Gotta go, now what? by Jerry W. Inspired by Mary Rand in writer's group discussions So your nice new home was financed with predatory lending? You had a big fight with the love of your life and time to go? Lost the job and can't pay the rent? [Or is your situation unique?] What's Next? Here are some simple things to consider for how to deal with it,  from people who have been there,  done that, and/or still doing that... 1) Maybe resolve the conflict and don't have to move? Depending on what the conflict is, maybe it can be resolved? Eviction is a somewhat slow legal process with the courts, and if you can avoid it, maybe that is best. Watch for threats, less than honorable landlords may threaten you instead of legalities, so protect yourself too... Getting help: The list of services available may seem large, but when in a particular situation (i.e. looking for shelter or help on a given night or day, in a specific jurisdiction, as a male/ female/ family/ etc you might find it isn't as many options as it might appear at first.  Nothing against most of the services, but resources can be scarce... Checking for landlord tenant relations, and the discrimination and other laws may help.  Legal Aide may provide free services as well, but can take some time... Most emergency assistance requires that you have a more permanent solution.  So if your finances are such that things can not be demonstrated to get better, i.e. just a temporary shortfall, it may not help, but it may help to research things a little.  Making some calls or better personal visits to inquire might help too. Making a list may make things more manageable and think of a plan on paper to check the reality of it with yourself and others... Feeling overwhelmed is normal, but if paralyzed, then may need to get help for that too.  Checking in with someone each day may help the isolation of dealing with it and help keep you on track... 2) If you gotta go, what to do with your stuff? Depending on how much stuff?  (i.e. A teen traveling light? Or just starting out with only the college dorm room size lifestyle?  Or married with children and that million dollar home by the river, it  could and does happen?)  Square feet measurements help too. How many square feet is your place? How dense is the stuff? And somewhat important, how heavy is it?  Can it fit in a vehicle?  Do you have a vehicle to put it in, get friends, and/or need to rent something?  There are now pods delivered to a parking space, but consider you might not be able to get in and our of some boxed storage spaces and others might have limited access times, others could be 24/7.  How secure is it?  Protect things from getting wet, broken into, chewed on, infested, etc Storage is one option.  You might be able to buy storage space for your things while you are out traveling around.... Sorting through stuff takes a long time.  If you can get help doing it, great.  It's also emotional.  Parting with stuff is difficult. Giving some things to others helping you might be a 2fer.  Storing important documents and memorabilia might help. Maybe you have trusted family and/or friends who can keep some things for you that are irreplaceable.  Failing that, a bank deposit box may be a possibility.  ID, legal documents, a copy of your lease, birth certificate, resume, work history, financial documents, etc may help to have safe and secure... Selling stuff might solve two problems in one.   That large couch may be big for paying storage space and difficult to move too.  Might even be worth something? Storage is expensive over the long term, and you can't live/stay in your storage space, so as you are emotionally able to part with things, that helps too. As a pack rat, I can't say all that much about it, but aging some things makes them a little easier to part with sometimes. Duplicate items might be discard-able/ recyclable.  That magazine collection, probably isn't high value and probably heavy to move. What is the portable stuff you need?  Consider like you are doing urban, suburban or rural camping.  Some personal care items might be available on the road, toothbrush, glasses, deodorant, hair stuff, etc Medicines and health/ safety things are important too. Contact information for people.  An address book or equivalent for contacting people.  Some cell phones store numbers, but losing that, how do you contact people? Can your contact list be stored online so that you can access it from various places and automatically backed up? i.e. Who you gonna call?  Are they there?  Would they help? Are you also helping yourself? 3)  And now that you've protected your stuff from being 'put on the curb', or stolen by unscrupulous and others playing 'lord of the manor',  where do YOU go? Get a library card, reasonably priced cell phone and PO Box while you still have a fixed address.  These may end up being your connection with the regular world.  Also, a web based email address like gmail.com is good for lower cost communications.  Messages are stored ready for you to pick up from almost any library or other shared machine.  Just remember not to 'remember yourself' or store passwords/histories on a machine you are sharing, or you leave your personal email and communications for the next visitors to read, forward, etc... There aren't a lot of rich homeless people out there.  Money solves many problems.  Saving some money for yourself is necessary too.  Planning how to spend and move is necessary.  Your current housing may be one of your highest expenses, with food and transportation and medical also up there.  But being out can be expensive too, because you are renting space at a higher rate at that local coffee shop, all night diner, hotel, campground, etc than in a regular rental place.  Credit and other good history may be necessary to find a new place.  A graceful exit may help you later getting re-established. Having friends helps too.   'Couch surfing' may be an option, limited stays with friends, as you are probably interrupting their normal life style unless they have an extra room/ floor or building like garage, just for you.  Sometimes it's difficult to ask, but as friends, they probably want to know you are OK.  But keep in mind, you need to think ahead and plan for the next temporary stay as well.  If you can cycle or rotate between people, maybe that reduces a 'burden' like situation? You may feel like you have just entered the jungle [reference Guns and Roses song 'Welcome to the Jungle'], and surely things will be different, but life is also an adventure, and think of the bragging rights for surviving something like that! ;-} Artists live the live less traveled, and you've entered a journey as old as the history of man and womankind...  Hard to appreciate at the moment, but homelessness is a community and Street Sense and other street papers, street poets, preachers and street corner prophets can read you better than you might read yourself.  As we have walked down some of that road, it is hard earned wisdom that we try sharing with you, as homelessness can happen to just about anyone, so maybe that is what people have trouble dealing with someone when they are down and/or out.  As our old intern Brittany in her parting Intern Insight column stated, it makes us uncomfortable and sometimes we don't want to deal with it... But that is the humanity of it, we are all on this little blue planet together, and it's best when we get along with a little help from our new friends and the homeless family/ community...