Homelessness

[Beldar_the_Cenobite]

If you graduate nursing school, assuming you were living with your parents, and you had a lot of student loans and your parents said, "You graduated, now, get out" and you found a job as an RN in a field you wanted to get into or didn't, say you had no money and you had to live in a van for awhile, how would the facility feel about your lack of address? Say you had no friends you could reach out to to allow you to utilize their address for your mail. I know companies not related to medical field who have no problem with you living in a car or van or whatever that helps you save money on rent or mortgage so you can pay off student loan debt.

I'm not living with my parents, but I will be in this situation soon, so I'm hoping facilities would have no problem with it assuming you can prove you can maintain cleanliness.

I'll have enough money saved up by the time I graduate where I can afford a van, preferably white cargo van, where I can avoid the stress of paying rent/mortgage bills.

[Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA]

People camp out over night in Wal-Mart parking lot with the company's blessing at a lot of the stores. You can also get a gym membership and clean up.

It might be a short term problem solver.

I would be concerned about your safety and potential for getting 'rousted/ticketed' by police.

Perhaps you can barter your skills for lodging such as live in with elderly or disabled as a companion and still work.

I've had to live in my car (compact sedan) before the VA approved me for HUDVASH (VA section 8). I've encountered two males: One was some aggressive hot shot who thinks anyone sleeping in their car doesn't carry a loaded firearm underneath their blanket and he thinks he can pick on anyone he wants and they won't say anything. He's lucky I didn't have a firearm. He didn't know who I was or how I thought. I could have easily put a gaping hole in his chest from where I was sleeping. The other guy he was with kept telling him to let it go and to move on after seeing I had veteran plates on my car. Next time I live in a vehicle, I'm carrying a compact pistol with a light attachment.

I didn't face them personally because I was pretending to be dead asleep and when they walked away, I looked up to see if they were still there. Then again, a few years later, a guy was doing the same thing as me and two people approached his car after going around the parking lot car shopping and he stared at the barrel of a gun aiming at him through the window, screamed don't do it and died in his car. Very sad. Hence why a white cargo van, which can blend in with other traffic, is good enough because it gives me safe privacy and the chance to pull out a firearm if I get broke into. I live in Vegas so there's tons of hotels off strip and weekly stays that have open parking lots I could park at. On strip parking lots have charged parking and they're raising rates according to recent local news. I used a gym membership when I was sleeping in my car. I used the trunk for non-perishables: water, ramen, peanut butter crackers, etc.

My grandmother lives up in Marysville, WA on section 8. She says her neighbors like to snitch and she can't have anybody living with her. She says it's not worth the risk of her losing her section 8. Even though I would be willing to watch over her health and house. It would save me a lot of money, plus, I'd get to spend time with the only family member I can tolerate being around.

[Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA]

I'm living centrally in a large city and 12K would pay my rent for six months. At that point, why not just find a real place to live?

Wow, $12,000 would pay 6 months worth of rent? In one year, you've paid up to half of what I owe in student loans. $24,000 in one year is also half the price of a new Impala Premier I want to buy if I become an RN. $12,000 may not seem like much money to you, but that's a lot of money to me. That's half of what a new Harley Street Glide costs.

[Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA]

I wasn't suggesting you were. Just saying that if you search craigslist for roommates, there are other options than living in a van.

This guy's ad said that his personal assistant would "run errands, keep things organized and post ads on the internet." I did think sexual favors when I read it but technically that's not what he's advertising.

Another option for the OP would be house sitting. I hire house sitters to watch my dogs in my home every time we go away. Someone I work with (she's per diem and towards the end of her career so does what she wants) seems like she's traveling about as much as she's home and she also always hires house sitters for her dog so if you could find 2 people who travel 50% of the time and need house sitters while they're away, you could get paid to watch their houses and then have access to showers and a kitchen.

House sitting sounds pretty awesome!

[Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA]

In my NURS-299 class I had to take, we learned that homelessness is temporary. I would like to live in a house or apartment, but I would like to be debt free before that. The only two forms of debt I would like to have is a mortgage and maybe a car payment. I don't have a wife or kids or alimony or child support to pay, and if it were possible, I would like to work two RN jobs, then again, I wouldn't have a life, but like I said if it's possible as in if it's safe and people do it or if it's doable, I'd like to do it to help speed up my situation so I can live a normal life.

Paying for a place to live period defeats the purpose of paying off stuff. When I worked at a hospital in East Tennessee as a sterilization technician, I think I looked into living in my car, but my manager at the time said "NO" in a heavy, southern tone.

[Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA]

With all respect, you're not in nursing school yet! So much may change between now and then - try not to stress about your living situation after you graduate. Save as much as you can, and if living in a van is what you want, then do that.

Have you talked to anyone about your anxiety?

I know. I've been doing pretty well looking for people who are in the program I want to enter and their description of it. It sounds a lot less stressful than I thought given by their experiences so far and they're first semester students so they remember what they experienced.

I take my HESI A2 exam this coming Tuesday. Fingers crossed. Once I get a call, or approved for the program, I'll be less loud on here hahaha I got all As in my pre-req sciences and math so anxiety toned down a bit. This HESI is bothersome, but at least I don't have to work till this coming Saturday so I have the whole weekend to study everything. I think I'm good on the math, so that leaves me with 3 things to hope for a good, high score. Also, you don't get your test reults until you've fully completed the four areas required: A&P, Reading comp, math, and grammar. After you've finished the test, then they give you your results. So that increases your anxiety even more before the test because you want to see your results after each section you finish haha

Depending on how well I do on the HESI is how I'll make time to see a counselor at the VA.

[Coffee Nurse, BSN, RN]

Wow, $12,000 would pay 6 months worth of rent? In one year, you've paid up to half of what I owe in student loans. $24,000 in one year is also half the price of a new Impala Premier I want to buy if I become an RN. $12,000 may not seem like much money to you, but that's a lot of money to me. That's half of what a new Harley Street Glide costs.

$12,000 IS a lot of money to me (i.e., half a year's worth of housing in a more expensive place than I'd prefer to live), and I wasn't the one who suggested you pay it. My suggestion was only that IF you had that kind of money to spend on a camper van, why not put it towards a real place to live.

[Wuzzie]

Hence why a white cargo van, which can blend in with other traffic, is good enough because it gives me safe privacy and the chance to pull out a firearm if I get broke into.

A white cargo van may not be you're best choice. They are often associated with a certain felonious behavior and if it's parked in the same place for long periods of time it might actually draw attention.

[ItsThatJenGirl, CNA]

I know. I've been doing pretty well looking for people who are in the program I want to enter and their description of it. It sounds a lot less stressful than I thought given by their experiences so far and they're first semester students so they remember what they experienced.

I take my HESI A2 exam this coming Tuesday. Fingers crossed. Once I get a call, or approved for the program, I'll be less loud on here hahaha I got all As in my pre-req sciences and math so anxiety toned down a bit. This HESI is bothersome, but at least I don't have to work till this coming Saturday so I have the whole weekend to study everything. I think I'm good on the math, so that leaves me with 3 things to hope for a good, high score. Also, you don't get your test reults until you've fully completed the four areas required: A&P, Reading comp, math, and grammar. After you've finished the test, then they give you your results. So that increases your anxiety even more before the test because you want to see your results after each section you finish haha

Depending on how well I do on the HESI is how I'll make time to see a counselor at the VA.

I found the HESI to be very straightforward.

I'm cheering for you - just take care of yourself. Your mental health is at least as important as your HESI score.

[Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA]

$12,000 IS a lot of money to me (i.e., half a year's worth of housing in a more expensive place than I'd prefer to live), and I wasn't the one who suggested you pay it. My suggestion was only that IF you had that kind of money to spend on a camper van, why not put it towards a real place to live.

Because after a year, you'll still be living in that same place paying that kind of money. A typical cargo van probably costs between $3,000-$17,000 depending on year. After a year, or after you paid it off, you won't be paying $12,000 every 6 months living in a van. There are too many camper vans to find that make choosing the right one less straight-forward. Old Volkswagen buses (restored or custom made) to Mercedes Sprinters (custom made) ranging from $16,000-$150,000.

The vans used by directve and cox cable are vans that can look like anything. Something you'd see on a construction site, something that cleans cars like a mobile car wash, something that is used for hauling like U-haul, etc. Volkswagen buses and the vans that have sofas and kitchens already inside, those all need hook-ups and they don't have a lot of space because of what they have inside that is permanent. That's why I prefer cargo vans over all-included vans because of versatility. Mercedes Sprinters are too tall and impede your ability to park in public areas like a motel lot or Wal-Mart. Their height makes them obvious.

[Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA]

A white cargo van may not be you're best choice. They are often associated with a certain felonious behavior and if it's parked in the same place for long periods of time it might actually draw attention.

The only way to not look like a felon, I've learned over the years, is to make sure the van looks like this:

You want this instead.

[Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA]

A white cargo van may not be you're best choice. They are often associated with a certain felonious behavior and if it's parked in the same place for long periods of time it might actually draw attention.

What you don't want to not look creepy is this:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]25943[/ATTACH]

See how it looks all old and dirty?

[Beldar_the_Cenobite, CNA]

I found the HESI to be very straightforward.

I'm cheering for you - just take care of yourself. Your mental health is at least as important as your HESI score.

Thank you! I really hope I pass. It was $107. REDICULOUS! It better be 3rd grade level testing. haha