This Man Lives In His Car To Save On Commuting

For people who commute to work daily, there is literally no winning solution. If you decide to drive a car to work, you will get stuck in traffic. If you take public transport, it will take you way longer to get to the office than it’s supposed to. So what can you do?

Well, in this article we’re talking to a guy who has found an unusual solution to this dilemma: living in his Proton Iriz.

Meet Mushamir

@guylivingincar #livingincar #carliving #fyp ♬ original sound – guylivingincar

As a 32-year-old man who works as a marketing manager at a digital agency, Mushamir looks very unassuming. If you see him on the street or anywhere in the city, he looks like any other young executive working in the big city.

But little did you know, Mushamir is more interesting than meets the eye. He is actually the founder of the popular Humans Of Kuala Lumpur social media page, and well, as you might have surmised, he has been living in his car for close to a year.

Why live in a car?

When asked why made the decision to live in his car, Mushamir said that the decision came about purely due to financial reasons.

“Last year I ran into financial difficulties, and it got to the point where I had to borrow money from my family members and best friends, and I had to even ask my boss for a salary advance.

“During that time, most months I was left with around RM100 or RM200 for another two weeks until I got my salary again. Even when I get [sic] my salary, I have to pay off everyone I borrowed money from, so the cycle continues again,” said Mushamir.

That’s when Mushamir decided that something needed to change. In fact, he believed that the chief culprit that was causing him financial issues was his daily commute to work everyday from his parent’s house in Ampang all the way to Damansara Perdana.

“I made the calculations and I realized that the cost of my daily commute is getting out of hand. With petrol, tolls, and parking, I was spending more than RM30 everyday, which adds up to almost RM700-800 per month.

“Of course, I could move to somewhere closer to my office but the idea of paying RM700-800 per month for a room rental was something that I just could not come to grips with. So given all these factors, living in my car was my best option,” stated Mushamir.

How did he come up with this idea?

It turns out that Mushamir’s love for camping formed the basis for this unusual solution.

“I was watching camping videos on YouTube, and I came across a video that showed people camping in their car. They were legitimately living as a couple in their car and saving money while doing so, so I got interested.

“Then I found another video showing a guy who was camping out in his hatchback car, so I realised that I can do the same thing as well with my car,” Mushamir stated.

Is living in your car comfortable?

@guylivingincarSo I love inside my car, and this is my latest set up. I’ve teched-it up and it’s super comfy. Follow my page @guylivingincar for more 🙂♬ original sound – guylivingincar

Although it might not be the ideal situation for most people, the 177cm tall Mushamir seems quite content and comfortable. He explained that getting to this point was a learning experience, relying on trial and error to figure out the best solutions.

Several fans powered by an electric generator keep the air moving during the night. While a cold mattress and gel cold pillow help keep him cool while he sleeps.

In fact, Mushamir shared with me that when he started living in his car, it was meant more as a social experiment, and something that he just wanted to try.

“But now I’ve been doing it for five months, and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon,” said Mushamir happily.

“On the weekends I go back to my parents house in Ampang. When I’m there, I actually miss sleeping in my car.”

So how much does he actually save?

So now we get to the most important question, just how much does he manage to save with this living situation?Well according to Mushamir, the savings he made is quite substantial.

“My daily commute to the office was around more than RM30 per day, so I can say that from there, I’m already saving around RM700-800 per month. Add that up to the cost I would’ve incurred if I rented a room, which could’ve cost around RM1000 for a comfortable room in Damansara area, so all in all I can say that I save almost around RM1800 per month,” said Mushamir.

While it might be an unconventional solution, there’s no question that it works for Mushamir. If you want to get more updates on Mushamir’s life in his car, you can check out his Tiktok page at @guylivingincar or his Instagram page, @mushamir.exploringstoryteller.