Boom! You're suddenly homeless. What do you do?

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,298]

The topic title is odd.  It's like you said: Boom!  You've got an incurable disease.  It's like you turned human tragedy into a game show question.  Anywho...

 

I've never been homeless.  But I lived in a hellhole for years.  Broken, boarded up windows, gaping holes in the ceiling and bathroom floor, no central air or heat, no hot water, no running water from the bathroom faucet, a blanket of spiderwebs covering the kitchen ceiling, nonfunctional outlets that died unexpectedly, and other things besides.  I don't know what the f*** I'd do were I suddenly homeless.  I think that's the most realistic answer you're going to get.  I survived having a home that wasn't really fit to be lived in, but I still had a roof over my head.

[Overdrive 5,366]

I'm gonna let Mr. Thorogood explain:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97ECZMvbLxg

[QueenDana 41]

Definitely pull myself through. I would work my way to the top, then go back and reward the people that helped me become successful.

[Blue The Pikachu 537]

I think I am homeless xD I honestly don't have a said spot to live, so I bum my friend and girlfriend to lend me a place to sleep :/ Stupid Foster Care shit.

[Splendormane 203]

I always knew i would nd up homeless so I would Just sit there and starve to death or something.

[JanisJopleyBird 22]

I lived out of my car for a few months back in 2012. It wasn't too bad, really. I had enough money for an apartment but I was trying to make it in a new city without a job so I wasn't 100% sure I was going to stay.

 

I mostly spent my days walking around and filling out job applications until my hand was ready to fall off. I would hang out at coffee shops, I got a gym membership just so I had a place to shower.

 

After I got a part-time job I still was living out of my car since the hours were sporadic. I finally broke down and asked my parents for a little getting started money and moved into a big old house with 4 other guys. I wrote my parents 20 checks for 50 dollars each to be cashed a week apart lol. I eventually got more hours and am still living in the same city now. And I'm thinking of moving again... the responsible way this time, I swear.

[B o n e s 37]

Go acquire an apartment and money from the social services.

[Teavvi 627]

I would wither up and die. Yes, like a flower.

And cry, a lot.

Oh, and yell.

And scream.

Yeah...

[Guest]

I call up my friends and try to work out a plan B.

 

Loyalty before anything else.  

Edited June 26, 2016 by Guest

[twiia 1,842]

Try to find someplace to spend the night, and then try to get out of the situation. Or something else...

[tigris115 17]

Make up the sap story to end all sap stories with an indiegogo campaign in the description

[Flamestreak1990 1,172]

I was homeless for a year one, so honestly I wouldn't be that phased.

[Shadow _Destruction 19]

Ask for a dollar and save up but also give some to other homeless build a house out of wood from trees because i know how to and help as many homeless as i can and i prity much live of the grid i am at the local library well acully i am pritty much homeless

[d^_^b 27]

I'd move deep into the woods, travel, and try to survive, else die. I'm afraid of what humanity has become...

Edited June 27, 2016 by d^_^b

[gamecubeguy214 2,511]

I would find my friend's house and live there. They have a toddler, the annoying younger brother, and some pretty strict parents, but I think I'd do pretty well.

[Sabrinie 391]

I actually think about this a lot. Being an art student, I'm pretty much prepared to live in poverty for the rest of my life and with having to pay student loans back who knows...homelessness may be in my future...

 

SO, I would most likely hitchhike as long as I could until I reached somewhere warm...don't wanna be freezing during the winter in Jersey or Pennsylvania. Then I would just find some kind of shelter and live in the woods most likely. I know a lot about berries that you can eat and whatnot because of my dad teaching me survive skills from when I was young. I'm a vegetarian so it would be hard for me to kill something for food, but if that was my only option, I'd have to just do it. 

 

I would also try to find someone to take me in...most likely family or friends, but I really hate asking for help...

 

Eventually, I would probably become feral and for whatever reason, I'm ok with that. 

[komi 30]

I definitely have tons of family, but I would choose to be homeless as to not be a burden on them. Also I would just go to the soup kitchen and be at the library all the time. I like reading so that works out pretty good I guess.

[Babyyoshi309 1,829]

I would kill myself, steal money, build the most epic cardboard house ever! 

[Rainbow Dash 1,471]

You know, I don't know weather to laugh or be offended by this thread. This basically happened to me. Due to a series of unfortunate events I'm currently couch surfing while making money. Not enough money to get a place for myself. Best option I have is to sleep in my truck or stay up all night then sleep at a friends house.

[Guest]

Say what you want, but I would do what I needed to do to survive for me and my wife. I'd sell drugs, I'd steal food, I'd pinch wallets, I'd apply for every government service available, I'd have sex for money, I'd do what it took to survive because not being able to provide for my wife and family is more shameful than any of that other stuff.

[Denim&Venöm 16,460]

Continue going to work. Ask for longer hours. I wouldn't have anything better to do. Sleep in my car. 

 

If desperate, join the military. Get some skills on how to land a future job. They'll give me a place to sleep, a roof over my head and meals to eat and clothes to wear.

 

Or if you can't qualify or get kicked out, go to prison. Have a clean set of clothes. Roof over my head. A bed to sleep in. 3 square meals a day. Even your own private room if you assault enough people. 

 

Or I just live with my relatives out of state. Like how my parents lived when they got kicked of their apartment. 

[captainborgue 343]

Been there.

 

All the people saying "get social services to help you" or "panhandle for money and save up for an apartment"? Yeah, that doesn't work. For a few reasons.

 

If you don't have a job, you don't get welfare. If you don't have an address, you don't get welfare. And good luck finding a job. Saving money? Won't happen- you can't cook, so it's either fast food (that shit adds up) or a camp stove (kerosene is expensive). Truck stop showers add up too. Doing laundry and a laundromat? Adds up.

 

Going to a shelter? If you're a guy, tough shit- you are last in line. Panhandling? Any area where you could MAYBE get enough money to do anything with is taken- and if you think the other homeless are gonna let you horn in on their territory, good freaking luck.

 

You get good at using baby wipes to 'shower' and shaving in restaurant sinks. Dollar menus become your life line.

 

Sleeping in your car? Best find yourself a 24 hr walmart to park in- anywhere else and someone is gonna complain and the cops are going to roll up asking you why you are parked there at 3am.

 

You sleep in dribs and drabs, a few hours here and there before driving off to the next place to park and nap for a while. You shave your head so your hair isn't greasy, you brush your teeth and shave your face in mcdonald's bathrooms. You don't let on that you're homeless, because the number of people who hate you vastly outnumbers the people who care.

 

You own nothing- enough clothes you can wash everything you own in one load and stuff it in your trunk so it doesn't block the windows. You get a P.O. Box, so you have an address to put on job applications, and all your money goes towards your mobile phone bill so you can search for jobs and call want ads. You sign up for any place that will have you- which means either shit pay and shittier hours, or out and out exploitative scams. You take your car into the shop like clockwork, because if anything goes wrong on it you are done for.

 

It's expensive to be poor- very, very expensive. More than you think, and more than you can possibly explain. And if you are mentally ill, it's even worse- those meds that keep your from being completely unstable cost a fortune.

 

I don't have the answer to homelessness. All I know is that the first thing you lose is your dignity and self respect, and if you are very very careful, maybe you come through with a shred of your soul intact.

[Noandnoandno 100]

I would try to ask help from a family member and perhaps ask if they'd be so kind if I  could live in their house, I'd get some kind of a job to order myself a flat of some sort no matter how cheap it can be, I'd keep working until I'd be able to get something else. No idea what kind of job I'd get since even I am studying so no real "job" right now on my hands.

 

 

Anything but being homeless, it is my biggest fear.

Edited June 27, 2016 by HeavyWeaponsBaby

[Detritus 258]

I'm probably on my way there, so I should be doing some research into it. Best to be prepared.

 

I have British citizenship, so I think the first thing I'd do is make my way to Britain somehow. At least that way, I'd have access to the medication I need. Without it, I'd have no chance. I'd just waste away and die in a short time.

 

Other than that, I'd seek shelter wherever I could, wash and shave in public restrooms, buy the cheapest food possible/pick through dumpsters for food, and of course, start looking for a job, and hope that someone takes pity on me and gives me a chance.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Detritus

[Kenshiro 13,492]

I don't know what to do actually. Thats very very hard condition for a person. I had been in this situation once. When i won the university exam i had to live in different city and i knew nothing about the city also rents were very expensive, still are.. During that time i had felt being homeless seriously...