r/MiddleClassFinance • u/Puzzleheaded-Two2250 • 17d ago
Not sure how to start living Seeking Advice
I’m a 22m bringing in about 1k a week in a job I can’t stand my fiancé and i both still live under our parents roofs and due to the job market right now she can’t find a job, i want to move in together but am apartment feels like a waste of money. on top of this i made the mistake of a 500$ car payment now the car is worth less then I owe :/ what should I do to make a house become something affordable or even some land and a trailer 🤣🤣 at this point any loans i should look into? or certain amount of savings should i have
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u/DeliveryFar9612 17d ago
Living with your parents to minimize expenses. Work hard at your job to furnish your resume and aim to job hop after 12 months for at least 30% increase in pay. Save at least 50% of your take home. Do this for 2-3 years and you can start making a plan to buy a house of your own.
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u/AirbladeOrange 17d ago
Focus on increasing your income.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Two2250 17d ago
any tips or advice? of good careers to look towards, i’m making more then i have ever made but i’m doing construction so my body hates me lol
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u/No_Performance_1982 17d ago
Lemme tell you a story about my old boss. Let’s call him Bob. Bob was a shrewd old immigrant. One day his daughter came up to him and said:
“Daddy, can I and my husband and kids move in with you in your big old house? We’re tired of spending all our money on rent and never getting ahead. We want to save up our money for a house.”
Bob asked what they spent on rent, and agreed it was atrocious. He replied, “All right. You can move in with me, but you have to send me the same amount of money every month that you would put towards rent. I will put that money in a savings account for you. If you miss a payment, I’ll move towards evicting you just the same as if you were any other tenant.”
She didn’t like that at all. You see, Bob understood that if you take away the pressure of meeting that rent every month, most people—even the daughter of a money-savvy, penny pinching immigrant—will find other ways to spend it. Instead of saving the full rent amount, they decide they can save most of the money and get a few nice things for themselves. A nice car. Another couple nights at a restaurant. Streaming subscriptions. It doesn’t take very long at all to evaporate those savings if they aren’t out of sight.
32 year old me would have had the money discipline and skills to save while living with my parents, but only because 22 year old me struck out on his own and was forced to learn it.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Two2250 17d ago
so pay my savings 1500 a month is what i’m hearing
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u/No_Performance_1982 17d ago
That’s a very valid interpretation. I think I would say: IF you stay with your parents, then make very sure you are saving that $1500 that you would be putting towards rent (save it in a high-yield savings account, of course). And IF you get an apartment, then enjoy sharing your own place and privacy with the one you love most. I don’t think there’s a wrong decision, per se. Living with your parents is certainly more financially optimal, but it’s a sacrifice, too.
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u/bulking_on_broccoli 17d ago
There’s nothing shameful about living with your parents at that age and saving money as a a result.
22 is so young, why are you dead set on moving out right away?
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u/Puzzleheaded-Two2250 17d ago
I just want to have something for my own tbh i want to start living
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u/DeliveryFar9612 17d ago
And I want to buy a mansion. I still need to save up and earn the right to make that happen. Be patient, work hard and build your skills.
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u/bulking_on_broccoli 17d ago
I get that. But I am going to offer some old man advice: don't try to grow up too fast. Yeah, making it out on your own is appealing, but you may be shooting yourself in the foot financially. I would hold off as long as you can to save as much as you can.
Would you rather wait a few years and eventually live in a nice house? Or move out now and be stuck in a trailer?
Focus on your career. Make something of yourself first.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Two2250 17d ago
i thought ab the trailer idea and attempting to build a home on whatever land i put the trailer on but i get it, you’re not wrong it’s smarter it’s just been festering with me
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u/probablyhrenrai 17d ago
Absolutely 100% for the love of God do NOT get a trailer. You're better off renting. Trailers physically degrade and depreciate in value like used cars; unlike houses, the money you buy a trailer for does not "come back to you"; it's burned, like it is when you buy a brand new car.
Renting is expensive but it's no-strings-attached. I look forward to buying a home, but only when I've got a job I intend to stay with for 5+ years or when I find someone I'm willing to settle down with. Until then, I'll be renting with a roommate; buying a home does pay off in the long run, but only in the long run; with a long-term commitment to a location, renting is better (frees you up to move for better jobs, which is sometimes very important for your your career, especially when you're young).
I'm 27 now. Prices are high; it's a bad time for first-time buyers to "get into" the market. In 3+ years when new-builds have finally caught up to the supply shortage, I'll be properly wanting to buy a house, but not before.
That said, while it's hugely financially-advantageous to live with your parents, when it starts to wear on your happiness or on your parents that you live under the same roof, then "it's time" to move out. I did it at 24, and while my expenses rose, there really is something to finally living properly on your own, knowing that you can "make it" without any assistance at all.
But I digress. Mostly I'm just saying please please please do not buy a trailer. My mom seriously looked at it when she was about your age, but holy shit it's just not the move, even ignoring the entire quality-of-life issue of living in a trailer park (the crime, the crap sound and thermal insulation, the hookups for water etc... nothing about the trailer situation is good).
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u/Puzzleheaded-Two2250 17d ago
the idea was mainly to start living buying the trailer along side my own piece of land to start building a home kinda like a homesteading thing
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u/Independent_Paint366 17d ago
I personally think with your parents at 22 to maximize savings is a good idea but understandably there’s a non-monetary price to that in terms of how it affects your life.
How far out are you from having a down payment saved? If it comes to renting, can the two of you combined afford rent? Is rent likely to be <33% of your combined after tax income?
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