Okay, this has been going on forever, in a strange and little-known part of life called . . . the arts.
Actors, writer,s musicians, dancers--and those who teach these things--have never had expense accounts.
They have always relied on couch-surfing, walking, biking, buses etc when they travel for work.
Even the eventually affluent successful ones usually spend years like this before they start to get sales, grants, etc.
Everyone can learn a lot from watching how people live when perfecting their art, rather than earning money, is the center of life.
Artists are the original badasses.