The cold road to debt free: Calgary man winters in unheated trailer

This story was originally published Dec. 8.

To save money and get out of debt, a Calgary man is wintering in an unheated trailer.

While Geoff Westlock's six-metre abode does have a furnace, he can only use it when he has access to electricity.

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That means plugging in at a campsite or switching on his battery-operated generator, which he says runs out of juice pretty quickly when it's cold outside.

So, most of the time, Westlock lives without heat and "bundles up" by layering sweaters and tucking into a sleeping bag that's suitable for –40 C temperatures.

"After that first night of being in the trailer, and it was south of –30, and I actually woke up the next morning with everything still attached — I realized I could stick it out," he told The Calgary Eyeopener.

"After that, nothing scares me."

Westlock has been waking up to frozen water lines in winter months since 2013.

He decide to "downgrade" his lifestyle after racking up $42,000 in a truck loan, student loans and credit card debt.

So he bought a trailer with a $36,000 loan and has been living in it for the past three years.

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Westlock parks his trailer at a different location every night — usually big box store parking lots or industrial areas.

"I've long since given up on dating and looking fashionable," he said.

But he says it's worth the sacrifice.

Having no fixed address has allowed Westlock to create a $3,000 rainy day fund and clear all his debt, except the remaining $34,000 on the trailer loan.

He plans to have that paid off by the end of next year.

With files from the Calgary Eyeopener