Why do People Choose to be Homeless?

"Wise Words from Man Who Chooses to be Homeless." "Wise Words from Man Who Chooses to be Homeless." | In this video, homeless man named Simon explains why he chose to be homeless since the age of 16. Load video

Simon, the homeless man in the video above, thinks that "everyone could get a room if they wanted to," but for him, homelessness is the best option. While most people don't decide to be homeless, when they do, it is usually for a combination of the nine most common reasons.

Here are the 9 most common reasons why people choose to be homeless:

9) MORE TIME TO PURSUE GOALS

The first common reason people choose to be homeless is to have more time to pursue worthy goals. When employed full-time, we hardly have enough time to rest, let alone work on what's most important to us.

Barely making ends meet, we don't have the luxury to go part-time to pursue starting a new business venture or creating a new beautiful work of art. We can go on for years telling ourselves that one day, one day soon, we will finally gain the time to pursue what we've always dreamed of. Five years later and that dream is still not realized. Choosing to live on the street offers a way to pursue goals.

time to pursue a new career

Sometimes the goal is a new career. Fed up with a current job, we realize nothing we can do will improve our situation. So we quit.

Not working for a while can free up time to learn new skills and find new career avenues. The only problem is leaving the only source of income means having no money for the landlord. Rather than continuing on a hopeless path, some choose to be homeless to pursue a new career.

When I went homeless, this was the main reason why I did. I wanted to help homeless people and start a new website. Many people choose homelessness to chase dreams.

8) AN OPPORTUNITY TO SAVE MONEY

Homelessness can be a terrible situation, but nothing's worse than devoting an entire life to a job, and never being able to afford nice things. Some people decide to be homeless to save.

Saving for a new car

Cars are expensive. If we don't have one to get to work, we spend an additional hour or two getting there on the bus. Getting a car can save a lot of time in the long run. We could also use that wasted hours for overtime. But buying a car when we don't make enough is impossible. Sometimes the only way to buy one is to work and sleep on a park bench.

investing in the future

Studies suggest that most people don't have enough savings to get by for more than three months if income unexpectedly stops. Thus, when a person loses a job, sometimes that's the reason why they are homeless. Yet other times, becoming homeless is the result of choosing to save. People decide to sleep in a van, for example, to invest in Bitcoin. Not paying rent for a month or two affords them to do so.

starting a business

Starting a business is expensive. That's why most of us work for someone else. But if we go homeless, all the money spent on rent can go towards starting a new business. Some people choose to be homeless for that reason.

7) TO LIVE IN NATURE

When working full-time, enjoying the great outdoors is not first on a to-do list. Usually, when we get off work, we're exhausted. On days off, we have chores and other responsibilities. But when homeless, we have plenty of time to enjoy nature.

When's the last time you roasted marshmallows and listened to campfire stories under the stars? I personally really love camping but never get a chance to. To me, sleeping outside is more like a privilege than a problem. But the fact is I never have enough time, can't get the days off, or I don't have enough money to camp.

When we earn too little to cover exciting camping trips, homelessness can seem like an attractive option. That's one reason why being homeless is good. It allows us to reconnect with nature.

sleeping under the stars

One of the great benefits of homelessness is sleeping under the stars. If I could have a home with a glass roof, I would. How beautiful it would be to lie in bed at night and gaze up into the sky. The homeless get to do that.

When we finally have time to observe the sky, we notice how frequent shooting stars are. They happen every 5 or 10 minutes. In addition, satellites can be seen that look like stars that skitter across the ozone in constant motion. It is truly magical.

waking to the song of birds

In addition to sleeping under the stars, waking up to the song of birds is also one of the reasons people enjoy being homeless. No set schedule means no need for an alarm. Thus, when waking, the homeless do so to the beautiful songs of birds. That is truly a joyful experience.

6) FREEDOM FROM HOME MAINTENANCE

When I moved to San Bernardino, I lived in my aunt's four-bedroom house. That was my first time living in a big home. I was always broke and enjoyed a place to myself, so I always rented small apartments. When I lived in that house, I learned how much goes into maintaining a big home.

freedom from yard work

First, the lawn needed to be mowed once a week. Also, the pool needed to be cleaned at least every two weeks. I needed to fish out every single leaf that fell into the pool twice a month just to keep the pool from turning green and icky.

freedom from house cleaning

In addition, the house, because it was so large, became messy every 75 minutes. And keeping up with vacuuming and kitchen cleaning was a full-time job in itself.

My aunt was constantly stressed trying to keep up with the household maintenance and so I tried to help out when possible. But living in that home with all those responsibilities was, to me, just not worth the home. So I left. Some people choose to be homeless to be free from household responsibilities, free from the feeling of living in a sinking ship of never-ending uncleanliness.

5) FREEDOM FROM NEIGHBORS

Unless we live far from neighbors, we must constantly try to keep the noise down. The neighbors, however, don't always return the favor.

Keeping quiet for neighbors

Think about this situation for a minute. We work a quarter of life to put a roof over our heads, and while in our own homes, we can't even do whatever we want. We need to constantly worry about the neighbors.

I, for example, am a musician. I love to compose bone-rattling baselines and play them at extremely high volumes. I need them to be loud to feel the song's emotion. I can't do that in a small house or an apartment. I can't rattle my neighbor's coffee table like I'd like to. And I pay good money for that apartment.

Sometimes, not wanting to keep quiet about the neighbor factors into why someone prefers homelessness.

the noise of neighbors

In addition, when a person lives in a home, in the same way, that we ought to be courteous to the people who live around us, neighbors ought to be courteous as well. But many times they are not. I once lived in an apartment where it sounded like people upstairs ran a preschool during the day and a dive bar at night. It was frustrating when I was going to school and trying to write my essays. Some people choose to be homeless to be free from neighbors altogether. They're just tired of keeping quiet and of being bothered.

4) TO GET AWAY FROM FAMILY

Sometimes the reason someone decides to be homeless is they feel they need to get away from family. In those situations, the person doesn't have another place to go, so homelessness is the only option. This scenario is common with runaway teens and domestic abuse victims.

Runaway teens

Teens become homeless for several reasons. One way is by their parents. The mom or dad is unable to pay rent and the family is evicted. More importantly, another way the youth become homeless is they leave the home to get away from their family.

The movie, "Into the Wild" comes to mind, for example. In that movie, a young man decides to leave city life behind and start a new one in the Alaskan wilderness. What is significant about the character who that movie was based on in real life is, that the sister of the young man wrote a book about what she thought was the real reason why he left. Sister said that the young man left home to get away from his physically and emotionally abusive father. Domestic abuse is one of the most common reasons for homelessness. So teens also run away for family reasons. Sometimes it is to get away from parental control, sometimes it is to flee an abuser.

domestic abuse victims

Being a victim of domestic abuse is unfortunate especially when the victim has no home to flee to. Oftentimes we depend on our spouse to help with the bills. When abused, we are forced to decide whether to stay and endure it or live out on the streets. Most victims rightfully choose to live out on the streets.

3) FREEDOM TO EXPLORE

Finally, the last most common reason why people choose to become homeless is the freedom to explore the world. Have you ever felt like just getting away, to change up the scenery and see something other than the same four walls that can sometimes feel like a cage? Of course. That's why sometimes people choose to be homeless. So they can explore the great outdoors.

A sense of adventure exists in sleeping in the great outdoors. New scenery always exists to see. A person can travel, and journey all across the continent, because they're not tied down to a job or place that they rent or own.

The benefits of not being tied down to a job or place

A while back, I met a homeless man who rode a bike from Arizona to Los Angeles. That's more than a 3,000 mi bike ride! And the last time I talked to him, he said that he was going to continue his journey to Seattle, Washington. His reasons were that in Seattle really good programs for the homeless exist. Plus, panhandling is lucrative. He said he can earn upwards of $100 a day panhandling there!

So being homeless gives people a chance to explore the world. When broke and struggling to make ends meet, no vacation in the world is affordable. Most of the working poor get stuck in their same boring homes twiddling thumbs and watching Hulu. That's no way to spend a vacation. Being homeless is a way to vacation and travel the world.

2) FREEDOM FROM WORK

Work can be daunting. It can suck the joy right out of life. Some are eager to reclaim a lost sense of life purpose and direction. They choose to free themselves from the boredom and insufficient pay of corporate slavery by going homeless.

Work is no fun

Slaving the day away for a boss that shows no appreciation can be a reason to quit, dealing with the consequences of homelessness later. Most of us don't have exciting, fulfilling jobs. So we only show up to work because we have to. If we want to go to work, the only reason is we think our new coworker is hot. Other than that, earning money for rent is the only reason we get out of bed.

Most of the homeless weren't in top-paid employee positions choosing to sleep in a tent. They are underpaid, cleaning up after customers who spilled mayonnaise on the dining booths. The income earned barely pays the rent.

What's more, in some cases, what the government will give them, food stamps and financial help is more than what they earn when they work. Why not choose to be homeless if that's the case?

Work is not worth the pay

Not only is work depressing and boring, But it takes away precious time from life that could be spent doing more productive things. A quarter of life is spent earning wages. To have no money to cover even the electricity bill after working all month is depressing. It's almost not worth it. That's why some people choose homelessness. The time spent at work is now worth its pay. Living in a house is not worth it.

1) FREEDOM FROM BILLS

The final reason why people choose to be homeless is freedom from bills. Homelessness offers a way out of paying rent and utilities and dealing with pesky bill collectors.

No rent or utilities to pay

Some people think that the situation of homelessness is better than struggling every month to make due rent. In addition to rent, when we have a place of our own it's tempting to keep the temperature nice. Turning the air conditioner dial down in winter and up in summer is costly. Most people don't make enough money to afford the luxuries of a home even if they work diligently putting in lots of overtime. Thus, some people see being homeless as a solution to not making enough money. If we cannot control how much our employer pays, and cannot get another job because of a lack of marketable skills, choosing to be homeless makes sense. It is the only thing we can control. Some choose homelessness to be free from the bills.

No bill collectors

Not only is freedom from rent and utilities a benefit of being homeless, but so is living where no bill collectors can find us. Bill collectors can stress us out. When we don't have enough money to pay, they threaten to file suit. The government even garnishes wages. Many choose to be homeless to prevent this from happening. With no address or income, bill collectors and judges can't find them. No one can garnish their checks. Sometimes homelessness seems attractive for this reason.

FINAL THOUGHTS

It might be said that no one ever truly chooses to be homeless. It instead,  results from a lack of choices. I read a reply on Quora to the question, "why would someone willingly become homeless?" It said that if we think that being homeless is something that should be done or is glamorous, we're mistaken. No one chooses to be homeless once they experience what it is like. It is not fun to live on the streets. And I think that's true.

Usually, very few logically decide to up and leave their home for a chance to save money or pursue goals. Yet I did. And I know that there are others like me. I've spoken with them.

conclusion

So for those that do choose to become homeless, freedom from work, bills, home maintenance, and neighbors are all reasons that factor into that decision. More time to work towards goals, and a way to save money, live in nature, and get away from family are all other reasons as well. In short, people choose to be homeless for more freedom and time.