This is for a fellow DUer in trouble. I need to raise about $550 just for truck--not including gas for 1300 mile trip.

If you can help, please chip in. I have come to admire the many DU'ers who have helped me through this crisis as a family. The light at end of preverbal tunnel is there. I'm just struggling to get there. I also know many of you are struggling too. But any amount helps.

I will now go back to paypal since I need to check if it is officially activated.

Bless you for all you do.


P.S. I'm sorry I have to keep this up again, but I do. Really trying other alternatives and coming up short. Will have to sleep in car again which I don't want to do. I'm hoping some new people will see this. Trying to not mentally sink either which I think shelter is contributing to.

[defacto7]

1. Sorry to hear about the lost living arrangement.

I was wondering though, if someone offered for you to stay in their camper how could a complaint by a neighbor make you leave? Is the camper not on the property of the owner? or is it a neighborhood law of some kind? I suppose their must be some reason that a neighbor can make you leave but I'm not sure how they could have that much authority.

[Niceguy1]

2. in most places current living in a RV type of vehicles not allowed

in city limits

[defacto7]

6. I had no idea.

Back in the early 80s I lived in mine off and on for 2 years... within city limits, in parking lots, all over the country. I guess things have changed in that regard. Sorry to hear it Left Coast.

[Niceguy1]

10. yeah,

a lot of things that was harmless are illegal now. too many people feel important in passing laws that we really don't need

[defacto7]

20. agreed...

and for what real purpose are those laws made? Are they laws meant to conceal reality from public eye? Are they meant to protect overactive imaginations from some neurotic safety concern? And at what cost are these so important blinders against the painful facts of humanity? Or are they just to tidy up the clutter of the humanly insignificant?

I severely dislike window curtain peekers.

[Left Coast2020]

3. I tried to be as quite as a mouse.

But I guess the neighbor has a city/county code book just looking for violators of something. Damn.

[freshwest]

4. K & R... Please post in the Lounge, too, LeftCoast. n/t

[Bennyboy]

5. back up tonight...

If you can help this DUer out.

[Left Coast2020]

7. Talked with paypal 30 minutes ago....

Account is activated and running!!!

Thank you for all you do.

[Katashi_itto]

8. K&R

[Joe Shlabotnik]

9. vibes,

best of luck.

[flvegan]

11. I'd like to hear more about this neighbor.

I don't know much about your living situation, but I know a little bit about real property rights.

Just a little bit.

[BoWanZi]

12. Good luck with your situation, I can't help but I am floored by the hate towards RV living...

...seems like the perfect solution to a lot of people unable to live. With your camper trailer, you have shelter which is the important thing. Why do cities/towns not like it when people manage to find cheap affordable housing?

I am moving to a mobile home park because we lost our house to foreclosure and loss of income. We were blessed in that my mom and wife's siblings helped us purchase a mobile home that is quite inexpensive for the square footage compared to buying a home.

What I'm driving at is that I would imagine that it would be awesome if the govt or whomever could provide assistance to people who are in dire need of shelter. Right not its next to impossible to buy a used cheap mobile home. They are cheap. I'm talking about decent livable 900square feet homes for 5-15 thousand dollars. Coming up with that money is extremely hard for low income people but a 15 year mortgage for say a 10k house would be very little and should be affordable but its hard as heck to find a place willing to lend mortgages for used mobile homes. So much cheaper than buying a normal house.

But so many cities and locations prohibit them. I see cheap lots for sale in my city that would be perfect for putting a mobile home on but you aren't allowed to. It would be awesome to buy a simple standard lot that once had a house on it and put an inexpensive mobile home on it and you could then have a super cheap mortgage that you possibly could even afford with something like SSI. But no, you have to put a full fledged house on the lot.

And camper living? Go for it, seems pretty cheap and affordable to me but cities don't want that!

[laundry_queen]

17. I totally agree with you.

It pisses me off that there ARE solutions, it's just people don't WANT the solutions because, god forbid, their property values go down. I still can't believe how many people think 'property value' is the be all and end all of life. Here in my town, a wealthy area, people were bitching about duplexes!! ZOMG duplexes mean RENTERS! Ack, the neighborhood is going to POT!

All the old-timers who had been here since forever got together at a meeting and said, "Hey we want our kids to move back here! And they can't afford no $500,000 house! Since when is this town only for rich snobs? That's not what it was like when we first moved here." So, duplexes, and now row houses and apartments too. Lots of exploding heads here, LOL.

Still no trailers, though.

[sweetapogee]

38. one problem is

in a neighborhood of half million dollar homes, would not the real estate taxes would make it impossible for a trailer owner to live on a tight budget? Generally areas that have high RE tax burdens have lower state/federal funding for schools. That, at least, is the situation around here.

Also, the fees for water/sewer and garbage pick-up and also road maintenance and general local government costs make me think that an individual who can only afford a 10-15K home will not have the ability to pay the RE taxes (in those areas), utilities and HO insurance. That is why leasing space in a park makes sense rather than buying land and putting a trailer home on it.

But I'm open for suggestions and or correction.

[BoWanZi]

40. Very good point about the taxes, that is where I wish the govt would help with low income people

That is exactly what we are doing, we are leasing a spot that is affordable including water/garbage/sewer. We only have to pay the lot fees, energy bill, and phone bill. No luxury cable tv or other bills like that for us.

I just wish that as soon as our situation improved, we could buy a nice little lot in town and move our home to it.

Small significant windfalls are another area where a mobile home could help a low income family. Say a relative dies and they get a small inheritance, like maybe 20-30k. They could buy a cheap lot in town and put a nice used mobile home on it and then have a home free and clear and they would only have utilities and taxes for much cheaper than a "legit" home. But a lot of low income people aren't even aware of options out there like inexpensive mobile homes or their areas don't allow them except for some parks. Then the people who got the inheritance end up burning through it on stuff like cars instead of a long term goal.

God how I wish I knew about mobile home living 6 years ago when my wife got about 40k, we could have bought a realy nice mobile home and a lot with long term stability but instead we used it to try to save our home that eventually went into foreclosure.

[firsttimer]

13. Ii don't know what you have for stuff but I have seen people rent a moving truck

that cost $500 to move their furniture that was worth $200 on craigslist.

Sometimes it alright just moving somewhere like you want with just a back pack and keep the extra cash in your pocket.

just a thought......

[AtheistCrusader]

15. Little by little, your stuff eventually owns you.

Maybe a fresh start?

[2naSalit]

16. I have to agree with you and

Atheist Crusader, I had to relocate several times and had sooo much stuff that I had collected that I realized I would not be able to go to where I am now, safe and sheltered though broke, so I sold 90% of it. I had a couple yards sales, cried a lot, took the cash and was free to move. I had to get rid of the stuff anyway due to the new place being 1/4 of the size of what I had been living in so all that stuff wouldn't have fit anyway. I went from a two bedroom house of stuff to a two room cabin. I kept my camping, skiing and kitchen stuff because it all fit in my vehicle in one trip.

That money came in handy as I was suddenly taken ill for 3 months when I got to my new location and I couldn't go looking for work until I was better.

I have no regrets about it after all these years. Just like after a flood, tornado or fire... it's just stuff and you can replace most of it. The other stuff, like maybe records or something important, box it up and ship it, it will get there safely and you won't have the burden of worrying about it while you travel. It'll be cheaper than hauling it.

It's hard to do but sometimes a choice well made in the end.

[LeftyMom]

21. I offered to move the OP's things in my pickup before he decided to move out of state.

Thanks but no thanks, too small (it's a full sized pickup, fwiw.)

[defacto7]

23. This is so true...

It doesn't have to be a truck at all. It is much cheaper to pack up what you really want and MAIL it bulk rate of book rate. I have done this myself an huge savings. What would cost $1000 bucks by truck with rental, insurance, fuel etc. would cost probably less than $200 maybe less than that if you can part with some stuff. Box it, mail it.

[MattSh]

33. Might be a bit late now...

but have you considered something like this?

http://www.freightquote.com/freight/rates/california-to-new-mexico.aspx

[Fumesucker]

34. Have you actually done much on Craigslist?

I look at Craigslist a lot and try to contact sellers pretty often, it's rare to get someone to respond in a timely manner if at all.

The stuff may be worth only $200 on Craigslist but your chances of actually getting it without spending a great deal of time on the process is lower than a lot of people would think.

Not to mention having to have a truck to go and get furniture, if you don't have a truck that means either borrowing (!) or renting a truck. Finding something you actually want close enough it's worth the time, effort and cost of getting it is also an issue, Craigslist covers large individual areas, I see stuff I'd be interested in sixty and seventy miles away on a regular basis on my "local" CL.

[DesertFlower]

14. here's the link for the original post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024322328

[pamela]

18. New Mexico is a great state for living in a camper, if that is something you might want to do.

For a little over 200 dollars you can buy an annual park pass that allows you to stay in the New Mexico State Parks for free with no hookups, 4 dollars a night with electricity and water or 8 a night for full hook-ups. The State Parks are wonderful! Beautiful locations with big sites and lots of privacy. So much better than the more expensive private parks. Some of the parks even have free WiFi.

You can only stay 2 weeks in one park at a time but if you leave for a week you can come back for 2 more weeks. There are several places where there are two or more parks close to each other so leaving for a week and going to another park isn't difficult. For instance, Elephant Butte, Caballo Lake and Percha Dam are all within about a 30 mile radius.

I don't know if this is something that would interest you but, since you said you had a camper and might be relocating to ABQ, I thought I'd share the info. There aren't many parks close to ABQ though, if you're relocating there for a job.

[tblue37]

39. I don't think he owns the camper. I think it was offered as temporary housing

by another DUer.

I am on a Nook until noon or so, but I promise to make a donation when I get back to my desktop.

Come on, DU, there are a lot of us. If enough people donate even $10 or $20 (heck, even $5) each, we can accumulate the modest sum he is asking for. We came up with $50 thousand in a very short time when one of our own needed cancer surgery.

I must admit my donations tend to be small (in that $10-$20 range) because I don't make that much money, and I try to help as many people as I can, but even small donations can add up quickly!

[Left Coast2020]

49. Thank you Tblue

Yes. That was not my camper. And Yes, it has been very difficult to find day work to pay for truck. Really slow and frustrating. I know there people who have not seen this. I hope they do. Sleeping in car tonight (in safe place) since shelter in not healthy place. Even with rules and crap, people are coming in sick and coughing all over the place, and no one to take care of them. Sad. Please contribute if you can. Hate to keep this up here, but getting dejected as far as work on this end is concerned. Dejected that I have to go a shelter, but not tonight.

[NBachers]

19. If a bunch of DU'ers step up with small, affordable donations, we can help work this out.

[Th1onein]

22. I agree.

[defacto7]

25. How did you pull that image off the .eml

email paypal sends?

[NBachers]

26. Screen copied it with Snagit 10; used Paint Shop Pro 7 to cut 'n' paste & white-out sensitive info

[defacto7]

28. OK, Thanks

Screen shot and edit. I thought there might be a way to convert .eml to .jpg or something.

[NBachers]

37. I think I saved it as .png, although Snagit can save it as .jpg or whatever you like after you

do the screen copy.

[defacto7]

32. Hope it helps a little.

//

[Th1onein]

24. Good grief, Left Coast.

Please, leave your stuff there. I will pay your storage every month. Just leave it there until you are situated somewhere else.

[Ellipsis]

27. That's a kind offer. I'd guess he's looking at another 500 bones for gas as well.

[XemaSab]

29. I thought you were moving to Ohio

[FatBuddy]

30. even if you get the funds for the truck

how are you going to cover fuel to drive it?

are there start up costs involved in the new place?

I've been in similar situations and have had to leave town with just the clothes on my back.

I'm sure I'm not the only one.

[defacto7]

31. Mail it!

It works! Really cheep. Been there, done that. Even big stuff.

[JI7]

35. i would recommend not moving all of your things until you feel more secure

is it possible to leave the stuff at the trailer or with anyone else ?

take the few things you really need that you can carry by yourself .

because what if the same thing happens ? you find out you need to move again and then you would just be spending more money to move your stuff again.

[Left Coast2020]

48. I may have to go this route...

I'm really close to getting transportation but not quite there. Asked about van at budget and U-haul, but they said it was local...not one way. I would have taken van if it was avail. Coming back to pick up other things is something I've never done before. Trying to save $$$$$$. But point well taken.

[roody]

36. K

[Left Coast2020]

41. I have been pondering the "taking everything" concept a lot

I always thought thats what you do when you travel a heavy distance. But it may be begining to sink in that I just take necessities. Please forgive me for having hard time figuring this out. Its overwhelming for me. It just seems complicated having to come back and pick other stuff up and haul it back. I was trying to take a simplistic approach of saving gas and money on extra trip. But you may be right. Get situated first, then go from there.

And for of you who have donated, bless you all. If I know I'm not going to be in shelter for long, I'll get through this. Uncertainity is something I don't do well with.

[TBF]

43. Do you have a family member that would

give you garage or basement space?

I moved across the country after college for my first new job. I was living with family friends at first and only took 2 suitcases with me. Eventually between car trips home to visit and my mom sending things piecemeal I ended up moving a lot of stuff. When I would visit home I would sort a bit, put things in the trunk, and honestly toss old things too.

Why carry a bunch of "stuff" around if you are not in a more secure situation? Where will you put it? If you don't have a job lined up at the new location you'd have to put it in storage I would guess. It just strikes me as a lot of work when you really just need the bare minimum to try to find a job.

[JI7]

44. look at how this first move did not work out, it can easily happen again, or you might get better

offers in different places where you want to be more free to check them out and not worry about having to spend money on just moving your things around.

lets say it does work out and you end up settling there . well at least you will then have a place and some money by then.

[roody]

42. link to Sacramento Hostel

http://www.hihostels.com/dba/hostels-HI---Sacramento-060115.en.htm

For 30 dollars a night, you can relax, think things through, and enjoy the good vibes at hostel.

[riderinthestorm]

45. PM kick. Thinking about you Left Coast... nt

[roody]

46. +1

[Left Coast2020]

47. I say bless you all because it seems appropriate

Though I don't subscribe to organized religion, I do have faith that someone is watching over me--in addition to caring people here. I am about halfway to where I need to be. Need to check wishadoo again to see if its functioning. I had my first official night in a church shelter and did not sleep well on matted floor. People all around me snoring. Then people walk up to me and say "thats my spot". But theres that thought in the back of my mind that I'm going to get through this. I'm not sure who told me but mentally, its rough. And it is without a doubt. But seeing people here are trying to help as best they can encourages me. Its all about "people-power" just like Howard Dean said in his campaign. To the question of family with basement or spare room, no. No family. But I'm keep this going because I think I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. Its just slow for me to get there.

And to those who have donated, you are special. I know these are just words, but they do have meaning. But if someone is able to help who hasn't, please PM me. I'm almost there.

[SheilaT]

50. Replying again to push this to the top.

Left Coast is still in dire need, so anything anyone can do to help is appreciated.

[TexasTowelie]

51. K&R.

[JNelson6563]

52. Hey All, Help still needed!

Kicking this in the hopes some can donate!

Julie

[Left Coast2020]

53. Bless you guys and gals who are trying to help me get out of this hell hole.

I'm almost there. FINALLY and I mean FINALLY I GOT SOME WORK TODAY PAINTING 2 OF 4 BEDROOMS. I stuck that money in the bank. So that encouraged me. Guy said he may use me sunday. But its a maybe (due to SB Sunday). I could be in my humorous mood and be the DU homeless shelter reporter. But all I can say its mental hell. I know may of you have told me to hang in there. Its difficult when I can't find work or see people helping me here. Trust me, I will write about this when its over. In the meantime, I have to get through it.
I think I have enough for the truck. But I still need gas money. Praying I can get work tomorrow and following day. Working today was a small bit of inspiration. I was a bit scared the other night. One of the other people in the shelter was following me around. If I went outside when others are on smoke time/break, he would be out there standing near me. But this is just one of many stories. I'll tell you about the guy who thinks he's Jesus on another occasion--when I feel relieved of this nightmare. I think about everyone here. First time in a few days I've had access to computer. Please understand I'm doing what I can on this end to get out of here. But I need a little help. Any little/big help is appreciated.

Fortunately, I get to stay at friends house. And I will get a decent shower(finally). But I need to keep upbeat so I don't sink. The shelter and the others in there need professional help and it ain't available. But for those who have donated, again, I say thank you.

BTW, Did I miss the STOU?

Computer time is alomost over. Please keep in touch.