Live cheap and bad or expensive and good?

[aiminghigh]

Hey!

I have to choose between living with my parents at the country 15miles away from town,
or move to the city and pay for an apartment.(loan, that don't have to be paid before ended study)

There are a lot of pros and cons about both of them, but since my parents really don't want me to live
at home anymore, I guess it's best to move .Even though it's cheap to live with my parents, i don't know if it is worth it considering all the time and frustration i invest in transport etc.
So I am thinking about living it better this year and buy a decent car, live in a decent apartment,
and being able to have contact with my friends when i want to.
I know it sounds stupid, but living that far away from the sivilisation really isn't a display of high value.
and people automatically are marking you as a freak or "special", and my friends almost daily says things like:
"sry I didn't contacted you BUT you live so far away, and you would have missed *ît anyway"
"Only freaks live that far away from sivilisation, why are you normal?"
"It's a miracle that you have friends"
"if you lived more central, you would be much more desirable to all women bla bla bla"
haha^^. They aren't all said in a serious matter, but i know there is a certian truth in a few.

But the reason I am writing this is to get some insights, Live cheap and "bad" or expensive and good"?



Have a Wonderful day !
and thanx for replies

-aiminghigh

[Freelancer]

Perhaps an idea to list every pro and con you can think of for both situations clearly, this helps a lot.

If you still can't figure out the proper course of action rate each pro/con based on significance (1-10 scale for instance) and than think about it some more.

If you want you can post it here but its probably not necesarry.

[aiminghigh]

yeah! have done that, and it's very clear that moving is the best!
BUT if i do so i must take a loan and that's the problem.
Don't really know my financial outcome yet. only 18.
So considering that I can buy a Decent car or a Great car,
I could rent a fair apartment or an excellent one.
I can live Great on a loan for a few years,if i want it. but it won't last forever.
One day it will backfire
BUT "then" i have a great job and a steady life?? and the small loan i took in
my early youth won't matter??

any real life expiriences ?

[openeyes]

I would say get a decent/cheap apartment with roommates and try to get one central enough that you can move around mostly on foot, bicycle, or public transportation so you can avoid the car cost. If you feel you must get a car aim for cheap but reliable. Many students take on loans with the thought that they can easily pay them off once they graduate, but then are more tied down than they'd like to be when they get out.

[WanderingOak]

You don't say where you live, but as you are only 18, I would forget about the car loan. If you can get by on foot/public transportation/bike, that would be the way to go. In fact, if you can avoid it, don't take out any loans at all, and just try to get by as simply as you can, paying cash all the way. Share an apartment with people you can trust. Actually learn how to cook for yourself, and see how many ways you can cook/stretch a pot of brown rice and lentils. Don't think of it as 'depriving yourself', but rather as an adventure or an intellectual exercise. How little can you get by with? Your folks will be happy to have you out of thier hair and not begging them for money, and you will be a lot more at ease without having a huge pile of debt waiting to crash down on top of your head when you graduate. I've known people who took out huge loans while they were in school, went on trips overseas and partied all of their money away, then planned on declairing bankrupcy after they graduated. I haven't heard from them in a while, so I'm not sure if they are in prison or not...

[Freelancer]

Originally Posted by aiminghigh

yeah! have done that, and it's very clear that moving is the best!
BUT if i do so i must take a loan and that's the problem.
Don't really know my financial outcome yet. only 18.
So considering that I can buy a Decent car or a Great car,
I could rent a fair apartment or an excellent one.
I can live Great on a loan for a few years,if i want it. but it won't last forever.
One day it will backfire
BUT "then" i have a great job and a steady life?? and the small loan i took in
my early youth won't matter??

any real life expiriences ?

I don't want to sound like an ass but no you didn't do it...
What you probably did is make a mental list of the pro's and con's however this is NOT the same thing. Trust me on this, writing things down makes it so much more clear.

Try to avoid debt at any cost if possible, I wouldn't even buy a car and use public transportation instead. I'd get a small apartment and try to save as much as possible on food/stuff. Debt is a thing to avoid and it will ALWAYS matter however small. I honestly have a disgust for debt and I cant stand it, to me it feels like running towards a goal with a elastic strapped to your back. The further you come the stronger the elastic pulls you back untill the moment your pile of debt is so big than you fly back faster than ever. Imagine trying to run with a big pile of bricks on your back, thats how it feels to me. I'd never be able to live with myself with the knowledge that I was heavily in debt, I'd be constantly questioning myself how I can reduce the debt one way or another...

From reading your story a quick list to get you started;

Moving out:
Pro
- Living on your own
- Better contact with friends
- Easier time to go to parties and such
- Parents happy that you leave
Cons:
- More costly
- Possibly loans ----> debt, paying back more, monthly payments
- Possibly living more frugal/smaller budget
- You probably have less room in a apartment than right now

Etc.

You can probably come up with more.

[medaille]

I agree with the others. Try to live as cheaply as possible. Get a lot of roommates to drive the price down. Cars are really expensive. You really can bike a ways without it being a burden.

The most important thing is that you keep your expenses down. You will spend forever trying to pay down the debt. The more you spend, the bigger the hole you're digging yourself into.

Also consider getting some new friends. 15 miles isn't that far. They shouldn't be giving you crap for that.

[MariaG]

Hello aiminghigh. Have you thought about ways that you can live cheap AND good?

The two aren't mutually exclusive with a little lateral thinking. For example, you could you share a loft apartment with a roomate or two. Or you could skip buying a car for now and use ZipCar instead. Or you could get an evening job that provides some entertainment while paying some bills, like at a theater.

If you need more help brainstorming, let us know.

[Ree]

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.

[Ree]

In my previous post, I mentioned using a skateboard for transportation. My son is doing this at college this coming fall. He found a great selection of skateboard backpacks in which you can carry all your stuff and when you're not skateboarding, your board fits into the pack

They're not very expensive. Check them out:

Alien Workshop Coda Backpack
Alien Workshop Coda Backpack

[Iff]

I would definitely get an apartment if I was you. First of all, getting on your parents nerves does not pay off in the long run. Second, get it as close to the places you need to get to on a daily places. Car is just a way too much unneeded hassle and it can make you so da*n lazy. I am even delaying getting my driver's license so I would not get a temptation to get a car. I am currently living (basically) in the city centre and it's great. Only time I use any transportation (public or otherwise) is when I want to visit my parents in another city 120 miles away - I can get almost anywhere in 5-45 minutes on foot. And definitely find some room-mates, it makes the living both cheaper (you can split not only the rent, but also groceries - making dinner for three people is much cheaper and easier than three people all making their own) and much more fun. Getting a low-interest student loan when possible is great way to help pay for your life through studies, but down waste it - plan your expenses and introduce some frugality in your life. That's something I have not been so good at and I don't like myself much for that.

Oh, and another thing, I would definitely let my friends know that they're morons.

[Keith]

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...an-60-seconds/

[Tohami]

follow your passion

[Ak47]

Don't decide what is good and bad based on other peoples conceptions of anything. You can consider their points and arguements, but...

Decide for yourself, as long as it isn't seriously interfering with anyone else (i.e. your parents).

Do what YOU want, not what THEY want. Obviously your parents have a say in what you're going to do, but really, your friends do not. If friends judge you for your decision- well, perhaps it'd be best to find some more accepting friends if that's what you need.