The Cost of Being Homeless

Quick question: If you came home from work one day and found that your apartment was gone -- like if it got sucked into a portal to the underworld like the house at the end of Poltergeist -- where would you go? Your family?… what if you had just moved to a new state, away from everyone.  A friend's house?… what if the only people you knew were your roommates in said apartment.  A hotel?…  this might be fine for a night, but remember that the rates are 10 times what you pay in rent. The line between where you are living now and sleeping in your car is much thinner than you think. If you’ve had a home your whole life, it is nearly impossible to comprehend what it’s like dealing with homelessness.

People don’t realize that being homeless can be incredibly expensive. Living on the street wouldn't too big a deal if you were a robot. But as a functioning organism living in a society, you suddenly realize there are all of these basic needs you need to MacGyver solutions to on the fly. And while we all harbor awesome MacGyver fantasies, none of us have his skill.

Eating is important. The ability to prepare food usually involves the need for at least a camp stove and a mess kit, which will usually cost around $150 for stuff you can be reasonably sure won't break. And you also have to continuously pay for fuel. There are also complications that come from not owning a refrigerator in which to store food.  A lack of refrigeration means food needs to be eaten quickly and that limits things to non-perishable items.

Having a job is not an automatic path to escape homelessness, so it shouldn’t be surprising that nearly 30% of the homeless are employed and many have full-time jobs, even while living at shelters. While they're making enough to scape by, the expense of homelessness is enough to keep permanent or long-term housing out of reach.

"But wait," you're sputtering at my article through your tears of compassion. "The government! Aren't there all sorts of programs to help people in that situation? Didn't I hear a pundit say that people on welfare drive Escalades?" Shockingly, being homeless actually doesn't qualify you for the government gravy train we've heard so much about. Housing assistance exists, but it's limited in scope and scale. But what about food stamps? A problem with EBT is that, with little exception, a person can only but food that needs to be eaten relatively quickly, and if you're homeless that presents a tangible challenge. If you want to eat more junk food, homelessness is great! If you don't want to die of kidney failure, though, your options are more limited, because crackers and cheese just don't keep a person going -- especially when you have to be ready for a week of physical labor.

So, it pays not to be homeless and the homeless often pay a great deal.