Should I live on a house boat, or a converted vehicle for the next 3-6 months?

[ashestobeauty]

Situation is complicated. Long term plan is for girlfriend and I to save up and find a place.

I live in florida and rent is outrageous. I need something safe and cheap to quickly save up. Otherwise I'm working to pay bills and that's it.

I'm in a unique position where the areas I plan to be around for work and social life are on the ocean. So it's possible to rent a dock and find/renno a house boat.

Same can go for say converting a van or box truck. Or even using a small suv.

Financially speaking, what would be a better short term route for stability and decent money savings a month

Any input from more experienced peeps would be appreciated

 

[celestialangel18]

@ashestobeauty None of those seem like good options for just 3-6 months. You would likely sink a lot more into making a house boat or van livable than you'd save over that timeframe. Unless your renovation skills and resources available would allow you to resell the vehicle for as much or more than you invested in it; that would usually be rare as the stuff you wanted isn't going to exactly align with a future buyer.

Now if you were planning on living in the boat or van for at least a couple years then you could potentially save a lot of money.

 

[ml8627]

@ashestobeauty two thoughts. if you timeframe is truly three to six months you don’t really have to worry about major tropical storms. the other is it’s probably much less of a problem to deal with a leaking box truck then a leaking houseboat.

 

[pedrozoalencar]

@ml8627 Floridian checking in. 6 months would put us into June.

Tropical development in May, before the official June 1 start, has become a common occurrence recently. We’ve been getting pretty regular pre-season development. We’ve even had named storms in May.

If a tropical storm or hurricane is to develop in the month of June, it will usually occur in the western Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico or far western Atlantic along the East Coast. Sea-surface temperatures start to warm up enough to feed a developing storm.

I wouldn’t want to try to find a place for said boat around hurricane season (since OP would need to do something with this boat). This sounds incredibly expensive.

 

[aaronfrisien]

@pedrozoalencar Also a Floridian here and I back this comment up. If I were facing a hurricane, would I want my home to be on the water or have a way I could evacuate my entire home? Converting a van or the like is 1000% my recommendation.

 

[pedrozoalencar]

@aaronfrisien Where should they park? National Parks and RV Parks will be a bit pricey. Thoughts?

 

[acecomando101]

@ashestobeauty My van is my back-up plan for if I ever lose my home. Shit always happens to me, so I just plan for it. You can look at r/vanlife and r/urbancardwellers for information.

 

[sillygirl04]

@ashestobeauty Would it make since to rent a room or crash w a work buddy? That may be safer.

 

[bastionhd]

@ashestobeauty I was a live aboard 7 years. It's inspiring to be on the water, but difficult. If you do go for it, mind your bilge pumps. Boats are actually always sinking, your world is resting on a hull in balance with water seeping in and your bilge pumps taking water out again.

 

[resjudicata]

@ashestobeauty Legal but non-functioning but floating boat in a legal slip is safer than a questionable van parked illegally on the street. If you have somewhere safe to park and sleep without being a target to the local PD a van, RV, or even a schoolbus is a decent alternative.

 

[marir]

@ashestobeauty vehicle can leave Florida. houseboat is at the mercy of the weather

 

[ghancock1210]

@ashestobeauty

I'm in a unique position where the areas I plan to be around for work and social life are on the ocean. So it's possible to rent a dock and find/renno a house boat.

Hmm... does anyone rent out their boat / houseboats or are you looking at trying to purchase one?

r/fulltiming is a good place for info for living in an RV, and r/vandwellers for van's and other vehicles.

Other commenters are doing a good job of pointing out pros and cons.

My 2 cents - as noted, where to safely park a vehicle is an issue - check around to find out monthly rates at RV parks to compare that to dock/slip rates.

I don't know enough about houseboats (I did spend a summer living in/using as my crash pad/ a 27' Sea Ray that was docked at a relative's house, but that was almost 40 years ago) to say.

I can say that an SUV is going to be too small and lack amenities. It CAN be done in a SUV or MiniVan, but OMG is there a huge difference once you have room to stand up in, and a toilet, shower, kitchen and a mattress big enough for you. I have a friend who is on her 3 year living fulltime in a 24' RV, and she's managing ok.

I came across a young guy and his girlfriend ( Dylan Ayala ) on youtube, who were living out of a truck camper for a year or so and made some videos about it - that's probably the smallest vehicle situation that seems sustainable for 2 young people for the kinds of time frames you are talking about.

 

[dake]

@ashestobeauty Neither and especially nothing boat related. I lived on my body for almost 4 years and it wasn't a cheap way live

 

[pedrozoalencar]

@ashestobeauty I lived in my car when I was homeless. There aren’t many places that will even allow you to park your car overnight (for free). Walmart used to allow it, but I’m not sure anymore. Publix most certainly does not. Gas stations are loud and it is a bit iffy. The highways will get you a warning from FHP and that is incredibly unpleasant. It really isn’t safe either. RV parks are doable, but that will cost you. If you stay in a Florida State Park, campsite prices vary from $16 to $42 a night depending on the park. That would mean that for 6 months, you might pay between $2,928 and $7,686. Let’s not forget that you’ll need gas to buy food and water and that is typically very far from State Parks. You will not be able to refrigerate your food, which means that it will have to be cooked for you. This means that you’ll be spending a lot in extra tax money on food AND the cost of food will go up. I spent around $30,000 one year on just going out to eat. This was before the Trump presidency/COVID/inflation boom.

I’d try to live with lots of roommates or family/friends instead.

 

[fundementalzero]

@ashestobeauty If absolutely necessary...yes