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How to prepare for living on your own?
Drakeon
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Title is pretty explanatory. I'm not being forced out but I've been thinking about it more and more and I'd really like to move out of my parents house as soon as I realistically can. Right now I'm going to a local community college, working extremely part time (around 8 hours a week, obviously this would need to change), and I live in a rather well off city (meaning rent for apartments is around $750+ in the immediate vicinity, although for $600 a month I could still live relatively close). So, I'd like to live on my own without roommates, is that viable working say a minimum wage job (which is around $7-8 around where I live) full time? Or do I need to find people to room with to realistically accomplish something like this?
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If you can work full time, say 40 hours a week, at 7 dollars an hour, that nets to $280.00 a week or $1120.00 gross per month. I don't know what taxes you're subjected to, but I'd figure maybe $800 take home. If you can get the $600 rent, plus utilities, gas, etc? It looks like you would be cutting it a little close and that doesn't even take into account the stress of working full time and going to school.
Honestly, it looks to me like you'd absolutely need a roommate at the least. If you can tough out living at home until finishing your education, well that would be the soundest financial decision.
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if you're taking home 800 dollars a month and dropping 600 or rent, well, depending on your location, local climate and if you can man up and leave your apartment around 80 in the summer, maybe 50 for the electric bill which is the main one
So being generous 150 dollars a month? Think that'll get you food? What if you miss a day 'cuz you're sick? Don't want cable/sat, internet, or a phone? And so on
So if you do decide to move out, hoard money. And make a very, very detailed list of what expenses you'll have. Remember that initially there will be a rental deposit. Also, monthly: rent, electricity, cable TV, cell phone bill, internet connection, groceries, gas, etc. Do you have any pets? Vet bills: be prepared for them.
Get a job with as many hours as you want FIRST, before moving out. Then if it proves too much, you can just quit and keep living at home. Some people do work full time while going to college. Personally, I wouldn't be able to handle it. 20 hours is hard enough.
Really, my advice is to keep living at home for now.
I couldn't see doing it with anything less than a $20k income without a roommate. That's roughly $10 an hour, full time. Anything less and you're going to have to sacrifice things.
Right now my rent's $500 instead of $700, and it's a house instead of an apartment, and there's four of us. Much better deal all around. I am, however, living on substantially less money (savings from previous job + student loans) and I'm doing a lot to save every dollar I can, and my "income" is about 12k. It's painful, and I pray that tax time isn't going to fuck me over to the tune of thousands of dollars, but I'm pulling it off.
I pretty much did exactly what you're doing: got two years done at a CC on the cheap (like $2500 total for almost sixty credits), then moved on to a four-year to finish up. It's the smart thing to do. As long as you know the school you're going to transfer to, and are certain that your credits will transfer (usually not a problem in most states), it's pretty stupid to pay more than ten times as much for the same classes. I had better 100 and 200 level courses at my CC than I had at the couple I needed to finish here at a major state school: the CC students were typically working adults who were motivated to get their degree, and the instructors knew this, and so far here the underclassmen are all fucking trustafarians who don't give a shit, and the instructors know this, and it shows. I don't expect that to be universal, but it's also not universally true that community colleges are worse than four-year schools. You just can't get the second two years at them is all.
I'd recommend the experience of being self-sufficient while not having a crushing finanical burden (tuition) hanging over your head, so that you can figure out what not to screw up while you can still bail yourself out. I was lucky enough to have money to pay for a couple fuckups ("whoops, forgot to turn the AC off while I was at work. All month. In 90 degree heat."), someone earning less might have been looking at a paycheck loan to cover stuff like that.
Also, I know you didn't ask and you may already know, but if you're under 25 and your parents are not dirt fucking poor, expect about zero need-based aid from the college you transfer to. Most (all?) state schools, and probably most private ones, consider anyone under 25 a "dependent" student for the purposes of financial aid. Meaning you could be self-supporting for however long, at the age of 24, and you'll have three incomes added together to determine your "expected contribution" to your tuition: yours, and both your parents'.
I say this because I went into this whole school thing expecting that the $29k income listed on my taxes would get me a couple grand in aid at least, but they figure my parents and mine together at like $120k so I got a big fat "fuck off" from the financial aid office. The good news is that loans are painless and hey, you'll make more money out of college (except us English majors, but I knew that going in).
2: ???
3: Profit.
Save your money now, keep living with your parents, and when you get a better job, then you can move out.
Even with a roommate, youre only looking at a net income of about 800 a month IF youre working full time, so best case scenario with a roommate you need to spend 400 a month for rent. Probably more, but we'll be generous and go with that, and also even more generous and say thats utilities included. That leaves you with 400 dollars left over. Budget about 200 a month for food unless you want to eat complete shit all the time. So now you have 200 dollars left over. Do you want a phone? Thats about 50 bucks a month. Do you want cable tv and internet? Thats about 100 dollars right there. That leaves you about 50 dollars to split between savings and fun. Now what happens if you fall down and break your leg and need to take a week off work?
Honestly, you cant afford it. You either need a better job, or more jobs, bottom line.
Just stay with your parents, i know its cliche but once you move out you will actually miss the simpler shit. Your old enough to be in college and have a job, so unless theyre insane and on your ass all the time, enjoy the fact that you dont have to cook for yourself, or shop for yourself, or worry about where the mortgage or rent money is going to come from.
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It would have actually been worse if I hadn't lost the job and been forced to move back home because the same month that happened my electricity rates went way up.
So no, you can't afford to go it alone. Maybe with a roommate (or, preferably, several) but even then it would be tight. Unless your home situation is unbearable, stay there for a while. Finish school (recommend getting a four-year degree) and get a decent job, THEN look at moving out.
Good move. That's what I did. Lived at home, went to CC for 2 years, then finished up my degree at a University. So much cheaper. I hated living at home, but I lived at home even after I graduated and waited for my gf to finish her degree. That year I spent living at home netted me about $10,000 in my bank account. Allowed me to be able to buy a new car, new furniture, other stuff for when we finally got our own place.