Living on $800 a month

As we travel we find many people living on the edge.   Most of them do quite well.  Many couples get a bee in their undies to go on the road and live the traveling life.   A lot of full timers as they are called end up being camp host for all or a good portion  of the year.  Camp host usually get a place to park, some sort of electricity, and in colder areas the Forest Service will provide propane.  Camp host usually tidy up the campground a bit, cut some brush, and perhaps clean the restrooms.  Cleaning the restrooms is the kicker.  Since many people don't want that job the Forest Service often contracts it out. 

The full timers know every angle for cutting cost.  They know when to stay in a casino parking lot, when to park at Wall Mart over night, and where all the free spots are.   The real key to living cheap is a warm climate.  All economy lifestyles follow the weather.   Living in a warm climate save a lot.  Many of the full timers have relatively nice motor homes.  Most of them figured out that you buy your motorhome in Montana, or South Dakota so you don't get taxed.  You also set up a fake residency there.   Then there is wifi, TV, and how to get these services remotely and cheaply.  The full timers all know the tricks.

After full timers come the people living on the edge.   The people on the edge don't particularly care to work, they have a small income from somewhere, and they have to monitor every move carefully.  A lot of these people have quasi mental issues.  A lot just enjoy being free from the encumbrances of society.   When things are tight you live in a very small space.  This could be a tent, the back of a pickup truck,  a small trailer,  or what ever you can get by cheap in.   There are all degrees of living on the bum.   The hard core bummers have no electronic communication.   The hardcores rely on firewood for most of their comfort,  and cut any corner they can.  Being a mobile street person in the great outdoors of America is not a bad life,  certainly better than pushing a shopping cart in downtown big city.   With a lot of these people you find out something went wrong, a divorce, an illness,  a retirement plan that was not much of a plan.   A whole lot of these people do not at all mind being alone.  They make good company, and enjoy company, but are perfectly happy sitting in the sun reading.   Cut off from the outside world reading becomes an important part of the lives of people living on the edge.   Acquiring books in the wilderness is relatively easy.   Most campgrounds have an informal book exchange where you leave one and pick up another.   There are no fines and the book is never due back.

Who are these people?  There are ex airline pilots,  a farmer who turned his manure spreader into a camper,  an old electrician,   a rich old guy who just took off,  retired criminals,   a hotel clerk who wanted to see the country.   So many of these people are motivated by a simple desire to see what is out there,  and there is a lot out there. 

A verse to an old song says it all " living on dreams isn't easy" , but a lot of people do.   What happens to these people when they finally get too old to bum around?   Bud used to be the camp host back at the Goldfield recreation site.  He lived in the corner and had his fire every  morning in the was tub.  Bud made airplanes from Coke cans and kept peace in the kingdom.   This year we came back from the North and Bud is gone.  He just disappeared, like a couple others did. 

A lot of people begrudge those living on the edge, or think they are not worthy.  How mistaken can you be?  So many of these people are very content.  They use of very few resources.  They provide a lot of service for what they are paid.   So many living so well forget that they live well because someone on the other end of the game has made a lot of sacrifices.  You paid less for your house because some guy crossed the border illegally and put up the drywall in you home.  That same guy may have put the roof on your house.  Now,  after you bought the house for thousands less than it would have cost somewhere else you want to throw that guy out of the country?

It is a strange world we live in,  but it does not belong to us alone.   Thankfully the best things in this country are as close to free as you can make them.   So much of this country has been set aside for everyone.  It was one of the most brilliant things our goverment that so many dislike has done.  The best mountains,  the best desert, the best seashore, has been set aside for all of us to enjoy.  As an old goat you can stay in a pretty nice place for $3 a night.  You can stay in Zion National Park for $9 dollars a night.  That government everyone belittles and hates has created some paradises for everyone to enjoy, if you don't do it blame yourself.