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What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

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Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#101

Yurts!

Seems like the tiny house movement has largely overlooked yurts. Yurts are cheaper than those more traditional stick-construction tiny houses. You can buy a complete yurt with installation for less than people spend attempting to build a typical tiny house themselves, and you end up with more space. Even if you decide to do-it-yourself, a yurt is far easier to build.

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#102

Yurts!

Just google yurts and see what I find?

I think the intended suggestion is: If you are going to build a dwelling, a yurt is one of the most cost-effective structures you could construct. They can be lived in year-round in almost any climate. In some locations they may be regarded as temporary structures, and therefore would not be held to the same building requirements as a standard house. Furthermore, if you decide to move, you can take the yurt with you, since it can be dismantled.

Also, the hexayurts linked by the sibling comment are probably not what you should be looking for. They are not designed for wet or cold weather conditions. They are designed as temporary shelters for festivals and such, not as permanent dwellings.

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#103
post #4

You may try looking into Tiny houses, they may cause some problems with zoning in some area's so picking a location will require some research. A tiny house can easily run under $20,000 fully equipped. Some people have been able to build them for under $10,000. Fix the house with solar panels, maybe a small wind turbine for electricity. tin roof with a rain water collection, you can run is through a 3 stage or 5 stag…

> Grab yourself a 5-mile wifi- antenna to pick up wifi from coffee shops nearby. This sounds incredibly illegal.

I'm sure it's a problem if you don't ask, but one could always ask, or maybe even offer to pay for the access.

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, a person with a tourist visa isn't able to do any work in their own hotel room, no matter what it is or for whom? Is it that they aren't supposed to do a service for anyone else (such as cook for a friend, or translate anything for a relative back home) or that they can't receive money? What if their company is generating passive income for them back home? Are they not supposed to access it? How are they supposed…

> So, a person with a tourist visa isn't able to do any work in their own hotel room, no matter what it is or for whom? Yep. > Is it that they aren't supposed to do a service for anyone else (such as cook for a friend, or translate anything for a relative back home) or that they can't receive money? You just can't get paid. If you were cooking for a "friend" but you were actually their personal chef...you would need…

I can see immigration authorities getting peeved over people who are essentially running a freelance business from the country (hence cracking down on coworking spaces). That looks more like working in the country rather than really working back home: even if all your customers are abroad, the place of your self-employment as a freelancer is where you customarily actually reside and do the work. So if you maintain an office much of the year in Thailand and don't maintain one in the U.S., that sure looks like you're working in Thailand.

But most countries don't categorically exclude doing work for a foreign employer while on a visa-free visit. The U.S. visa-waiver program explicitly allows "travel for business or pleasure" up to 90 days, and the EU has an analogous "business travel" exemption. Doing work for your normal "home" employer is expected under the definition of "business travel", which can and usually does include on-site work in the country (not only remote work for your home office). That's what the business travel visa exemption is largely intended to facilitate: things like BP London sending staff to Houston for 3 weeks to supervise plant startup, or Microsoft sending some staff from Redmond to Ireland to hash out a product design in person. As long as it's temporary (typically <90 days) and the employee continues to be employed normally by the home office (not paid by the local office), it doesn't have to be confined to training or conferences, and can include actual work.

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#106
post #45
post #36

You want to live in a city with great medical, great arts, and sports? Then go to Cleveland. Homes starting at $10k (some maintenance required) http://www.trulia.com/for_sale/Cleveland,OH It is cold...but it isn't Detroit.

How's the crime rate in those neighborhoods? Sometimes I'll check out these maps, which have the state as a whole ranked not-so-good for robbery, property crime, burglary, etc. http://www.businessinsider.com/maps-on-fbis-uniform-crime-re... (Understanding that these are state and not local rates.)

There's a crime map on each of the listings.

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, a person with a tourist visa isn't able to do any work in their own hotel room, no matter what it is or for whom? Is it that they aren't supposed to do a service for anyone else (such as cook for a friend, or translate anything for a relative back home) or that they can't receive money? What if their company is generating passive income for them back home? Are they not supposed to access it? How are they supposed…

> So, a person with a tourist visa isn't able to do any work in their own hotel room, no matter what it is or for whom? Yep. > Is it that they aren't supposed to do a service for anyone else (such as cook for a friend, or translate anything for a relative back home) or that they can't receive money? You just can't get paid. If you were cooking for a "friend" but you were actually their personal chef...you would need…

Wow. Nice to see my post cited on HN.

I wrote that post after reading about a startup founder who was being very vocal about starting his company in Thailand and encouraging others to do the same. He never warned people of the legality of doing this and I felt that was highly unethical.

Not much has changed since then. There were a few arrests of 'Digital Nomads' in Chiang Mai, but nobody was actually charged or deported.

A few Russian tour guides in Pattaya have been charged, which might not sound significant as the work they do is different, but these arrests came after a statement that they would not be bothered. It's more evidence of the flip-flop enforcement of Thai law.

The thing about Thailand is that enforcement swings depending on the mood of the enforcers. What's tolerated today isn't tomorrow. That's just the way Thailand is.

Cambodia was a good choice previously as their laws were murky and not enforced at all, but that's different these days [1].

I'll be following that post up with a post on how to become legal whilst working in Thailand.

[1] - https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/work-permits-now-required...

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So, a person with a tourist visa isn't able to do any work in their own hotel room, no matter what it is or for whom? Yep. > Is it that they aren't supposed to do a service for anyone else (such as cook for a friend, or translate anything for a relative back home) or that they can't receive money? You just can't get paid. If you were cooking for a "friend" but you were actually their personal chef...you would need…

I can see immigration authorities getting peeved over people who are essentially running a freelance business from the country (hence cracking down on coworking spaces). That looks more like working in the country rather than really working back home: even if all your customers are abroad, the place of your self-employment as a freelancer is where you customarily actually reside and do the work. So if you maintain an…

So much is wrong here. There is a difference between what people do and what they are technically allowed to do. Enforcement is also quite difficult if you are working under the radar. Non immigration business visas don't allow you to do more than attend trainng and meetings, this includes wavers. Now, you might code, that is technically illegal, but they probably won't catch you. But for gods sake, if the immigration officer asks you what you will do, or what you did, just say "attend meetings and training," or you'll be deported so fast you won't know what happened (especially in the US and Switzerland).

It might not matter so much going from Ireland to Redmond, but going to Redmond it's a huge Pain in the ass, so much so that we have visa training for employees that do it (I work for Microsoft china) to make sure that US laws are followed (thankfully, I'm a US citizen, but unfortunately that also means I'm subject to double tax whenever I work in the states).

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see immigration authorities getting peeved over people who are essentially running a freelance business from the country (hence cracking down on coworking spaces). That looks more like working in the country rather than really working back home: even if all your customers are abroad, the place of your self-employment as a freelancer is where you customarily actually reside and do the work. So if you maintain an…

So much is wrong here. There is a difference between what people do and what they are technically allowed to do. Enforcement is also quite difficult if you are working under the radar. Non immigration business visas don't allow you to do more than attend trainng and meetings, this includes wavers. Now, you might code, that is technically illegal, but they probably won't catch you. But for gods sake, if the immigratio…

Interesting. My dad used to work for BP, and their lawyers were of the opinion that short-term engineering exchanges between the US and EU, either between corporate offices or to/from their engineering contractors, qualified as visa-waiver business travel. I wouldn't think they'd be trying to fly under the radar, since BP is a huge company that's often subject to regulatory scrutiny, but who knows. As far as I can find, the exemption is somewhat broader than just training, and also includes "business meetings" and meetings for the purpose of contract negotiation/supervision.

The thing the lawyers were really worried about was any kind of on-site visit to an operating plant, but that was for reasons of health/safety law, not immigration law. The non-operating engineering staff (local or foreign) had specific rules about what they couldn't do, so they wouldn't count as "operating" the plant, or get remotely implicated in anything safety-related. But for visits between corporate offices, they were very un-worried. Even visits to their Chinese joint-venture partner were pretty hassle-free, just requiring an "M" visa arranged by the partner.

Re: What's the cheapest living situation possible that still has basic utilities?

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can see immigration authorities getting peeved over people who are essentially running a freelance business from the country (hence cracking down on coworking spaces). That looks more like working in the country rather than really working back home: even if all your customers are abroad, the place of your self-employment as a freelancer is where you customarily actually reside and do the work. So if you maintain an…

So much is wrong here. There is a difference between what people do and what they are technically allowed to do. Enforcement is also quite difficult if you are working under the radar. Non immigration business visas don't allow you to do more than attend trainng and meetings, this includes wavers. Now, you might code, that is technically illegal, but they probably won't catch you. But for gods sake, if the immigratio…

Why double tax? By whom?
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