How to live on $432 a month in America

What small town even has a bus? The closest bus line to me is in the closest large town (40k) about an hour away.

Are there bus lines in the middle of nowhere?

If you’re around or on the way to a popular hike I’ve seen buses run out to some more remote spots. But probably really depends on the county.

Rural transit exists in some places but certainly is not common in the US like it is in e.g. eastern Europe

Granted, this was 20 years ago, but I remember taking the Greyhound and people were getting on or off the bus in the middle of nowhere. By nowhere, I mean the nowhere in the literal sense: at the intersection of two highways in the northern Ontario with no other development in sight. Of course, they also serviced the other types of nowhere: the lone gas station or the tiny village.

The author is being somewhat misleading in the sense that this is not the type of bus service that one would use for your weekly commute to that 10 hour shift at the gas station, never mind the three or four times per week that you would need to cover the bills. It may be fine doing errands in town, where the arrival time and departure time don't much matter. It may also be fine for spending a day or two in the city, assuming you have the budget to stay over night.

I'm not saying that the type of lifestyle alluded to is impossible, but it is not going to be the type of lifestyle accessible to young people. Then there is the question about whether they are equipped to live that type of lifestyle.

Some times, Boulder Creek is in the mountains between Santa Cruz and San Jose (it’s more remote than it sounds I think)and it gets regular bus service on winding two lane roads and there’s a stop at Big Basin State Park where there’s no cell service in wide swaths of valleys and mountain sides.

I agree that the bus in the scenario is implausible for most. But in real life, most rural people would simply own a car. The author describes car ownership's costs hyperbolically, but unless you're doing long-distance commuting, driving a $5000 car wouldn't add more than $200 to his monthly budget, which wouldn't change the math dramatically, while I'd argue it would improve quality of life tremendously, especially because rural America of 2025 most definitely assumes car ownership in a way that it didn't 100 years ago.

What about cycling? If amishes are fine leaving there with horse carts as vehicles, there is no reason you can't manage using a bicycle.

Even Ottawa is not out of reach at only 80miles.

That would depend upon the roads and, given that winter was mentioned as a feature, maintenance during the winter months.

I've done some riding on rural roads with no shoulders, and it can be as scary as heck. At least on winding roads in wooded areas. That's from the perspective of someone who is fine riding on fast and busy urban roads during all seasons. Winter maintenance is also a huge issue if you are riding to work. If you're doing seasonal work, that's fine. You just wait until everything is plowed for winter forays. If you're working all seasons, you cannot maintain a job when you cannot reliably reach the job site.

A $200 cost is a nearly 50% increase to the budget.

I lived like this when I was younger and single. Most here, even the self-identified cyclists would scoff at it. It isn't for everyone. There are definite advantages in terms of health and overall robustness. If you are acclimatized to pedaling around in freezing weather and hauling in all of your supplies, you probably won't have a problem with wood heating.

That said, I don't think it would be fair to expect my wife to enjoy that lifestyle. I cannot imagine taking a child to a dental appointment under those circumstances.

A lot of smaller counties have a publicly operated demand response service that includes small buses, or at least some vehicle that is able to transport someone in a wheelchair.

So not a regular service schedule, but you can call and schedule a ride and it won't cost a lot.

St. Lawrence County does offer several shuttles that run only 1-4 times per day in each direction. It is probably better to add a bike or e-bike to the list.

I think when people write these articles, they should have lived the life instead of just totaling a few expenses. It is very hard to live without at least a few unforeseen expenses above the base budget. The life proposed here is like a 19th century life, waiting for the stagecoach to take you to where you can pay your property taxes, and then spending the day in town because the next stagecoach out doesn't come for hours.

My experience when I was commuting by bicycle all year in Switzerland, is that drivers had a more complicated time than I had when it was snowing and roads were icy. I had a dedicated bicycle for these kind of situation with studded tires.

More often than not people are put off cycling by weather conditions not because it is that hard, but because they haven't put enough thoughts and preparation. Most people ride bicycle with subpar or no lightning, fenders, and more often than not have the wrong tires and protective gears for the job. This require a wee bit of investment but totally negligible compared to the money that is usually spent on a car.