When can I live on my own?

Question

i'm 14 and want to live on my own. Is it possible to do that?? Ive asked soem people about jobs but they won't hire someone my age without a parent consent and I can't get that. Is there no way I can live by myself until I'm older?? i can't wait until I'm 18 to do it, please help!!

thanks for help

I'm in foster care. it's not a bad home but i want to take care of myself

Answer 1

my advice: work very hard at school. Try to graduate by 16 or 17 then head to college!

Every person has to have goals (which you do, kudos), but then they must have a plan to achieve them. At 14, your main focus should be getting excellent grades and trying to get scholarships for college. When you are able to go to a university, you will probably qualify for all sorts of federal student aid.

You can do this. Living somewhere can simply be a place to sleep. If you are totally involved in your studies at school and perhaps a few extracuricular activities, your time at the foster home will only be for eating dinner and sleeping. You said it wasn't bad there, and I completely understand you wanting to take care of yourself, but at 14 that is only done by preparing yourself for the future.

Please at least consider this. You are safe where you are and should leave the worry of rent and food to someone else for the time being!

You sound very mature and resonable for your age. I had a friend who was in foster care when I was in school, and he was so anxious to be on his own... it got him in lots of trouble and I don't know what happened to him! He wrote a few letters to us (his friends from school) after he was sent away, but then he just dropped out of communication. I just don't want that for you. I don't want your main focus to be how do I get out of this now, but instead how can I BEST prepare myself to be on my own in two to three years. Just think about it, okay?

Answer 2

I was emancipated when I was 16...but I was working two part time jobs (it's against the law for an employer to hire under 18 full time), I was on my own but it sure as hell wasn't easy. I lived in a one room walk up with another girl. Our bedroom, living room and kitchen were all in one room. We had one closet and the bathroom was a "communal" bathroom (male and female) with no lock on the door so if you were taking a shower and somoene else (male or female) wanted to use the toilet...they got a good view. When you are on your own you have to pay ALL of your own bills. That includes your rent (most landlords want first and last months rent up front as well as a security deposit), utlitiy bills it's kind of nice to have heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer as well as lights and something that can keep the stove cooking your food. Oh yeah...you also have to buy groceries and you are responsible for the bills when you go see the doctor, or worse have to go into the hospital. Most part time jobs don't come with benefits (health insurance), so you'll probably have to find your own...and it's not cheap. Then there is your transportation...public transportation costs money...If you are under 18 you can not purchase a car on your own, because you are too young to enter into a contract. So you'll have to wait until you are 18, then you will also be responsible for getting auto insurance and that isn't cheap...not to mention car registration every year and smog inspection, tires for the car every so often, oil and filter changes and oh yeah that stuff that keeps going up in price at the pumps...GAS...When I was young though most of this stuff wasn't nearly half as high as it is now...When I was 16 and emancipated it was 1969...Life was a little more affordable...but we still couldn't afford much of a social life...our nights out were spent at the peir or on Broadway in San Francisco (that's where I lived) walking the streets with the local cops watching the Queens pick up the young sailors.

Answer 3

When you're sixteen, you'll be able to get jobs without adult consent or a work permit, and then you can look in emancipation, where teens under 18 are basically 'divorced' from their parents. It's hard to do though since you have to show the court that you can take care of yourself completely without any outside help. So when you're sixteen and have a job and you're still thinking about this, speak to someone at Legal Aid.

Answer 4

By law you must be 18 to get your own place and in most states there is a law against anyone under the age of 16 working and the ones that do allow kids under 16 to work good luck on actually finding a job and even if you were able to get a job and by law you could get your own place under 18 no way in hell could you afford a place on your own.

Just a crappy 1 bedroom apartment in a crappy neighborhood cost 600 a month, heck Baltimore City was voted the most dangerous city last year and has a very poor education system and there selling row homes/apartments for 500,000 and renting out row homes/apartments for 1,000 a month and up

Answer 5

well how are you going to pay rent, get food, get money for utlities? consider all this stuff. at 14 you need to worry about the future by completing the present- like school. you see its hard trying to get a job at 14 must less a place to live its even harder. i couldnot wait until i was married and out of the house, but there is soo much you have to consider. without a good eduacation and a job life is hard. and let me tell you people and the world can get even worse. dont be a quiter and quit school and give up on stuff like teenhood. let your parents raise you as long as possible. good luck with whatever you do, be careful out there life can be harsh.

Answer 6

Living on your own is really rough, even when you're eighteen and have a great job. Rather than live on your own, if your current living situation is that impossible, try calling a teen rescue place or talking to your school counselor. Whatever you do, don't run away from home. Don't ruin the rest of your life because you don't get along with your parents right now.

Answer 7

There may sercumstances in which you know in your heart that you cant stay at home. But Take It From Me, Stay with mom or dad as long as you can. I Left home when I was 16 on a so called vacation, and didn't come back home untill six months later. I had been missing out on high school credits that I was going to need to graduate. -I'll be 30 this mo. I Married to the first man that I thought could take care of me. (I was19 and he was 34). I ended up takin care of all the bills and he was abusing our kids. -Stay home- Finish school- Take time being a kid.

Answer 8

That is correct. Living on your own requires that you be able to provide for yourself, be able to enter into a rental agreement, get utilities turned in your name.You need to be at least 18 to sing a document and make it binding. Really, you need at least a high school education, college is better yet. Living on your own is expensive, you'll need a good job to afford it. You can enter the work force between 14 and 16 depending of your state.The grass is not always greener on the other side. Maybe you need to try to work thugs out with your family. Good luck.

Answer 9

If it's a family issue, DFS can help. If not, then you are pretty much out of luck unless you have a family friend that is willing to take you in and your family wouldn't mind you leaving. If you are under the age of 18..17 in Missouri...you cant leave your home unless there is a family issue that causes you harm physically or emotionally.

Answer 10

Stay at home as long as you can. Living on your own is not all it's cracked up to be. You will struggle and struggle hard as a teenager. Trust me, I've been there. It's not worth it. Stay home. When you get older and have your own children, you'll realize that Mom and Dad are not as dumb as you once thought.