The Homeless Survival Guide

...onlywatch out for eating too much raw potatoes, if you eat too many you'll simply die. Boil them first, the potatoe is actually poisonous... I'd go for coffee in the morning, it wears off hunger. Then I would go for either noodles or macaroni with some cheap tomato sause. And look for loading ramps behind grocerystores, you can find free bread. Crow tastes quite good and they're vegetarian even in the city - safe food, get that slingshot ready... Dont hunt for piggeons or rats, seagulls and such, they're no good. Full of rotten kebab and dead neighbours in the foodchain. Always keep a bottle of antisceptic cleaning water or 96% near incase you cut yourself, get cut or shot or similar. Wash your hands and face to look decent and being clean, it's not so important with the body, you are healthier living in the sewer or another dirty place if you have your protective layer your own body produce around you. You're not out to check up girls. Have many ayers of cloathes on. A fishnet singlet, a couple of t-shirts, a shirt, a hooded swater and another over there, and a jacket. Make sure to hide money more than one place on your body. Have a Leatherman, Gerber or Swiss Army Knife. You can get anything from food to bikes and cars with such a tool. And if you have to steal a car make sure to break both locks inside the stearing collumn. If you only break it one way you can end up in an eternity turn either way. And so much more. I enjoy reading this thread thereis much steet wisdom here. I once ate half eaten kebabs out of trashcans collecting bottles to get a bread and a bottle of jam in the morning. And one other trhing, the only thing you get for free on the streets is a puff of weed. Don't be shy, you'll probably meet a friend who can help you get along with more people.

When i want extra money i hold up a sign along the highway.

"homeless disabled veteran need money for gas to go to '-----' to live with relatives"

Works good just don't try this if you are not a veteran.
many town cops do check and you could get arrested.
Always have a VA health care card on you and papers that show you are disabled.

This would also work for someone on SSI or SSD.
Just leave off the word 'veteran' from the sign.

I would collect between $50 to $200 a day.
And this was on top of my VA disability check of $850 a month.
I made more money per hour then when i could work.

I would drive my small motor-home from town to town along the interstate never staying in a town more then two days while touring the US. (this keeps the cops from getting curious)

Also i would park my motor-home a couple blocks away and when i had more then a few bucks i would keep it in the motor-home.

I have had the cops check to see how much money i had and run me out of town if i had enough to drive to the next town.

Because i lived in the motor home and could park on back roads or walmart parking lots i did not have to pay rent or parking at a trailer park.
This gave me a lot of money for driving around just doing this two to three days a week.

I have a long beard.
And i think some people give me money just to get me out of there town.

The worst place i ever tried this was Baker Calif. hot and no one going to gamble in Nevada wanted to part with any money and the ones coming back were broke.

The best part its tax free.

I even found i could get free Internet by parking in Circuit City or other computer store parking lots at night.
I have even had cops pull in along side me and connect up to the Internet.


By the way you can make money at night.
Find out when the local trash haulers pick up in different parts of town.
Most people put out the trash the night before.
If you start at midnight and check the trash cans they put out for aluminum cans and bottles you can find enough for at lest food and in may towns make a good living. just move around town ahead of them be quite
and do not ever leave a mess.

Also with my small motor home i have been offered many watchman, caretaker jobs for mines, homes, and construction sites. The few i have taken i did just for a place to park, power hookup and food because if i got paid it was taken out of my VA pension. Some of them even payed me a little under the table when i save there property from being taken.

[edit on 30-9-2008 by ANNED]

[edit on 30-9-2008 by ANNED]

[edit on 30-9-2008 by ANNED]

reply to post by wheresthetruth


I've been homeless for 2 months so far, this time. It feels like falling off the face of the earth, or 'looking at the world from the bottom of a well'. Kind of like backpacking except instead of trying to hike 20 miles you're trying to scrounge food and a few bucks for the finer things. Bottom feeding can be high adventure but it's tiring. A few tricks I've learned: Look presentable and walk right into mid-priced hotels in late evening and walk the halls: people leave half-eaten room service meals outside their doors. While you're there look for loose change under vending machines (use flashlight and thin stick). Other ways to find loose change: under cushions of couches and chairs in lounges etc, around parking meters (when snow melts= jackpot), around gas stations and self-serve car washes, along busy roads with little pedestrian usage. For a secure camp: follow the railroad tracks through town, looking for shrubby vacant lots near business parks on the outskirts. Cut a narrow, meandering path into a bramble patch or thicket. Be careful not to be seen too much by workers in the area as you come and go. Learn where fruit trees grow, know your wild edibles. Life 'underground' is really not much worse than conventional, just that you have a different set of stressors. The hardest part is the social isolation.

Greetings from the wrong side of the tracks.I'm not currently homeless,but my entire crew is.I would trust them with anything I have,including my life.I have never met a better group of people in my life.We all look out for each other,if one of us needs something,then the rest of us dig deep to get it for that person.Even if it means we do without for that day.Isn't that the way it should be?It could be anyone of us,but I wouldn't trade my friends for anything,at least theyr'e genuine...and wont turn their backs like most people.But,cool site,just common sense,I've spent so much time at "The camp" that I guess I think along the same lines.I guess thats good,could be me next....but at least I know what to expect.Say a prayer for M.J.,end stage cancer,she could use it,God bless.

Disgusting that you rip off trusting people trying to help. Your not homeless your a theif and should be ashamed of yourself. I'd rather have some pride and work than leech off people. Makes me wonder if you are really disabled or a leech on my taxes as well..... signed disabled but not leeching off the world.

I have a question for you all.

I'm not homeless, but where is the best possible place to BE homeless?
I was inspired by an article I just read about homeless people in japan and couldn't help but wonder where people migrate to.

I'm not just talking about weather, which would be a big factor, but also other factors, like, rules and laws about homelessness, and how cities, or counties, towns, view it.
I know Vancouver WA, When I lived there about 5 years back, had a lot of homeless people in it. I always wondered why, then came to realize that the city, pretty much an annex of Portland Oregon, is Homeless-friendly. I mean that term with respect, not sure how else to say it.

Churches offer blatant help, not an "under the table" sort of thing, with adverts for free bread/clothing in windows. Two days out of the week I could see one Church near my house with lines outside.

The Food Stamp program was considered to be even better than Portlands at the time (not sure about now) offering more money per person, and easy to get. Also the bus system was easy to use, and a buss pass in Portland worked in Vancouver, even though it was technically in another state.

I saw cops on two occasions, maybe more but two that I can remember this early in the AM without coffee, where cops woke a sleeping homeless guy and were pretty polite to him, and another where cops told a guy that he couldnt sleep where he was because it was private property, but pointed out a close by area where he could crash for a while.

Also a cargo train runs through it, so we get alot of guys that travel that way.

Anyway, interested in hearing if anyone has thoughts about this.

Be well, and Be warm.

Very good thread, i my self has been homeless for 8 years and if you count the on offs in its more likely to add up to 12. One thing i miss in this "Homeless Survival Guide" is the actually means and need for network, you will need to rely deeply on your social network, that has saved me for a lot of troubled times in my past.

Also try to get scraped enough money together to buy equipment for cleaning windows in your local neighborhood and especially the foreign shops driven by muslim or christians are good to ask for cleaning jobs since they have a sense of humanity also against homeless people.

I am so lucky that i found an apartment i can afford and which has great room for making into some kind of business.

Best regards

Loke.

reply to post by The Vagabond


Thank you, this is the only post that makes sense to me.

reply to post by LLoyd45

what about librarys you sneak in or in the halls of appartments

I just read
homelesstales.com...

Good read.

I've been homeless three times.

Twice due to domestic violence.

once due to house fire.

may be homeless again. haven't been able to find a job. went back to college to get student loans again for additional cash for now.

economy gets worse and worse

jobs are harder and harder to find


Someone suggested to me recently that you can rent a temperature controlled storage shed in some places really cheap and quietly live in it. It would depend on the area of course.

Having been randomly homeless in two different states for about a year and a half i iwil add my 2 cents.

Bathing:

Rivers, lakes, ponds, even a public fountain during night. All can be used in extreme situations. Pools usual have a small fee to shower. Some humanity groups offer shower programs once a week. And a park bathroom with running water can make a GI bath a relatively easy thing.

Shelter:
A lot of churches will give you a stay in a motel. At least you can shower up and sleep well for a night. (can only be used so much, once per church usually)
Churches have given me vouchers to get a tent. So i had some shelter from the elements out in the forest and desert (the two places i was homeless.
Churches are good for locating food, shelter, or know of someone you can do some day labor for.

A vehicle helps a a lot. I slept in one for about three months straight.
Bridge underpasses are pretty good IMHO if they are not well traveled. No one driving on the road can see your fire if your set up right.

I was in another state. I knew no one and had nothing. I made it out pretty decently.

One other thing. Small towns suck. Not enough resources. And if theres other local tramps around the pickings are slim.
Bigger cities offer more resources and also more headaches with violence and such. And public opinion about homeless people.

Medium sized towns seem to be the best, have a little more tolerance etc.

But again it all depends on the already existing group of tramps there that sets the tone for people in public.

i might add more later, i gotta run.

well ill be a thread that accutly tells it like it is with so manny of us who have been or are homeless.
Yea were not all drug adicts nore criminals nore lazy.
yae i have been homeless twice now once from 18 to 22 the second time for the last two years out of 3 at 44 .
and even now im at the edge of it all the time.
my family humm forsterchild 10 different homes growning up.
my firends well the best were in the small town i raised my kids (yea for 20 years i had it all the home NOT rented the cars the wife the kids aaaa the white picket fence in barnyvill.
welll things happen to the best of us so its all going now the friends well i still have them but these are small twon folks who have it hard enough taking care of there own.
anyway I stayed on the edge in the woods as much as possible so with some money some woods living it wasent so bad.
stay away from shelters usless you have nooooooo choise .
serving lunch at the local expect a longgg line with much infighting.
two years on the streets and ate at the sheltewrs mabby 5 times .
man hit the pizza joints fastest way to get food there is and easy as well.
a donking donuts wile the suger gets old its a never fail spot.
bets thing you better hope is family or friends and gl youl need its ruff in city and most cant do out side the city. yea like i said i spent my time mostly in the woods close enough to town to get work when possible far enough away no one know were. pluse the creek had plently of fish freash water clams (not bad) cat tails and the roots (again not bad)
man you should tast a fish cooked on a stick over a fire cought 10 minits earler ummm lol
but were not talking cowboys and indians here you know lol just useing all resorses possible i mean man i start a fire i used a lighter like every one else lolol i ant surviver man (that dude would be dead without his camra crew lol)

o and to all the servivialst out there let me tell you for a fact 44 is long in tooth for being homeless you dont find manny over 50 ask my why ill tell you its one of two things eather they get out or there dead I have seen manny die homeless.
the cold the crime the streets take it out of you so if your near homeless forget pride wile you still can its a low servire rate out here nifed over a buck.
bet to death in your sleeping bag DONT EVER ZIP IT UP.
aloways be ready to hide PS trust me running gets you noticed faster tehn anything .
i have had ppl walk 2 feet from me and never see me .
browns grays greens are the colors of choice .
ppl are tuned to movement dont move you wont be seen .
car doors clicking as you wlk through intersections like we tedbunday.
ppl accutly throing stuff at you.
ps forget grizzly adems thing this is the real world here if u have a fire NEVER at night aloways only big enough to cook with smokless.
and dont dig a hole to sleep in dude you must have gotton soked in the rain holes fill with water .
if your in the woods find a spot 3 inches higher so the water goes around you use a tarp as a lean to .
dome tents are a death trap you cant see out and there bright colors .

man i could go on with this for ten post.
my advice is to pray to what ever god you belive
in that you dont become truly homeless .
ps havinga car is the next best thing to ahving a home. as long as you know were to park it makes it so much easer and getting jobs is so much better and bugging out is so much faster.
try riding a bike 100 miles loaded with your stuff in a day from tall fl to panamcity fl twice. lol
you know i must be delexi as every thing i type comes out backwords and misspelled anoying

I registered to say one thing:
For god's sake DO NOT LET that topic sink.

I feel sorry for kids bumping stupid topics while that one is SO important.

I spent whole night reading:
guide2homelessness.blogspot.com...
and although it is US-oriented(not applicable for EU mess), it's very useful.

Kids won't understand, but i did. I know i am homeless soon(until something impossible will happen). Need more info.

----
Thx, LLoyd45, you did great thing.

[edit on 22-3-2010 by potential_problem]

Well here i am again in the same boat. Long story short i am homeless again (not by choice).
I have few to little resources, but some decnt ones. I set up a dome tent in the desert pretty close to a small park. Bathrooms are clean . Their is a library close as well (cha-ching! free internet).

My sig. other and her kids are staying in a womens shelter (cant have kids living in the desert, i dont approve). She can wash a few of my clothes here and there.

I can wash up in a park bathroom or use a shower at the local pool for a dollar.

So i had a red dome tent (all i had) i set up in the desert in a shroud of trees. The back end of the tent is nestled into a large hedge covering its backside. When the trees start to bloom all there foliage will make me 95% invisible.

I took some basic paints for camo and sprayed the exterior of the tent. Its now not an eye sore it actually blends in. Theres one way into my "tree den" without making noises and moving large branches. I can hear people coming for a good distance out here. (hikers and such)



I did have some capitol to start so i bought some basics for myself:

LED Lantern (5$ small and powerfull, long lasting)

Dynamo powered flash light and radio (no batteries needed 20$, entertainment and flashlight )

Military can opener (5$)

Magnesium Flint bar (fires 7 $)

high powered LED keychain light (the brightest light i have 8$)

Assorted knives, including a 1$ one from wlamart.

DUCK TAPE!!!!! (2 $ Duck tape can do almost anything from making a bandage with some tiolet paper, a splint for injuries, repairs in clothes)

Assorted back up lighters (5$)

niMH Battery charger and batteries (girlfriend can charge it, for my camera and LED lantern)

water bottle (few of them)

utensils

tobbacco

capsium spary (only animals i have to worry about are coatis, javelina, rattle snake, tarantula

razors/soap/wash cloth

After the installation of the tent i softened up my look by placing live green foliage in the barren branches around me. Even more camouflaged
. Built a small fire pit approx. 3' in front of tent opening.

Been really cold at night lately (32' F) some carpet under the tent and three blankets keep me pretty warm. The blankets were a few dollars at salvation army. Wind was and issue so i had to anchor down the tent stakes with large blocks of cement (found in the desert )


Been just trying to adjust this past week. Animals, humans, off road trucks. I was spotted a few times even though i come and go in cover of dark. Theres always some kids out drinking or smoking out in the desert.
I need to be close to resources however. So i am not gonna head up in the mountains to be more concealed from public.


Anytime you find a toilet, roll up a ton of extra paper (or take a spare roll) so you always have some to clean you up and to use as napkins and wet wipes with some added water.

Most grocery and deli stores have utensils and condiments. Stock up, there free.

Find a trash dump out in the middle of nowhere, ive got lots of supplies from these. I got a 8 inch think peice of foam to sleep on. Took it to the carwash and hosed it down then let it air dry in the trees.

I do not condone this type of activities and i am not doing this by "choice". So when i can get out of the gutter i will.
I will add more later if anyone is interested.

[edit for additional thoughts on 1-4-2010 by djmolecular]

[edit on 1-4-2010 by djmolecular]

I don't know if this has been posted somewhere else already, but I came across this interesting link yesterday:

Is it Time to go Off-Grid?



There are 4 other videos at the above link.

reply to post by Divinorumus


That was very cool and some great links next to his vids as well.

Originally posted by pai mei
Good advice.
I am a communist, and I think most people are, just that capitalism destroys most of their desire to help their "tribe" right from childhood.

When you were a child did you not want to fight for your country, or invent something great to help your people ? I presume you did, then later you were brainwashed into thinking that competition between people - for food, money, housing is the way to go. No it is not. See this story :
www.noogenesis.com...
Of course in today's world even the humble desire to be like that fisherman is hard to obtain. First problem : the fish are going extinct because of trawling

Any country in the world, especially USA who has enough good land, if they wanted to solve the problem, in only one week nobody would be with not enough food or without a home. Not a big mansion, just a home.

I have no intention of setting up a communist regime to rule over some "oppressed" capitalists. I see it more like a state of mind.

Yes I know this thread is about survival as a homeless , but I see what I think is the root problem, and I so I wrote something about it

I remember reading about a study a few months ago where they used several groups of chickens. There was one group where the chickens that cooperated with other chickens were bred, one where the chickens that competed were bred, and a control group. The cooperative chickens were healthier and more stable than the control. The competitive chickens were sick, stressed, and looked half-dead from pecking each others feathers constantly and the social structure was prone to drastic upheval. I think this says a lot about the state of the world today.

[edit on 2-4-2010 by wanderingwaldo]