Clothes Shopping

Getting new clothes is very expensive, and often impossible to pay for without an income. If you do have a little bit of cash you can always go shop at a discount store or thrift shop. Personally I don't want to spend any money on clothes, so I found other methods of acquiring them.

The first way is less than desirable, but its free. Go to a laundromat, college laundry room, or random apartment complex laundry room. Most laundry rooms that I went to in college or in apartment complexes, have a pile of unclaimed clothes pushed away in the corner. This pile is normally compiled of pieces of clothing that stuck to the inside of the dryer when someone was doing their laundry, and they left with their other clothes without realizing it. Take them. Yes, this is stealing, but its mostly like that the owner will never miss, and they will be thrown out if left unclaimed. With this method, you also need to get over the fact that your accepting clothes from a stranger. It's pretty easy to accept, if you consider that they were just washed.

The second method is my personal favorite, because it helps others and gets me brand new clothes. Get involved with your community. Look online or in newpapers and bulletin boards for community service opportunities. More often than not, if you are volunteering at a yearly or ongoing event you will get a uniform and a free meal just for helping out. Sometimes you get stiffed, but I have volunteered and walked away with a full stomach and a hoodie after only a few hours of work. It doesn't hurt to try. If you are homeless you probably have nothing better to do anyways.

The last method sucks and I haven't done it yet. Begging. I don't ever want to have to do this, but when winter comes around I may not have a choice. Survival is the most important thing, no matter how embarrassing it may be to beg. If you aren't prepared for a snow storm, and can't get to a warm place, you will freeze to death. Most people I have talked to think that people in a city won't freeze to death, but they do. When I was in highschool, I volunteered in a homeless community outreach project(irony) in Boston. I spoke to some cops who were telling me that every winter they get calls some mornings about citizens finding dead homeless people who froze to death over night. It really put things into perspective for me. I hate the idea that people will walk by someone who is freezing to death and just do nothing, but it happens. So lose that pride and beg if you have to, or you will die.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.

Get your sleep

Being a hobo involves moving around a lot. It is easy to travel over 10 miles in an average day. Getting your 8-10 hours a night can be very difficult when you are homeless, but day to day life is so much easier if you aren't constantly tired. I have been going for months and I have never spent a night in an alley way like most people would assume is where homeless people sleep. Take advantage of your community.

I reside in a college area, and being a recent graduate it is easy to blend as a student. Find yourself a backpack and a book and you can hang out just about anywhere on a college campus without being bothered. Many colleges have 24 hour libraries, study rooms or lounges. These are a great place to get a good nights sleep. The college I frequent has really nice couches in some of the lounges, so I just go there in the evening and wipe out a book. As it gets late, most people leave and eventually, and since it is a quiet study area I can nod off easily. If people see you sleeping there, they assume you are just college student who fell asleep and they probably wont bother you.

Some of these study places are don't have locked doors, so you can come and go as you please. If they do have a locked door, just put on your poker face and blend as a student. If you aren't a total tool, you hang around outside and get in next time a real student opens the door. I am writing this blog right now from a study room at a local college. I will probably sleep here tonight.

I often spend weekends enjoying the night life, and then need a place to sleep during the day. To sleep in peace during the day, I always go to a beach or a park, throw on my shades and just lay down out in open so it appears that I am just tanning. There is nothing better than a nice 3 hours nap on the beach.

To further convince you of the importance of sleep, see below picture:

That's all for now. Go get some sleep, hobo's.

Greetings, Internet

I am starting this blog because I really don't have anything better to do. I finished college and received my Bachelors degree this past spring.

In this economy, my degree landed me no job offers. Within days of graduation, my lease ended and I didn't have the money for a new place.

Since then, I have been living out of my car. I have clothes, my laptop from college, fishing gear and a enough cash to buy myself ramen noodles. I have been bumming around for a little over three months now, and have gotten pretty good at being a hobo. I am not writing this blog for pity or as a cry for help. I am here to share techniques I have used to survive off of almost nothing.