Silkroad Online Forums

So i wanna move out been with the folks to long. lol

any tips on what to look for ? im working full time on a 50 cent above minimum wage job... i will be moving out alone.( gf will be over but isnt going to be paying anything or be there 24/7)

i heard to try to find a place thats about half your montly income?
im not going to school right now... so i dont have to worry about paying school or anything like that. anyways just any tips on what i should do?

Cheaper is better. Just so long as living there won't kill you, there's no such thing as too cheap.

I wouldn't go over half your monthly income for rent. Make sure to check out all of the small things in each apartment.

http://www.padmapper.com/ can be useful.

Also, there is such a thing as too cheap.

I don't know what rent is like where your from, but if it's anything like Canberra, don't move out by yourself. Move in with room mates, it's a lot of fun, you'll meet some new friends and save a hell of a lot of money. Minimum wage sucks, seriously.

Minimum wage here is 8.50ish or something where I live so what? ether rent is cheap where you live or something but I don't see myself being able to live off of minimum wage by myself. As someone suggested above you should find a roommate preferably a friend.

before you move out i suggest you speak to someone who has moved out recently one of your friends maybe,

the costs you need to look at and keep in mind this is uk prices but they wont be far different to yours just convert the currency

rent (cant say you need to look for yourself)
food £25-35 per week
gas/electric £100-150+ a month this is hard to work out better to work it out higher then under so say £200 a month for both to be safe
(not sure if americans have these but stil)
tv licence £145.50 a year
council tax £900-£3000 a year


dont foget car or travel costs and you want money to go out with

basically your going to need £500-1000 a month depending on rent you realistically want a 24k a year job

again as i said im basing it on uk prices as im inbetween houses atm and know the aprox pricing

No tv license tax in the US if you were wondering.

best advice, im going uni thats why iv move back with my mom but i have to find a place before i apply for my loan as il get more help and better loan

Rule of thumb is rent is 30% of your monthly wage.

Spending half your money on rent means you'll be living from paycheck to paycheck. I'd try to settle for renting a room in a house or sharing an apartment with someone else to save some money if I were you. But if you really want to go solo on a near-minimum wage, you would have to make huge sacrifices. And as the above poster mentioned, about quarter of your monthly income should be your rent cost. Also, don't forget that the initial phase of moving out is very costly. In my case (and apparently a few others in SRF), that translates to about $10,000.

this kinda bugs me.. i know your trying to help but im not moving out cause i want to but because family issues... and i dont want to go to school yet as im going to the navy in a few years...

anyways update: i got a raise today from minimum wage to about 1.50 more... and my gf said she would help me with food? (shes not moving in btw) lol and im giving up my iphone for a cheaper phone.

any tips on what i need to start buying? like apartment necessities?

I found the first 3 months are the hardest as you have to learn to living on your set budget, determining your expenses etc. So to start with buy the minimum necessities and save every cent you can. Make sure you have an oven, a microwave, 1 metal pot (only 1, you won't need more), a fridge and an electric frypan. You can cook nearly any meal worth eating in an electric frypan, they are brilliant. Avoid buying appliances like toasters, kettles, coffee machines etc for a while. Cook your toast on the grill/oven and boil water in the pot if you like to have a hot chocolate every now and then, don't waste money on stuff you don't need.

Buy your toiletries and cleaning products etc in bulk from a place like costco (or your countries equivalent). Trust me, it saves ALOT of money in the long run and that sort of stuff can sit in the cupboard for a few months before using it without harm.

Look up some cheap meals to start cooking. Cheap cuts of pork/steak with a few veggies is simple and fast meal that is also healthy. Avoid fast food like the plague, it's bad for you and costs more than a home made meal does. Cook a whole chicken in the oven and use the meat as sandwich meat for your work lunches. You'll soon find out what meals your good at cooking so experiment a bit at the start.

My biggest bit of advice is just save every cent you can. Every. Single. Cent. Lounge? Don't buy one, watch TV from your bed. Or a fold-up chair. A lounge is an expense you won't want to afford straight away. Expenses usually come all at once, before you know it you'll have a food bill, phone bill, a car service, your rent and a power bill all due in the same week. Sometimes you need a few thousand dollars sitting away which you only use for emergencies (top it up whenever you withdraw from it, though). Bills have a way of just appearing without warning and you can't let it screw you over.

I've recently moved out, I'm not sure where you live etc. In England I had to save £1500 before I moved out, this is for first months rent, deposit (normally one and a half rent) and admin fees. I didn't have much change from that.

Before moving, write down all bills you need to pay, estimate on gas and electric (estimate higher), also have to think about winter being higher because of heating, we also have to pay for water, in England we have council tax as well, not sure if you have something similar, look at the area you want to move too, and see how much it will cost a month. You also might need to have contents insurance, some estate agents over here ask for this. Then estitmate on food, I spend about £100 a month, this is for me and the rabbits. See after those bills how much you have left, think about then how much you can spend on rent.

Then you'll need to think about the luxuries, phone, mobile, Internet and any credit cards or loans you may have.

Edit: also forgot about car and travelling.

If you need to get a cheaper phone and support with food, you cannot afford living alone.

It doesn't matter that you are not in school now and don't have to worry about paying tuition. The money you give away in rent would have been saved or spent elsewhere. I don't understand why everyone wants to move out so early - you are literally giving away thousands of dollars a year for nothing.

1,000 a month @ 12 months = 12,000 a year. US federal minimum wage? $7.25. +1.50? 8.75. Without even considering taxes, you are giving away (12,000/7.25) 1,655.17 hours of your life, per year, so you can do your own laundry and cook your own food. Add tv, internet, utilities, car, etc. and you are forever working because "been with the folks to long. lol".

Side note, I understand the purpose of budgeting and I can see its merits. If you are not forced to move out of your parents home (and you are doing so by your own will) and you need to calculate exactly how much money you will spend on utilities and food, you cannot afford it.

Very good point but depends on your age and what situation your in, i lived with my grandad but not so much as a grandson more as a tennant i had my space and freedom he died im not stuck between my dads or my moms both of them i love but neither could i get along with long term

Minimum wage in US is that low?

Actually it depends on the state/area. Some places it is even lower, and some don't even even have a minimum wage law.

@dom: It's actually a good thing that people show the initiative to move out of their folks' home. The problem is when they do it with a half-assed plan about living from paycheck to paycheck and a very limited amount of money reserved for the "moving out fee". It's always good to keep in mind that once you step out of the house, do your best not to come back. I don't know about other people but I'd take it as a terrible failure on my part if that happened to me.

In any case, good luck Dino.

TY inky!!

anyways update lol

got a second job part time so i do my 40 hours a week +20 as a cashier.

already bought most of the furniture

and i have like 500 saved up for emergency! ima keep saving and buying till march!

You bought furniture before you moved into the apartment?

Well, it's your money but it's generally better to see the layout and measure the apartment first before purchasing furniture. Having an idea of what you want to buy is nice but you never want to make anything final unless you're sure it's going to fit in nicely. Necessities like cooking and eating utensils and basic home appliances are alright but nothing like coffee tables and bed frames.

That's not necessarily true. Every apartment is going to have room for a couch, bed frame, night stand, coffee table, and tv stand. These are things that if you can find a good deal on craigslist you should grab it when you can. I've lived at 5 different places since I started college and this has held true for all of them.

It depends. Of course there's going to be room for it but whether or not it's the best option or the right size is a different matter.