you live in the van? a month. >> four months. >> four months? wow. this parking lot for big rigs was her first home. >> this is my van. it makes into a nice bed and i had shelving inside of there. i had it set up like a bedroom. >> couldn't you have found a place? >> rent is really expensive. i just wanted to really save as much money as i could, get myself jump started on my plan to financially put myself in a better situation. >> seven years ago helen and her husband had a successful real estate investment business. she thought she had saved up enough to semi retire and help pay for her youngest daughter's college education. >> i lived in a house that was worth probably 1$1.5 million. i bought this beautiful house on a lake. i was living life really, really