Help Objective: Survive Winter

[snowlance]

So some of you know I'm currently homeless living in my car. I don't really have anywhere to go. I've been making it work with uber and make money for car insurance and phone bill, but winter is coming. And I've been hearing it's gonna be a really bad winter this time. I've tried looking for homeless shelters but with my severe anxiety and panic attacks, it's impossible to sleep around people and all the shelters are compact and you sleep with people. Even just staying away will be hard as I dissociate and get suicidal from big panic attacks.

My attention has focused to trying to live in my car. I've done some research but most I find is about camping and rvs, really annoying. They make little heaters, especially one called "Mr Buddy heaters" (image attached) that runs on propane, but propane is expensive and they only run at most 5-7 hours, which might be enough. This sounds like a good option but I'd prefer something cheaper. They have electric heated blankets I could plug into a car port, but idk if it'll drain my battery or something. I also found something called a parking heater, but you have to get it installed and I think most of them just heat up your car before you start driving and aren't meant for long heating. I also heard insulating your car is heavily recommended but I have no idea how to do that. Also maybe there's a heater that connects to the battery, but doesn't drain it?

Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas for surviving winter in a car? Preferably not too expensive. Or if I can find a homeless shelter that offers more privacy, that would work too, I live in Madison, Wisconsin.

 

[Darkover]

 

[MewtwoIsAlive]

How about you talk with those who offer shelters and tell them about your situation? might find a solution for ya. I hate sleeping and living with other people in one room too but sometimes you might not have a choice, how about finding a better job or looking for other options? you know living in a car is more expensive and risky than you might think, especially if you dont understand in them.

 

[KarmaBus]

I have some cost effective ideas for you that worked well for me car camping in cold weather. If you will be in the back of your vehicle, drape a blanket over the front seats as close to the ceiling as possible. If you can purchase a few of the silver accordion style sun shades usually used for the front window, you can measure and cut them to fit snugly into the insides of the windows. It will provide privacy as well as insulate your vehicle.

I have used a plug in heating blanket but attached it to an electric/solar generator to save my car battery. They work well but like you said it could drain your battery. I would suggest running your vehicle with the heat of full blast and use an electric heating blanket to warm your bed intermittently.

Perhaps you could find a cold weather sleeping bag, wool blanket, wool socks and some thermals at a thrift store.

The Little Buddy heaters work well, but you need to crack a window to vent the fumes and make sure nothing comes in contact with them that could catch fire. I wouldn't recommend them inside the vehicle other than a quick warm up to get the temperature up, they use a lot of propane like you stated.

Good luck.