how much does it cost to live on my own?

Question

I am 17 years old, graduating from high school in May 2007. I live with my mom and stepdad, and I hate him so much that I can no longer handle living with him. So I am planning to move out when I turn 18, and I am wanting to know the general fixed expenses like apartment rent, electricity, water, gas, etc.

And I also will be going to a community college, so the tuition won't cost much.

Is anybody here in college and lives by youself or with a roommate?
I would like to know how much it costs and how it is to live on your own...

Please give me some advice.

I forgot to mention; I live in Texas.

Answer 1

I'll give you the best advice of all

join the military

they feed you
cloth you
pay for schooling
world travel
and in 20 years you get a great pension

Answer 2

I graduated last year and I'm also going to school this fall. It costs about 600 a month for rent. After that its another 30 for a phone, on a good month about 300-400 on food. Also you have to factor in commuting expenses, and other luxury bills. The best thing to do is try and find a room mate, or a relative. Also this summer plan to work every waking moment. You'll need the money in the fall! Also continue to work during the school year. Community college isn't too much for tuition but you have to factor also in the costs of books. If you were going to live on your own, some apartments have a all in one fee i.e. electricity gas, water, already in the bill, while others don't. Oh yeah, I couldn't stand living with my mother or stepfather either, that's why I moved out. Good luck!

Answer 3

My best advice is get a job now and save up AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. When you first get on the road and learning to handle things it'll be hard and budgeting will be something you gotta so. To have a few extra bucks on the side is something I REALLY wish I would've done. I'm 18 and living on my own as well. Best decision of my life. It's hard but worth it. In my experience, expenses have gone like this:

Rent: $745 (this includes cable, internet and all utilities)

Clothes: I've lived on my own for almost a year and I've spent under 100 bucks on clothes.

Food: $300 if you're smart about it and always cook your own meals

Entertainment: $15 for two movies or movie and a dinner. Having a girlfriend/boyfriend changes this... keep that in mind.

Transportation: I ride my bike.... EVERYWHERE. Free.

I live in Eugene, OR.

Answer 4

too much. im from the us but i've been living on my own since i was 15 not by choice. my mom died, dad left, and got sent to the government. long story short i got kicked out by foster parents. The point is live with your parents as long as you can because bills are ridiculous no matter where u live and once you start going into debt good luck trying to get out of it. If you are worried about money at least live there another 6months, work and save as much as you possibly can and tell yourself you wont spend it and dont. that way if you are ever in a financial jam you will have something to cover it. but be smart stay there if you can if not i would suggest a studio apartment they are usually way cheaper than a one bedroom. And forget roomates its not what its cracked up to be and if they "dont have the money for rent" your stuck being responsible. Its a big headache.

Answer 5

the cost of living varies widely, your best bet would be to do a little research into apartments in your area, that will be your main expense. rent.com or apartmentguide.com or apartments.com are good resources. If your budget is going to be tight it would be in your best interest to get a roommate (assuming you can find someone you like and trust). A rule of thumb would be to earn more than 4 times your rent, to use the other 75% towards your car payments and car insurance, food, cable, internet, etc. Of course to cut costs you can eliminate cable and internet, and use your utilites as little as you can (put a sweater on rather than turning the heat on, using one light at a time) and whatever other things you'd be willing to do to save cash.

In my experience (in tx): rent is anywhere from 350 to 650 for a one bedroom/efficiency apartment, its cheaper to split a 2 bedroom 2 ways and even cheaper to split a 3 or 4 bedroom apt 3 or 4 ways.
electricity is 60 to 150, with air conditioning usage being the biggest factor in cost

water - 10-20 bucks in my experience

gas - I've never had an apartment complex charge me for this, so I am not sure

renters insurance - mine is like 150 a year

I live in a cheaper area of the country, so your costs may be higher depending where you live.

As for your other question I lived with roommates in college who were all going to the same school and I found it worked out great, posting an ad on the college's campus would be a good way to find potential roommates if you will need to split rent and other living expenses to get by. (A word of advise, if you go this route, decide before moving in how you and your roommates want to divide expenses, it makes things a lot easier to know if the rule is that food is a free for all or if whatever you buy is yours only, things like that.) Good luck with all this! Its a bit overwhelming at first, but it is rewarding to have your independence.

Answer 6

Sorry to hear home life sucks so much.

You'll need $600 a month to survive. That means renting a room and paying for food and transportation. That's the very basic.

If you want to rent an apartment and pay bills you're going to be looking at $800 or so.

In any case you'll need a full time job or two part time jobs just to make ends meet while you're young. It won't be easy, but it never is when you're a teen. Good luck!

Answer 7

Speaking from experience, it all depends on your expectations. For example:

I make less than $600 a month (how much less? I'll not say, except that I'm on SSDI) and usually manage to save $20-30 a month in savings if I'm careful.

Keys:
* Basic phone line.
* NO cable (Cable is insane in most areas, IMO)
* Dialup or DSL Lite (the latter is better if you've the money and option)
* Be careful about your food bills; they can get way insane fast.

Room-mates/house-mates:
* Make sure you make a /written/ agreement signed by both of you detailing what each pays per month.
* 50/50 split on utilities is typical, but again, see point 1
* If you need a different diet from your room/dorm/house-mate, be sure they know whose food is whose...and doesn't mooch. Nothing's worse than having to buy your food three times over in a week because the other is a glutton...

Key thing is (above all) to be careful out there. The world is a harsh place to be out in, especially for the young.

Answer 8

It's expensive - you'll have to have a roommate or two - here in Maryland it would be the following per month:
$475 Rent (your portion)
$125 Utilities (your portion)
$300 Groceries
$250 Gas
$100 Clothes
$400 Spending Money / Lunch / incidentals, etc.
$1,650 Total per month

Answer 9

Here's one thing to help. Go to the community college and fill out a FAFSA. They will tell you any financial aide you qualify for. They will probably ask about parents income though, so don't be in a hurry to write them off. Also go to http://www.fastweb.com and apply for scholarships. (It's free)

Answer 10

Ok I'm married...only one that works....So here you go...
Rent- 1025.00
Lights- 55.00
Car Insurance- 50.00
Food- 100.00 a week
gas- 60.00 a week
Cell phone- 78.00
And everything else is a luxury...i don't have....Good Luck...
That is in California...

Answer 11

Smiles wickedly... depends on your spending habits.

FYI... get a good part time job, that helps.