An Arizona woman made a debatable but necessary decision for herself recently: She gave up the apartment she was living in. Finding that she was drowning in bills, she opted to move into her vehicle away from that life.
TikTok user CeCe (TikTok/Coachcentearious) shared on social media the financial gymnastics she was enduring before it came more sensible for her to give up living in an apartment entirely. For context, she explains to her audience that this is coming from a full-time Uber driver clocking in “60 to 80 hours a week.”
Although she says she was making between $7,000 and $8,000 a month, the math didn’t add up. “I was drowning,” CeCe says in her TikTok video. “I was paying three rents and didn’t realize it.” That included her apartment, a rental car (her car was totaled), and her bills.
She says her car alone costs $1,600 a month to maintain. Then there’s gas, which she claims costs another $1,600 a month, despite getting 52 miles per gallon in her Prius. Throw in her two-bedroom apartment—which she describes as not being “above” her means—for another $1,850 a month. That’s before she even gets to her other bills like electricity, phone, and food.
“You have to make three times the rent here. This why out homelessness is so high,” CeCe says in her video. She places part of the blame on the area she lives in, Phoenix, and argues she’d have to make at least $6,000 a month (after taxes) just to make it.
CeCe now lives fully in her vehicle after giving up her apartment because of the high cost of living. She’s trying to save up for a newer vehicle of her own so she can keep working and live in a nicer one. She says it was a “choice and decision” she needed to make in desperate times.
Commenters share their support and struggles online
Given how open and honest CeCe was on TikTok, her video drew thousands of comments (and thousands upon thousands of Likes). People came out of the woodwork to share that they, too, are dealing with the same troubles, along with possible solutions.
One viewer told CeCe she should get her CDL and become a commercial driver. “In a year you will be winning again.” However, commenters were wary of the advice, arguing it wouldn’t make much of a difference. As one commenter put it, “Then it’s a lateral move because you are still living in a vehicle or driving.”
Another commenter shared a solution their friend came up with: buying a used RV. “With electric they spend under $500. Gotta do what you gotta do to have peace.”
One viewer put it as plainly as possible. “People don’t understand how severe this is. It is designed to be cruel and inhumane,” they wrote. “No one should have to decide between their mental health and the basic human need of shelter.”
Unfortunately, the support CeCe saw in her TikTok video reflected a microcosm of thousands of other Americans facing the same financial turmoil. Many others shared they were in the same boat, either living in their car or going as far as moving out of the U.S.
