Dudette, why? I mean, do you have any idea how much a million dollars is?
Sure it isn't as much as it was in the 70s, but you can still maintain a very nice living on a million bucks. Buy a house, go to college, eat good food, let the property value mature so it become millions later on.
And for what? A year of being kinda hungry, and getting wet when it rains?
I'll admit that it might be harder for a girl, because even I'd be afraid of getting mugged every time I fell asleep, I can't imagine your fear, but it's worth it if it's only a year. And you don't have to live in the city, you know. You could walk over to a low population agricultural area and steal watermelons and sleep in tall grass or something.
It really isn't too bad. I wandered around Colorado for a couple weeks before finding a ranch (Which also wasn't much for me) to live on for a while. I could do it for 50 more if a million dollars was on the line.
Plus, you'd get experienced. You'd be hard-core by the time it's over. I mean, you could sleep on the floor like nothing, and then you could bore your rich little kids with stories of how rough you had it for a year in order to get a headstart on life.