To start we have zero family members.
no living parents, guardians, brothers/sisters that I know of.
we are a family of 6. drug free, alcohol free, smoke free your average cleancut family.
I think our lives began to fall apart 3 years ago. I owned and operated multiple second hand stores in northern california. I had a monthly income of around 6k. after a home invasion burglary we were left in debt, without a vehicle, and traumatized. I closed our stores and moved out to southern california within a few weeks of the incident. It wasn't ideal or smart but going through such a traumatic experience like that, and making the money we were making I had this logic:
1 we can restart our lives elsewhere. we are two capable/smart adults.
2 my familys happiness is priority #1.
your family doesn't want to live in that town or house another second, and although 2 weeks is short notice. it felt like a lifetime. They wouldn't even go to bed.
we moved to southern california and started buying/reselling out here. I had a store for a short time which was doing extremely well but unfortunately, I couldn't renew my lease as the owners were selling the building. Once it closed, I went through terrible vehicle troubles. due to all of this I was late on my rent by a week. I took out a loan to pay it after receiving a 3 day notice. I attempted to pay the amount stated on the notice but the woman in the office refused to accept payment without the manager in the office. after getting a hold of the manager, I was told the eviction process has been started. and I'm told to stop it, I'd have to pay $900 extra in fees.
I was given an unlawful detainer, and my court date is scheduled for the 3rd. I'm assuming I'm going to lose it simply because I have no evidence I tried to pay it other than the word of the office staff. and even if things go in my favor now, I'm still 2 months behind on rent. and I've got close to nothing to pay for it.
Right now our situation is this:
I estimate I have around 5-6 days after the court date to leave. I assume by that time I'll have around 2,000-2,400 in cash
our only solid source of income is a disability for my oldest child. which amounts to $800 a month. I'm confident with storage, running vehicle, and internet access I could make an additional $1000-2000 monthly.
Rent is ridiculous in southern california. My credit score is non existent. I've never had a credit card, or loan from a bank before. never qualified I've always had bad credit. I've got ridiculous medical bills that aren't mine, and other unknown bills on my report due to my biological mom selling my identity as a child. My wifes credit isn't any better. hers is bad from an ex marriage.
any rental place will require an extremely large deposit + first months rent. I estimate i'd need around $3,000 - $3,500 to rent a place in southern california. and atleast $2,500 anyplace else
My vehicle currently is a van that is not registered, insured, expired tags, has no reverse, overheats, and transmission is going out. Literally bought it for a few hundred dollars as a last resort when my vehicle died in an effort have some sort of transportation as my living revolves around transportation. I feel I can buy/resell and make a decent living as long as I have transportation. a vans not ideal, but it fit my family and would atleast let me make deliveries.
Right now the most important thing to me is keeping custody of my children.
I don't want them in a foster home. I want to be in their lives as much as possible. I grew up homeless living in a vehicle with my biological mother, and I would take that 100% of the time. I 100% feel they'd have a better life living with a mom & dad that loves them in a vehicle, than they would in foster care. The idea of not having housing scares me as I see that as a risk of having my children removed from me.
So I feel my options are as follows:
1 Find a way to buy the best SUV possible.
2k to 2,400 probably won't buy me a reliable vehicle, but I'm going to have to use it to buy the most reliable vehicle possible. currently my Minivan is small, and it's not going to last me for the reasons stated above. Frankly I don't trust it driving me more than 30 minutes away. I'm looking at getting an older Suburban or a Yukon XL. I feel like they are large enough to have us all sleep in comfortablly. I can't afford an RV, and all the ads selling those driveable RVs/Motorhomes within the 2k price range are most likely ready to fall apart. Plus i feel like if something did happen mechanically fixing a Suburban would be cheaper than fixing an RV.
I think if we had a reliable SUV, we could all sleep in I could make my $1000-$2000 monthly buying/reselling + 800 in my sons social security benefits. I'd have to pay for a larger storage, and find someplace I could have 24/7 computer access. not sure if I could setup wifi through a storage facility or turn my space into an office. I doubt it but I estimate I'm going to be spending $500-700 for storage/office. I think storage is going to cost me around $140 monthly. small offices/1 person room rentals on craigslist seem to be around $600 a month. It would be nice to find a room rental that I could use for computer access, and where I can store everything I'm selling at.
I think if we live in a vehicle that doesn't give me any mechanical issues we could potentially save around $600-1000 monthly. within half a year we should be able to afford to move somewhere and get back on our feet. the plan would be this:
Me work in the office during the day, wife and kids spend their days at parks, beaches. we meet up at night and I'll make food via camp stove or something, and we sleep in the SUV. maybe me or the wife pickup a job at night, or during different days/hours. we save atleast 600-1000 monthly.
keeping my kids would be my concern, i think i'd convince some of the people we know to let us use their address for our mail & kids schools.
Option 2. - Renting out a cheap place out of state or out of country.
Mexico has tons of cheap rentals which I'm sure I could get into. the problem I see is I'd lose my sons social security benefits, and I'd have no transportation as my van wont make it across the border. With no transportation or his social security thats ZERO income. If I managed to get a vehicle that could get me back across the border, I'd be able to convince someone we know to let us use their address for social security and possibly keep recieving that $800. but moving out of country without a vehicle seems out of the question.
Also moving to a cheaper location. Arizona, and even inland towns in california like El Centro seem affordable, and I could probably find a rental. but again I'm without a vehicle, and that would be the biggest source of my income.
It would be nice to get a rental before the eviction goes on my record. Once it's on there I assume I'm doomed and can't imagine even finding a rental even if i did have the money. I assume I have 2-3 weeks after the court date before it appears on my record but I don't think finding a rental without transportation is a good idea.
Right now I feel the best option for my family is to buy the most reliable SUV possible. i'm not against Vans, but I feel like an SUV is more bigger. I think after getting a vehicle, I'd buy/resell through a storage/office, and possibly get another job. after doing that in a few months I'd consider moving to Mexico, saving, or buying an additional smaller economic vehicle for added income. I'd use it towards Uber, lyft, fuel efficent small deliveries, and not having to drive a gas hog of a suburban around 24/7.
there are homeless shelters that are hard to get into. but they don't accommodate our entire family. regardless if my wife can get in with two children or even 3 children, we still have 1 left out, and myself. I think atleast with a vehicle we can keep our stuff in storage(so it doesn't look like we are living in a vehicle), everyone has a place to sleep, we could have friends let us use their address for our mail, and any government agency interested in knowing where we live. and pull off sleeping in our suv each night. if any cops ask, we are vacationing/camping and saving on hotels.
So heres what I need from the homeless section.....
I need advice and all the help I can get.
I know my plan isn't ideal because I have children, but I am really against losing them and keeping them together is my priority.
I think food might be a factor. I know homeless shelters provide meals, and I am now receiving food stamps as of last month.($700), I can see that going a long way. but without a refrigerator, and a kitchen. I can see us eating a lot of junk food, and blowing through that. I need to find a way to budget our food stamps and ideas on types of foods to buy while being homeless.
Gas - driving to the store each day in a larger vehicle is probably going to cost me. I need ideas on activities my family could do thats cheap. right now beaches/parks seem like the best bet, but I'm sure after a few months of doing it daily, they are going to get tired of it. I need a list of free activities or maybe cheap memberships my families could look into getting to help them pass the day without a house.
Tips on vehicle buying. - I'm not the greatest when it comes to car inspections. any useful tips that will help me avoid buying a lemon would help me dramatically.
If you have questions, or ideas let me know...
ALSO: I tried searching for a commercial retail store that was zoned for residential use, and found nothing unfortunately. that would have been a great solution to have a roof over our head and not suffer without a vehicle as the store itself would provide income.
& my wife wants to start a youtube channel documenting my familys daily life being frugal while "vacationing/camping for months" hoping to add income from youtube views/subscribers.
Submitted September 27, 2017 at 10:10PM by OceansideFlippingcom http://ift.tt/2hy78WZ Assistance
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