Tips to moving out of your parents house?

Fair question, but please use breaks in your text in appreciation of people’s eyesight. You will probably get better answers as well.

See this question

You will need to cover the basics:

For renters, you typically sign a one year lease. If you are renting w/ a friend, make sure you BOTH sign the lease to make you equally responsible. You will usually have to pay one month of rent and a deposit (one month of rent again) to get started….

You will need to pay electic and phone or cell each month.

You will need food

Car payment, car insurance and gas. Car maintenance (consider if the car breaks down)

Health insurance (are your parents going to continue to cover health insurance——what if you get in an accident, become hospitalized, etc).

You said tuition is covered. What about books, parking pass, supplies for classes?

Computer? Internet access?

You should also have a 3–6 month reserve of living expenses (if possible) to cover unforseen things.

How frugal are you? Can you commit to not spending money on non-essentials like junk food, eating out, movies, new clothing? Can you cut expenses elsewhere? Dump internet if you have access thru school?

These are just some ideas to think about. Really, only you know what your monthly expenses would be…..start making a list.

Good luck.

Get renters insurance. It truly is a pittance and covers your butt.

Also, if you can. Watch every penny you spend. Not saying change necessarily but when you become aware of the fact you grab a quick bite out every day on campus for $5 instead of bringing your food. That is $200 a month vs way less. And I believe I am underestimating the cost of food out and savings in. Not to mention which is better for you

Oh, and welcome to Fluther.

This year, heating costs are likely to be a concern too. How is your place going to be heated? Electric? Gas? Oil? Steam/register heat, or forced-air?

Are you sure that you can live with your roommate happily?

If it all possible, and I know it’s difficult to actually do this, but have at least a couple month’s worth of money saved up. And don’t touch it unless you absolutely need to. “They” say something like six months is ideal, but come on. How many of us could really have six month’s worth of savings when we were in college? But if you could at least have maybe two months worth, that will help when you are between jobs and on ramen rations.

Definitely get your roommate to sign the lease. That way, if they can’t pay the rent, it’s their responsibility, not yours.

The more roommates you have, the better of a deal it is. For example, you might find a place that’s $450 for 1 BR. A 3 BR house might go for $900. That’s a savings of $150 a month.. a decent chunk.

Try to find a place that has some utilities included. The best deal would be free heat (there are lots of places around here, in a college town, that pay the heat).

To save money, don’t eat out if you can help it. You have no idea how fast money goes when you’re eating out a lot. Make a big meal at home so you have leftovers to eat on for a few days.

Snoopy’s list was a great one.. you have to take all those things into consideration.

Now.. I feel like if I, the world’s worst money manager, have managed to live on my own for over 10 years, you can probably figure out a way to do it, too.

Get the price of the apartment you are interested in renting.

Ask the manager what a typical month’s electric bill would be.

Find out from the cable company how much service is per month for tv/ possible phone

and internet sevice is (if you intend to use them for your isp.)

If you will be expected to pay for water/ garbage, find out how much that is from the

manager as well.

Once you figure out all the bills you will have to pay and how often, put those amounts

routinely in the bank for the next six months as if you are paying rent, electric, etc.

After doing that, not only will you know what you can afford, you will also have a 6

month “cushion” saved up for emergencies.

By the way, Welcome to Fluther!!

hoping this post was easy on gail’s eyes

One tip I learned when I moved into my first place a few months ago:
Think about getting a realtor.

It’s free to you! (The realtor gets paid a commission by the real-estate owner) and they will drive you around (saving you gas money, and a lot of time and energy) to look at different places. The only downside is that a realtor typically will not show you corporate-owed apartments (because they don’t get a commission on those), but they can show you condos for lease, garage apartments, duplexes, fourplexes, houses for rent, etc.

I realized that these are often the best places to live for several reasons:
-Crime rates are typically lower in neighborhoods than apartment complexes.
-Utilities are included more often.
-Neighbor’s noise is less of a problem.
-You usually get a lot more parking spaces.
-You have greater convenience because you don’t have to take an elevator and walk down a bunch of hallways to get home, you can just park your car, and walk right into your house.
-You almost always have more flexibility in writing the lease—you don’t have to just accept the one you’re given.

My roommate and I called Coldwell Banker United, and got an AWESOME realtor who was perfect for us, but I’m sure there are plenty of other companies that also have great realtors.

She showed us three places, a duplex, a fouplex, and a condo that were all close to our school, affordable, and nice. We chose the duplex, and she went over the lease with us, and helped us get the best deal and the most terms in our favor.

As I said before, we found ours through www.coldwellbankerunited.com, but you could also find one by googling your city’s name and the phrase ‘association of realtors’ or something similar.

Good luck with your move! Leaving my parents house was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.

If you and your parents don’t get along, maybe they would like you to leave also, but love you enough to help out by continuing to lease your car and keeping you on their insurance. Maybe you should talk to them about what they are willing to do before you do anything.

i agree with Bri L to get renters’ insurance. i never had it till i had a tragedy happen (fire) and i would have gotten a whole lot of benefits to start over with (money, paid hotel while relocating, stuff professionally cleaned). now i always have renter’s insurance. also, you may get health insurance through your school – sometimes they have a plan. if your parents can keep you on theirs maybe you can arrange to pay them, it might be cheaper and better quality than if you did it another way. it’s tough to live on your own, but i think if you’re determined you’ll succeed. make sure your roommate is committed to living there and not leaving you stranded. try to leave your parents’ house on good terms – it will be more pleasant for all involved, and they may be a resource to you in the future.

You need to talk to your parents on the auto insurance and lease payment issues. Because you’re a college student, if you were living at school you could probably continue to be on their policy. Moving out on your own may not qualify, though. An individual policy will almost certainly cost MUCH more than what you’re paying as part of the family’s policy.

How well do you know the friend you’re considering living with? How financially responsible is that person? You absolutely want everybody who is living in a place to be named on the lease, but you need to remember that if your roomies don’t come up with their share of the rent or utilities, YOU will still be held liable for “their” portion. YOU will still be evicted or have your utilities cut off if they don’t come through, and the bad debts will stay on your record until they’re paid.

Many times, landlords require that the parents of young tenants co-sign the lease, so that the landlord has someone else to go to if the tenants flake out.

I strongly suggest talking to your parents—maybe with a neutral party you all trust present to help mediate—about your “laundry list” of issues. You may be able to work something out with them to make all of you happier. It’s certainly worth a try!

Also (this is the case in Canada) if you’ve moved out on your own you can qualify for more government assistance on loans or access more bursaries and scholarships, look diligently to find them as many people simply don’t apply for them…

If you are living around a college campus, get rid of the car and get a bike. Nothing wrong with riding your bike to work either.

Being a college student without a car, I disagree with JohnRobert. I left my car in my hometown, and I hate it! If I didn’t have access to my boyfriend’s car I don’t know how I would survive here. There are so so so many things that come up that you will realize you need a car for.

For example, my bike got a flat tire. How was I supposed to get to the bike shop to buy a new tire? Serious problem!

@ La chica gomela – I think it depends on the campus.

I went to UW Madison and you wouldn’t WANT a car on campus.

Bikes were best. there were bike shops every where. take the wheel off and walk it on in.

An alternative was a scooter. Park like a bike, move like a car.

Scooter—good call!

They go FOR FRICKEN EVER on one tank of gas.

I suppose it’s because I have a car that I enjoy my bike. A scooter would be awesome though.

i have the same concerns right now, only difference is am not goin to scho