There's some great advice in the above posts. My two cents worth is: Live as cheaply as possible and still be SAFE. In other words, don't live in a dangerous area. Get a safe, clean comfortable apartment and get roommates if you have to, to share the rent. I agree you shouldn't go into debt, if you can possibly get around with a bike or skateboard or public transport, etc.
That said, I will tell you that right after I graduated college, I found a cheap apartment and a roommate to share the rent. I collected cast-off furniture from the basements and attics of my relatives, cleaned it up and furnished the place as best I could. I saved $$ and bought a reasonably good sound system and surrounded myself with good music, good books, good friends and cheap wine! Those were some of the best times of my life! We used to throw parties that we called "Bring Your Own Booze, Chair and Ashtray," because we were all living at the poverty level. But we were young and we were all on our way UP!!
Several of us would get together and throw dinner parties. Somebody would make a big pot of chili, somebody else would toss a salad and somebody would bake brownies (from a cheap brownie mix of course!) Or we would do spaghetti or something else reasonably inexpensive. The point was we were independent, we had fun and we helped each other out. I say go for it!!
PS: I'm proud to say that I never took another penny from my parents.
 |