Hi everyone,
I’m 18 and living in the Salt Lake Valley. I want to move out as soon as possible mainly for independence—my home situation isn’t terrible, but I don’t feel like I can live how I want here.
Income:
$20/hour job (full-time)
Savings / Assets:
~$1,000 in savings
~$6,000 in investments (about $2,000 is locked in a CD)
Expenses:
Car is fully paid off
My mom currently covers my car insurance
No major recurring expenses right now
Housing plan:
I could live alone if needed, but I’d prefer to live with my girlfriend if that works out
Open to roommates if that’s the smarter financial move
Timeline:
Ideally as soon as possible
Support system:
My mom wouldn’t love me moving out, but she would help me if I really needed it
What I’m trying to figure out:
Is moving out right now realistic on my income in this area?
How much should I realistically have saved before moving out?
What rent range should I be targeting?
Should I avoid touching my investments and just build cash savings instead?
Any major things I’m probably underestimating (utilities, deposits, etc.)?
I’m trying to do this responsibly and not screw myself over financially, so I’d really appreciate any guidance or reality checks.
Thanks!
18, making $20/hr, want to move out ASAP — is this realistic and how should I plan it?
byu/purplelapres inpersonalfinance
Posted by purplelapres
6 Comments
Well, what’s your take home pay monthly? How much is rent? Does it include utilities?
Usually you need a couple months of rent saved as a security deposit and/or first/last months rent.
1. It really depends on what rooms or apartments go for. We don’t know.
2. You should have more cash savings. Most places are going to want you to give at least a month’s security deposit.
3. If you don’t get OT and work ft on $20 that’s going to be hard, that’s really not a lot of money. I really wouldn’t advise spending over ~$1K or so a month on rent. Depends on what your girlfriends income is but you shouldn’t go over that.
4. Also depends on your credit. how is that?
What is your plan in life? Moving out and making $20/hr isn’t much of a career path. That’s the path to being poor, and visiting this sub in the future with questions about how to pay down your debts.
I would definitely recommend roommates to cut down your expenses. You don’t have much cash so you should focus on building your savings for now. Also look into increasing your pay – you will not have much money after bills have been paid.
Don’t spend more than 1/3 of your income on housing.
Having a roommate is the smart move, financially. That cuts your housing costs in half.
You need to have an emergency fund of $1000 and then grow that to cover 3 to 6 months of living expenses. That’s the standard advice here. So you’ll need to run your numbers and see how your savings measures up.
Also, don’t fall into the trap of ignoring the future cost of a car just because your car is paid for now. As long as you need a reliable car, you need to be saving cash now to help pay for your car’s replacement in the future.
What are your career goals?