I'm curious - early twenty somethings ?

at the age of 22, I had 2 kids & were raising them on my own, and was buying my own home & making my own car pmt. I did this w/ out any assistance from family or goverment. I worked & still work at a doctor's office in administrative type position. I would say you need to look elswhere for a job or you are going to have to lower your standards of living. Roomates are trouble unless you know you have someone super reliable. Good luck

I'm 25 and in the last 5 years I've gone from unemployed student draining inheritance, my parents goodwill, savings, student loan, credit card and I have no idea what else, living with my parents and somehow maintaining a car to go to uni...


To being a self-employed adjudicator, living by myself in a one-bed in London, more than comfortable.

There really is no substitute for hard work, determination and consistency, be it dieting, education or in the work environment.

I have a full time job as an accountant. I make just over 1k a week, but I still find ways to spend it all, LOL. I live by myself as well.

I'm not in your situation now, but 10 years ago I was. Renting a room is the way to go. Find a stable, older person who owns a house and wants to rent a room for some extra money. It's much better than finding roommates who may or may not pay the bills on time! Living on $9/hr is hard, so you don't want surprises. Amazingly, I actually saved money when I was living on so little, and eventually when I was making a little more money I was able to buy a little house for $80K and my payment was only $600. Of course, it needed work, but I fixed it up little by little and eventually sold it for much more.

In my early twenties, things were hard. I lived with roommates up until I was 26! I lived by myself for 1 year, but found that I was stretching myself to thin as I was paying my own college tuition at the time. Roommates weren't bad. I was very lucky to find good people and we really supported each other...when I was broke in between paychecks and needed something, they would step in and buy me food or give me money just to take the train and vice versa. I lived off of Celeste pizzas (99 cents) and ramden noodles. I didn't have a car (from NYC), so the money you are putting towards your car, I put towards my education.

Things will change! It just takes time. You are young, so don't worry too much about living on your own. If your parents are happy to have you, why leave? If you want more freedom, just get a roommate.

I don't mean to preach, but I really you hope you pursued or are pursuing a higher education. That's really the only way to secure a higher pay in the future unless you have connections.

I didn't get my first "real" paying job until I was 22 (making $25K a year), and for living in NYC, believe me, that wasn't much. However, in 4 years, my salary more than doubled after I got my degree.

Im 24, I work full time and make less than 50K a year. My question is, where do you live? I would LOVE to pay only $450 a month for rent, but that is literally impossible here unless you live in a basement room with no windows or closet in a group house in a bad neighborhood. I live by myself in a studio in DC and pay $1655 a month. Its considerably more than half of my after-tax salary. I dont have a car and can walk to work, which almost eliminates commuting costs. My only monthly bills are for my phone, internet, and netflix (I cant afford cable). Otherwise, Im pretty good at saving. The only thing I spend a lot of money on consistently is drinks and food, but whats the point of living in the city at my age without some semblance of fun? I guess its all relative. I make more than plenty of people my age that I know around the country, but my disposable income is much less than most of them. Hope this helps.

Don't feel bad rooms in Boston can be upwards of 750-1000 let alone the multiple thousands for your own apartment. That's why I live out of the city .

So early twenty somethings - 22

What is your living situation (live alone or roommate or ? ) Roommate

How much do you make ( i get why some people don't want to say so that's fine if you don't ) ? 55k/yr + ~15k extra for my freelancing web/writing work.

Do you struggle to pay bills ? Not since I left the military

Are you comfortable with your living situation ? Yes

What type of job do you have ( again if you don't want to say that's fine ) ? Computer programmer

When i graduated from college i worked at a job i hated for $13/hour. I lived 10 hours from home so i had to rent an apt but i got a roommate, and i worked at a restaurant on the weekends to supplement my income. I did ok, but to make $9/hour without any kind of other income is damn near impossible to get anywhere. If you wish to stay at your current job, absolutely work somewhere earning tips on the weekends or after work. Waitressing/bartending whatever. Good luck!

I am 26, recently a single mom of a 1yo little boy! Currently living with my parents to save money in order to buy a home!
I am an administrative assistant making around 36,000 a year. I am able to pay my bills however at the moment I can not afford to rent and pay for daycare!
I pay around 1,000 dollars a month for day care and a 2 bedroom appartment or home in my area runs about 1,400 a month!
So thus why I am saving up to buy! I can definitely get my mortgage cheaper than what I would pay for rent!
Definitely envious of all those that only pay around $450-$550 for rent!

I'm 20, almost 21, and I've lived with my boyfriend on our own since we were 18. We both make $11/hour (40 hours per week) but they are both temp jobs, so in November, we both won't have jobs, so, knowing that, we save every penny. Our rent is $600 (we live in a ghetto *kitten* apartment with 3/6 tenants being known druggies/alcoholics) and we have about $500 in bills every month. We limit our trips out, we ask each other before we buy anything, and we continue to live in our ****ty apartment because we save gas money because we walk to work and it's really cheap for the area we live in, we are very very very good at managing our money (well, at least, I think!) and knowing when to say no to stupid expenses and knowing when to splurge. We have over $10,000 in our bank right now and have absolutely no debt. I left my house at 18 with $70 and I'm very proud of where am I now.

Oh, and a tip! One day we just decided, "If we have less than $100 in the bank, we have NO money." Then it started to get a little bit more and more and more. And I think that is a really awesome starting point. Once you start to build a little savings, life will get easier and easier. Take small steps, only buy what you need, carefully think about your fun expenses, limit eating out, and learn ways to have fun without spending money!

I'm 19

live in england with my boyfriend who has a studentship of £16,500
buying a flat now, payments are about £600 a month
we're comfortable, but i had to take out slightly more from my student loans to cover transportation
we have about £350 a month for leisure/outings and about £200 a month for food and £100 for bills

tbh, i'm wondering how you can't afford $450 a month. i've worked full time in the US and could definitely afford it (on near minimum wage). i'm just estimating you work about 40 hours a week, and it seems like you'd have more than enough for rent and transportation etc

Where do you live where a one-bedroom apartment is $450? In DC, that sort of thing is $1500+.

Right? I'm in a philly suburb and one of the cheapest around here is $1350

Most likely the south or midwest, I lived in Oklahoma and you can find a one bedroom for $400 a month.

Im 27, but have lived on my own for the past 5 yrs. (I also have a 7yr old son, single mom)I recently moved back home to help pay for tuition ( out of pocket). Really you just need to focus on a budget.I have never really struggled to pay my bills. Everything i have i can say that i obtained it on my own. Never had a bf/ husband/ roommate living with me to help share some bills. My credit score is really good which in turn I get really good rates or 0% on large purchases. I guess i can say I have never been declined when applying for something. Here are a few Random things I did to help me get by and enjoy life.

1. Coupons, coupons, coupons.
2. When gas was at its all time high, I planned one day to run around and do all errands and chores.
3. If it was walking sistance I walked. ( grocery store, park, pick up son from school, etc and you're getting your excercise in)
4. Save Save Save ( for example if my check was $1108.45, i would dep the $1000 into checking acct for bills and the $108.45 into savings, didnt touch it and didnt think about it, before you knew it I had saved enough money for a down payment on my new car or had that emergency fund or when I was short on money for the monthly bills, I knew i had my little stash)
5. Ad comparison. Im that lady that takes all the weekly ads to walmart and the price match everything. ( this ties in with #1)
6. Garage Sales. You'd be surprised on how much junk you have that you can sell and get money for.
7. there are Apps that you can upload onto your phone that the merchants will scan straight from your phone and give you the discount.
8. Have you tried to refinance your car, the lower rate will get you lower payments.
9. Shop around on your insurance, cellphone provider etc you'd be surprised on how much money you can save by just shopping the competition. ( threaten that your going to leave and they WILL offer you something cheaper)
10. I got rid of my cable. With fulltime work, a son and workingout I rarely wathced tv. when i did I was usually watching the same shows. I eventually started to watch them on my laptop online. so i said scew it i dont need to pay $100 on something that i dont use anyways. dont miss it at all!
11. Do not pay your bills late, so much of your money goes on late fees. I work to hard formy money.



I dont want to clog up your page with my cheap idea. I guess I have been doin it a while so I have learned the tricks and trades. This in turn has let me live comfortable.
BTW, I work at a bank making $14.75 an hr. Not alot of money but I learned to budget. When i was living alone My rent was $750, and car payment was $400, insurance was $167 ( for my car and my moms truck, I paid both), student loans from the first time in school $200, cell phone $130 ( again for mine and my moms cell). Those were my biggest bills aside from all the small ones.