This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/lifeprotips by /u/xcedra on 2024-09-29 23:40:18+00:00.

Go grocery shopping with your parent/guardian, and look at the cost of food items. Flour, eggs, milk, rice, cheese, bread, sandwich meat, mayo. Etc. find out how long a bag of flour, sugar, canister of salt etc will last you. add that into you budget so that when you move out you know how much basic foodstuffs will cost you. That way you can figure out how much rent you can afford. don’t forget to figure in car payment and insurance costs.

Setting a budget before you start spending your own money, living on your own, can keep you out of debt. If your going to build up credit using a credit card, make sure you pay it off twice a month. If you pay half before its due, and the other half when its due, it will actually raise your credit score faster than if you just pay it when it due.

Never use your card for things you can’t buy otherwise. Only use it for things you already have the money for, then make sure you pay it off in full monthly.

Living with room mates sucks. before renting together make up a roommate agreement. How much each person puts to rent, whether or not groceries are shared, if you going to have a shared grocery fund. if you do a shared fund I recommend getting a separate bank account with the roommates with a debit card. everyone puts in their amount, person doing the shopping that week/month gets the card. anything bought on the shared account is shared, anything you buy from your own pocket outside is yours to share at your discretion.

set quiet hours. For studying, sleeping etc. Set rules for guests. who, when, and whether guests can eat from the shared groceries or if they have to provide for guests out of pocket.

set up a chore schedule. who does dishes which nights, who cooks, who vacuums, who cleans the bathroom. No laundry in common areas.

there are agreements you can find online like this one. utilize the internet to your benefit.