#i can't afford more debt while trying to get financial independence from my parents

[whiskeysorrows]

is £9000+ a year not enough??? do you want me to bankrupt myself for an education next?????

[public25-stumped]

Taken from r/LifeProTips

LPT: Learn frugal habits before or while in college to gain and maintain financial independence later on

These habits below are what helped me get there, and I still do this to maintain my savings. It might take a while, but it depends on how well you can maintain these habits and if you get some extra help along the way.

I recommend the following:

• Get items for free from local FB groups (search for Buy nothing, freecycle), or used from FB marketplace, thrift stores, clearance sections. Never buy anything brand new if you can. Never turn down a hand me down. If you ever buy a new thing to replace an old one (like a sofa), always sell the old one on FB marketplace to help pay for the new one.

• Avoid the trappings of designer or luxury goods or non essentials. I live in a wealthy area and nothing screams I'm broke like wearing designer clothes and having a nice car when a person can't afford good housing or healthcare. Avoid vanity purchases as much as possible, no one who matters cares if you have designer taste or not.

• Learn to cook in bulk and cheap. I use to buy groceries from the dollar store, there was surprisingly good stuff there, even organic. Avoid dining out, but if you do, get the cheapest thing that you can take home to eat for a few more days.

• Learn to DIY, fix anything. The internet is most useful for learning anything.

• Avoid debt as much as possible. If you have to get a student loan, apply through your college for federal loans and funding, never through a bank. Try to get grant money by applying as an independent student and not with your parents. Grant money doesn't get paid back. Do not, and this is a big warning bc most people my age did this, use that student loan money for anything else except your tuition, books, and housing. I know many people my age who used it for vanity purchases and now live in squalor bc the debt is impossible to pay off with their income.

• Find out all the free and reduced cost resources available at your college. This includes: Health insurance, healthcare, therapy, food, housing, childcare, free public transportation, free laptop and book rentals. There could be more, you'll have to find out, each college is different.

• Public transportation and biking was one of the best ways for me to save money.

• Treat your savings like a water level. Don't let it dip below a certain value that you determine. Usually should be 6 months of living expenses but that's not always possible for everyone.

♡ Most importantly, the best things in life are free. Spending time with family, friends, nature, and pets is worth more than anything and being able to take care of them by forgoing nonessentials, being frugal, saving and diying as much as possible is the best. ♡

Tldr; get free, used or on clearance stuff only, sell old stuff, never buy luxury or nonessentials, only use federal loans / funding for college, never use loan money for anything nonessential, learn to cook and diy, use any free and low cost resources at your college, use public transportation or bike, keep your savings at a comfortable level, and the best things in life are free (spending time with loved ones)

Edit: This post is for college students who have limited incomes and part time jobs, so they can still have time to attend classes and study. Not for those who are dependent on their parents or family. Also avoid credit cards with high interest rates or don't get one until you've graduated and/or gotten a full time steady job, to ensure you'll get the best rate.

My opinion:

I agree with some of these points, especially the advice about paying off and/or avoiding debt as much as possible, but I do believe you can allow yourself limited expenses on self luxuries so long as you’re managing your expenses well, and aren’t overblowing your budget.

Life is meant to be enjoyed along the way; how much you choose and how you choose to enjoy it is up to you.

@the-thing-of-worms I thought you might need this for later on in life.

[booksbroadwaybbc]

It's getting really bad at home, and I likely need to escape VERY SOON, but can't even get any kind of long-term job (can't join the military either) any ideas? via /r/selfimprovement

It's getting really bad at home, and I likely need to escape VERY SOON, but can't even get any kind of long-term job (can't join the military either) any ideas?

I know that the fact is there is no help for anyone in a situation like mine, and I'll most likely end up homeless, but I'm trying to find out any ideas I maybe don't know?

I can't call the cops, and even if I did, I'd probably make my whole family homeless, plus he hasn't actually got physically violent (yet), and then my life would probably be in danger the second the cops left. My step dad is some kind of psychopath or sociopath, REALLY narcissistic, and I've witnessed him go WAY too far, but I almost called the cops and grabbed a knife to stab him because I do not feel safe, and I was terrified he was going to hit my mom.

The fact is, the family is financially dependent on him, which is why I don't jump on getting him safely removed when this kind of situation arises.

My real dad was an alcoholic who was really abusive to me a lot, but my step dad (SOBER) makes my dad look like the nicest guy, I could deal with my dad easier, probably because he at least had a real level of care for me being my real dad, so he had something holding him back from going WAY TOO FAR?

My step dad has calmed down, for now. But he told me the rent is high (I knew this) and he's getting tired of working so much to pay it, and he constantly threatens to leave, especially tonight. He actually said HORRIBLE things about my mom and sister that my dad would NEVER say, my dad was more of a jerk, my step dad obviously is some kind of actual psychopath, he has a HUGE lack of empathy and HUGE temper, but claims to be a man of God.

I'm going to end up dead, or in prison, if he keeps going this way, and it will NOT BE MY FAULT. I just want to get out though, because it's impossible to deal with this rationally, and calling the cops will make it 100x worse. I'd probably lose my entire family if I got him locked in prison, and I would end up on the streets (and I already feel no reason to live, at that point it won't even make sense to not kill myself, because nothing will even be potential at all anymore).

So far the only thing he's hit is the wall, but this was like he was possessed by the devil or something. My mom has always yelled in horror "DON'T HURT THE DOGS!" when they do something to make him mad, it's not normal to have to tell someone to not hurt the dogs when they do something.

He even said what sounded like he will punch my sister in a few years for the way she acts, I'm almost certain, if that's not what he meant (I'm almost positive he did) then he meant she'll piss somebody else off who will give her black eyes. He also yelled that she was a bitch to my mom, and (even most real parents would never say the kinds of things he said, except for the exceptionally abusive ones that are news worthy) and I was just shocked.

I was too scared to call the cops, or do anything really, I thought I was going to have to grab a knife and kill him.

I don't think I can even get as rage-ful as he did, and I have anger issues sometimes too, but I don't think it is physically possible for me to get that mad.

I have had issues with keeping jobs, even though they said I tried my best, it just wasn't good enough for them.

I don't have a lot of time to just stay at home for the next few years or something, my family isn't stable like that. I need IMMEDIATE change, and unfortunately I can't run away into the military, I already asked a recruiter if I could join, nope.

I have no education (only high school diploma) and no good work history, but I do not have plenty of time to be taken care of while figuring shit out. I am starting to see that a homeless period may just be inevitable, and that I just can't avoid suffering in one way or another, I just might have to suffer before I have a chance at succeeding in life, and I've been trying to stay safe in the immediate present (I did leave home once with the small savings I had, I almost got killed and I did get robbed, and I just couldn't make an immediate transition to independence, and couldn't afford to live until I could get to that point).

I don't even care about all the debt college causes, because apparently that's what it takes to make it somewhere in life, but I have to worry about my family moving (or breaking apart) and me being unable to keep going due to not having somewhere to live in the area, (damn american education system, all about profit). I need an education to get a job that I can earn a living wage from, but I need stability/money to GET that education.

I already tried to escape my life into the military, but I medically don't qualify.

I have a friend who would take me in, but he lives across the border, and you need existing education or job history to be allowed to become a citizen, but being born in the states, America is stuck with losers at life like me, they can't deport us anywhere or throw us in the ocean, because we were born here, so they are stuck with us, no other country will let us in for a better chance at life.

I can think of asking for money for school on GoFundMe (lots of people do) but I'm nervous about asking for others money without even knowing what I would study, I don't want to waste other peoples's money...

I don't have a lot of time to do whatever life takes to get there, I have a short amount of time until I might be completely on my own, no 4 years to prepare.

Submitted July 23, 2018 at 06:15AM by HopelessHopeNot via reddit https://ift.tt/2NEvJEn