How to survive a homeless winter

Winter is coming on. Now I know that most of the homeless or soon to be homeless people who will be reading this are ones with vehicles, so I will partly gear my advice to you. There are things you will need to successfully and fairly comfortably live in your car, van or truck. You may even be one of the fortunate ones who have an RV.

If you know you will be homeless soon, it’s best to take any remaining money you have and invest in some supplies. For around $5 you can get a “body pillow” and for $30 a good sleeping bag. The “body pillow” is good for stuffing in the back window of the car while you’re asleep on the back seat. If you’re being evicted or foreclosed on, you certainly already have some bath towels. Those are good for covering the side windows of the car. The best way to do that is to tuck them in the molding above the window. A spare blanket can also be tucked into the molding to block off the back seat area from the front seat area. The whole idea is to not be seen while sleeping on the back seat. You want to keep at least one window cracked an inch or two for ventilation, and be sure to lock the doors. Keeping a window cracked will also help prevent mildew in your bedding.

Most grocery stores have night employees to stock shelves. They are generally required to park in the farthest stalls from the store. That is where you want to park. If the police come by and they can’t see in the car, and you stay quiet and still, they will just assume it’s a store employee’s car and that you’re inside working. Always leave in the morning though, as you don’t want anyone thinking you actually live in the parking lot. During the day, drive to a park or a mall and hang out there. Ideally, if you can borrow a friend’s driveway during the night, the police can’t touch you. Walmart is also a good place to park. Walmart actually advertises that they would like people to stop there to sleep since you can become the eyes and ears of parking lot security. If anything happens, report it. That is what they want, so they are usually pretty cool with parking there in the outer area of the parking lot.

And finally, don’t drown your sorrows of being homeless with a few beers or you’ll get busted for an open container if they search your car. Keep dried foods like granola bars and water bottles to stay full and hydrated. If you can afford to keep a cooler with ice in your car, get some cheap cold food that will be healthy and filling. Since you may not be able to afford to eat out a lot, at least eat healthy. You’ll need it to keep your defenses up against the flu and such, since you are out in the elements.