South Bay techie says he saved $100k while living in his truck for 16 months

As rents have surged in recent years, some clever Bay Area residents have found ways around paying full price on rent. But those savings come with sacrifice, as you'll see in the following slides. As rents have surged in recent years, some clever Bay Area residents have found ways around paying full price on rent. But those savings come with sacrifice, as you'll see in the following slides. Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close South Bay techie says he saved $100k while living in his truck for 16 months 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

Brandon S,. who made headlines after revealing he lived in a box truck on Google's campus back in 2015, is still truckin'. But this time, not on his employer's property.

Brandon, who doesn't want to use his last name for privacy reasons, had to move off Google's campus when his story received too much publicity and Google managers called him into a meeting. They told him the parking lot isn't zoned for residential use.

The 24-year-old from Massachusetts now parks on random streets in the South Bay in his 128-square foot truck, which he bought for $10,000 in 2015. He says a year-and-a-half later, he's still going strong.

"At this point, the truck is pretty much exactly how I'd like it; it has a sunroof, bed, coat rack, and dresser, and that's pretty much all I really need. It's been an interesting exercise in learning what I want out of life, and it's definitely helped me to realize the things that I actually need, and the things that I don't."

He says this experience has saved him lots of money.

"The going rate for a one-bedroom studio apartment in South Bay is anywhere from $1,500 up, so a minimum of 16 months * $1,500/month = $24,000 in rent. But since I'm also living more simply, I've avoided having to buy random furniture and home-fixings that I couldn't care less about, and that's much harder to quantify. In total, my investment nest-egg just passed the $100,000 mark a few weeks ago, but where it would be if I hadn't opted for the box truck is hard to nail down."

Brandon says he's enjoying his unconventional life, and has no plans to move out of his box truck anytime soon.

You can follow along on his journey here: https://frominsidethebox.com/, or get a look at how others are avoiding paying full price for Bay Area rent in the slideshow above.