Foo - Moving out...

Hello all,

I am contimplating my "moveout" date, I am still thinking September 2006 if not earlier. Now I calculated my budget and with my new job (using minimum hours for both sub teaching and pizza hut) and I come out with approximatly 300 dollars extra after gas, health, car, rent, utilities, TV and internet. Assuming I eat on a budget (i.e. minimize fast food, etc). Is that enough here in Southern California? BTW if things go more as expected I would be an excess of about 800 per month.

I.e. 1600 min from two jobs (3 days at 70 per day sub and 24 hours per week with 200 dollars a month tips), 750 rent, 100 ulitities, 120 health, 100 car insurance, 125 gas, etc is 1300 = 300 residual (or 75 per week).

Are there anything I am missing? I already have to 600 dollar security deposit and plan on taking 2000 per quarter extra to help out if needed.

Thanks again, --- escaping!

Mandy

California is expensive. What about someplace else?

you dont need TV.

If you really are tight. Go bare minimal. But think within reason.

California is expensive. What about someplace else?

Job, doctors and discrimation laws are here, I am staying....

I could always just hook up an anntana

Job, doctors and discrimation laws are here, I am staying....

I could always just hook up an anntana

yeah.

I mean personally I have not had to deal with it. but thinking from a logical standpoint, everything counts.

Living the high life. $75/week, sounds like a great life.

Mmm. Ramen noodles.

****... if you're dumb enough to move out from your parents while you're going to school... well... could you ask them if i can live there for the summer? it would save me a couple grand or so.... so? :D

can u dump the car?

can u dump the car?

this is a good point. Dump the car and that is alot of money that you can use...

It would be awfully tough to deliver pizzas without a car, doncha think?

Looks pretty tight to me. Are the rent and utility figures firm, or an estimate? Is there a rainy day fund for, well, rainy days? If you can only count on $75 spending money per week with ideal conditions, I'd say the time is not yet right. What about food, clothes, personal care products, reading materials, bike stuff, etc?

I made this spreadsheet a while ago to check my expenses and savings, you might find it useful.

ewitz is a troll that I block for this reason, his comments are about as constructive as Raman noodles in a cyclist diet.

That said, I am 23 (almost 24) and starting my masters program. I am hoping that I can sponge off at home for another 6 months or so, but after finguring that I can save nearly 10k per year (money that can be applied to the three surgeries that I will need in the next 3 years) I may try and stay longer. When you get to be my age you are ready to move on, and personally in my situation I need to discover who I am on my own without someone who personally does not have my best interest at mind.

I talked to the manager today at work and she says that she has 32 - 40 hours for me a week when I want. The numbers I crunch are for the "worst case scinero" and actually you can live for 70 - 80 per week and eat decient food if you don't waste money (I don't spend more than that now and I never eat at home and rarely sponge off food at home).

Loosing the car is not an option. One my therapist is in downtown LA, 70 miles each way two times per month, my school is 20 miles from my home, I deliver pizzas to a 10 mile (and more) radius, I do research at libraries all over socal. Lets just say I need a car.

As I said earlier my best option is to sponge off my parents until things get to heated than move out.

Mandy

Raman noodles are high in carbohydrates & protein.

You can actually turn Ramon noddles into a great soup. Add fresh veggies, fresh herbs like mint, cilantro or basil, a couple of shrimp, a teaspoon of soy-sauce and you've got a real meal!

Get a 10-lb bag of dirty-rice and 10-lb bag of mixed beans for $8 total and you can live off beans+rice for months. You can make all sorts of chili with the beans. Top with steamed fresh veggies.

I live on RAMAN noodles and I am a superstar in my own mind !

But, you really should have a few thousand in the bank for stuff
that eneviatbly go wrong or be an unexpected hardship in your
life. Parents are OK. There is nothing wrong with living with them
for a while longer. When they are gone or far away you will wish
you spent extra time with them, anyway.

Do you plan on eating?

How important is TV? Cable? Internet? (You listed in top part, but not in the calculation)

Cell phone? Regular Phone?

Does where you are moving cover water and/or garbage pickup?

What if your car breaks down? Enough left over or saved up for any "emergency"?

Internet = go wireless and "share" someone else's connection
TV = rabbit ears. Screw cable.
Phone = cell only. Land line's just wasted $$
Car repairs = you can fix anything w/ soup cans, chicken wire, tin snips and duct tape

Car repairs = you can fix anything w/ soup cans, chicken wire, tin snips and duct tape :lol: - sounds like my volkswagen!

A question. THe benefits of living independently. A need you desire or just that you are on automatic and think you need. The needs for independence are obvious is you can swing it. How about discretionary money. No money for dating or whatever. You are a student. SOme kind of apartment with roommates maybe?
Parents supportive of you or a pain. Will this further your chances of completing your education. Couple questions. Just asking.

Mmmmmm Ramen Noodles. :beer:
Don't Knock Them. :fight:
:D Steve

A question. THe benefits of living independently. A need you desire or just that you are on automatic and think you need. The needs for independence are obvious is you can swing it. How about discretionary money. No money for dating or whatever. You are a student. SOme kind of apartment with roommates maybe?
Parents supportive of you or a pain. Will this further your chances of completing your education. Couple questions. Just asking.

Desire to move out... big, as in wanting to do for about 3 years now, but could never get the money together to do it. Dating as I have said will probably not happen for another 3 - 4 years due to my situation (if ever) and with friends true a little money is nice. My parents are understanding but not all that suportive of me, but my mom says that I can live at home as long as I want (as long as I don't cause to much in the way of problems. Since I will not be officially "transistioned" for 18 months to 2 years it will not be as huge of an issue until then, but the signs will be apparent for sure.

Mandy

If you go with cable internet then you may be able to use a TV capture card (or whatever they're called) to watch cable TV on your computer :) .

My computer is my TV... :lol:

26 inch LCD display

Analysis Paralysis.

:lol: - sounds like my volkswagen!
Oh yeah, you have a volkswagen. So all you need is a hammer and a flathead screwdriver. BTW, if there's a soup kitchen near you, you can always grab a meal or two there.

All I can say is do what feels best, you know your situation better then any of us. I have lived on my own since I was 17 years old and I always managed to come thru. I put myself thru college, only had a few roommates and never, never went without food.
Times will be hard but you'll never know unless you try.
My suggestion is put money away now, that way you have a nest to fall back on it something arises.
GoodLuck Mandy.

All I can say is do what feels best, you know your situation better then any of us. I have lived on my own since I was 17 years old and I always managed to come thru. I put myself thru college, only had a few roommates and never, never went without food.
Times will be hard but you'll never know unless you try.
My suggestion is put money away now, that way you have a nest to fall back on it something arises.
GoodLuck Mandy.

+1....except I was on my own at 19 but paying for my own education starting right at 17. I agree with Snowy that you know what's right for yourself.....but I also agree that it's a good idea to have some savings behind you.....just in case.

Ramen + thin sliced Flank Steak (cheap!), add some shredded cabbage and chopped green peppers, some soy sauce and sriracha sauce, and you have an awesome bowl of noodles.

I lived like that for a long time. Trust me, when you had all of $18 for a week's food, you learn to really stretch your budget.

Oh, and Udon is fer better than ramen IMO, but pricier (about 80c/pack)

Nix the cable TV. Only reason I have cable now is that it's only $10 more than having just cable internet.

If you want to save on internet, and are not a bandwidth hog, see if there is a neighbor with an 802.11 network that you can split the cost of the line with.

Finally, remeber to use a fan in conjuncion with your air conditioning...it will save you some money on your electric bills. Also get used to keeping your place at 75f...I hated doing that, but it cut my bill by about 50%. I liked my places cold....but cold = expensive.

Oh, and opt for warm bedclothes and heavy blankets instead of using heat....it again saves cash.

i've said this in another thread, but i think it's useful here too. breakfast foods are generally cheap and filling. making pancakes or french toast will fill you up. when i was on an extreme budget i'd often eat breakfast foods throughout the day.

You know what's the difference between living off of a $20K salary and spending $20K/year while on a $60K salary? In the first case, you'd better not mess up financially, or else things go downhill really fast. In the second case, you're very relaxed, because you have a huge savings rate and great financial security. I've done the latter (making money after college, but purposely constraining my spending so that I wouldn't have a huge lifestyle change when I went to grad school), so I can tell you that capping expenses to $20K/year is most definitely doable. But to not be constantly on the verge of financial breakdown, try to build up a good cash cushion for emergencies before moving out. It's not necessary... lots of people get by without such a luxury. But it certainly will put you a lot more at ease financially.

You definitely can make it on $1600/month. But try to minimize your fixed expenses as much as possible. A few dollars here and there may not seem like much, but there's a huge difference between $75/week to cover miscellany and $100/week to do so. Splurging on fixed expenses (things like Internet and cable) requires you to keep splurging even during the times you don't really care. Trim fat from your budget wherever possible if moving out earlier rather than later is a priority. Good luck. :)

I live on RAMAN noodles and I am a superstar in my own mind !

But, you really should have a few thousand in the bank for stuff
that eneviatbly go wrong or be an unexpected hardship in your
life. Parents are OK. There is nothing wrong with living with them
for a while longer. When they are gone or far away you will wish
you spent extra time with them, anyway.


yeah.. listen to him... if i had that $2000 i'm gonna be spending this summer on housing... well... i'd have $2000 more for education next year... but noooooooo.... i had to move outta my moms house (plus she doesn't like me and her husband doesn't like me... and all that ****... anyway)....

just think of the money! it's worth it!

Desire to move out... big, as in wanting to do for about 3 years now, but could never get the money together to do it. Dating as I have said will probably not happen for another 3 - 4 years due to my situation (if ever) and with friends true a little money is nice. Mandy
not an issue here. but, as a motivator how about Sarah Jesiah Parker. in her new movie about to be released March 10. the title. Failure to Launch?
gotta be good. Have to see it. Who would possibly want to move out with Kathy Bates as a mom.

When I went off to university at 17, my mom rented out my room. There was no going back. I was committed to being out on my own whether I chose to or not. :)