<p>I just finished my 2 year degree at a local community college. I am transferring to USF this fall. I cannot make up my mind on whether or not I should get an apartment with a friend or stay home. I am 21 years old and I will be 22 in July. I have been stressing out about this issue for weeks. Here is my current situation. Sorry for the long read.</p>
<p>I don't have many friends because I moved to where I currently live during my senior year in high school (damn you parentals!!). I think moving out into an apartment with one of my friends (that I did make during my short time at high school) would be a great experience for me. It would be a great opportunity to meet new people and really get the true college experience. I know I would have a lot of fun and it would be a great time.
I would have to work part-time (20 hours a week) to pay for rent for the apartment. The money I have left over from grants/financial aid would cover food/gas/etc. My primary concern with moving out and working 20 hours a week would be time-management. I plan on majoring in Computer Science and I'm sure that it's a pretty demanding major. I will have to attend USF for about 2.5 years to complete the degree. I have no clue how tough this major will be paired with part-time work. I also have a pretty sporty car (2002 Trans Am). I am worried about it leaving it at the apartments as I know Tampa isn't the safest area. I am also worried about the possibility of someone breaking into the apartments. I am probably getting more freaked out than I should be, but that's to be expected.</p>
<p>I also have the option of living at home. I would be able to live at home completely rent-free. I wouldn't have to pay a single bill. I also would not have to work. I could use the left-over grant money for gas/pocket. Commuting would suck (70 miles round trip) as well as parking. The worst part about living at home would be boredom. Like previous mentioned, I don't have many friends here. I would spend most nights just sitting around the house. Parents can also get on your nerves as most you already know. I would save SO much money with this option, but I am not sure if its worth my sanity. Another plus is having PLENTY of time available to focus on my studies. I would definitely miss out on the full college experience. I realistically would not attend 1 party living at home. I also don't know about pushing 25 years of age and still living with my parents.</p>
<p>What do you guys think about this? What path would you recommend I take? Thank you SO much for taking the time to read this and giving any possible advice. I appreciate it!</p>
<p>They say if you want to keep your friends don’t live with them. Being around someone 24-7 can put a lot of stress on a relationship. If you don’t have many friends you might not want to risk this friendship.</p>
<p>How about getting the part-time job and saving some money while you stay with your parents. Then in a semester or two reconsider whether you want to get an apartment/roommate. </p>
<p>There are a lot of stresses that come with your own place: grocery shopping, laundry, utilities, noisy neighbors, etc. Working 20 hours a week is really the least of your worries.</p>
<p>He is not a close friend. I actually never even kept in touch with him in high school until I got a job and he worked there as well. I would say he is more of an acquaintance than a close friend. I have always heard its better to live with an acquaintance than a close friend as well.</p>
<p>The apartment would include utilities/cable/internet/phone. It is an individual lease type of apartments. It also has washer/dryer in the apartment. I would also be living with 2 other people that we would get matched up with. They are 4 bedroom setups.</p>
<p>If I stayed home I would probably get a small part-time job working 10 hours or so just to have to spending money here and there.</p>
<p>How much is that apartment? The ones close to my school that have individual leases are ridiculously expensive. They are over $700 per person, which is totally unreasonable given the area. Two people on their own can rent a very nice apartment in the same area for around $900 a month total. So make sure you are getting a good deal.</p>
<p>I would go for the apartment, if you can geta job. You won’t put a ton of mileage on your car, you’ll probably be happier, and having a job will probably force you to consider time management and develop those skills. Try something new! Especially if he is more of an acquaintance, then I think it would be a good experience.</p>
<p>Yeah, I am leaning towards moving out for sure. I love my parents to death, but they can certainly get on my nerve. Today, they have had the day off for Memorial Day. I have been home all day with them and it has been torture! This is what I needed to remind me. Normally they are at work all day and then I go to work from 4-9.</p>
<p>I currently have a job and I will most likely be able to transfer to the store in the Tampa area so that shouldn’t be a problem. </p>
<p>I have one question. I have never bought food for myself. Realistically, how much can I look to spending a week on food on a budget? Is it possible to not exceed $100 a month? It would be great to spend less than that as well. Thanks guys!</p>
<p>A parent here - if you were my kid, I would tell you to move out. I may even encourage you to live in a dorm. Living with other students, managing money, sorting out roommate problems, are all part of college experience. It is a nice way to learn to be independent with a safety net. If you have to drive 70 mi a day to commute, it would take a lot away from socializing with other students.</p>
<p>Thank you guys for all your input! I really appreciate it. I was always planning on moving on, but then some people said I should just save my money. I agree that I would not get the true college experience at all. Life at home is ultimately boring. Sure, I would save a lot of money but I would be miserable.</p>
<p>Again, thanks guys for taking the time out of your day to help me! :)</p>
<p>Good luck. The kind of money you are talking about is not that much, but you could never have the experience again (hard to turn back the clock).</p>
<p>On food- while I lived on my own I usually spent about $35 a week on food. Maybe a little more or less sometimes. I usually had the least amount of food on my shelf in my apartment, but I survived and I ended up cooking more than any of them, lol. I just tried not to buy a bunch of stuff that would just sit around all semester.</p>
<p>Definitely be careful living with friends- trust me.</p>
<p>The thing to make sure about is your job. Make sure you’ll always be able to have that amount of hours and that you’re not getting into a situation where your hours might suddenly be cut to 12-15 hours a week or something crazy like that.</p>
<p>What do you mean exactly by be careful living with friends? Just out of curiosity.</p>
<p>Yeah, I am definitely going to make sure I can get a steady 20 hours a week. 20 hours a week will be enough for rent plus $30-$40 left over. I will be getting $900 per semester as extra cash in my pocket. I plan to split that up over the months (about $225 a month) for food/gas/etc. Do you think that would be enough? I don’t see myself driving much. I will probably catch a bus to the campus and mainly drive when I need to go to work. I don’t see myself spending over $50 a month in gas.</p>
<p>I had an apartment with two of my close friends. It turned out one of them was completely not ready to live independently- it was like she expected her mother to show up at any second. The whole thing’s a really long story, but the fact is that sometimes you can never be too sure how well you know a person or how well you could trust them. It’s a hard lesson I’ve learned in life, and I know there are other friends I probably would not room with if I had the chance to. It is true that sometimes you can have too much of one thing- like a friendship. Soon that friendship becomes involved in every aspect of your life- paying bills, rent, contracts, cleaning, etc. It’s practically like having family! That can work out for some people, but other times you just have to be careful of what you’re getting into.</p>
<p>I think 20 hours should maybe be okay. Will your parents expect you to cover insurance too? Keep in mind the taxes that will be taken out of your paycheck and all so make sure you’re figuring that into your calculations. It would also help if you could find some way of earning money before you move so you can have some saved up.</p>
<p>Ah, I see what you’re saying now. It will be a 4 bedroom apartment setup and I will know the one person I am going to move in with. He is very ready to move out and is very responsible as am I. He is also getting a ton of extra money from financial aid as he has an EFC of 0. He is willing to even help out with food occasionally. The other 2 will be people I don’t know, but matched up with. I think it will be a good experience to meet new people as long as they aren’t psychopaths! </p>
<p>By insurance do you mean car/medical? I am lucky enough to have my parents cover that. They also cover the cost of my cell phone.</p>
<p>I used a paycheck calculator where you input your pay-rate/hours/pay interval and set it by the state. It will tell you how much you will take home after taxes. I would receive about $530 every month. I also have quite a bit of money in my savings for emergencies. I am also working right now and all the money I am making now is going to be put into savings as well. As it sits I don’t have a single bill so I am able to save almost everything.</p>
<p>My only worry about working 20 hours is with my engineering major. I hope it is not too difficult to manage.</p>
<p>I know how you feel. I worked at least that much, if not more, during my first two years of college, and it was hard enough managing all that with just general education and basic “intro to” classes! I can’t imagine what it would be like with engineering classes But if you can learn the time management skills and possibly plan your work schedule carefully, then it can work! Make sure you schedule in plenty of time for studying and projects and all. That’s something I never did. Apparently I was going to magically learn everything, lol!</p>
<p>Good luck! It sounds like a pretty good plan to me, and if it doesn’t work out for the semester at least you still live close enough to find other options.</p>
<p>Read your lease carefully. Make sure you are not liable for each when it comes to rental payment. My daughter is renting an apartment with her friend. Originally the lease said that they were jointly responsible for the rent. I asked the landlord to change the lease to read that they are each responsible for their own rent. If one person should decide to move out (may it be due to illness, insufficient GPA, or just change of mind), one party is only responsible for his/her rent (therefore not face eviction). I also added in the clause where the remaining tenant has the right to find another roommate, but is not obligated to. The landlord could only rent the vacant room to another same sex (in my daughter’s case is female) student who goes to her school.</p>
<p>To negotiate contract is also part of education.</p>
But if you can learn the time management skills and possibly plan your work schedule carefully, then it can work! Make sure you schedule in plenty of time for studying and projects and all. That’s something I never did. Apparently I was going to magically learn everything, lol!</p>