One month before my 18th birthday, during my first week of my senior year of high school, I moved out of my home of 17 years. Moving away from my parents was difficult, but having no help with anything motivated me to prove everyone wrong. I knew it would be a struggle to balance school and work and the responsibilities of having a home, but I also knew I was completely capable of making it in the “real world.” I thought I knew everything. I thought I knew how much things cost and the value of a dollar. Moving into a house at 17 years old, you get a really big reality check. So, before any of us seniors graduate, move out, and go off into adult-hood, here’s a few things you might need to know.
Before moving anywhere, it’s helpful to have a job. It doesn’t have to pay a lot if you know how to manage your money.  Although you’ll need a lot of money to live on your own, it always takes time to work to make the money, but if you save and budget, you can easily have enough for necessities.
First off, you need a place. Whether it’s an apartment or a house, you’ll pay rent, the deposit, and the application fee. Rent, for a one to two bedroom apartment usually runs anywhere from $400 to $550 and the deposit either the same amount or slightly less. Both are due at the time of signing, to ensure your first month’s rent and your “security deposit” which can be taken away at the end of your lease if you’ve trashed the living space. Your total so far? $800, on the low side.
Now, your bills. Almost all water, electricity, gas, cable, and internet companies require a deposit fee to turn on your utilities depending on your credit. Water usually runs about $75 and electricity about $200, up front, just to turn them on at all. Once those are all turned on and the month goes by, you start getting bills in the mail.  Depending on how much of an electricity and water freak you’ve become (trust me, you’ll run around the house turning off lights that were left on), your bill can be as cheap as $40 for water and $50 for electricity or $200 or more for both. Cable and internet can run from $50 to $80 a month, but that all depends on the company you go with. It’s all about what you can afford. Sometimes you have to give up luxuries to save money. Your total cost now? $1,075, not including bills, just to move in.
You can’t starve to death either, food will be about $200 a month. You’ll have to start eating in and cooking, finding things that are easily reusable and last a while. Or, of course, ramen noodles are always cheap! You’ll find eating out or eating Taco Bell every day gets expensive… and disgusting.
Of course, there’s the $50 phone bill and the car payment and the car insurance and the gas for the car. Then there’s the toilet paper, the laundry soap, the dishwashing soap. The shampoo and the toothpaste. All the little things add up monthly. A pet? Food, shots, tags. It all adds up.
But what if an emergency happens? You get sick and need to go to the doctor, your car needs fixed, your toilet explodes. You never know when something is going to happen, which is why saving money as “emergency money” is never a bad idea. A four hour visit to the emergency room can add up quickly ($3,115 to be exact), just because you’re dehydrated and needed an IV.
Your total cost of first month move in? You add it up. I never thought about deposits, emergencies or “what if” situations. They happen, though, and at 17 I learned that. I didn’t have anyone to tell me how to live on my own, and I’m certainly not telling you. You don’t really understand everything until you experience it, but before you find out on your own, really figure out all the expenses, plan it out and think about the decisions ahead of you.