One of my biggest regrets is not being financially independent at 18 years old. My history with my family with regards to finances was unhealthy to say the least. They held my savings accounts, college, and possessions over my head and unfortunately I bought into their financial carrots until I was 23. They had convinced me that I couldn’t make it by myself and so I subjected myself to 5 more years than I was legally required to be living with them. …but we can get more into that at another time.
It is my desire to help young adults become financially independent sooner. I would like to solicit my readers feedback to create a project around this subject. This project could be a series of posts on my blog, a good thread at FDR or even an entire website dedicated to this subject. This project is all up to the feedback I receive from you, so I encourage your feedback so I can make an awesome resource to help 18 year olds gain independence faster so they can start to make their own decisions without fear of being “cut off” financially.
Since I did not escape my parents house until I was 23, I would like to get the following feedback from those of you that are on your own financially:
- Starting early
- How did you prepare yourself for the job world before you were 18?
- How did you prepare yourself for college?
- Jobs
- What are good resources to look for jobs?
- How did you build your resume?
- What made interviews successful/unsuccessful?
- How do you get your foot in the door if you haven’t had a job before and/or have few references?
- Are references always necessary if you are just starting out? If so, how do you get them?
- Shelter
- What are the best housing options for someone starting off?
- What do you look for in roommates?
- How do you find a place to rent?
- Food
- How do you live on a budget without destroying your health?
- Any good, inexpensive recipes that don’t involve ramen noodles?
- Clothes
- Where do you shop for clothes?
- Transportation
- Finance a car? Buy a motorbike? Bike? Bus? Train? What transportation has worked for you?
- School
- How do you finance college without your parents help?
- How do you decide and research what you want to do before going to college?
- How do you find the right college for you?
- Other expenses
- How do you get health insurance? What kind?
- How do you afford therapy?
- What other expenses did you encounter starting off?
Any feedback would be helpful! Please reply to this post with your thoughts and you can be involved in helping others become financially independent more quickly. Even if you didn’t get out of the house at 18, I am sure any life experience would be helpful to others. Thanks! 
Until this project moves forward, I would like to offer a link to a budget calculator I created for myself and others to manage their monthly expenses. You can view and save this budget calculator here. Also, if you use a credit card or debit card for most of your transactions, mint.com is an excellent resource for managing your budget.
Tags: finances, financial, independence
November 18th, 2008 at 12:13 am
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!
November 18th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Hi Rich. Can’t really help you with those questions as I just turned 23 and am still living with my parents. Not for long though; I am moving into a rented house with friends in two weeks time!
Honestly I wish I had moved out sooner. Though I have been quite lucky with my parents–well my parents split up when I was 8, so I haven’t lived with my dad since I was a small child–but my mum, at least, has very similar views to myself with regards to freedom. That said, the very fact of her having had authority over me through my childhood somewhat precludes a truly equal relationship between us while I am living in her house. That is, she does nothing to actually restrict me, but there is a risidual feeling that I have left over from my childhood that I cannot shake, and don’t believe I will be able to until I move out.
I very much feel positively about my overall relationship with her, and will certainly continue to be in contact with her, but I will be glad to move out and become fully independent none the less.