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How to live on $432 a month in America

(shagbark.substack.com)
526 points cactusplant7374 | 32 comments | 23 May 25 16:40 UTC | HN request time: 0.825s | source | bottom
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999900000999 ◴[23 May 25 20:15 UTC] No.44076233[source]▶
>Though I and my wife do not presently live in Massena, we live nearby, and we’re doing exactly this — we do not have an automobile, nor do we want one. We use the rural county transit bus, which we have found to be extremely cheap and quite reliable; and it has certainly saved us thousands and thousands of dollars by liberating us from the onerous expense of keeping a car.

This part has me screaming shenanigans. Unless you basically don't leave the house, you need a car outside of like 8 American cities. More believable would be a pair of used bikes.

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bombcar ◴[23 May 25 21:45 UTC] No.44076913[source]▶
That’s obviously not true, if you change what you “have” to go to.

There are thousands of American towns that are about 10k population - large enough to have a Walmart and other stores, small enough to walk across in an hour or so.

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1. 999900000999 ◴[23 May 25 22:23 UTC] No.44077156[source]▶
Once it gets cold you won't be walking much anywhere. I guess grocery delivery from Walmart can mitigate this, but that fundamentally changes the situation.
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2. cozzyd ◴[23 May 25 22:34 UTC] No.44077206[source]▶
Why not? You can walk plenty in the cold with the right equipment. I walked 2+ km a day at the south pole ...
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3. 999900000999 ◴[23 May 25 23:00 UTC] No.44077365[source]▶
It's really dangerous if you don't know what your doing. I'm about .5 km from the closest supermarket.

If it's snowing or just cold out I'm still ordering food.

If I'm mildly sick, ordering food.

I'm going to guess that you're a really good shape that a 2 km walk isn't a big deal, but I don't think most Americans can do that.

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4. xyzzy123 ◴[23 May 25 23:07 UTC] No.44077406{3}[source]▶
One way (not the only way and I get this won't work well for people with medical needs or kids) to handle this is stock up on rice, beans, nonperishables and have a good first aid kit. You go out to get your "freshies" but it's not an issue to be stuck at home for a week except in the most dire circumstances.
5. coolcase ◴[23 May 25 23:17 UTC] No.44077457{3}[source]▶
> I'm going to guess that you're a really good shape that a 2 km walk isn't a big deal, but I don't think most Americans can do that.

Shit that's horrifying.

I have health issues and walking 2km a day to try to help fix. So I see 2km a day as basic. 6-10km run a day would be "fit" IMO. things as humans are designed to walk.

Living in suburbia means I have to walk "for the sake of it" although I cam make it useful e.g. get some milk!

As for cold. Anything above minus 5 should be OK just wear stuff like skiiers wear which can be got cheap off brand.

replies(1): >>44077560 #
6. tshaddox ◴[23 May 25 23:18 UTC] No.44077472[source]▶
47 people died in a blizzard in Buffalo, New York in 2022.
replies(1): >>44081006 #
7. bombcar ◴[23 May 25 23:27 UTC] No.44077530[source]▶
Let’s not pretend that the cold regions of the world were uninhabitable before the invention of the car.
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8. 999900000999 ◴[23 May 25 23:34 UTC] No.44077560{4}[source]▶
77% percent of young Americans aren't fit for service.

2 km of walking in a day, even in great weather is exceptional for me. I probably average 1km or less.

And I'm not a car owner. My family members will literally hop in a car and drive 30 minutes over walking .5 km to the grocery store. They like the other one more they say.

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9. Aeolun ◴[23 May 25 23:42 UTC] No.44077614{3}[source]▶
0.5km is like, 6 minutes of walking?

How? It just doesn’t compute to me that someone would ever see that as onerous.

replies(1): >>44077891 #
10. mattnewton ◴[23 May 25 23:53 UTC] No.44077669[source]▶
There are no sidewalks, so you are walking in a street in the snow asking to become a statistic.
11. danbolt ◴[23 May 25 23:55 UTC] No.44077678[source]▶
They weren’t, but they were zoned and organized a lot differently compared to our post-war world of today.
replies(1): >>44082943 #
12. cozzyd ◴[24 May 25 00:28 UTC] No.44077846{3}[source]▶
Huh? I'm not in great shape but I get 2km of walking a day just with my commute. According to my watch I've averaged 13k steps a day this week (something like 9-10 km a day, I think?). Ironically the days I walk the least are when I decide to bike to work instead of taking the train...
13. cozzyd ◴[24 May 25 00:36 UTC] No.44077891{4}[source]▶
Surely you walk that much inside any reasonably sized grocery store.
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14. bcraven ◴[24 May 25 00:39 UTC] No.44077903{5}[source]▶
This is just utterly astonishing to me. I've just checked a map and it's ~0.5 km between where I park at work and my office!
replies(1): >>44078075 #
15. 999900000999 ◴[24 May 25 01:20 UTC] No.44078075{6}[source]▶
Your going to have to walk both ways, in the rain/snow, etc ?

Like a lot of comments have already mentioned these towns don't even have sidewalks. You'll be walking on the side of the street risking an accident

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16. davidcbc ◴[24 May 25 05:43 UTC] No.44079021[source]▶
What are you buying this equipment with in this scenario?
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17. xboxnolifes ◴[24 May 25 08:51 UTC] No.44079764{3}[source]▶
> I'm going to guess that you're a really good shape that a 2 km walk isn't a big deal, but I don't think most Americans can do that.

Most Americans would be able to do it if it became a regular occurrence for them. 2km of walking is not much even if you sit around 24 hours a day.

replies(1): >>44080345 #
18. Lionga ◴[24 May 25 09:51 UTC] No.44079964{3}[source]▶
You need to be in good shape to fucking walk 2km? WTF is wrong with people in murica? Well is guess they are just ordering fast food all day
19. npodbielski ◴[24 May 25 11:16 UTC] No.44080317{3}[source]▶
500 hundred metres? This is long for you? If there is snow you can't walk? Why? Snow is much beteer than rain. And still it is just a couple of minutes. You most probably would not get wet with proper clothes. Are you from US by the chance?
replies(1): >>44087630 #
20. npodbielski ◴[24 May 25 11:18 UTC] No.44080325{5}[source]▶
In IKEA you probably walk around about 1km for just one visit considering how they design their space.
21. npodbielski ◴[24 May 25 11:23 UTC] No.44080345{4}[source]▶
I am sitting in front of PC probably around 10hours a day and drink and sit rest of my day (excluding sleep) and still it is not a big deal for me to have a 7km walk to the city or back is not a big deal.

I think in US it just cultural. "You are walking?! With your feet?! How?!". Unless you more likely to get shot walking via some neighbourhood I can't understand that.

22. oblio ◴[24 May 25 12:16 UTC] No.44080597{7}[source]▶
Is there a lot of traffic in places with 10k residents?
23. esrauch ◴[24 May 25 12:32 UTC] No.44080650{5}[source]▶
Are you sure you mean .5km? That's only 0.3 miles, 1500 feet. That is the distance if you drive to a Walmart supercenter and park in the center of the parking lot and walk to the door.
24. andriamanitra ◴[24 May 25 13:34 UTC] No.44081006{3}[source]▶
..in what National Weather Service described as "once-in-a-generation storm". Walking 2 km on a normal winter day (or even a mild blizzard) is not dangerous.
replies(1): >>44081844 #
25. harvey9 ◴[24 May 25 13:34 UTC] No.44081010{5}[source]▶
I am 50 years old and don't think I'd pass fit for service either, but I can still easily walk a few Kms.
26. cozzyd ◴[24 May 25 15:47 UTC] No.44081844{4}[source]▶
And to be clear, driving in a blizzard is very dangerous too. But blizzards happen a minority of the time.
27. testing22321 ◴[24 May 25 18:29 UTC] No.44082923[source]▶
Gimme a break. I walked and biked year round in the Yukon. Past -40 I had to keep moving, but it was fun
28. rufus_foreman ◴[24 May 25 18:32 UTC] No.44082943{3}[source]▶
This is true. I recently read that the real reason that the Vikings left North America was that the Native American authorities informed them that their site on L'Anse aux Meadows was not zoned for boat repair and construction.
29. cozzyd ◴[24 May 25 19:54 UTC] No.44083417{3}[source]▶
Right, I mean obviously the scenario in the article is unrealistic budget wise (and good winter equipment is going to be at least several hundred dollars), but I'm pushing back against the idea you can't walk when it's cold ...
30. sarchertech ◴[25 May 25 04:11 UTC] No.44085460{5}[source]▶
The average American walks 2.4 miles per day per the CDC.
31. rsynnott ◴[25 May 25 11:06 UTC] No.44086987{3}[source]▶
> I'm going to guess that you're a really good shape that a 2 km walk isn't a big deal, but I don't think most Americans can do that.

... Wait, what? That's less than half an hour walking at a fairly relaxed pace.

32. sarchertech ◴[25 May 25 13:23 UTC] No.44087630{4}[source]▶
The average American walks 2.4 miles per day according to the CDC, this person is truly exceptional even among people the most car centric American towns.

You’ll walk more than 500m through the aisles in Walmart buying your groceries.