A woman moved into her friend's closet to avoid paying exorbitant rent

Sarah Hendrickson, 32, from Alabama, USA, decided to radically change her life after renting a place became too expensive for her. Instead of spending most of her income on rent, she moved into her friend’s storage unit, according to The Sun. She says that before the pandemic, she was paying $600 a month for her apartment. Later, the landlord raised the rent to $1,200, and she was unable to find another decent place to live for less than $1,500.

Sarah works several jobs at once. She runs her own wildlife monitoring business, works part-time as a waitress, and does graphic design. Despite this, she didn’t want to spend almost all of her income just on rent. “I didn’t want to work overtime just to pay for housing,” she explained.

A friend offered to let Sarah stay with him, but at first, the plan was for her to have her own bedroom. Later, the plans changed, and she came up with an unusual solution herself. “I told him, ‘I know you don’t want me to live with you, but I can live in your closet,’” Sarah recalls.

So she moved into a small storage room in a two-story house in central Birmingham. Inside, there’s just enough room for a mattress and the bare essentials. But the house is located near her job and a grocery store, so she doesn’t have to spend extra on transportation.

Sarah says this isn’t a new experience for her at all. “This isn’t the first time I’ve lived like this. I’ve been choosing small spaces for about ten years now. I’ve always liked small spaces, and I’ve always enjoyed finding cost-effective solutions,” she said.

Before moving, the American sold or gave away most of her belongings, keeping only the bare essentials. According to Sarah, her total income now ranges from $2,000 to $3,000 a month. She noticed the difference almost immediately after moving. “In this short time, I’ve already been able to find a new job for my company because I no longer need to earn a specific amount every month. I’ve only been living here for a week, but I’ve already put $1,000 into an investment savings account and another $500 into my regular savings,” she says.

She adds that she doesn’t know exactly how long she’ll live in the storage unit. She plans to stay there as long as she feels comfortable. In the future, Sarah hopes to move in with her partner. She’s convinced that the main reason for her decision is the rapid rise in housing costs. “Rent has skyrocketed, but my salary hasn’t kept up. I even lived in my car in 2022 and 2023 because of housing prices,” Sarah said. According to her, living in a small storage unit has become a temporary compromise that allows her not only to save money but also to invest more in her own business and financial future. The Sun reports on this.

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