So What Do You Want To Do With Your Life?

Well now that you have ID, a bank account, a PO box, a cell phone, a transit pass etc (see previous entries), you have all the basics you need to function in society and a heck of a lot of free time. That is unless you already have a job or a business. Don't laugh. A lot of homeless people work either in their own entrepreneurial business or at a regular job. But let's assume you don't. You just don't want to fritter your life away. The next step is to do something constructive with your time and energy. That could be anything from looking for a job to reading a book to writing a book to selling stuff on ebay to starting a business to taking classes to sailing to becoming a championship athlete to auditioning for acting jobs to practising a musical instrument to rehearsing with a band. You name it. The possibilities are endless. And you have something a lot of people don't have: free time! You can decide your own future!

A lot of homeless people are scavengers in that they search the trash cans for aluminum cans that they can then sell to a recycling center. Hey! They are performing a public service. If they didn't dig them out of the trash cans, they would wind up in the landfill where they don't belong! Recycling is a fine way to make some extra money and perform a constructive service to society as well. Other businesses which are good are windowcleaning, painting, gardening, handyman service, housecleaning etc. These businesses require very little capital investment if any. Basically, all you need is a cell phone with message taking capabilities (which they all now have) in order to get in touch with customers and make appointments. Since you're using public transportation, you can't take a lot of gear with you, but windowcleaners, for example can take a couple buckets, a brush or wand, squeegees and a telescoping pole on the bus or trolley, and this is all you really need.

If you are an aspiring writer, musican, actor or artist, you will have a lot of time to practice your craft, and then, hopefully, make some money selling, exhibiting or performing. Remember that it's important not to appear homeless. Nobody has to know you're homeless. Your goal is to blend in with everybody else so that the issue of where you spend the night is irrelevant. Too many homeless people advertise their homelessness on their sleeve. They need a caseworker more than they need a home. The issue isn't where they sleep at night, but where their head is at. They need an attitude change.

If nothing else, you can improve your mind by checking books out of the public library and reading. You can check out CDs and listen to them on your walkman. Enjoy the parks and museums. The museums in Balboa Park are free on Tuesdays. Some are free the first Tuesday of the month; others are free the second Tuesday etc. Make Tuesday Museum day! Enjoy the beaches. They're free. Some of the best beaches in the world! If you surf, enjoy surfing. Be a beach bum, a ski bum, a snowboarding bum, but do something constructive with your life!

ID and Credit

You won't get very far in life if you don't have ID. In California, as I would assume in most states, you need a driver's license as your primary form of ID. Let's assume you don't have a car and you don't have a driver's license. You have to get one - a driver's license that is, but not a car. Cars are too damn expensive what with $3.00 a gallon for gas, maintenance which can run thousands of dollars a year, registration which is at least a couple hundred bucks and insurance which is a minimum of $100. a month. A car is a luxury you can't afford. Besides with a bus pass you can get anywhere you want to go. But still you need a driver's license just for the sake of ID. If you're a senior, you can get a senior ID throught the Department of Motor Vehicles. That is as good as a driver's license and can save you a lot of hassles. No driving test required.

If you're not a senior, here are a few options. Borrow a car to take your driver's test. You won't be able to rent a car to take the test because they require a driver's license before they'll rent you a car. Catch-22. Ask at one of the Social Service or Homeless agencies how you can make arrangements to use a car just for the purpose of taking the driving test. There's gotta be a way.

Once you have a driver's license as a primary form of ID, you're set. By the way you can use a PO Box as your address. You don't need a physical address as far as the Dept. of Motor Vehicles is concerned in California at least. You will need your ID to get a library card. Probably need it to rent a storage locker. Probably need it to get a cell phone. In other words you can hardly do anything without proper ID. If you can get ahold of your birth certificate, that would help. Military discharge papers or anything of that nature would help too as secondary ID. Certainly it would help for situations that require two forms of ID. In Maryland they have a special program for homeless people to get photo IDs through the Dept. of Motor Vehicles.

It's not a bad idea to make arrangements with a friend to use their address as a physical address for those situations that call for having one. This should cause no problems for the friend since no one is going to come there looking for you. The worst that could happen is that you would be sent a piece of mail there, but, since you're using your PO Box as your mailing address, your mail should always come there. Every agency that has a need to have your address will let you have a separate physical and mailing address. Most will not even require a physical address including the California Department of Motor Vehicles. Some states do require a physical address so you should be prepared to have one just in case. And make arrangements to be alerted in case a piece of mail shows up there. It's unlikely that anyone would call to check and see if you really do live there, but your friend should be willing to say you do. What's living there really mean anyway? Say you show up once a year and sleep on the floor. That's living there as far as I'm concerned. Are they going to station a detective there to make sure you sleep there every night? I doubt it.

Now that you've gotten your driver's license as your primary ID, work on getting a credit card as secondary ID. You may have terrible credit, but you can still get a credit card. Just keep calling around. You don't need a physical address to get a credit card. A PO Box will do. Just somewhere to send the statements. Use the computer at the library and the internet to get info and phone numbers of various credit card companies. You may have to deposit some money in a bank account in order to get one, but the important thing is to have that credit card as secondary ID. Open a checking and savings account. Use your credit card to make some small purchase every month, and that will help to improve your credit. You will probably have a low credit limit at first. Just make sure you pay off your balance every month on time, and you will qualify shortly to have your credit limit raised. Call them in 6 months and ask them to raise it. One of Bull's problems (from the last post) was that his credit was so bad that he had to pay premium rates to stay at a welfare hotel. He wouldn't have to do this if he had good credit. Establishing good credit will pay off in many ways not the least of which is that, if you want to get into an apartment or a rooming house someday, you will have a much easier time of it.

Now that you have ID, a PO Box, a checking and savings account and a credit card, you should be able to function in society like anybody else. You will not have to be on a strictly pay-as-you-go cash basis. This will open many doors for you and allow you to function like anybody else irregardless of the fact you're homeless. That should be your goal. You want to blend in with everybody else not stick out. You don't want to be identifiably homeless.