Can i move out? vol. tired of living at home

[zapatohead408]

Alright guys so I graduated May 2013 about a year ago. Been living at home, working and saving up money. I have a decent paying job 60k/yr. Bring home almost exactly 3400 a month. This doesnt sound too bad but I have a rack of student debt to pay. 1200 a month strictly on student loans. Plus I have cell phone, car payments, and car insurance bills. Im looking to move into the DC area and looking at the budget I made, I'll probably have around 400 to myself for going out and all the other unnessasary things if Im living as frugal as possible.

My question is do you need to save money? There are pros to living at home but being on your own is 100% better to me. Im single and dont have to spend any money on a girl but even so id be on a very tight budget. These student loans killin me man they aren't a joke. Looking for people with insight on similar experiences.

Im looking at 1200 a month total on rent and this would include utilities and all that jazz

Move out.. You're making 60k a year..

not really 60k cause of his student loans. common misconception in salaries in todays youth

"i make 50k i can move out"

You still make that much though. It's just a debt to pay. Out here in the Bay Area, 60K a year will barely get you by with a family, single and no loans, you can do it.

OP what did you major in if you don't mind me asking.

 

[wj4]

You still make that much though. It's just a debt to pay. Out here in the Bay Area, 60K a year will barely get you by with a family, single and no loans, you can do it.

OP what did you major in if you don't mind me asking.

I wouldn't even try the Bay Area even with $80k for a single person and that's on the lower end. I turned down job offers up there simply because the pay increase vs the rent in the areas: Palo Alto, Redwood City, etc. are darn high.

There's a reason why min wage up there is higher than the rest of CA.

 

[Mark Antony]

Yeah I learned living in expensive areas, when negotiating salary at first, always go the high end, **** modesty. Your pay rate increase will never be on par with actual COL.

 

[zapatohead408]

You still make that much though. It's just a debt to pay. Out here in the Bay Area, 60K a year will barely get you by with a family, single and no loans, you can do it.

OP what did you major in if you don't mind me asking.

I wouldn't even try the Bay Area even with $80k for a single person and that's on the lower end. I turned down job offers up there simply because the pay increase vs the rent in the areas: Palo Alto, Redwood City, etc. are darn high.

There's a reason why min wage up there is higher than the rest of CA.

Word, it's crazy. No idea how my old man did it. Same here, i I were to be making anything less than 20 an hour once I'm on my own, there's no way I'd live a good life.

Pretty sure I'll be moving to Texas at some point in the next decade.

 

[wsdesigner14]

You need to get a better sense of your finances. There's no reason for you to not know the terms of your loan. Your number one priority should be to pay off those student loans as quickly as possible over the next decade. You have a good emergency find saved. Are you investing in a 401K? IRA? You should be putting away at least the minimum to get your employer match.

You can obviously afford to move out but I would suggest living rent free if possible for the next few years.

 

[villansfinest]

i had more visceral fun living cheaply with room mates for 3 years, than having more financial cushion and stability now that i'm making more money.

if you're an upstanding young person who picks the type of job that will allow you to earn raises or progressive pay scales... you WILL be earning more in 2 years than you do currently. i had a private bank loan to pay off after college; it started out at an annoyingly high amount, but over the years as i paid it down the required minimum monthly payment decreased about once every 2 years.

you will be earning more and paying less in the future.

here's what i did. sucked it up and lived in a dump with a few raucous friends for a few years and made so many priceless memories while doing free events for fun, and drinking cheap beer. next step for me was to move out on my own. i chose a location as close as possible to work, didn't have a car at all for 2 years, saved money and ended up paying off the last 40% of my loan in one lump sum payment only 80 months after i started the repayment schedule.