Do you live in a major city? Then you’ve probably adjusted to spending tons of money on your apartment. But what if you’re not happy with the idea of using insane amounts of your income on rent? Take a page out of this Google employee’s book: He’s living in a 128-square-foot truck.
That’s right, 23-year-old Brandon S. is living in a 2006 Ford with 157,000 miles on it. The truck sits in Google’s parking lot and cost him $10,000, which, he told Business Insider, he paid up front with his signing bonus.
But why did Brandon — who asked BI to withhold his last name and photo for privacy reasons — come up with this idea in the first place? Last summer Brandon was a Google intern, living in the cheapest corporate housing available. He was paying roughly $2,000 a month.
"I realized I was paying an exorbitant amount of money for the apartment I was staying in — and I was almost never home," he said. "It's really hard to justify throwing that kind of money away. You're essentially burning it — you're not putting equity in anything and you're not building it up for a future — and that was really hard for me to reconcile."
So he lives in a truck, and saves about 90% of his income, while paying down student loans and enjoying San Francisco’s restaurants. During the week, Brandon eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Google’s corporate campus. He showers for free every morning in the corporate gym after working out. Google pays for his phone. The only regular expense he's shouldering is truck insurance: $121 per month.
Inside the truck, Brandon has spent little on decorating the small space. "The main things that I have are a bed, a dresser, and I built a coat rack to hang up my clothes. Besides that, and a few stuffed animals, there's pretty much nothing in there,” he told Business Insider.
Brandon graduated from college with a little over $22,000 in student loan debt and has paid it down to $16,449 over four months. He expects to have them entirely paid off within the next six months. He also projected his “break-even point” for October 21. You can see how it’s going on the live-updating “savings clock” he created on his blog, “Thoughts from Inside the Box.”
“There is never going to be a better time in my life for me to try this. I'm young, flexible, and I don't have to worry about this decision affecting anyone else in my life,” he wrote in his blog.
Not sure if #trucklife is a great fit for everyone, but after five months, Brandon seems ready to stick with it for a longer haul.