K-Rock-InC
Come to Anime Friday tonight and talk to my wife and I about this. We are not your parents, but we are in the same age range, and have gone through all of the same life experiences as them, so we can give you an un-biased view of the "other side".
First I would recommend attempting to take some classes at LCC. The cost is reasonably low, and if you have your parents assist you with all of the FAFSA stuff, you will most likely be eligable for a Pell grant. a Pell grant is free money for tuition that you do not have to pay back. Definitely the best option you will get. You will still need to dish out a few hundred for books, and whatever the grant didn't cover, but in the end it will be the easiest for you.
If you do want out of the house, you will absolutely have to team up with others to get a place. My daughter is sharing a place with her fiance and his friend and co-worker. With the economy like it is, they are struggling to keep their half of a rented du-plex.
In this area a cheap apartment is one around $700 a month. That is a really good price. On top of that add in the things that may not be included, A cell phone or phone service $25 - $50 a month. EWEB electric and water $120 a month. Cable TV? $90 for the cheaper stuff. Internet? $40 Groceries for 1 month for 1 person $100 So what do we have so far? $1,000 easy. Now if you are holding 1 full time job at minimum wage you are making maybe $300 a week (maybe $350, but less than $400). Hmm... Ok so $1200 a month minus $1000 in expenses leaves you with $200 -$250 in the bank for manga, games, clothes, movies, and in general having fun with your friends. This is of course if all goes well.
Does your job have medical coverage? Oh you are sick? Hmmm. Doctor visit $125 dollars just to have a shot and checkup. Missed work. Weekly pay dropped to $200 (or less) for that week. Now where do you stand? Umm.. you didn't really need to eat that week right?
Oh you don't have furniture or a microwave, TV washer and dryer? OUCH! Hmmm. Used couch from St Vinnies or Goodwill $125 Dinning table and chairs $50 from yard sale (LUCKY). Microwave new from Wal-Mart $90 - $125. TV? Maybe you have one already in your room, or can take one with you, if not expect to spend around $500 for a decent new one that may have a DVD built in. Stereo? Oh you are a funny person HA HA HA. Seriously? Got a $1000 on you? That is if you want a real stereo and not a glorified BOOM box. Umm... Washing your clothes Laundromat or washer & dryer. This depends a lot on the place you are renting. The cheapest places don't have laundry in them, so you need to take your clothes somewhere to wash them. I haven't used a laundromat in some time, but I know it isn't free. You also need to supply your own laundry detergent and fabric softener, + hang around till it is done washing. (manga reading time). If you do have a washer and dryer hook-up I doubt they are provided for you, so $600 - $750 for a decent washer, and around $400 - $600 for a dryer. If you get energy star efficient ones you may get a tax break on your next years taxes (LOOK INTO THAT)
Now, you have a job, you found a place, The landlord is willing to take a one month deposit, and a cleaning deposit (This is the money it cost them to clean the carpets, etc. If you keep the apartment clean you may get this money back when you move out) Gee I didn't mention vacuum cleaner $400 (nice one). I can almost state for fact that they won't let you in unless your parents co-sign the agreement. Not without credit and work history, both of which take time to create.
How do you create credit? Simple, buy stuff. That washer and dryer, vacumm cleaner, TV, Microwave, and nice table lamp. Buy that all at Sears. Get a Sears credit card (WARNING: The APR on this card may cause heart failure) Now, I know this hurts, but don't pay it off all at once, but DO pay it all off quickly. Once you have it all paid off (CUT THAT CARD INTO ITY BITTY PIECES AND THROW A PARTY) Now it is time to try getting a loan from the bank (Your first car is a good one) Find a nice used car and take out a loan to pay for it over 3 - 5 years. Any loan is going to cost you more than the original cost. Take that as a given. The trick is to pay back as quickly as you can. Sometimes they penalize you for paying it all back early, so check on that before signing. Again, they may require your parents to co-sign. If you have the credit from the crecit card already you may luck out, but I doubt it. When you finish paying off the auto loan, you will most likely have a credit history. At this time expect to start receiving credit card offers in your mail every week from Chase, American Express, Discover, and a zillion other banks and lending orginizations that all want to give you money. Now is the time to learn SMART financing. Get a credit card with a low APR (Annual Percentage Rate) That is the amount of interest that you pay on the card in one year. A decent one is 9% - 12%. I usually shred any offer higher than 12% without even blinking (shred it don't just throw it in the trash, this is a credit card application with your name on it, in short credit card ID theft 101. Never throw this in the trash, or recycle bin). That Sears card you got was probably around 27% or so, that is why I had you cut it up. Although it won't help your credit, I always pay off my entire credit card balance every month. This lets me buy all I want and then pay for it once. Some people prefer using a bank debit card. Similar thing, except that balancing the check book can get hairy if the debit card is on your checking account.
K-Rock-InC - If you don't do any of the stuff above, or take any other advice I give, I want you to take this advice the most.
DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, SPEND MORE ON YOUR CREDIT CARD THAN YOU CAN PAY BACK!!!
This is the trap that many credit card companies get you to fall into. It is called a minimum payment. Gee, I bought a new HDTV, washer, and dryer, and laptop computer with my Credit card and it's $5,000 limit is almost reached, but I only have to pay $80 a month. How awesome is that? Guess what happens? This month your balance is $4,500. You pay the $80 minimum. Next month your balance is $4,550. You will notice that that is actually more than the previous month. Welcome to the joys of interest that is higher than the minimum payment. This little trap has placed untold millions of people into a living hell. DON"T BE TRAPPED!! Even if you take the entire $200 extra that you earn each month and use it to pay this bill, you will only drop it by maybe $50 a month. $4,500 at -$50 a month takes 7 and a half years to pay off. Over that time, if you paid the $200 each time you will have spent $18,000 on the original $4,500 that you owed. This isn't exactly accurate, because as the amount decreases, so does the interest on the amount, and of course if the balance is $200, and you pay $200 you won't have 3 more payments, but still you get the general idea. It is easy to end up paying twice as much as the original cost. Look at that APR of 10% a year (or more) and add in the 7 years to pay it back. Yeah, they got you good didn't they?
Another piece of advice is to only have ONE CREDIT CARD (What! you wanted to multiply the debt?). It really doesn't take more than one Visa or MasterCard to buy anything in the USA. Don't get both, just to have each, because you will only use one. Discover & American Express are both cards that are best for people who do a lot of traveling. If that isn't you, don't bother with them, the APR on each will make you blanche.
I hope this opened your eyes a bit, and made you think a little. Welcome to the real world kiddo. It can be a very scary place.
