What is the lowest cost lifestyle in the U.S.?

[try2bfrugal]

Growing your own food on a homestead but having to have a car? Living in a manufactured home and buying food at the grocery store? Renting an apartment with room mates in a low cost of living city without a car?

What do you think? What is the least a person could spend in the U.S. and cover housing, medical care, food, a cell phone, Internet service, transportation, utilities and a few extras like eating out once or twice and a movie each week. Where would you live and what kind of housing would you have

[bae]

First off, I'd cut cell phone and Internet service from the list, as well as eating out a couple times a week...

I think you need to start out with what sort of location you are happy living in, and work from there. If you *need* a city, you’ll have different requirements than if you prefer the great outdoors far from the madding crowd.

[Yossarian]

I've always wanted to go back to living in a dorm. Small personal space with access to efficient meal preparation, walking environment, and social activities.

[Selah]

Having a live-in job (i.e. nanny, caretaker, housekeeper) that includes a wage, room and board, in a city that has good and affordable public transportation. Barring that ideal situation, be a house-sitter and couch surf between gigs. Have a basic prepaid cellphone, and use the internet only in free public Wi-Fi spots like libraries. Have your stuff stashed with friends or relatives (no storage fees!) and live out of a suitcase, basically. Be old enough to collect Social Security and be on Medicare, eat lots of healthy, cheap, and nourishing food, walk or ride your bike for transport and fitness, and stay healthy and happy.

[try2bfrugal]

First off, I'd cut cell phone and Internet service from the list, as well as eating out a couple times a week..

That is changing the question. People can eat road kill and live without indoor plumbing and deodorant and save money, too, but I am curious how a person could live with a lifestyle more or less what a modern day college student would have as a baseline.

[SteveinMN]

What is the least a person could spend in the U.S. and cover housing, medical care, food, a cell phone, Internet service, transportation, utilities and a few extras like eating out once or twice and a movie each week. Where would you live and what kind of housing would you have
Wow. Lots of variables there. How old is the person? Healthy? How flexible are they in where they live (could they live in the bad part of town)?

I like Yossarian's idea of living in a dorm with food service, etc.; a college also probably would provide free Internet. If a dorm wouldn't work, I wonder if a hostel might. I'm not sure where the cost of living in the U.S. is cheapest; probably in the south (Alabama, Missisippi, etc.) or maybe someplace fairly temperate like outstate Missouri or Kansas. The Northeast and West Coast probably should be avoided for cost-of-living reasons.

[iris lilies]

That's a very interesting question.

I would say, renting a room in a small town, no car, has got to be the cheapest. I mean, how can one go cheaper than that?

For me, I'd not go that low. I'd rent a room in a small city or university town (usually they meet my definition of small "city") and would walk or bus around the place. Actually that's how I lived as a grad student (well, in a dorm) and that was not a bad life. It was great! I could live that way again but for the pets. Oh, and the husband. :)

Will also add that growing some of your own food isn't tied to country living. There are scads of city and town vacant lots that can be taken over for veg gardening.

edited to add: hey, YO, I made my post before reading yours. Funny.

[shadowmoss]

There was a 'joke' circulating awhile ago (maybe decades ago, my sense of time is convoluted...) that said when I get old I'm just going to rent a cabin permanently on a cruise ship. I have everything taken care of for me, cooking and housekeeping and such, and it is cheaper than a nursing home. If someone didn't need a permanent base, if you can get your possessions down to a backpack or carry one luggage size, a lot of options open up. When I came to Phoenix I lived for a short while in an Extended Stay. I realized after living in the apartment a month that the Extended Stay was actually cheaper as it was all-inclusive except for food and also had a kitchen. It was walking distance to a grocery and bank and various other amenities as well. The key to all this seems to be downsizing possessions.

[catherine]

I guess if you're really talking "how low can you go" check out Mark Boyle (http://www.moneylessmanifesto.org), Heidimarie Schwermer (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/19/heidemarie-schwermer-moneyless_n_1609633.html) and Daniel Suelo (http://zerocurrency.blogspot.com).

Realistically, housing options mentioned above are good ones--or maybe providing some kind of elder care for elderly people who might not need extensive nursing, just companionship, in exchange for housing. Healthcare: if you can be satisfied with just what you can get through Medicare, that's about as low as you can get if you're OVER 65. If you're under, either go without, or get a catastrophic plan for maybe $300 (?? I"m not sure how much they cost). Utilities--depends on what housing option you take; internet, same--if you do a dorm or elder care, you'd get free wifi. Or live in a town like Manchester VT that offers it townwide for their residents.

As for food, there's grow-you-own, or community gardens.. But if you go traditional, you could probably do $200 per person, or even less if you don't eat meat.

If I were looking into "as low as I can go" I'd definitely seek out towns with a lot of "commons"--areas and services that are free to the public, just for quality of life purposes.

[rodeosweetheart]

One of my sons lives very cheaply in Portland. He has a room in a house with 5 other young adults--he pays 250 in rent. He has no car, bikes to work, and has very minimal needs-- goes to concerts, is a drummer, buys used books at Title Wave, shares utilities with housemates, travels with friends to Seattle, hiking, etc. It's too minimalist for me at my age, but it sure sounds good some days, and he is pretty happy. Oh, works as a cook so gets free meals at restaurant.

All the people his age in Portland I know seem to live that way, with co-housing. I thought it would be a grungy house but it is a beautiful little bungalow in a nifty 20's walk to everything neighborhood. His last house, a few blocks over, with diff. roommates, even had a gardener. Yikes.

Great food carts, farmers market, and a yard to grow veg. in if they got inspired.

[catherine]

One of my sons lives very cheaply in Portland. He has a room in a house with 5 other young adults--he pays 250 in rent. He has no car, bikes to work, and has very minimal needs-- goes to concerts, is a drummer, buys used books at Title Wave, shares utilities with housemates, travels with friends to Seattle, hiking, etc. It's too minimalist for me at my age, but it sure sounds good some days, and he is pretty happy. Oh, works as a cook so gets free meals at restaurant.

All the people his age in Portland I know seem to live that way, with co-housing. I thought it would be a grungy house but it is a beautiful little bungalow in a nifty 20's walk to everything neighborhood. His last house, a few blocks over, with diff. roommates, even had a gardener. Yikes.

Great food carts, farmers market, and a yard to grow veg. in if they got inspired.

Sounds great--I've always been envious of my kids when they've found great cheap cohousing arrangments.

Here's one I'd be fine with joining...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/09/la-selva-communal-living_n_3568710.html?ir=Green

[rodeosweetheart]

Very inspiring, Catherine, and the pocket neighborhood pictures cool, too.

[try2bfrugal]

One of my sons lives very cheaply in Portland. He has a room in a house with 5 other young adults--he pays 250 in rent. He has no car, bikes to work, and has very minimal needs-- goes to concerts, is a drummer, buys used books at Title Wave, shares utilities with housemates, travels with friends to Seattle, hiking, etc. It's too minimalist for me at my age, but it sure sounds good some days, and he is pretty happy. Oh, works as a cook so gets free meals at restaurant.

All the people his age in Portland I know seem to live that way, with co-housing. I thought it would be a grungy house but it is a beautiful little bungalow in a nifty 20's walk to everything neighborhood. His last house, a few blocks over, with diff. roommates, even had a gardener. Yikes.

Great food carts, farmers market, and a yard to grow veg. in if they got inspired.

That sounds like a nice, low cost life.

[Spartana]

Growing your own food on a homestead but having to have a car? Living in a manufactured home and buying food at the grocery store? Renting an apartment with room mates in a low cost of living city without a car?

What do you think? What is the least a person could spend in the U.S. and cover housing, medical care, food, a cell phone, Internet service, transportation, utilities and a few extras like eating out once or twice and a movie each week. Where would you live and what kind of housing would you have
I'd probably say the roommate apt rental thing in a small inexpensive city. You can probably get a place for a few hundred a month that included utilities, internet, and cable. You could be car free, cook at home, borrow books, DVD's and CD's free from the library - even go computer less and internetless and use the libraries for free. Medical insurance is a toughie but you can get a low cost high deductible plan, or maybe enroll in a course at the commu city college and use the student heath center for free or find a free clinic if those still exist. Or doing ball that and getting a studio or small one bedroom apt and sharing with a loved one :-)

Otherwise I would say to own a small paid off place yourself, one with low taxes and costs, somewhere that you can be car free if you want and near by everything you would want. For example - I owned a small house in a small resort town that had everything a small city would have right in town yet close to wilderness. I could walk, bike, bus everywhere - including off the mountain to the big city - but my costs were very low housing wise. I didn't have cable or home internet but used the free library for all that. Needed about $500 - $700/month to cover all my living expenses. If I wanted too, I could have rented out a room for extra income for around $500/month.

[Spartana]

You could also live on a cheap sail boat moored for free or low cost. My step brother did this and travelled the world for years on about $500/month average. He had internet and TV connects when in port, and had his bicycle for transport. It was a very cool and inexpense way to live ONCE he paid the big bucks for his expensive sailboat. He also earned an income writing a blog and articles for a sailing magazine.

[Spartana]

And you can also buy most of your groceries - including fruits and veggies - from the dollar store or 99 cents only store for... a dollar.

[Spartana]

Just wanted to add tat for many years my sister rented a room for approx $350/month. It was with one workaholic guy in a lovely condo he owned less than a half miles from the beach. That price included her own bedroom and private bathroom. Full use if the house. All utilities including internet and cable. And once weekly maid service. Also use of all the condo amenities like pool, spa, gym, tennis courts, etc.. So other than her food costs (cheap), and her car insurance on her paid off truck, pay as you go tracohone of $100/year, and entertainment and recreation all she paid was that $350. Unfortunately, after living there for over 6 years, the guy got married so she got her own apt.

[Spartana]

Another option if you are over 55 is a seniors condo or co-op community. My mom bought into a co-op active seniors community www.lwsb.com back in 1996 for $27k for a small one bedroom place. Her monthly dues were about $200 and included her prop taxes, insurance and most utilities. The community of approx 10k people was 2 miles from the beach in SoCal, had it's own free bus service both in the community and outside the gated community to shops, beach, even Indian casinos excursions daily, etc... In the community itself was a few churches, 6 clubhouses, a small golf course, pool, gym, medical center with several drs that took all kinds of medical insurance and medicare, over 200 clubs you could join, community garden to grow your own food, hobby shops for all kinds of art works, metal shop, auto shop, etc.., a library, and even a very large amphitheatre that had free monthly concerts (Pat and Debbie Boone, etc...play there). I,d live in a place like that myself and they even allow a small dog.

[shadowmoss]

I just bought an older mobile home in a 55+ park in Phoenix, got a great deal (so cheap I hate to say) on a completely remodeled home. Rent is $415/mo for the lot and I pay all my utilities to the park. Haven't gotten a bill for that yet, but the basic, we don't care if you used any or not, price is about $60/month. I have internet with Cox for about $60/month, and my cell is $40-$50/month, depending on use and a lot (too much...) of that is taxes. Jeep is paid off, insurance if $72/month. I'm hoping, once I see how much my utilities run, that my fixed expenses aren't more than $700-800/month. And, I have use of the pool, library, billiards room, card table room, 18 hole putting (think small put-put), on-site laundry rooms, community room, hmmmm, probably more. I understand this place really rocks when the 'winter residents' get back. It is safe enough I can leave for long periods if I want (the winter residents leave for at least 6 months a year), so I moved here thinking it will serve as a good home base once I retire.

[Gardenarian]

My cousin lives in a tipi in a commune in Colorado. They grow a lot of their own food and make arts and crafts. I'm not sure who owns the land they're on. She and her family have been there a number of years. We're not close, but from what I hear she is doing well.

[leslieann]

I loved the link, Catherine. We keep talking about how we are going to manage to "age in place" with our neighbors but we haven't developed a plan yet. There are good ideas here...and in the pocket neighborhoods too. I used to think that those close little places were too close and too small. Funny how things seem to change!

[Polliwog]

Having a live-in job (i.e. nanny, caretaker, housekeeper) that includes a wage, room and board, in a city that has good and affordable public transportation. Barring that ideal situation, be a house-sitter and couch surf between gigs. Have a basic prepaid cellphone, and use the internet only in free public Wi-Fi spots like libraries. Have your stuff stashed with friends or relatives (no storage fees!) and live out of a suitcase, basically. Be old enough to collect Social Security and be on Medicare, eat lots of healthy, cheap, and nourishing food, walk or ride your bike for transport and fitness, and stay healthy and happy.

Selah,
I love your post - it sounds delightful.

Linda

[gimmethesimplelife]

I like the idea of living in a smaller city slash town - an example would be something like Douglas, Arizona, or Las Cruces or Deming, New Mexico, in an older home in decent condition in a walkable area. I saw a listing for a house in Douglas for $42K that seemed doable for me - walking distance to groceries, credit union, a 6900 SF lot for growing some of my own food - and a climate that is not brutally hot - well OK when it was 119 in Phoenix it was 107 in Douglas but that is very rare - and winters that are not brutally cold - cutting down on the utility bills. It is right on the border of Mexico and honestly, in Agua Prieta there has been some cartel violence and gore but for the past year or so it has quieted down. I think in broad daylight I would be willing to cross for meds and to see a doctor if necc - and then of course I might not need to, depending on how ObamaCare pans out. I would also go to the dentist there, keeping a pulse on what is going on on the other side. If violence goes up suddenly yeah I might postpone dental work.....Something along these lines is what I am thinking for down the road. We'll see. Rob

[reader99]

I live in a paid for condo with monthly fee of $200. I rent out the bedrooms to support that fee and all the utilities. For 10 months I had no wheels so I rode with people or could have taken a bus. If I hadn't bought a little 49cc scooter I would have brought this year in at about $6,000 including everything. That's how low I can go and still live indoors.

A movie a week - rented? Because no one I know goes to a movie theater more than a time or two a year.

[try2bfrugal]

I live in a paid for condo with monthly fee of $200. I rent out the bedrooms to support that fee and all the utilities. For 10 months I had no wheels so I rode with people or could have taken a bus. If I hadn't bought a little 49cc scooter I would have brought this year in at about $6,000 including everything. That's how low I can go and still live indoors.

A movie a week - rented? Because no one I know goes to a movie theater more than a time or two a year.

Reader99, I think you are the winner of the how low can you go question. Kudos on figuring out how to live so frugally.

[reader99]

Reader99, I think you are the winner of the how low can you go question. Kudos on figuring out how to live so frugally.

Thanks! It's the result of decades of large and small decisions my late husband and I made that led up to eventually having a paid for condo and no debt.

[Sunflower]

Thanks! It's the result of decades of large and small decisions my late husband and I made that led up to eventually having a paid for condo and no debt.

Way to go! Where do you live that your condo fees are so low? What about property taxes?

I will be in a similar situation shortly when I move back into my paid-for condo. I'll get a roommate to cover the $500/mo. it costs me to live there ($350 HO dues/$150 prop. tax). I'm car-free, no TV, pay-as-you-go $14/mo. cell phone. No debt either. . .I don't even have a credit card. Books/movies from library for entertainment. Vegetarian (mostly vegan), cook at home. I've been working towards this for some time now. . .means I can travel more and work less.

[reader99]

Way to go! Where do you live that your condo fees are so low? What about property taxes?

I will be in a similar situation shortly when I move back into my paid-for condo. I'll get a roommate to cover the $500/mo. it costs me to live there ($350 HO dues/$150 prop. tax). I'm car-free, no TV, pay-as-you-go $14/mo. cell phone. No debt either. . .I don't even have a credit card. Books/movies from library for entertainment. Vegetarian (mostly vegan), cook at home. I've been working towards this for some time now. . .means I can travel more and work less.

I'm in Florida. Because of FL's Homestead Exemption the first $25,000 of assessed value is exempt from property tax. At the moment the assessed value is below that amount, though the market value is a bit above it. The condo fee is pretty normal for around here. It doesn't cover any utilities except trash collection.

[Sunflower]

I'm in Florida. Because of FL's Homestead Exemption the first $25,000 of assessed value is exempt from property tax. At the moment the assessed value is below that amount, though the market value is a bit above it. The condo fee is pretty normal for around here. It doesn't cover any utilities except trash collection.

Where are you in FL, reader? I lived in Sarasota for a year. . .sounds like the real estate market must have really crashed since I left (I paid $165K for my 2 BR house there)! How big is your condo? Does your complex have pool, hot tub, etc.? My dues cover trash and water. ..but the main thing it covers is the pool, hot tub, gym, and landscaping.

[reader99]

Where are you in FL, reader? I lived in Sarasota for a year. . .sounds like the real estate market must have really crashed since I left (I paid $165K for my 2 BR house there)! How big is your condo? Does your complex have pool, hot tub, etc.? My dues cover trash and water. ..but the main thing it covers is the pool, hot tub, gym, and landscaping.

Crashed indeed. This complex was apartments for years. It went condo at the top of the market in 2005. Investors paid $120,000 - $130,000 for 1,023 sq ft 2 bedroom condos. The people I bought it from paid $25,000 after the crash and fixed it up with tile throughout, new appliances, water saver toilets etc. I got it for $36,500 a year and a half ago. There are still plenty of foreclosures sitting empty in the complex. The complex has a pool, basketball court, sand volleyball court and a playground. And plenty of parking. Maintenance is diligent about the grounds and the pest control is outstanding. The units are laid out brilliantly so they feel larger than they are. I have a little container garden on the screened in balcony. Most of the people who live here are working families who rent. I like that because in other condos I've owned some of the owners get to strutting around saying they can decide what happens in some common areas because they own 1/whateverth of the common areas. There's far less politics and conflict here.

[Sunflower]

Crashed indeed. This complex was apartments for years. It went condo at the top of the market in 2005. Investors paid $120,000 - $130,000 for 1,023 sq ft 2 bedroom condos. The people I bought it from paid $25,000 after the crash and fixed it up with tile throughout, new appliances, water saver toilets etc. I got it for $36,500 a year and a half ago. There are still plenty of foreclosures sitting empty in the complex. The complex has a pool, basketball court, sand volleyball court and a playground. And plenty of parking. Maintenance is diligent about the grounds and the pest control is outstanding. The units are laid out brilliantly so they feel larger than they are. I have a little container garden on the screened in balcony. Most of the people who live here are working families who rent. I like that because in other condos I've owned some of the owners get to strutting around saying they can decide what happens in some common areas because they own 1/whateverth of the common areas. There's far less politics and conflict here.

Yes, 2005 was when I bought my Sarasota place! Coming from CA $165K seemed extremely cheap to me for a 2 BR single family house. 4 years later I sold it at a loss of nearly $100K. Numerous apartment complexes in Sarasota (including one I lived at before buying house) went condo shortly after I moved away in late 2005. Where are you in FL? Living in CA it is hard to imagine a 2 BR condo for $25-$36K! I paid $127K for mine here in CA 2 years ago.. .and that was cheap!