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/diy/ - Do It Yourself

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1044485 No.1044485 [Reply] [Original]

Just moved to San Francisco, would rather dump $1500/mo into my student loans instead of rent.

Anyone here live in a van/box truck? How much of a hassle is it?

>> No.1044487

>>1044485

move back where you were. Not sure where people get the idea that california is the dream place to live like its portrayed on TV and movies. its expensive polluted and overcrowded. fuck california. fuck san fran, its full of faggots

>> No.1044488

>>1044487
I'm in the tech industry and ride motorcycles every day. I'd try Austin TX or Arizona but I'm not going back to snowy NY.

>> No.1044491

>>1044488

well if you are in the tech industry you should me making 6 figures and can easily afford that 1,500 a month rent. stop being such a spoiled brat

>> No.1044492

unless you already own the van it'd be cheaper to rent an apartment, you'll lose interest in being homeless pretty fast

>> No.1044495

>>1044491
The places I'm interviewing with are all ~100k positions, but I still wanna pay off 80k in student loans asap

>>1044492
The cost of the van is one month's rent...

>> No.1044520

>The cost of the van is one month's rent...
you're getting a can that runs and is big enough to live in for $1500? where and how. I'll take 2

>> No.1044526

>>1044491
>Tech industry not being outsourced daily.

>> No.1044536

After college I moved to the Bay Area to start my career.

It wasn't even two years after I took a remote job and moved to suburban Midwest that I paid off all my student debt and paid off half my modest mortgage.

Trust me, the entire region is set up to make you fail.

>> No.1044540

I know 4chan hates reddit, but there is a subreddit called /r/vandwelling. has all the stuff you want to know

>> No.1044571

>>1044520
1986 E350, 70k miles from a dead guy, 20 years back registration fees in CA ($1200), but I'm a NY resident so I'll register it there and not have to pay them. Has some shit wrong with it but I know how to wrench so as long as it moves I'll be fine.

>>1044540
I've been there, 4chan usually has better information, though it's harder to find.

>> No.1044579

>>1044488
don't go to Austin if you're a liberal faggot pussy, enough of them are moving there.

you ruined your state, don't take out another

>> No.1044580

>>1044579
I'm a libertarian I think, I like guns and fire breathing V8 motors and drugs and not paying taxes, SJWs are limp wristed faggots and safe spaces are bullshit.

Most southern conservatives are retards too though.

>> No.1044847

Where are you going to park? Large cities usually have very limited overnight parking. It's specifically to avoid this type of thing.

>> No.1044862

I'm going to do this, too, but I drive a 2-seater.

>> No.1044868

>>1044571
You have no idea what youre getting into you're a moron. You're going to drive a 1986 van back to ny some 2.5k miles to get it smogged? And then drive it back?
1.Its probably going to fail smog unless you live in a lax smog law part of NY(HAHAHA)
2. 7 years out of the system and you dont pay shit except new registration.
3. Where the fuck are you going to park this ham beast in san fran
4.Youre a moron.

>> No.1044870

>>1044868
Also No tattle tale odom so its probably not that low milage.

>> No.1044873

>>1044571
>1986 E350, 70k miles
That odometer has flipped over at least once, if not twice.

>> No.1044874

>>1044495
Just live at work

>> No.1044875

>>1044485
$ 35 for a parking spot in the city is outrageous
you still have to park it somewhere and its not cheap, just rent something outside of the city, as far as possible, get bike and travel light when going to work/school its way cheaper that's what I did back in 2010

>> No.1044881

The problem is where to park it during the day, I think. Night time, no problem, but everywhere in the city it's those letter permit 2-hour signs.

If you get a job at Goog in the south bay though, apparently they don't care if you live in the parking lot.

>> No.1044887

>>1044488
no we dont want you in AZ either
stay where you are

>> No.1045233

>>1044485
I looked into it when I was moving out on a shoestring and it's not worth it

just live like a refugee for a little while and get some roommates

>> No.1045421

>>1044487
So much this

>> No.1045422

I'm moving this week to the south bay, just got my first post-degree job. Luckily, it seems I've nabbed a holy grail apartment.

>> No.1045443

>>1044526
>too shitty of a programmer to get a job

>> No.1045448

>>1044526
Actually most outsourced programming jobs are being transferred back to the U.S. and other first-world countries ATM.
Turns out that Indians are actually a massive pain in the ass to work with and the code they write is such garbage that you'll spend more money on maintenance and debugging than you'd spend getting good code in the first place.

>> No.1045461

>>1044485
So where do you cook, bathe, and shit? This looks like more of a hassle than it's worth.

>> No.1045469

>>1044485
I moved to the midwest after I graduated.

I turned down 100k job offers and took an 75k offer in Omaha, NE.

The house I own is eight times the size of the apartment I shared in San Francisco, and is half the price with a three car garage. What I'm saving in rent and living expenses makes up for the difference in pay.

>> No.1045478

>>1045461
>meme answer
you go to the gym lol :)
but just know that the gym is the ONLY WAY to bathe and if you dont get a 250$ gym mebership youre NOT A REAL VAN DWELLER and YOU SUCK and GET OUT OF /DIY/ reeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

>real answer
put a towel down and use a sponge you filthy hobo

>> No.1045493

>>1045461
>So where do you cook, bathe, and shit? This looks like more of a hassle than it's worth.
i would never do this long term
but city vandwellers always say a gym membership
if you can find a rural place:
when i camp there is a little round tent you can get and put it under a long tree branch.
then a porta-potty and you hang a solar heated shower bag from the branch.
if you are creative, you can cook lots of stuff with a $20 gas grill
if a big old van has a big enough battery, you could get an inverter to run a small microwave

>> No.1045519
File: 66 KB, 450x600, 1472090337616.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1045519

>>1044487
>Not sure where people get the idea that california is the dream place to live like its portrayed on TV and movies. its expensive polluted and overcrowded. fuck california. fuck san fran, its full of faggots
as someone born and raised in SF, yep, if you don't have money, don't come here, unless you want to get into porn, and that's more of an LA thing

if you don't have a job lined up in tech it's hard to make a living wage unless you have an in some where else, if you don't make at least 100k here you live like a bum, once you hit 100k, you're pretty decent off, and usually end up in a good position where they promote you to management, without a management position, you're shit out of luck, and half the time the bosses don't give a fuck enough to know what they really need from a worker, let along what makes some one a good worker

oh and they straight up tell you to do stuff you signed a contract stating you wouldn't do, just to have grounds to fire you later

>> No.1045527

>>1045493
>if you are creative, you can cook lots of stuff with a $20 gas grill
>if a big old van has a big enough battery, you could get an inverter to run a small microwave
why not get an RV propane tank, and get a small 2 burner range?, and they sell 12v dc microwaves. . .

hell, just getting a 100 pound propane tank and finding a way to solidly mounted, while still venting properly is doable, and that also gives you access to a propane heater for those few nights the bay area does get cold

if you're willing to try it sawdust toilets are decent enough

>> No.1045565
File: 86 KB, 800x602, Cascade-Houseboat-Media-3-800x600[1].jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1045565

Find a ratty old house boat and live in it.

>> No.1045591

>>1045565
>doesn't know renting a house boat costs more than just renting a studio in the east bay

>> No.1045601

>>1045565
dock fees are usually about $400 a month, plus utilities, and living near the docks (high tourist area).

I knew a guy that bought a boat to live in, it was $40k, he had to replace all the living quarter material, and do about $400 in exterior maintenance because saltwater destroys everything. Even if he owned the boat outright, it would still be about $1200 a month just to keep it afloat and live in it.

>> No.1045604

>>1044520

I don't know about cali but you can get them that cheap in Utah pretty easy. Cheaper if you go to auctions.

>> No.1045936

http://syntheti.cc/van-build/
Pretty cool post about whole process. Wouldn't recommend if you're cheap but seems fun to do at some point in your life if you can afford it

>> No.1045953

>>1045591
>renting
Boats are inexpensive and you can just tie up wherever you want.

>> No.1046114

>>1044485
Go sit on your dildo baird

>> No.1046164

>>1045953
Not in California. Money pits.

>> No.1046177

>>1044488
http://m.waaytv.com/tech_alabama/huntsville-beats-silicon-valley-in-list-of-best-places-for/article_da88c5d0-0be5-11e6-86ba-e3dc668643dd.html

>Muh move to commieforna and make an app

Pls kys, I live in Huntsville and make 90k a year as a pen tester and I'm only 24.

>> No.1046180

>>1046177
>pen tester
Thats an odd name for "fluffer".

>> No.1046188

>>1045953
>you can just tie up wherever you want.
lol, no, you have all kinds of docking fees, and you can beach a boat past the size you can pull on shore. . . and if you do leave a boat beached, it'll get impounded for being "abandoned" after a day since people call and lie about how long it has been there to get it removed quickly

and docking fees are fucking more expensive than going out and finding private land that has shore line and hopefully an old structure of a dock with plans on file with the county, since any structure you build in the wetlands of california need a wild life impact study done for it to stay up with or without getting fined hundreds of thousands of dollars(i wish i were joking)

find a small apartment in the eastbay, where it's cheap right now, at least for the bay area unless you super far from a city

in the east bay you can get a decent little place for $800 a month and not live in a shit hole that has bullet holes and evidence markers left outside

honestly, try to find a place with mostly mexicans, they usually have neat yards, and they gossip and walk around all the time so you're less likely to get robbed unless it's them

>> No.1046192

>>1046180
Penetration Tester

Or an Ethical Hacker

>> No.1046208

>>1046192
>the joke
.
.
>your head

>> No.1046235

>>1044847
Oakland

>> No.1046359
File: 2.78 MB, 1173x4609, Stealth_Van.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
1046359

>>1044485
Here you go OP. The pic is a bit old so you'll have to do a bit of research. Maybe deep cycle batteries or some junk. Also Mercedes sprinter is supposed to be an excellent vehicle choice.

>> No.1046418

>>1046188
Couldn't you just moor in the bay and then take a dingy into town? I have no idea how rough it gets desu. It's a huge place tho so I imagine there is some unused bulkhead with a cool owner somewhere that you could tie to. Living on a boat is never easy but if you're a bit of a masochist with a love of water then it's possible almost anywhere.

>> No.1047096

I'd sleep in a hammock. I do at home. More comfy than a bed (my back is fucked) and keeps me off the ground when camping. I'd hang one off a couple of eyebolts on the diagonal of a van.

I would build very little in the way of permanent mods to a van box. I'd secure my valuables in a construction "job box" bolted to the floor then use the top as a table. Have a cushion and some velcro then it's a couch or chair.

I'd cage off the back from the front with a commercial or commercial style cage setup for security. I'd paint everything in the back gloss white for best use of lighting.

I'd have plenty of gear hooks on the walls, and consider some metal pegboard to attach them.

I'd have dual batteries with a marine isolator setup for charging when driving but which keeps starting battery voltage from getting too low.

Shit would be as easy as living in a tent on deployments, and that's easy. (Fuck military cots though.)

Get a gloss white van. Anything else is roasty. No windows, they invite enemy eyeballs. Skylight OK if it seals properly. See RV stores for ideas.

>> No.1047219

>>1046418
you can't moor in the shipping lanes in the middle of the bay, commercial/container ships won't stop if you're in their way, your shit will be at the bottom of the bay, or again impounded for being abandoned

and it gets pretty choppy this time of year the winds pick up, if your boat isn't seaworthy it'll be at the bottom pretty quickly

you're better off finding an RV and living in that, they have RV reststop you can rent a space from for a long while, and never, fucking never buy or rent a trailer home

you're better off renting a converted garage, which is pretty common in the richmond area

if you're looking for cheap housing in the bay area, try to find places near bart stations which make walking to bart way cheaper than driving to bart and paying for parking

yea you'll be in the ghetto if you do end up in richmond, but it's cheap, and if you pick a decent enough area you'll be fine, but if the hairs on the back of your neck stand up don't even think about moving in

richmond is cheap to buy and cheap to rent, but know you'll either be surrounded by black people or latinos, all of the white ares are expensive

>> No.1047222

>>1046235
ayyy lmao, i know all about parking in oakland, especially north. where you finnta park?

>> No.1048885

>>1044571
where are you going to park it? where do you plan on living?

likely hood of your shit getting broken into as soon as you go to work or try to go to sleep?

last time i was in SF out by caeser chavez every car on the street had its window smashed and shit thrown out.

>> No.1049465

24