What’s your honest advice for a young person struggling with rent, money, and finding a job, still relying on parents financially right now?
Not looking for “just work hard,” genuinely curious what actually got you through a phase like this, and how you dealt with the guilt of relying on parents at this age.
I just feel like I’m running behind something, not even sure what exactly, money, stability, proving something to myself, maybe all of it at once. Curious if anyone else has felt that and figured out what they were actually running from, or toward…
Keep track of your spending. Find simple and cheap things you like. There’s hours of entertainment at the free public library. There’s free meetups all over.
I had a friend that ordered food delivery for every meal. That’s like $25k/year on food, in $35 chunks. Don’t do that. Don’t aspire to that.
Use thrift stores, buy nothing groups, freecycle, yard sales etc. I got most of the furniture for my first apartment for $230 (inflation adjusted) when I first moved out. Couch, table, chairs, dresser. The couch didn’t survive the next move, but everything else is solid.
You can probably salvage an old computer by putting Linux on it rather than shelling out for a new one. I saved my friend a lot of money reviving their ancient laptop like that.
Some people have this idea that spending money frivolously or conspicuously is cool. They’re assholes and fools.
Keep in touch with friends. Most of my jobs I got because I knew someone. The job process is broken, run by idiots and slop machines.
If living with your parents isn’t driving you crazy, don’t worry about it. Save the money.