How Many Of You Live By Yourselves?

...or with roomates.
Anyone who isn't family.
How many of you pay the bills and have a place to call your own?

 

I live with roommates when I'm back at school. I'm living with my parents for the summer.
My parents/financial aid pays for most of my rent, I pay the bills.

 

whoa definitely doesn't count

 

You said live on your own or with roommates, and I do. Haha
I guess you want people who are completely independent, right? I can't wait until that happens.

 

Well, I guess I live with family, it's my daughter and I.

I pay my own bills, though.

 

I live by myself.

 

For three months I've been renting my own place and supporting myself wholeheartedly. I don't live with anybody.

It has its good and bad points. I feel remarkably independent but I miss the mayhem of having housemates.

 

Plus you can masturbate whenever you want.

 

Yeah, I find it hard to stop sometimes.

 

Yeah that's what I meant.
There's nothing wrong if you have parents that are willing and able to help you out, that must be nice.

 

OK, next question.
For those of you who pay your own bills, what does food generally cost you per month?

 

:seeya:

I live alone.

Depends on what I'm eating... Sometimes I get sick of cheap shit. I buy very little prepackaged garbage, & no soda, unless I'm mixing liquor into it.
My smoking/alcohol budget is the real killer.

Next couple months will be leaner because I want to lose 10-15 pounds and I just bought some new clothes.

 

i prefer to live by myself.
i am doing so for this precious moment now.
i don't know how long i will be able to.
probably not very.

i never wished it to happen the way that it did though.

 

What about you neo?

 

$250-$300, usually. But, that's only when I get a few pricey meats. I LOVE to cook and a lot of the money goes towards spices and fresh fruits and veggies.

 

I live with my brother and two roommates. I don't pay rent, as they basically had a tiny spare room.

I spend $300-$400 a month on food, but prices here are a lot higher than in the US. I stinge on everything I can and eat a lot of the same stuff. But it's cheap.

 

It really varies. If I eating out a lot it can be up to AU $600, if I am buying most of my own things and cooking it myself it is generally around AU $200 AU. I have to eat a lot of specialty foods due to some food intolerances of mine and that makes things more expensive.

Before I had this problem I could live on as little as $40 a month for food if it was necessary.

 

I suppose now would be a suitable time to explain why I created this thread.

I currently live with my mother.
My parents got a divorce back in January of '08. Neither of them are financially secure enough to offer any real help with school. Back when they first got divorced, my father was entitled to half the equity of the house. If he wanted his half, this means that they would have to put the house on the market, sell it, and then divide up the money. Since I was currently enrolled in school, my mother explained to my father (without my knowledge) that since I was in school and under the stress of my parents divorcing (quite a nasty divorce BTW), it would be better for my sake and stability if we were allowed to keep the house. My father lovingly signed papers that relinquished his rights to half the equity, thinking only of my benefit. Three weeks later my mother promptly sold the house, took all the money, and told me I could move half the country away to Oklahoma with her or find somewhere else to stay. My father could not offer me any sort of home, seeing as how he was having to make $500 a month alimony payments and just got totally ripped out of everything he had ever owned, and I didn't have enough money on my own to get my own place, even with friends. I had to go with my mother, effectively leaving school midterm and receiving all F's, and simultaneously losing my grant.
Now that we are out here, I've been faced with an ultimatum - pay $200 a month or GTFO.
$200 doesn't sound much for rent, but housing is dirt cheap in Oklahoma, and this house probably only cost her $500 a month. She gets that from my father already. Additionally, I find it alarming that my own mother would lead me through such a fucked up string of events when I am trying to save money to put myself through college, and then charge me money that she doesn't really need. If she could not pay her bills without my help, I would gladly contribute whatever I could, but this is a little ridiculous. Also, considering that I do all the chores, cook all the meals, and am a constant target of venom and hate from my mother and two half-sisters (since I am the only "full-child" of my father and the only male in the family) I think it's time for me to go.

Now, I guess I could stay. Realistically, sucking up my pride and paying the $200 a month would probably just simply be better for me in the long run.
But I'm trying to figure out how much it would cost me to just say "fuck it", get out, and get my own place and never have to deal with any of this bullshit ever again. I can get a pretty shitty 2-bedroom house for $350 a month, not counting utilities.
What would you do, stay and save up a greater sum of money, or leave, obliterate your paycheck ever month on a totality of bills, but have your pride intact and not have to deal with a venomous family?

 

I lived alone the first 5 or 6 years after my divorce then I ended up with the kids. Early this past July the last child, a girl I became guardian of in Jan. 2004 when she was 16, moved to Knoxville to go to school. I'm now living alone again. I like it though I do miss my kids being around from time to time.

 

Damn, man. Sorry to hear about all that

I think you should try and work and save up as much money as you can and live with your mom until you think you are stable to live on your own.