Does anyone have any tips/tricks for sleeping in a car/camping with 3 young kids?
Our rental property has sold and we now have to vacate. We live rural. My husband and I both work and we have three children. One of our kids has additional needs and their specialists are local. To leave the area would mean we are both jobless and our child would have to go onto a waiting list to get help for their needs. So we have to stay in our area. There are not a lot of properties available and a lot of people applying (well over 40+ people)
We cant afford to stay in a caravan park/motel/air bnb every night. In our area they are $180+ per night with minimum stay requrements. Maybe once or twice a week. We have to pay for a storage locker, which in our town is expensive. The cheaper lockers are all taken up by other people looking for homes. As well as this we have to save as much rent as possible as everyone is offering 6 months rent plus up front to secure a home.
We do not have family to stay with. We do have friends that we can stay with for a night every now and again but that's it.
13 Replies
Caravan parks are that much per night but ask for a longterm weekly rate, itll be about 400.
I would also get as much credit as you can now while things are good on paper. Even buy a camper or old caravan to pay off. Or set up the rooftop camper so you all have somewhere to comfortably sleep if it comes to that.
I don't really get what you mean by that? Why do you think their credit is going to be affected by this, if both still have their jobs? She hasn't said they are behind in payments or anything to suggest credit would be affected.
I think they meant phone credit
That’s not what she meant.
"get as much credit as you can now while things are good on paper" explain that one then?
Prices on caravans is still quite high, even for fixer uppers (which will often include water leaks). OP, I wouldn't suggest it unless you find a good one pretty cheap.
With no fixed address no bank will lend them any money anyway
Please let your local MP know of your situation so they can see how bad this crisis is. So many families have been left homeless and there's nothing being done about it.
Don't scimp on a cheap Kmart tent. The camping places are in EOFY sales now so visit a Tentworld or similar to choose one. You don't need top of the line but you do need a good quality one.
3m x 3m gazebo. Set it up so the front of your tent is under cover of the gazebo.
Grab some cheap silver windscreen reflectors. They'll help insulate between the ground and the tent floor.
Don't rely on your car battery, get a second deep cycle battery for a fridge (brass monkey brand is one of the cheaper but good quality ones). Led 12v light. Solar charger for the battery.
In a caravan park or similar, you could leave all of this set up while you're at work. Take your valuables in the car.
Depending on how rural, unpowered sites in van parks may not be terrible. I was paying $20-24 per night in some but the further west I went the cheaper it got until eventually it was just $10 p/n. With access to a great camp kitchen for electric cooking too.
As well as getting your story on the desk of the local MP, see if either of your workplaces has an employee support service available. They might not be able to get you a house but can take care of your mental support through this since you don't seem to have too much else. Even your employers might be able to help out with simply plugging your portable fridge into a powerpoint while you're at work to save your battery, and give you a sunny spot to set up your solar panel each day in a private area.
Good luck. Hopefully something comes up soon.
I should have thought of this the other day too. Look on marketplace.
Just don't buy a second hand canister gas stove, there was a recall on older ones a while back. Brand new is only 40 bucks anyway although for a family I think a small BBQ would be more efficient.
God this is cropping up more and more. There is a massive homelessness issue, rentals a far n few between and prices are through the roof! I wish i could buy and set up a place to home people in your shoes. Its heartbreaking to see families finding themselves here through no fault of their own. All i can think is if you know someone with a bit of land, if you could pick up a cheap caravan with solar panels on buy swap sell, sometimes they are under 5k, or a trailer tent set up? They are cheaper again. Buy swap.sell is your friend. I know some parks around regional vic have permanent resident sites. If i could help you in any way other than this post i would.
I have just spent the last 8.5 months in a camper trailer with my kids. We got a new rental just recently.
If you could get a camper trailer that would be ideal. Greater space. Camping sites can be cheap, and a powered one is good to charge phones or plug in a tv. It's also handy as you have a place to shower. Look in your area for public showers, or ask friends, as that's hard to get. I got a little oven/hotplate combo for cooking. That was great as it meant I could cook normal dinners. Parks with BBQ facilities are also handy, and good to dump rubbish too.
Facebook marketplace is great to find things you may need cheap.
If this is for an extended period, it will get hard. Try to keep things as normal as possible. I had a tv and Xbox set up as it was a way for my kids to still communicate with friends. Socialising became harder.
Long term parks were full in my area, and the short term ones will only let you stay for up to 3 weeks. It means moving around.
Homelessness is tough. Good luck.