You’ve probably seen the viral TikTok: a Pennsylvania couple cozied up inside a 12-by-12 climate-controlled storage unit, complete with a loveseat, bookshelf, and dreams of saving for an RV. “I live in a storage unit because it’s cheap in comparison to an apartment,” said content creator Leland Brown Jr. as he gave a full tour — music, naps, bathroom breaks, the works.
It wasn’t just content. It was survival masked as strategy.
But the exposure backfired. Brown and his girlfriend were promptly kicked out. A local woman helped them secure a hotel room — briefly — before they found themselves without shelter again, stranded after their tent was destroyed in a snowstorm. “We just don’t know what to expect in the next couple of months,” Brown said. The storage unit may have been illegal, but for a while, it was home.
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That story recently resurfaced on Reddit — not in the context of desperation, but as a thought experiment. A Redditor in the Lean FIRE community, which stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early, posted:
“We often talk about extreme frugality and creative ways to save money on our path to financial independence and early retirement,” the original post began, before asking if anyone had ever heard of someone living in a storage unit to cut costs.
They referenced Brown’s video as a jumping-off point, and while they acknowledged the setup was illegal and not exactly safe, they wondered if others had done it voluntarily to supercharge savings.
One person said they thought about doing it in the early ’90s after spotting a storage unit across from a gym. The logic: shower at the gym, sleep at the unit. But they backed off, fearing what would happen if they got caught. Another commenter mentioned a friend who did try it — and developed permanent health issues after mold grew inside the leaky unit. Someone else said they built a camper van instead and now invest 92% of their income, while others debated whether a van or a storage unit was the more livable option. Spoiler: the van won by a landslide.
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And yet, the Lean FIRE crowd had one thing the next group didn’t — a choice.
Over in a separate homeless subreddit, the same topic came up, but the tone was strikingly different. One 25-year-old woman, who had recently lived in her car, wondered aloud if storage unit living was a viable fallback. Her unit was under $100 a month, had no cameras or ceilings, and barely saw any foot traffic. She figured she could climb over the wall at night, pull her ladder up, and stay hidden. “With some supplies and a ladder to get in undetected, it seems feasible,” she wrote.
Another commenter chimed in: “I did it. Spent most of my days at the library. Good shelter it was.” That lasted six months — until a camera caught them during business hours. Others offered tactical advice: keep a story ready in case staff confront you, scout facilities without lock checks or cameras, and stay mobile to avoid eviction.
One user offered an unusual alternative — a 24/7 coworking office. For $300 to $700 a month, they said, you could sleep in a private office, shower at the gym, use free internet, eat bagels and coffee on company dime, and blend in with night owls. Another said, “Seems like it would be easier to sleep or even take up residence in an abandoned house.” A few mentioned rotating between a gym, car, rest stop, and storage unit to avoid suspicion.
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One person confessed they had done it before and got caught. “They saw it was unlocked and just randomly opened the door,” they said. “It was legit one of the most embarrassing things that’s ever happened to me.”
According to the National Coalition for the Homeless, storage unit living is more than just urban legend. The organization shared data from a storage company that surveyed 100 homeless service providers across the country’s 50 largest metro areas. Of the 41 organizations that responded — collectively serving over 120,000 people a year — 12% said they had current or recent clients who had lived in a storage unit, reporting 14 known cases over a three-year span. Another 12% said they had heard of the practice, though not from their own clients. The remaining 76% said they had no reports or awareness of anyone living in a storage unit.
Living in a storage unit is illegal in all 50 states. They’re not zoned for residential use, lack plumbing, and pose serious fire risks. But whether it’s a risky shortcut to early retirement or a last resort after sleeping in a car, one thing is clear: people are still doing it.
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Image: Shutterstock
