r/urbancarliving

Hello everyone

Because of family circumstances I’m going to be having to live in my car until I can get enough money to rent a simple cheap room.

So far I’ve factored everything in but the only thing I’m really perplexed on is how do I cook food? My car is the only thing I have and right now I have no job.

I’ve been looking at single stove Coleman’s with propane/butane tanks but the thing I’m scared of is the gas exploding in my car because of the summer heat while I’m away in the library studying or in class.

Is the risk really there or am I overthinking it. I won’t lie, I’ve been a pretty sheltered person throughout my life so I’m sorry if this question borders on common sense.

Edit: I’m also going to be living in a Honda Civic if that makes a difference

Thank you

Thank you!

Hey all, recently I made a post explaining how I lost my job and at the end of this will be moving into my car. (BTW thank you all so much for the support, advice, and care!) Today I got a job offer in Reno NV, it's a good job with good pay, but I was wondering if anyone has any experience or advice for living in your car in Reno. I've never lived there, but I know they have rough summers and brutal winters. On top of that I've read online that the cops are very strict about living in your car there. Does anyone have any first hand knowledge?

Once again I want to give a big thank you to this community for the care and support it gave me in my last post. 🧡

Anyone have a suggestion for a single night spot near Tiburon CA?

I’ve been in this sub for years now, preparing for what i figured was coming. march of this year i was kicked out of the place i was staying after it had been threatened for months, i was positive that whenever it did happen it would put me in my car. i wasnt scared of it honestly, other then the fact that my car barely drives and i live in the north with deadly winters, so i legitimately questioned how i would survive through that.

To my surprise one family member offered a place to stay, under the conditions that i would apply for section 8 and would take what they have when my name is called. there was no agreement made on paying anything, im definitely willing but it hasn’t been brought up yet. It’s been a huge blessing to have a place to stay at all, but i dont have my dog, and i feel like im intruding the family’s space which isnt bad but just weird.

The real problem im running into is i dont want to pay rent in the future (for so many reasons) but the obvious is the feeling of saving $800 a month when i only bring home 1300 a month. it made my mental health so much better and given me a sense of hope i didnt have. i can fulfill my dreams in the future if i can continue that rate of savings. for the first time in my life i have savings and i want nothing more then to build on that. the easy answer is to do what i prepared for and do car living, but i would need to secure a good vehicle and move locations first but leaving “home” does create a few problems too.

curious how others feel, weather you decided to be rent free forever, was it a temporary get on your feet situation, would you happily pay rent again, and im open to any suggestions or advice

apologies if this was already answered, but i’m having trouble finding a good solution. in south fl with a standard sedan, been trying to sleep with windows cracked and a fan.

don’t know if a portable a/c is worth it, or stealthy enough for urban areas. am also willing to trade in my car for an EV or something that can run cool air overnight. it’s so hot out here, but i need to do this for work. thank you.

I own a farm outside of a small/medium city there is a commuter/dirt parking lot that is at the entrance to my farm . I’ve noticed a car that’s been parked usually in the evening with I think someone living in it. Is there anything that would be helpful that a stranger could provide in this situation? Would letting them know my farm is a safe place to park and that were available in an emergency ? Im hesitant to let a stranger into my home but would leaving a note with my number and offering to talk or offer food/fuel be appropriate? Winter is coming in a few months and I’m worried about this person being able to stay warm.

https://preview.redd.it/pruh3tc5svjh1.jpg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=66bb239a577f364e01e45be27b4dd85d52acacb7

I recently got my hours cut at my job at a football stadium drastically it’s a part time gig but for 3 years I’ve always gotten very close to full time hours at 26 bucks an hr in lieu of this I got evicted from my 1 br apt in downtown Las Vegas, it’s been pretty rough honestly financially, which resulted in not only this eviction but also my license plates are suspended due to lapse of insurance along w the fact that I can’t even pay my insurance anymore my hours literally went from 75 a month to anywhere from 5-12 hours for the month. It’s a struggle honestly.

So I guess I’m camping out at the gym tonight The last two nights I’ve gotten maybe 3 or 4 hours of sleep in an Albertsons parking lot. Last night I felt pretty lucky and found a really secluded park where I could BBQ for myself and my dog, so I figured I’d actually get some decent sleep. Nope. Around 3 AM I went to sleep which isn’t bad I can wake up at 9 and be good , but a few hours later I woke up to a marshal knocking on my window. Ig Someone had called about a person sleeping in their car. The park never technically closed or else the entrance would have gates that close and the bathrooms weren’t closed all night either,Regardless he was cool about it and basically told me to leave for my own good. Couldn’t have agreed faster . So I hit the road around 7 AM trying to get to the gym for a shower. Then of course my tire blows out. Context:

I drive an ’01 Cadillac DeVille that I bought off Facebook Marketplace back in 2024 for $1,900. It came with 22-inch chrome wheels. I’ve always absolutely hated these rims to begin with tbh I would’ve never put that crap on a car ever and everytime they tend to start growing on me due to the compliments of others something terrible happens lol , but aside from my disdain for the rims overall stupidity, I never had the money to swap them out for something more practical. Now every time one of these tires goes, I’m looking at r $180 bucks because apparently nobody seems to have the damn things used. Because no one wants those dumb shits

So now I’m basically stranded at the gym. Lol lit Obviously isn’t the worst place to be stranded. I love working out, and if I didn’t have my dog with me, I’d probably stay inside all day. I can shower, work out, cool off, use the bathroom, fill up my water and have somewhere to be for a few hours. But I’ve got a 13 month old Shih Tzu with me, so I can’t exactly leave him sitting in the car while I disappear into the gym all day. That’s probably been the biggest challenge with all of this. The car is actually pretty comfortable to sleep in, but keeping your entire life organized inside a sedan while also taking care of a dog gets chaotic pretty rapidly Then add 100+ degree Southwest heat and having to run the AC so the dog doesn’t cook, which means burning through gas I really can’t afford to burn through. So right now I’m just making it work however I can.its very different to say the least

Not including your favorite subreddit, r/urbancarliving, what are some of your favorite subreddits?

It could be anything from cars to memes to arts to resources! No NSFW though!

What the title says. I have pretty much lost everything i care about and every day seems to get worse and worse, the one thing im hanging onto is tickets to three pianos on Saturday’s i bought them the day they got released, before my life turned into this nightmare. And i thihhht well if Andrew can make a song about it, jt should be fine right? Idk. Indont think its fine c i dont think mine and i cant imagine ever feeling okay again… i feel like after Saturday, i dont want to wake up in a car anymore. I don’t know if i want to wake up in a car again after Saturday. sorry for the depressing post i just don’t want to feel this way and be defeated and feel like i need to tell someone before it’s too late

So I'm a few weeks away from living in my car to save up for a house. I'm a 23m and I have been debating on wether or not I should start a YouTube channel or even an insta channel videoing the life in a car while on the road(potentially illegal since no full license but again that piece is just a joke don't worry I'm definitely legal). I have been asked by some friends and coworkers to do it and even some family that are okay with me doing this but I'm not sure how I can keep it entertaining enough to keep posting either monthly or by weekly. Any advice? Maybe I could do one video doing my setup, another on the first week/month and then random ones on tips or tricks I pick up along the way with how much I've saved with the two broke girls ending from each episode seeing the money go up or down😅

do you use something else instead of a suitcase to store clothes , toiltetries etc? Do you put a sheet over them?

And does putting shades on the windows during the day look suspicious?

I have a hatchback car , but do not own it so i cant do things like tinting yet.