Young and trying to get my finances together… what would you do in my situation?

19F trying to get my finances together… what would you do in my situation?

I just turned 19 a few days ago and I’m looking for some financial advice. I want to set myself up well early, but I’m not really sure what I should be prioritizing right now.

I moved into a one bedroom apartment in March. It was kind of a quick decision because I had to move for a job. I originally planned on renting with a friend, but they backed out and I couldn’t find anyone else in time. I ended up taking a one bedroom for $1,250 a month. That includes everything, which is decent for my area, but still expensive for me.

My total monthly bills come to about $1,638. That includes rent, insurance, phone bill, subscriptions, and other fixed expenses. I don’t have any debt besides a credit card I’m using to build credit, and I pay that off every month. (rn it’s been hard to pay off)

My income:

About $1,200 per paycheck
About $2,400 per month without bonuses
My last bonus, my paycheck came to about $1,400
My most recent paycheck with bonus came to about $1,900

Sometimes I may not get a bonus, so I try to base everything off the $2,400 just to be safe.

After bills, I’m left with around $700–$760. Then I still have:

Gas: about $150–$200 per month
Groceries: about $300–$400 per month

So after everything, I don’t have much left over.

My boyfriend stays with me a lot and we split groceries. He does send me about $500 a month- he originally offered to pay half of rent, but I chose to live here and it’s my place, so I feel like I should be able to afford it on my own. I don’t want to become dependent on him financially. That’s also something I could use advice on, like how to handle that situation.

Right now I want to:

-Build an emergency fund
-Save and put aside money for a new car 
-Start investing
-Still have a little spending money (especially for my NASM course)

I recently opened a Fidelity account and started a Roth IRA. I put $50 into my Roth IRA and about $20 into an individual account just to start and learn. I know it’s not much, but I wanted to start somewhere.

I’m locked into a one year lease, so I can’t really lower my rent right now. My plan is to hopefully move somewhere cheaper or get a roommate when my lease ends.

So I guess my main questions are:

-What would you do in my situation?
-Should I focus on building an emergency fund first?
-Should I still invest small amounts?
-Is my rent too high for my income?
-How much should I realistically try to save each month?
-And how should I handle the situation with my boyfriend helping financially?

I’m trying to build good financial habits early and just want to make sure I’m doing things the right way. Any advice would really help.

I’m kind of on my own with this stuff, I don’t have many connections with family or people to go to for advice so I thought I’d ask the reddit fam 🙂