Just like the title says, ever since I moved out of my parents house, I have been bouncing in and out of homes. I lived with a buddy for around 3 months, to another buddy's house for about 3 months, then into my own house for about 8 months, had to leave that then back to a buddy's house for about 6 months, and then to my grand parents which is where I'm at now. Which is 5 different places of residence. When I lived with the buddy's I was in and out of work, and I was luckey enough to have friends let me stay at there home free of rent. When I moved in with the grand parents I had been into my current job for about 2 months (I work for a security company.) I haden't been saving money because at the time of me being in and out of work my car was really close to being repo'ed. And when I mean close I mean the lady from the company had the repo guy on the other line while she was talkin to me. So I got something together and was able to get by without my car being repo'ed.

So I have been tryin to save money, I don't have any credit card debt, my bills consist of car payment, car insurance, cell phone bill and school. Been trying to finish up my CJ degree. So I have some money saved up and I'm ready to bust out of the grandparents house. I'm very thankfull they gave me a place to stay. But I'm ready to get out and be on my own again. So I found an apartment that im intrested in, and one of my buddies lives over there so thats a plus. For a 1 bedroom the rent would be $585/mo. Water is $18.50/mo. Cable is $40/mo. for basic cable, and its optional, Gas ranges anywhere from $25-$45/mo, and the manager said she was never seen a gas bill more than $45/mo. in the winter. And I would have to get my electricity through the electric company. The apartment is 695 sq. ft.

So the question is how much money would you save up and have in your account before moving out into an apartment like this? I'm wanting to be smart and live comfortable, not paycheck to paycheck. Any replies are appreciated

Try grammar and English lessons first.

I was going to write something like this (except in a funny way), but then I decided not to be a total dick to someone that's putting themselves out there a bit to ask for some serious advice.

Personally, I think that you should have enough money saved up to be able to survive in the apartment for at least 3 full months with no income (in case you lost your job).

If you are in school...are there any on-campus apartments that may be cheaper?

You may want to think about a 2 bedroom with a roomie also.

If you understood the question and generally understood the post itself, then why does it matter?

A lot of us have been where you've been. I had an enormous rough patch in my own life that thankfully, worked my way through.
One thing I learned during that period is that cash is king.

You're making a new car payment, yet you clearly cannot afford to own a new car. Unless you're close to being paid off, get rid of that nightmare and drive a paid-for used car. A general rule of thumb about cars: You can only afford what you can write a check for and not have it impact your overall well being. If $600 for a complete piece of shit is all you can write a check for, then $600 is what you can afford. If you can write a $20,000 check for a new one and not have to worry about the $20K being gone, then you can afford a new one. Paying interest on depreciating assets is for niggers and white trash. It's why "Rent To Own" businesses are so insanely profitable. The new car game is no different than renting your couch or paying $399 + interest for a new Wii over 24 monthly installments.

You're outlaying $880 a year to the Cable company... How many of your paychecks does it take to make $880? Probably too many, if you really think about it. You need to get into the mindset of accruing cash. Cut out whatever you can. Work extra hours if possible. If you have any talents or skills that you can use for cash-paying side work (mechanic, landscaping, handyman, whatever), use them. If you focus on developing a base of cash and cut out anything that attacks your cash, you will find that soon, things aren't as tough as they once seemed and when life throws you a curveball, you will have the money there to take care of it.

As far as how much money: after your deposits are paid, IMO an emergency fund consisting of at least two months expenses is totally required kit for ANYONE. I keep a years basic expenses in cash on hand, at all times. Even when I'm poor and eating Ramen, I don't touch it. I've been on the brink before, I don't like it and I don't intend on ever going back.

i would do that with 2000 in the bank and a job that paid 350 a week. maybe a little less

is the cj thing going to be coming into play within the next year

Actually... if Grocery_Mony wasn't such a sting-butt....he could give you enough money to pay you first months rent with those winnings he got playing poker.


He did however pay me $20 to humiliate myself last night.... maybe you could earn extra money doing things like that.



Seriously though... gotta get priorities in order and cable aint one of them.

Work...work ... work... and work some more.
Eat Ramen noodles and dont buy beer.

It doesn't take long to get things on track.

No the CJ degree won't be finished in a year.

My car payment isn't bad, Its a 2004 Suzuki Forenza, my payments on it are around $200/mo.

I make more than $350 a week

Actually it was a just a semi-cruel joke but....


It always matters. If you allow yourself to be lazy in your use of proper grammar you will not be able to use it when it's important.

Awesome, thats why I didn't post a reply like: "What the f.uck, why you fu.cking talking about my grammar? Who gives a fu.cking shit!! F.uck you!!!"

I can take a little harsh humor, but just a little bit.

i (yes, really) agree with scram--who i now think is dave ramsey--re: the car. if you're making a car payment and don't have an apartment, you're not able to afford the car. sell it and buy a used jap car of some sort for less than half of what you sold your current car for. i've never owned a car that was less than 5 years old, and i've had distinctly fewer car problems than all my friends with nicer cars, gotten better mileage, etc.

i'm not as anti-paycheck to paycheck as everyone else, though. until recently, i've pretty much lived my whole life that way. it's nowhere near as scary as you think it is, although it does, for sure, get a bit hairy at times.

Is this including the times when you were making money poking? Also, did you have parents to fall back on?
Seriously, living paycheck to paycheck is dangerous as hell for people who don't have 'emergency resources' to draw from. If you haven't learned that lesson yet for yourself, I hope you never do (unless we're arguing, in which case, I hope it happens next week)

I really don't follow Dave Ramsey, but I do know that he and I definitely came to the same conclusions on some things, particularly about the little ways people nickle and dime themselves to death and how corrosive that is to financial health for folks in the 'working class' economic strata.

no, the poker thing is actually what got me out of that. that was from my time in college through my early time in grad school before i found out about that whole poker thing. i suppose that i could have fallen back on my parents somewhat, at least in the sense that i could have moved back home, but they don't have any extra money, either, outside of a somewhat paltry retirement investment and their house equity. they spent pretty much all of their hard-earned money on my sister and me so that we wouldn't have to raise kids on food stamps, too.

fwiw, i think ramsey is pretty spot on for much the same reason you do. i had a long talk with my gf about that before we moved in together, actually.

If you are not upside down on the car than dump it. If you are upside down, once you've made enough payments to get to break even or better then sell it. $200/month sounds cheap but that's $200/month that could be going into the bank.

You need to be honest with yourself and know that a car just gets you from point A to B. You should be beyond trying to impress friends and girls with driving a decent/newer car. If you are making less than $3K/month gross I would continue to stay with your grandparents until you've got no debt (including car) and have saved $3K+.

If you're living semi-comfortable now with your grandparents you need to continue to take full advantage of that. Be smart with the free rent time that you have and pay off any debts, get out of the car and save as much as you can. When you feel you are comfortable enough to rent your own place then move out.

If he's break-even on the car and basically broke, it's not like he can just go write a $3k check for a shitbucket. He'd just be taking on more payments...depending on the terms he might want to just finish paying off this one.



I don't understand this. Since when do people not like nice cars just because they're nice? Fuck my friends and girls, I like cars that are good looking, comfortable, and fun to drive. AND I'M NOT ASHAMED OF IT!

speedz is right. now I'm gonna go get those breast implants.

for me.

Exactly. Those implants aren't for anyone else, they're for you to play with while you jerk it. And there's nothing creepy about that.

Thanks for the replys. Yeah my car is how I get to school/work. I work in two different locations, and 1 of the locations is about 30 min away from the g parents. And I can't just take a bus around because I don't live in the metro.

I was thinking of getting a job that pays a little more, but with the economy lately and people getting laid off, and since I'm pretty secure in the job I already have now I thought the wise decision was just to stay put for now.

I already had the idea of saving up at least 2K in the savings account, and I have a decent amount in the checking account. These apartments have two different sizes in 1 bedrooms. One is $585/mo. and the other is $515/mo. with slightley cheaper utilities, like the water instead of $18.50 is $16.00. The only difference is its on the bottom level on the complex, and you don't get a balcony, which I could care less. But if I wanted the $585 one and had trouble with making rent or what not, I could ask to be moved down to the $515 one. So I might just get the $515 one instead, don't know yet.

i will be in this situation soon i think


not taking thatr DC job...still in limbo...i told them nm today


gonna find something closer to home...MUUUUCH cheaper housing too


not gonna get cable tho....not a tv guy...i watch movies...but interwebz..OBV!

QFexcellence

I agree that he most likely cannot afford to write a check for $3K but at the same time he needs to cut his biggest expense. If he just needs something to get him from A to B he can do that with a car that will cost him a lot less than $200/month.




Regardless of why he has the nice/newer car he can't afford it. There was a reason why he decided to purchase this car, whether it was for personal gratification or to impress others, it doesn't matter. He needs to be able to look past that and not worry about people or friends asking why he got rid of the newer car.

I'd go with the three months of expenses advice, maybe even six (although you obviously don't mind a spartan lifestyle and have people to fall back on).

And if you like sports, a good way to build cash quickly is to become a referee of your favorite sport. They pay outrageous amounts to do that, you can easily make $300 cash in a weekend in most areas of the country, and over $500 if you are in shape and don't mind doing it all day. It can be $50 to $75 to ref a one hour game, with tournaments every weekend. You get in shape, you watch sports, you collect cash. How much would $1000-$2000/month help you?

Umm, well if you guys knew anything about cars I can pretty much assure you he doesn't have
any equity unless he's only got a payment or two left. His best bet is to drive this car as long as
it will run.

If you are in school I would definately look to share an apartment for a while, though inconvenient, it's
alot more practical splitting expenses.

Write down everything you can think of as far as expenses and look at your income to develope a budget,
slashing what you can and deciding what you can and can't live with.

Also, I would just consider staying rent free with the grandparents until you're 42.

I live paycheque to paycheque, so I wo't give you any advice.

This. 100% this. If you have any knowledge about sports and have broad enough shoulders that you can take some shit from people who usually don't know what their talkin about, do this.