Here's How To Live Well On $11,000 A Year

[FarCenter]

Glenn Morrissette, 42, wrote in to say that he lives on just $11,000 a year, and he does it by living full-time in an RV. As a result, he pays no rent, needs no car, and can live wherever he wants. Unlike Joseph Fonseca, the writer we profiled in our “Living Well on $20,000 a Year” article, Morrissette has health insurance. A professional musician, he can work by computer from any location. He might not have a family to support, as the teacher living on $40,000 a year does, but we thought Morrissette’s story was interesting enough to share.

We spoke with Morrissette, who is currently in New Jersey, about his lifestyle, which he also describes on his blog, To Simplify.

Read more: http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/alpha-consumer/2011/10/19/the-secret-to-living-well-on-11000-a-year

[occupyeverywhere]

1. There is still failrly cheap land to be had as well.

You can get an acre for around $8,000 to $10,000 if you are willing to live in the sticks.

[TwilightGardener]

7. You can get an acre for under a thousand if you're willing to go without a well or power.

[Exilednight]

38. Where? n/t

[TwilightGardener]

62. Out west. NM, CO, WY.

[Exilednight]

68. Damn. I was hoping somewhere closer to the east coast. But thank you for the info. n/t

[Tsiyu]

79. You can still find cheap land here in TN as well

But hurry, before all the developers eat it up!!

.

[FedUpWithIt All]

77. Some places in southern Ohio and WV can be found RAW for this price.

A great site for it is landandfarm.com

[FarCenter]

8. True, but if you are in one place, the heating and possibly cooling are higher

Land in really temperate climates tends to be pricy.

Houses in small towns in parts of the midwest can be had very cheaply.

[bvar22]

45. Hill Top locations with views,

surrounded by extensive National Forests and Wilderness,
with on property Springs that bubble up water that most people have to buy in a store,
Hardwood Trees (Oak & Hickory),
some with cabins, out buildings, septic tanks, and on the Rural Grid,
Long Growing Season & plenty of Wild Game,
LOW Property taxes,

...can be bought in West/Central Arkansas/Oklahoma (Ouachita Mountains) for as little as $2000/acre.

[FedUpWithIt All]

80. + + + + + +

Hello Bvar :hug:

[SoCalDem]

2. If you can work anywhere, you are somewhat liberated

but living in an rv can become "confining" after a while...and repairs to them do not come cheap either.

Some places have pretty severe parking restrictions in place too.

[Kennah]

3. Unfortunately, this is only going to encourage the Reich wing nutjobs

"See, you don't need no gumint assistance."

But I'm still going to rec it.

[Starry Messenger]

4. Pro-austerity propaganda.

Unrec.

[mdmc]

30. 1

[Lucky Luciano]

47. Indeed - that is exactly what it is. nt

[pitohui]

49. agreed and probably not even true

i've been self-employed since age 25

there is no health insurance fairy selling health insurance for $85 a month to 42 year olds

i call bullshit, no self-employed person is going to believe this but they figure most readers have never been self-employed so they won't catch the whopper

[idiotgardener]

66. That was my first thought too

though I haven't had to price it in years. Maybe this is a rock-bottom policy that covers very little.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

87. That's probably what it is

If a health insurance policy is cheap, invariably it doesn't cover much of anything.

[Better Believe It]

60. Exactly right!

[Sportsguy]

81. No Shit, Same Here (nt)

[cbayer]

5. Great stuff and similar to my situation.

Living on a boat also involves no or very little rent, the ability to move your home at will and a great work situation for anyone who can work online.

Extra added bonus is that you can live places where there is basically nothing to buy, which really cuts back on those needles, money wasting purchases that I used to make pretty much every day.

Thanks!

[occupyeverywhere]

10. Boats are fairly cheap too.

I've seen ads where people are willing to give them away if you can just haul it off. But you know the old saying, boat/ocean/hole/throw/money.

[cbayer]

22. It's definitely a buyer's market right now, but if you live on your

boat and use everything all the time, you tend to do much more preventive maintenance and stay on top of things.

We do most of our own work and spend little on maintenance or repairs.

[FarCenter]

11. I liked the paragraph about clothes

What about clothes?

I’m a pretty basic jeans and T-shirt kind of guy. I don’t have to go to the office, so I don’t need a wardrobe. I have nine to 10 shirts and a couple pairs of jeans. I do have a suit so I can get dolled up when I have to, but my normal wardrobe is pretty minimal. I do one load of laundry every week, and I don’t see the point of owning more clothes than I can do in one load of laundry.

---

That's basically my attitude towards clothing. And I already have enough to last a decade at least.

[cbayer]

25. I got rid of most of my clothes when I moved aboard and replace

articles beyond salvage about once a year. when you have very limited space, you just have much, much less stuff.

[dkf]

14. If only I didn't get seasick!

Yes that would be really cool.

[cbayer]

26. I used to get sick, but rarely do anymore. But some people never

adapt, and that is sad for them.

[Sirveri]

20. what about dock space, mooring fees, etc...

My Dad lived on a boat right after he got divorced from my mother, I've always considered living on one myself.

[cbayer]

28. We don't have a slip anywhere, so no monthly fees, and we live

at anchor (completely free) much of the time. We do take mooring balls in the winter if the weather looks like it is kicking up, but the harbors we frequent have a buy 2 nights get 5 more free policy in the winter. That's a big $73 a week for us - definitely in the budget.

We also make our own electricity (solar) and water, so are pretty much completely off the grid.

It's a great way to live. If you ever decide to do it, feel free to pm me.

[Bonhomme Richard]

33. Dock fees are not so bad as long as you........

don't live in a "resort" kind of area. Near Baltimore it would cost about $3000/year but there are some extra expenses because of the cold. In Annapolis, nearby it would probably run you near 7K/year because of location. If you move a lot or like moorings then less but you will probably need a moped or a bike at the least.
It can be done.
LOL, if you want to try it then live in your kitchen for a week, sleep under the kitchen sink in the cabinet and get up every so often to go outside and pretend you are checking the lines...LOL
Don't forget to pee outside and wash with the sink sprayer.

[RagAss]

6. Good thing he has Health Insurance...or he'd be living in a cardboard box !!!!!

[valerief]

9. What happens when the RV dies? Article sounds like a pro-insurance, pro-Wall St, pro-never retire

piece.

[TwilightGardener]

12. You could also just buy a trailer and a lot. No different, except it's not as

easily moved, and carries a bit more of a stigma.

[RebelOne]

41. I live in a trailer, but I have to pay lot rent.

I own the trailer, and my lot rent is $367 a month, which includes water and garbage pickup. I am living on social security, but my expenses are low, My car is paid and I have no credit card bills. My only bills are the usual utilities, which include phone. Internet, cable and electricity and gas. I have money in the bank from my 401K, but I am will not touch that except in an emergency. So, trailer living is not so bad, as you do not have a huge mortgage hanging over your head. Many people look down on mobile home dwellers as trailer trash. But I can thumb my nose at them because my expenses are low and I have a lot of money in the bank.

[TwilightGardener]

63. It's not a bad deal. Though I'd like it better on rural acreage.

[idiotgardener]

67. Does it have that stigma everywhere?

Where I live I have never heard anyone say anything disparaging about trailers and they are really common, with trailer parks in every neighborhood.

We don't have tornadoes, so maybe people don't think of them as unsafe and flimsy here.

[dkf]

13. This is my dream...

"That’s true freedom, to get to the point where I can say no to work anytime I want because I have a big enough nest egg. I’m not there yet, but that’s my goal."

Big Debt is the devil. It keeps you locked into the system.

[FarCenter]

29. It's also sort of a perpetual "Travels with Charley"

Travels with Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travels_with_Charley:_In_Search_of_America

[hfojvt]

15. yeah, living in an RV is "living well"?

He needs no car? Huh, he has a car, and it gets crappy gas mileage.

He pays no rent? Well, he is going to have to pay for a place that he can legally park and sleep in his vehicle. He also needs places to legally plug in and recharge his batteries and also to dump his waster products.

Again, my idea of living well does not include cleaning out a waste tank every couple of months.

I also prefer a settled life, so I can get to know people and make friends, instead of living like a nomad among rotating groups of strangers. Although I probably do have old classmates scattered all over the country. As well as having worked/resided in a number of different cities/towns.

[lumberjack_jeff]

16. Voluntary simplicity is great. The "voluntary" part is the important bit though.

[Raine]

57. Yes, exactly. It's fine for someone who WANTS to live this way but no one

should have to because they have no other opinions due to the 1% that are hogs. x(

[hobbit709]

17. how much did that RV cost and how old is it?

you ever price tires on one of those? It cost my neighbor $300 each-so four tires is more than a month's expenses. Maintenance and repairs ain't cheap either.

[JanMichael]

21. he wrote in his blog

that the price of the rig wasn't accurate:

http://www.tosimplify.net/

[TBF]

18. Unrec - until the billionaires show me that they are selling their multiple homes

and living in one RV without a car ...

[vets74]

19. Fixing up a live-aboard boat is much cheaper. A 32- to 40-foot power boat...

usually has plenty of space.

The trick is finding a good quality hull that has fire damage or impact damage to the upper structure. These hulls sell for $2,500 roughly. Then repair the top sections as though you were doing kitchen work -- use marine plywood and ask for help on the prep and paint. No need for perfection and you get a 2-level interior space with a separate bedroom and a lot of storage.

Fiberglass hulls last 50- to 100-years with reasonable maintenance.

Marina fees for mid-size boats are also reasonable. Utility charges go $50 to $100 a month, plus the slip charge. You will pay less than 1/4th the cost of most apartment rent levels.

Even the east coast of Florida is livable. Southern California, not so much, but NoCal and Oregon are doable.

[cbayer]

31. Sailboats are better, imo. First, you can travel for free.

Power boats tend to get horrible mileage and diesel fuel is expensive. Also, keels on sailboats keep them more stable and more comfortable in any kind of swell or kicked up waves.

FWIW, slip fees are falling dramatically in SoCal, as more and more boat owners are walking away from their boats, but they are still higher. OTOH, anchoring in SoCal is free and available.

[riderinthestorm]

37. Just looked on ebay for kicks and the 1st sailboat is 27', $816 high bid right now!

It's in New Jersey. A very quick scan down the page shows that used sailboats don't cost very much... I never knew that. Thanks for an interesting bit of information!

Do you keep a pet onboard?

[cbayer]

39. I don't currently have a pet, but many live-aboards do.

Both cats and dogs are popular, though cats are clearly easier. There are places we go where you can not take a dog on shore (protected islands), so we have been hesitant to get a dog - just doesn't seem fair to the dog.

[vets74]

69. We had a Cal 26 for years. Beware that it's tiny inside. Sailboats are smaller generally....

For a sailboat you want at least a 36' hull for a live aboard.

That's still less room than a 32' power boat.

Btw: there's no law against rigging a low-profile power boats as a ketch-rig with a mast. Despite the lower relative efficiency, a ketch/schooner setup will move the hull along.

Smaller sailboats do need their deeper keels. Not the larger hulls. If you're drawing 3- or 4-feet, you're OK.

Also, running with the wind you can throw up a balloon/spinnaker and it works beautifully. One big trick is making or buying a telescoping mast. A hydraulic jack helps raise and lower it. Masts are not all that heavy. Just more than you want to want to try to manhandle.

Don't expect to get anywhere quickly.

But making 3 or 4 or 5 knots and sailing close-offshore during daylight will get you from Florida to Connecticut/LI/Jersey in a couple of weeks. Nice drive. Marinas are set up to give 6 month leases for snowbirds....

Avoid them hurricanes.... ;^)

[vets74]

73. Looked on eBay. There's a 46-footer with a $30,000 buy-it-now price.

11-foot beam.

Roughly a 20' by 10' main kitchen, eating, living area. A rear sleeping cabin and a forward sleeper suitable for kids.

Hell, that's less than a good new "mobile home" costs. But a good used trailer might go as cheap as $5,000. It ain't going anywhere for snowbirding, though, and the neighbors are sometimes iffy....

Interesting options.

[XemaSab]

64. You can anchor for free in SoCal

if you don't mind rowing to shore and if you're willing to risk losing your boat in a storm. :(

[cbayer]

86. I spend 80% of my time on anchor. I have a dinghy to get to the

harbor dinghy docks and put the boat on a mooring during a storm. Harbors have to provide safe shelter during weather advisories and many do it for free.

But I do know some people who didn't take heed of the warnings and did lose their boats.

[zazen]

23. how safe are these for single women? n/t

[cbayer]

32. I don't know about RV's, but I know quite a few single women that

live on their boats. The live-aboard community really watches out for it's own and none have had trouble that I am aware of.

[FarCenter]

34. It would depend on where you go and where you park it at night

Bear in mind that a typical single-family home offers little protection against breakin. Doors and locks are pretty flimsy, many doors have glass in them, and the windows offer very little obstacle to entry. Patio doors are easily smashed.

[mdmc]

24. I could afford health insurance if I lived in my car

:kick:

[DaveJ]

27. Most are too in dept from college, health, etc. to even consider this. nt

[Ilsa]

35. RVs aren't cheap. Even the cheap ones aren't cheap. And then there is rent to pay

if you park in an RV lot. I guess he parks at WalMart? Where does he recharge, dump his shit, refill his water? And they get about 6 miles/gallon.

[FedUpWithIt All]

76. Ours is a 2006 and cost a little over $4000.

It is a FEMA and it is sufficiently aged and ventilated to prevent any air quality issues.

All RV's have air quality issues when they are brand new. Too many people were placed in brand new never ventilated RVs, in a damp and moldy environment and that is what caused the RV's to get the bad rap. They were then sold very cheaply and having aged and vented over time they are both safe and affordable.

[RegieRocker]

36. By being a gypsy?

[sarcasmo]

40. It never addressed the issue of where he is parking this RV.

If you have a relatives property you are parking it on that is great. Paying for RV sites is not cheap.

[uppityperson]

42. $80/month for health insurance? wtf? I pay over $200 with a $10,000 ded.

"Yes. I’m self-employed so I purchase my own plan. I have a high-deductible plan and pay $80 per month."

My 20something kid pays $50/month, but there is no way a 42 yr old could be paying only $80/month.

[pitohui]

50. yes i saw that too -- the whole story is highly likely bullshit

some prevaricator in need of attention if you ask me

[HughBeaumont]

43. Ever notice these sorts of articles usually revolve around single males?

How's that RV livin' gonna work with a family?

And like one of the comments said . . . "I bet no woman goes 'home' with him".

[FarCenter]

44. There is good reason for that

Most of the accumulated stuff in life is related to wives and children.

[girl gone mad]

56. Sexist bullshit.

[FarCenter]

59. Have you ever heard of a "groomal registry"?

Thought not.

[BiggJawn]

74. I was registered at Universal Radio...

All my "accumulation" is the result of many years of pursuing several hobbies. Haven't had a wife for 15 years and the kid launched almost 10 years ago.

Oh, and books, they take up a lot of room. And houseplants, too...

[Tsiyu]

84. Gifts in a registry are for the couple

Don't know too many couples where she eats off plates and he eats off the floor.

DO know a lot of women who support their families with no help from Dad - he may be unemployed currently or just out of the picture.

Your posts are sexist, hate to tell you.

[FedUpWithIt All]

72. Our family of 5 live in an RV on 50 acres and have for over 7 months. It is less than 300 sq feet.

Even our teens sing the praises of this lifestyle. We have been in the trailer for 7 months now and have recently built on an 8x10 ft room with a wood stove for the winter months.

We are planning (plans must be flexible in this lifestyle though) to build our straw bale home in the spring and summer of next year.

Living this way should allow us to buy the property outright in less than 4 years at which point our only expenses will be whatever food we choose to buy and out property taxes which average out at $90 a year before buildings and should be less than $400/year once the house is built. Our power is all solar and we're adding a wind system in the next couple of months.

[cbayer]

88. I am so glad to hear that your plans are going forward.

You are living proof that it can be done and done well.

What a great lifestyle we have!

Wonderful to see you FUWIA - :hug:

[Juche]

46. Where does he park his RV

You need electricity, water and a place to dump waste. And you can't always legally park it in parking lots or other areas like that. Plus the idea of depending on the goodwill of various walmart stores to get a good nights sleep doesn't appeal to me.

You could join the national park system and camp there. But I don't know how accessible it is via RV or where you'd get electric, water or waste disposal if you do that.

The idea of living in a boat or RV is appealing to me. The low cost of living and low living expenses means I am not a debt slave and I wouldn't be forced to work a job I hate just to pay the bills, and the mobility is cool too (live in California a few months, then Washington, then Montana, etc). Plus you are in a way thumbing your nose at traditional social values like materialism and social conformity, which appeals to me too. But I've never had the courage to take the plunge (yet).

Parks are expensive as hell. A camping park my dad goes to charges over $20/night. That is $600 a month for a strip of concrete with an electrical outlet. You can rent an apartment in the sticks for less than that (some 1 bedrooms go for $350 near where I live).

[pitohui]

48. it doesn't sound like he's living particularly well

nor down here on earth is it actually possible for a self-employed person to buy health insurance for $85 a month so i'm pretty much calling bullshit on the whole story

[JanMichael]

78. I posted his blog above

he states that he thought parts of the story were baloney...and non-factual. His blog makes more sense. It's also kind of interesting.

[Zanzoobar]

51. I'm an independent contractor.

I pay $1200 / month for comprehensive health insurance for my wife, son, and me.

I could certainly live like a vagabond on less than 11K/yr. We could all live like tramps. We could all rove the world eating grubs and berries.

[vets74]

70. Bingo ! -- Fact is you need Medicare or Veterans Administration or some such and no kids...

to make this approach fly.

Or follow the GOPer Insurance Plan -- die when you get sick.

Letting yer kids die is kinda harsh. Galtastic.

[Donnachaidh]

52. +1 n/t

[Sabriel]

53. What's he going to retire on?

And what does he do when he has that first heart attack?

Seriously, I agree with the poster upthread who pointed out that this is just a "poor people whine too much" article. "See! This guy can live just fine on 11 thou! So STFU, Poor People!"

[Desertrose]

54. Yup, pretty much a STFU poor people post.

Just get over it. Deal with it.

:grr:

[Devil_Fish]

55. This reads like a puff piece from the 1% telling us all that we are stupid for spending so much on

rent and we should all just be happy living out of our car as long as it's not in their neighborhood.

I got news, I've lived in a trailer and a sail boat. If you have a child, don't even think about it. It's nice to have as a last resort, or a weekend get away, but unless your single, it will cost you more then you can imagine.

[cbayer]

58. While I understand some of the negative comments here,

there really are some great arguments to be made for living very, very simply.

It greatly reduces your feeding of the machine.

When you need less, you have more flexibility in the kind of work you do.

Being off the grid is really possible and most of what you need to do you can do yourself.

It's amazingly liberating and stress free.

I know people that live like this. I am one of those people. I don't live on this little bit of money because someone is forcing me to. I made the decision to give up a lot of what most think of as necessities in order to be freed.

There are some risks. I don't have any health insurance and people that live like me are routinely seen as homeless ne'er-do-wells and treated as such. It's hard to get things like mail, bank accounts, delivered items and sometimes fresh food. There are weather factors that can make it difficult. Entertaining friends is a. challenge. A stretch of cloudy weather kills my ability to make electricity. There is no regular TV and radio can be spotty.

But to those that say the story is bullshit, I say it might be, but it might not be. And he might be one of the happiest people you would ever meet. I know I am.

Also, I know many people who are raising families on boats or in RV's and these are some of the most delightful children I have ever known. They get the right values early.

Most people I have met that slam the way I live are envious. It takes guts and determination to do it, but worth every bit.

They key difference here is whether you have made the choice or whether it has been forced upon you.

[FedUpWithIt All]

75. ++++++ We're doing it too.

It is tough getting it built up but the rewards are great. Every step we take toward living on our own terms is thrilling. We also have really learned to appreciate the world around us. When it rains, it fills our collector so we appreciate the rain. When it is windy or sunny, we think about our gardens and our power systems and we're happy to see wind and sunshine.

It is tough to explain to people "tied" how incredible each knot "untied" can be. :)

cbayer, :hug: glad to see you.

[cbayer]

85. I am so glad that you keep moving towards your goal.

I remember when you didn't seem sure it could be done.

The part about the weather really rings true to me. Even in SoCall, where the weather is pretty steady, daily changes can impact us significantly and I love that part.

Now, If I could only put a garden on the boat!

:hug: glad to see you, too.

[Honeycombe8]

61. I saw part of a documentary on him on TV. Interesting. But not a way I'd want to live...

maybe being female, my outlook is different.

I wouldn't feel safe, for one thing. I would want to have roots and be connected to a neighborhood. And also, I can't work from home. He's lucky that he's a musician.

But still, it was an interesting story, and nice to see someone not living to make a buck, but making a buck to live the way he wants. He probably has a lot of freedom from worry that the rest of us don't have. "Things" and a certain lifestyle have a way of trapping us.

[XemaSab]

65. How is this guy different than the kind of hippie bums

who hang out in the coop parking lot and sell hemp jewelry down by the beach?

[Bonobo]

71. It's a fucking dastardly lie.

$80/month on high deductible health insurance and he claims that his burst appendix was largely covered!?

THAT is a fucking lie.

If it is a high deductible, then he would have a $5000 or even $10000 annual deductible to pay for surgery and stuff like that.

I had a hernia operation and was paying over $800/month for my family 4-5 years ago...it cost me a $5000 deductible.


Fucking propoganda lies.

[JanMichael]

82. I wish all the people on here with negative "bs" comments would

read this guys blog. He explains things more in depth...it's an interesting blog...a good read, and I kind of wish we could do it.

[Sportsguy]

83. I Could Live Damn Cheap In A Cardboard Box Too

You know, tighten my belt and all.