/improve/ - Self Improvement

I am also interested in this.

I moved out once with full awareness that I was not ready, but also a need to do it and my parents still available as a safety net.

I was financially independant by the time I moved back, but also killing myself with work. I came back when it was time to go to college.

Here are a few things you want to remember.

-Secure work wherever you're going to live well in advance. If you get stuck doing shitty work right off the bat, it just becomes harder finding time to look for another job.

If you're not educated, and you can afford the time and money, you should really get into a relatively fast school program or obtain a certification with high employment rates. Schools often have employment figures available. This will secure you not only work, but a carreer.

-Looking for a good place to live is practically a full time job. If you can afford it, a real estate agent can make your life immensely easier. They won't give you the smaller word of mouth cheapo apartments, but if you go for those you're probably not financially stable anyways. If you've never looked for a place before, find someone who has to help out. Get them to come along to a few places to show you what to look for in a good house. Don't ask your parents for help if you're renting, they probably haven't rented for decades.

Secure housing a few months in advance.

-Budget. Make a budget for home and a budget when you're going to move out. Have experience keeping a budget. Make sure you have at least 6 months budget for when you move out. Keep receipts. Make sure your parents know that you're building a rainy day fund and you can't pay for rent and food all the time unless if they want you to stay for longer if this is all an issue. If this is still a problem, work with your parents to find a budget that works for both of you.

Don't go crazy with your budget, and don't just think "I won't buy anything" and never make a budget. You're not superhuman, you need a fun portion of your budget or you WILL splurge it all one day when your willpower is tired, or you're going to nickle and dime yourself to death.

-Make sure you have transportation. If you need to take public transit, that's ok. Just be sure you know where you can work and where you can live to make things easy as possible. You're not always going to feel like walking or biking some days, even if it's just a couple of miles, and cabs are expensive. I've seen many people get stuck with no money because of a habit of grabbing cabs constantly. Work towards a license and a lot more possibilities open up if you're not there yet.

-Cooking. Take a community cooking class if you don't know how. If you're short on money, rice and beans are your friends. Don't eat frozen pizza rolls and ramen or fast food. It's expensive and you won't get your energy to be an adult. If you can get a place near markets and produce stores and you're even a little bit adventurous, you're going to eat like a king on the budget of a popper. If food frightens you, get a friend who's passionate about food over to help you make a dish they love. This is a lot of fun. It's moments like this that make moving out worth it.

I know this all sounds basic, but I don't know where you're at.

>>3174

Oh, if you don't have friends to help you, try to get into a local music or bar scene. You'll find people with all kinds of interests you can feed off of there. Some of them are burnouts, but they're friendly, and you have to start somewhere with company. Even if you don't need help with the things I mentioned, you need to know people where around where you're moving or you'll go insane.

>>3126

Having a job is a good starting point. When I bought my first house, I needed $6500 for closing costs, and about $3000 for surprise repairs in the first month. Joys of buying a short sale. Anyhoo, when moving out, have enough rent money set aside for at least a few months if you're unemployed. I would recommend at least two months of covering everything: Groceries, Gas/water/electricity, rent, cell phone, everything. If you need help establishing a budget, I've used

>http://www.mint.com

for years. They just got bought out by Intuit, so they're jewbagging it up with turbotax ads and shit. But when it comes to tracking your money in a consolidated, easy to use interface, it's still the best. You can also use that to establish a budget for everything you do. I highly recommend setting it up and seeing how much you spend each month.

I'm going to echo the rice and beans comment, and also mention that you can get produce for killer prices over at Aldi. Make some kick ass salads for extra nutrients for about half as much as I would spend at most grocery stores. They have them all over the US and Europe, so finding one shouldn't be too difficult. Chicken and eggs are good protein choices, so is tuna fish. Learn how to make tuna salad from canned tuna, it's a good option for protein. Make sure you figure out a recipe you like. There's a lot of shitty tuna salad, but one that's tasty will always come through in a pinch.

Depending on your income, you might qualify for food assistance/living assistance. If you're in the states, Section 8 landlords love tenants that want to improve their situation in life. If you're not a scumbag, you will be loved.