Middle Class Americans Are Secretly Living in U-Hauls Just to Survive

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]Right now in America, homelessness is at record highs. And these people are not living in shelters necessarily. They're living in cars, vans, and RVs. They're in parking lots. In fact, nearly 40% of unsheltered people are living in vehicles or outside. This is beyond a housing issue at this point. It's a sign of what's really going on in this economy that is not doing well at all.

[00:00:24]>> Hey, what's up guys? So, it's like 3:30 in the morning time.

[00:00:30]Yeah. So, I am living in a U-Haul truck right now. So, like seriously. Um, as you can see, yeah, it's like a U-Haul truck.

[00:00:49]GMC.

[00:00:52]Got my Cheetos right here. And, you know, Yeah. So, um, it's the stuff over here. But yeah, so I know I know some of you guys, you know, it's night time, like I said, 3 almost 3:30 in the morning time.

[00:01:19]And some of you guys are in similar situations. We are so in so-called uh recession and I think we still are in a recession, right? Yeah. But anyway, um times are tough, you know, to speak. And then some of you guys are struggling to pay your rent and to, you know, step float, step off the the water. It's trying to drown you and whatever. But I know what that feels like.

[00:01:59]So, in a situation like this, it's just as important to insulate underneath you as it is on top of you, cuz there's no insulation on this. Plus, you're going to want some cushion to it. Underneath here, I've got a Mexican style blanket.

[00:02:11]Then, I've got a memory foam mattress pad. Uh, it's like a 2 and 1/2 in. And then, I've got like a sherpa fleece blanket that's going to go down. And then I have my down comforter that will go down over the top of that.

[00:02:32]It's starting to get dark out here. The camera's going to start fading. Bed is set up here. Fits nicely. I still have lots of room here where I'll be able to uh do my cooking and stuff. Part of staying warm tonight is going to be the Mr. Heater. I've used these things for years. You guys have seen it on lots of my other videos before I got my diesel heater. Now, I'll talk more about the safety and the importance of safety when it comes to using heaters like this, especially in a confined area. So, we'll get in more of that later. Uh right now, I just want to organize stuff, get things kind of set up cuz as I always say, living in a small space, it is important to be organized.

[00:03:10]Honestly, this space for me is like living in a mansion. compared to living in the small space of a Volkswagen van.

[00:03:18]That might be part of the allure to be able to do something like this this evening. I've got my Jet Boil so I can make some tea. I brought a bowl and the plate and some silverware.

[00:03:31]And of course, the skillet. This is what we're going to cook the steak on here this evening just over the bottle top burner. And I brought lots of propane in case it gets really cold. For breakfast, we're going to keep it simple since we're doing a U-Haul urban stealth camp.

[00:03:47]Going to do some oatmeal squares, a bowl of cereal. I haven't had a bowl of cereal in a long time, so figured that actually be pretty fun. The only access to this area in this space is this rollup door in the back. Now, I've thought this through, and the only latch to this, there is no latch on the inside. So, I can't safely lock myself inside here. So, I've got a couple options for that and I've thought that through. We'll talk about that as well.

[00:04:15]Right now, the temperature is uh still 45 degrees. That's not too bad. Uh that's about 8° C. Um it is calling for a low of uh about 28°, which is about -2° C. So, that's pretty chilly, especially for being in an ice box like this. Hopefully, the blankets do good.

[00:04:33]Hopefully, we can make good use of the buddy heater. Okay.

[00:04:45]So, I want to go ahead and address the concerns that I know all of you are having as soon as I pulled the buddy heater out and started it here inside the back of this U-Haul truck. And of course, anytime you've got an open flame as well as propane, etc. in a confined space, you want to take extra extra precautions.

[00:05:04]I've been using the Mr. buddy heater for a long time over the years of doing van life and fully understand the hazards and the risk that you take of running such a heater. Uh the great thing is is that Mr. Heater has been around for many many years and they rate these particular heaters as safe for indoor use. Also inside their heater they manufacture in a low oxygen shut off sensor which is very important as well as a tipover uh sensor which is great if you bump it and it falls over onto a blanket and you don't realize it. it'll shut off. So, of course, do we want to put our lives in the hands of an $80 heater and hope that that low oxygen sensor works? I certainly don't want to rely solely on that. So, in my van, I actually have carbon monoxide alarms set up in my van. So, what I've done tonight is I actually grabbed one of those carbon monoxide alarms and brought it with uh to have here as a backup to the no oxygen sensor. So, we've got backup.

[00:06:01]Okay. Well, I know a lot of concerns are, well, what if your carbon monoxide is uh faulty? Of course, you want to test it and make sure that the battery is good. So, we've tested it. It sounded back to us. Okay, cool.

[00:06:13]I still don't trust it. So, not only did I bring one alarm, but I also brought two alarms. Uh, this is another carbon monoxide alarm. This one actually also has a digital readout on it. So, if we start seeing any sort of carbon monoxide built up in here, that is going to let us know. And of course, we're going to test it.

[00:06:35]Boom. We know that one's working. Even beyond that, I don't believe that uh these U-Haul trucks are any sort of airtight. Um, but I am going to open up about maybe a/2 inch to an inch worth of space underneath the door just to get a little bit of oxygen in here, help keep it fresh and whatnot. So anyways, I wanted to address those concerns because it is very very important for any of you out there doing any sort of camping with heater in a confined space, any of it, just make sure and take the extra precautions and take life into your own hands and don't rely on something else.

[00:07:09]So anyways, now that we've got that covered, check this space out. This is like living in a tiny house. My Volkswagen is a fraction of the size of this, so it's pretty cool to be able to have this all set up and move about.

[00:07:24]>> I chose to live in a U-Haul van in Florida for 10 days. So, for those of you who don't know or don't really follow my page or anything, I do some side work for a company called Productions Plus, and that's with Harley-Davidson. So I do like production work.

[00:07:49]Go set people up on demo rides and all kinds of stuff. I get to ride motorcycles. So the only time I've done it though, I've done it twice in Sturgis and both times a hotel was provided. So, when I got the opportunity to go to uh Florida to Day Week, the one position that I've been doing more is called brand ambassador. Well, when I agreed to do take the position called promo because they already had enough brand ambassadors, I didn't know that didn't come with a hotel, which I've only worked surges.

[00:08:32]Everybody gets a hotel in Sergis. So I'm like, "Okay, I'll get a hotel and there's a car service and all that."

[00:08:39]Well, last minute, like Friday before I was supposed to leave on Thursday, I find out that there's no hotel and car service.

[00:08:49]And I'm like, well, what the hell? What am I going to do? I mean, I'm resilient, but um I just had automatically assumed it was going to be provided. So, I reached out to a couple people and they didn't have room for me. Um, they already had like a plus one in their room. So, there was going to be no room for me there.

[00:09:12]So, I thought about it for a minute. I'm like, well, hell, what about a U-Haul van or a Pinsky van, whatever. Those U-Haul vans are 1995 a day. So, let me check on that. So, I checked on it and legit it was 1995 a day. There was no deposit. Not like, you know, with cars sometimes you have to pay somewhere upwards of like $300 deposit. And here are the things the I knew I wasn't going to be driving far because I was going to stay within the vicinity only with a couple of miles um going to Planet Fitness to shower, yada yada. Plus, so I wasn't going to be racking up the mileage cuz it is 49 cents a mile, but I knew I wasn't going to be racking up that many miles. So I estimated how many miles I might do.

[00:09:58]maybe 50. Um, I went over that a little bit. I think I did like 75, but still that's not too bad.

[00:10:05]Um, and I knew that during the day it was going to be hot, but I'm working during the day, so I wasn't going to be in the van during the day and then at night it was going to be cool. I'd already looked at the temperature. There was a Planet Fitness close by. Um, I didn't need anything.

[00:10:24]They were feeding us, you know, lunch and whatever and I could go out to eat.

[00:10:28]So, I did have to like stop at the Waw Wa for breakfast and coffee, you know, every day and that's not too bad. And then they fed us lunch and then I would just get dinner. Um, not too bad. So, I'm like, the hell, I'll pay $19.95 a day. So, it ended up being for the almost 10 days that I had it, $245 total.

[00:10:51]I slept on a air mattress. Now, here's the biggest thing was if you saw my picture, I'll put it in here. Um, I didn't have head room to stand up cuz in my van, I mean, look at this. I have to show you here. Look, this is here and I still have that much space for me to stand up. I mean, it's someone 6'4 can stand up in here with no problem. That was the only thing that was a little bit of a pain in the ass because like getting changed was a little bit more difficult, but still I had shelter, I had my vehicle and everything that I needed for those 10 days. So, I made it work. Um, and I still got to have a good time. So, think about it. Next time you go somewhere, you might need a U-Haul or you might instead of camping, it was kind of like glamping. So, in one suitcase, I packed my air mattress and a hammock. Actually, one night I slept in a hammock and a little side table. It's just a little foldable side table. Um, but I had everything I needed. So, yeah, that's my story of living in a U-Haul van for 10 days at Daytona Bike Week.

[00:12:06]So, I got to get ready for work, guys.

[00:12:08]Starting back. I've been off for two weeks now. So, I don't even know if I'm going to know how to do this job anymore, but I go to Seattle tonight and I think San Francisco tomorrow. So, what it is, guys, have a great day and I'll see you on the flip side. Bye.

[00:12:22]>> And how long have you been on the uh road living in your uh converted U-Haul?

[00:12:27]>> Uh almost three years.

[00:12:29]>> Three years. That's quite some time.

[00:12:30]>> Yes.

[00:12:31]>> And And uh you're still young, so you can't be retired yet. So, how do you support yourself?

[00:12:38]>> Oh, I love you.

[00:12:42]Well, I'm 69 and I am retired, but I do I do like to put gas in my truck. So, I uh I sell jewelry and I sell rocks and anything else that I come across at flea markets. I do little flea markets or u um we have one in Columbus, New Mexico once a month. We have a little flea market. So, I get some things together and sell it there. Or if they have events in the park in Columbus, then I go down there and sell my wares. I sell jewelry. And I'm starting to sell Damsel in Defense, which is women's uh self-defense products.

[00:13:24]>> Well, why don't we show people around while we're in here some of the things you've done and what you accomplished with it.

[00:13:30]>> We're in the living room.

[00:13:32]>> Yeah.

[00:13:33]>> And now we're in the bedroom.

[00:13:35]We we getting not getting much exercise >> and now we're in the movie room.

[00:13:39]>> Right. Right.

[00:13:41]>> I generally if I'm if I'm on long trips, I usually have a TV and a and a DVD player.

[00:13:48]>> Um I have a microwave and refrigerator when I'm hooked up to electricity.

[00:13:53]>> Do you have solar?

[00:13:54]>> I don't, but I'm going to >> Want solar?

[00:13:56]>> Yes.

[00:13:57]>> I'm going to put um a basement underneath the truck, >> right?

[00:14:02]>> So I can put my batteries down there. I don't want anything. I don't want to take up any more room in here. I've got enough stuff in here. So, I'm going to have somebody make the guy that made my little screen door. I'm going to have him make boxes for under there. And I'll just put the solar on the roof >> and the batteries underneath. And I think I'll be good to go. I've been talking to a lot of people here at RTR about the about the solar and I think it's I think that's the way to go.

[00:14:28]>> It is the way to go. Free power the rest of your life.

[00:14:30]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:14:31]>> You can't pass that up.

[00:14:32]>> Oh, I know. And I live in in Columbus, New Mexico.

[00:14:35]>> Boy, that's a great home, though. And for $1,500, Wow.

[00:14:39]>> I probably put I probably put about uh about $1,200 into it, including all the work I had done on the engine that I didn't have to do, >> right?

[00:14:49]>> But which is really nothing for And it's >> it's nothing >> and it's it's better than a motor home as far as I'm concerned. It doesn't have the maintenance factor and the >> you know the I just I really haven't had that much trouble with it, you know.

[00:15:03]>> Yeah. And sure as you own it out right.

[00:15:05]>> That's right.

[00:15:06]>> You can go take it anywhere you want.

[00:15:07]>> That's right.

[00:15:08]>> You got a neighbor who's too noisy. You fire turn the key and you drive away.

[00:15:11]>> Yeah. Somebody said uh I said I'm going to get another dog. I needed need a company for my for Satie. Well, what are you going to do that for? Cuz I can.

[00:15:21]>> Right. You don't have a landlord.

[00:15:23]>> I don't have to ask my landlord. No, you're the landlord.

[00:15:26]>> That's right.

[00:15:27]>> Just ask yourself, is this what I want?

[00:15:28]Yep.

[00:15:29]>> That's right.

[00:15:29]>> Yeah. Works well.

[00:15:31]>> Yep. It's great.

[00:15:32]>> It is.

[00:15:33]>> When I tell people I live in a van, I think this is what they think of. But when I really mean when I live in a van, I mean I live in this.

[00:15:48]Oh, and there's a dog.

[00:15:52]This is This is what we live in.

[00:16:02]We've got tubs.

[00:16:04]We've got a bed.

[00:16:06]We've got a a bed under there for the dog to lay in. And we've got water jugs.

[00:16:12]And we got a cooler.

[00:16:15]And that that my friends, that is what I mean when I say we live in a van.

[00:16:24]Hope you all are having a beautiful day.

[00:16:25]We are almost to New Mexico and we will see you down the road. Say down the road, Bo.

[00:16:34]Hi. This is how I make sure my daughters stay safe, sleeping in a minivan. I'm a single mom living in my minivan by choice and safety isn't optional. We only park at welllit places like truck stops or hotel clusters. We never arrive after dark and I always have two backup places saved. If it feels off, we leave.

[00:16:58]Van life isn't reckless. It's intentional.

[00:17:01]>> This video is for anyone who's about to be homeless and considering living in their vehicle. I've come up with a list of tips that might help you navigate this lifestyle. My name is Alexis and I currently live in a minivan, but I've been living in vehicles on and off for about four or five years now. My first tip is to find out where all of the local parks are. Parks are great for a number of reasons. First of all, a lot of times they have a bathroom that you're able to use. They also have water fountains where you can fill up your water, and a lot of times just being at a park and in the midst of nature can be very relaxing and give you a sense of privacy. Not to mention, a lot of them have picnic tables, grills, etc. Parks are going to be your best friend.

[00:17:37]Another tip is utilize your local libraries. Libraries are going to be a great place to get out of the elements, whether you want to warm up or cool down. They are also a really great place to charge your phone or any other electronics that you need to charge. And again, they have bathrooms and also computers and other tools that you can use. It's a great place to relax and unwind. My third tip is download the app I Overlander. This is going to be an app that tells you where safe places to park are, where you won't be bothered. It will also give you useful information like where you should shower, where you can find a laundromat. There is just a bunch of really good information in that app. And overall, it has made my vehicle living experience a lot easier. My next tip is to cover your windows. There are so many ways that you can cover your windows. I'm literally just using like an old rug that was given to me for free. You can use a towel, a sheet, really anything that you have. But covering your windows is definitely going to give you a sense of privacy that you absolutely need when you technically live in a fishbowl. My next tip is to buy a rechargeable fan. They are there are some cheap ones out there now. You don't have to get an expensive one, but when you're sleeping in a vehicle, it gets stuffy as hell in here, especially if it's not cold outside. And maybe I feel like the fan is important to me because I'm from Florida, so it's always just hot as hell. But a rechargeable fan has made living in a vehicle so much easier and so much more manageable. That little bit of air flow is really going to help you feel comfortable. And my last tip for this video is to organize and compartmentalize everything. If you're not organized, you're going to get frustrated really fast and you're going to lose everything. I lo I still lose things in this van and I'm super organized. Now, when you're living in a small space, it's very easy for things to fall through the cracks or get covered up by something. Um, so try to put everything in a compartment. Use duffel bags. If you're in like a sedan or something small like that, use duffel bags so that they can be moldable and squishable. Organize everything in different bags or bins. It's going to save you so much stress. I guess I'll add one more, but don't be afraid to get rid of stuff. If something is not serving you, if you haven't used it in a few months, donate that get rid of it because it's just weighing you down in a small space, you know? So, those are the tips I have just right off the top of my head. If someone is being thrown into this lifestyle because of homelessness, I just want to be able to help where I can cuz I know how hard it can be. Here's how I stay safe while living in a van. I keep a mannequin outside to help scare people off. I also place large mail boots and construction equipment near my van. I keep trip wire nearby that can also set off an alarm.

[00:20:13]And I have security cameras set up on the outside as well as on the inside of my van. I always carry bear spray and I keep hot boiling water at all times. I also keep an SOS signal on hand just in case of an emergency. I feel most vulnerable when I'm sleeping. So, in order to stay safe at night, I always make sure to tie the seat belts to the door so that they can't be opened. I have a fake construction banner that I tape on the outside of my van to make it seem like it's a male work vehicle. I have a small projector that plays a moving head silhouette and I turn on a talking man audio to make it seem real.

[00:20:45]I know all of this may seem a little excessive, but it's really dangerous out there for us women. So, I make sure to always take the right precautions.

[00:20:54]>> I recently got rid of everything I own, moved out of my apartment, and bought this box van from U-Haul. And I'm going to build it into my own personal off-grid RV, and I'm going to live in it. It's about 100° today. So, let's pull it inside and see what we got.

[00:21:18]A friend of mine owns a carpet cleaning business and he was kind enough to let me rent space in his shop so I can build my van. I've just been staying with my mom since I got rid of my apartment and I don't have enough room there. These are all my tools. I have a ton of tools and I haven't figured out what I'm going to do with all of them yet. I've been a auto mechanic and a handyman all my life. I paid 12,500 bucks for this. I bought it from U-Haul. You can get these for any price, any condition, but I went with U-Haul for two reasons. One, I got a loan from my bank for this, and the buying process was just easier. It's kind of difficult if you're trying to get something from a private party.

[00:22:02]Also, um this thing has great service records. Um U-Haul took great care of it. Um it's mechanically perfect. When I inspected it and test drove it, the only things I could find wrong with it is a couple leaky power steering lines and the front tires need replaced. You can get the bigger ones with like the part that goes over the cab for even less, like eight or nine grand. Um, but they have terrible gas mileage. This supposedly can get about 15 m per gallon. I went with a box fan because I want to be able to stand up in it. The first thing I did when I looked at this is I stood up in it and I laid down in it sideways. It's got this rollup door in the back. I'm going to remove that and build a wall with a large window that's going to go over my bed. It's got this big step bumper, which is nice, but I think I'm going to try to like build something better. And I also want a little better ground clearance. I haven't quite worked all that out yet.

[00:23:06]I'd like to put like a some sort of a storage box for my bike.

[00:23:11]It's got these really nice Velvac tow mirrors. These things are awesome.

[00:23:15]They're huge. You can see everything. I love them. Here in the cab, um it's got all these like dummy stickers everywhere.

[00:23:26]I'm going to remove those.

[00:23:29]It's got this uh like fuel economy gauge, which is nothing more than a vacuum gauge.

[00:23:36]That's going to do me no good. It's just going to stress me out. So, I'm going to get rid of that. I'm going to cut out the pass through to the cab. I'm going to remove the seats and cut that all out. Open it all up. It didn't even come with the glove box. I actually found this at the junkyard. And then I realized I need to get the piece that, you know, latches it in place. Will the government crack down on people living in their vehicles? In some places, it's already happening, but not the way most people think. Vehicle dwelling is regulated mostly by cities and counties, not the federal government. As housing pressure rises, many cities respond with overnight parking bans and vehicle habitation ordinances. So, there's a quiet shift happening. Nomads are moving toward rural areas, public and private land, andorked communities. Groups like Nomad Syndicate are forming to share information, resources, and connection.

[00:24:23]The pressure is in the cities, but there's flexibility at the edges. In a world of uneven rules, mobility is the advantage. Nomads who adapt, move, and coordinate do far better than those who stay isolated.

[00:24:34]>> Part of why I share car living content is because I think within capitalism, there's a lot of fear-mongering around the idea of losing your home, ending up homeless. I watched a young woman on here today that has three jobs, came home to an eviction notice on her door.

[00:24:49]She said in the post that she feels like she doesn't even want to live anymore.

[00:24:53]Like what is the point if my entire life is working three jobs just to afford a roof over my head? That is not living.

[00:25:01]Like what am I doing here? And I know a lot of people feel this. It's like what is the point of this if we're not living? We're just working to have a place to sleep at night. And she can't even do that. Share this to let people know that this is an option. This shouldn't be an option. But because we exist under the system that we do and with the way things are going, I think more people are going to choose alternative living situations. This is something that can be done with a lot of dignity and fun and adventure. And it doesn't have to be something that is feared. So, if you are someone that is feeling the crushing weight of the cost of living, feeling like what's the point in living anymore, not knowing if you're going to face eviction, whatever it is, I want you to know that I see you. I know the weight that that can put on you emotionally and mentally. So, you guys, this is not just about homelessness now.

[00:26:04]It's about working people. People that are actually working and not having an option to be in a home. These are people that used to rent, but because of different situations in life and the cost of rent and all of the other factors that are going into it, they are now living in vehicles. In fact, there's an estimate that over a million Americans, many of them employed, are now living in vehicles. So, that's the shift. It's the rise of the working homeless. These individuals are choosing van life and it's not just because of a lifestyle choice anymore. It's because of necessity. In fact, among older adults, there is a notable increase of people 55 and over living in vehicles.

[00:26:48]So again, that is the uncomfortable truth. It is the difference between people doing van life and living in a vehicle because they have no other choice. Drop your comments down below.

[00:26:58]I'd like to hear from you. And are you seeing an increase of people dwelling in their vehicles in your local area? Do you personally have experience with that? Share down below. Thank you for watching and as always, take care of yourselves.