I am about to lose my apartment thanks to being lazy and missing hours and work and also going to school full time. Major is information technology. I was working 10 hour shifts at the nearby chicken plant at the beginning of this academic school year, that kind of work got in the way of school with no time to sleep and no time to do homework/study. At this point I was missing work to catch up in school or losing sleep and missing assignments to keep my attendance up at work.
By winter break I had dropped most of my classes and quit the chicken plant job and was driving for Waitr. Driving for a living was fun, I always had the radio up pretty high. I actually had the potential to work less and make more money than at the factory job and make my own schedule, which was perfect for school. The only problem with driving for a living is keeping your gas tank full every day. One three hour shift would cost me about five dollars in gas so a full day o six hours was about ten dollars. Knowing is half the battle but its the only half that I participated in. In other words, I always forgot to keep gas in my tank or save money to be able to work all the hours that I needed. While I was able to get by and survive for the most part its the things you don’t expect that remind you to stay vigilant. All the mileage put on my car from work eventually took its toll. Just some basic repairs that would need to be done sooner or later anyway such as brakes, rotors, tires, etc. The car was rocking and the brakes were going out, at one point the fuel pump went out. This was all within about a three week period. I bought a new fuel pump and paid a local mechanic to fix it. As for the brakes and rotors I fixed all on my own which saved me a lot of money.
For the last month I've been waiting on my taxes to come in to relieve me from the hole I had gotten myself in to, and since it was almost summer I could pick up more work. It was foolish of me to rely on the IRS I realize that and of course my refund was put through the identity protection program which just means instead of the usual amount of time I have to wait nine weeks. I am a month behind on rent it will be two months behind in a few days so I am preparing a new strategy
I am going to take my tax refund, buy a van, and build it in to a stealth camper that I will try to live in for the next two years while I finish my degree or whatever else I want to do. I don’t have any kids or obligations outside of my cat which I really need to consider. I think I could get him acclimated to going on adventures since he is a cat and love to run outside but what worries me the most is the temperature of the vehicle. A roof vent like the Fan-Tastic 12v fan that has the option to blow air out or suck air in, and insulation will be my very first priority when buying materials and building the van.
Also another consideration is where i would be going to the bathroom and showering but I’ve already decided Planet Fitness is an easy solution to showering and there are bathrooms everywhere.
The van I am looking at is a 1997 Dodge Ram Van 3500, it runs, its already gutted, I still need to inspect for rust and assess that situation before I buy it; again still waiting on my taxes. I have all of the tools I need to build this whole thing out myself except for electrical work and I have some pretty ambitious electric needs. I am going to be remaining mostly in urban settings so I do have room to spare for comfort and ingenuity over survival. In the future I would like to add Samsung SmartThings to the van for control without having to maneuver the inside of a cargo van.
Most important is the van once I have secured the van after making sure its even worth paying for I will begin working on building out the interior frame that same day and will post updates along the way.
May the wind be at your back..
