Own Nothing for Maintenance Free Life

[RetireAge50]

Maintenance on houses, yards, cars. Paying for insurance, electricity, water, cable tv, buying random stuff.

Can all of this be avoided by simply never owning anything?

I'm thinking a backpack worth of essentials and renting nice places throughout the world.

Let's see, maybe $1,000/week rent, $1,000/month food, $1,000/month health, $1,000 month travel and entertainment. Total $88,000 year.

I guess it would be fairly expensive after all...

 

[Chuckanut]

There are people who do this:

How to Sell Your House and See the World - WSJ

http://homefreeadventures.com/

In 2011, we sold our charming house in Central California’s wine country, gave away the furniture, and stuffed our art, clothes and small treasures into a 10 x 15 storage unit. We said goodbye to our surprised children and quizzical friends and now we live in rented apartments and houses internationally, putting down new roots one country at a time.

Obviously, they have money. And I think they earn extra $$'s through their website and writing. 2014 travels seemed a bit tame compared to 2013.

 

[marko]

We know a couple who "do not have a home".

They're retired teachers and do a yearly circuit from New England to Florida to Arizona to California and back to New England as the seasons progress.

They stay in the same rental homes for about the same amount of time each year, getting the most of out each area's weather and events. I'm guessing it is not inexpensive as we see them eating out almost every night (but happy hour in Florida often is cheaper than eating at home!)

 

[ls99]

I thought about owning nothing once in my late teens and twenties.

Had minor experiences while in the Army, then w*rking on a research ship bumming around the oceans and interesting ports of the world and enjoying escaping from sleazy docks for a year or so. All of my worldly possesions fit in a small bag.

The port visits were great, saved lots of $. A few years after disembarking back in NY. I bought a house.

I like having a place where I can choose to do what to I feel like for the most part. Save for minor annoyances like zoning and laws.

 

[mountaintosea]

I suspect you can do it as cheap as you want. In '92-'93 I took a trip around the world and the entire year ( which included food, lodging, and air travel buses etc.) about 16k. People I knew moved into my house paid the utilities, took care of my pets etc. I think I paid the property tax, home and car insurance.

 

[W2R]

I have known one or two older widowers who have actually lived in hotels. If you stay long term, I think you get a break on the price. Still, it may seem expensive but probably isn't for what you get. You'd get maid service, of course, and wouldn't have to cook if eating out all the time.

Yesterday I was sort of wistfully thinking about this option, and thinking that that might be really nice in one's later years if one could afford it. I already spend between $13-20 per day just in keeping up my SFH (repair, maintenance, upgrades, insurance, property taxes - - they add up!).

 

[T-Minus]

...Let's see, maybe $1,000/week rent, $1,000/month food, $1,000/month health, $1,000 month travel and entertainment. Total $88,000 year.

I guess it would be fairly expensive after all...

Hold on...my quick and dirty math yields about half that amount - $48k/yr. quick! Get going!!!

 

[RetireAge50]

Probably could do half in all categories and make it 44k.

 

[RunningBum]

Hold on...my quick and dirty math yields about half that amount - $48k/yr. quick! Get going!!!

A little too dirty. One of those $1000 expenses is weekly, not monthly.

 

[FUEGO]

I suspect you can do it as cheap as you want. In '92-'93 I took a trip around the world and the entire year ( which included food, lodging, and air travel buses etc.) about 16k. People I knew moved into my house paid the utilities, took care of my pets etc. I think I paid the property tax, home and car insurance.

+1

Even for a couple, $88k/yr of permatravel sounds pretty luxurious compared to my normal budget travel.

I think the Kaderlis (longtime members here) did it for way less than that. Jeremy and Winnie at gocurrycracker (also members here) are doing it in relative luxury for $40k-ish plus IVF and baby-related expenses (which are way cheaper overseas than here in the US).

More generally, I think the idea is pretty appealing. I don't particularly like mowing my grass or dealing with maintenance tasks (or even overseeing contractors performing maintenance tasks). But at the end of the day, it feels good to lay down in my own bed at night, have my most prized possessions near me, and know I can stay here indefinitely rent-free.

We might sell everything and give permatravel a shot one day, or maybe not. Who knows.

 

[truenorth418]

Why not live on a cruise ship for much of the year? Room, meals, pool, fitness center all included for less than $1,000/week means you could pretty much live on shops all year for less than $52,000. You could probably qualify for frequent cruiser discounts to drive the expenses even lower. Plenty of interesting ports of call, no responsibilities whatsoever.


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[Midpack]

Is it really anything more than LBYM taken to another level? Many here live simpler lives with fewer possessions than the indebted mainstream...and have less 'life maintenance' as a result.

 

[donheff]

If you want to be radical about it read some Jack Reacher novels. Reacher doesn't even carry spare clothes. He just stops in cheap stores and buys a pair of pants, a shirt, socks and u-trou when he needs a change.

 

[Lakedog]

This is essentially what I am doing now (except I do own an auto) but moving around within the US rather than the world. When I sold my house a couple of years ago, I only kept what I could take in my SUV which is not much since I have an old lab that travels with me and takes up a bit of room. I have been renting for 1-3 months with each move, and it is not that expensive when you rent monthly.

I am thinking of buying another small RV to travel and call home for a few months to a year as I enjoy exploring national forests and parks in the west. I may eventually buy property again if I ever decide where I want to live but sure haven't missed owning a home.

 

[imoldernu]

May not be applicable today, but our near term plan is to move to the Apartments in our CCRC... not so much for the $$$, but for the freedom from managing money and paying bills.

Current rental costs are $25K/yr for one, and another $5k for the second person.
2BR, 2BA in a very elegant apartment, which covers:
Maintenance
Rental
Taxes
Insurance
Meals
Housekeeping, twice a week.
All Utilities incl. TV and internet
Transportation...shopping, medical, entertainment,
In house shops, beauty parlor, library, meeting rooms etc..
Access to in-house full service fitness center w/state of the art equipment.

Leaving the only $$$ management for medicare/health payments.

Not for younger people, but safe haven and minimal worries for older people, and care burden for their relatives.

Of couse, if one never gets old, a waste of money.

 

[freetodream]

Check out this guy!

Top Blue Jays prospect Daniel Norris lives by his own code

 

[gromit]

Maintenance on houses, yards, cars. Paying for insurance, electricity, water, cable tv, buying random stuff.

Can all of this be avoided by simply never owning anything?

I'm thinking a backpack worth of essentials and renting nice places throughout the world.

Let's see, maybe $1,000/week rent, $1,000/month food, $1,000/month health, $1,000 month travel and entertainment. Total $88,000 year.

I guess it would be fairly expensive after all...

(Humor) There is a way to avoid all that maintenance, have free housing, free utilities, free meals and if you agree to behave poorly you can even score some solitude. Of course there's always a catch - eventually you would get paroled.

 

[kramer]

For about 5 years, I traveled to various parts of the world with no fixed address. I lived in some places for a long time, in others I was just passing through. I studied new languages and cultures and made tons of new friends. But that is a *way* more complicated life than living in one place. . . lots of planning and uncertainty and discomfort at times. Sorry to burst any bubbles!!!

Anyway, about 3 years ago I gave up that sort of living and have a home base in the Philippines now. While I don't regret my travels at all, I don't think I would ever go without some kind of home base again.

Just because you live somewhere permanently doesn't mean you have to get bogged down in the details of maintaining your life and your possessions.

 

[Sunset]

(Humor) There is a way to avoid all that maintenance, have free housing, free utilities, free meals and if you agree to behave poorly you can even score some solitude. Of course there's always a catch - eventually you would get paroled.

Some people do this: Indiana bank robbber, ex-con, tells judge he robbed bank to get sent back to prison for the max - CBS News

Sad, but free housing,meals,medical care, work/hobby options are attractive compared to other choices.

 

[FUEGO]

Some people do this: Indiana bank robbber, ex-con, tells judge he robbed bank to get sent back to prison for the max - CBS News

Sad, but free housing,meals,medical care, work/hobby options are attractive compared to other choices.

I'd do that before freezing to death living rough on the streets.

Of course if I had welding skillz, I could probably hustle up enough work on craigslist and by word of mouth with local contractors to afford a lifestyle just a notch higher than an 8x13 cell (though without the full time companionship offered by a live in roommate).

 

[haha]

I am often surprised at the very complicated lives that ERs often choose-winter in Florida, summer is Wyoming or some such. Two houses, complex equipment- heavy hobbies, involved cooking and complicated drink judgments, cattle, on and on. It seems like having uncommitted time can be frightening.


I think my Dad's generation had a better idea. Sometimes get together, sing, drink, picnic, dance. Other times spend Saturday afternoon listening to the ballgame lying in your hammock, walk to church Sunday morning and do some visiting afterward. When you can't get someplace walking, use street cars or subway. Support law enforcement so your kids can range freely around without you worrying about them.


I've done what I can to clone that lifestyle for myself. No car, simple but pretty good food, no interest in becoming a wine or booze expert. Avoid photography; if I want images commence drawing again. Keep love interests local, best no more than a few miles by bus or rapid transit. It is hard to imagine any lover who could make up for the disutility of a long distance love relationship. So don't let one happen to you. Use the library, have some favorite bars or bistros and coffee houses where you are known and liked. Be nice to people, so your contacts are usually pleasant, not stressful.


Avoid making foreign commitments. It's not that I think America is so great, or that some other places may not be better, or that I am so patriotic, but I am local and I mostly understand the cultural milieu in which I live. I look and talk and act pretty much how someone of my age and class would be expected to look and act and talk in my location. All this helps keep the cortisol down. Also, if another place is clearly better than the part of the US where I live, it is likely 5-10x more expensive and thus unavailable to me anyway.



ha

 

[2035]

Happiest days of my life were buying my two previous houses and selling them!


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