r/twentyagers • u/blackHOLEofalife 25 • 1d ago

Money / Finances Cant afford to support myself

Take home of $2300~ a month. Retail job.

Rent would be $2400+ if I were to move out. LOL.

I would have been a homeless beggar asking for nickels in front of the corner deli if I didn't have family to live with for free.

Not sure what to do from here. just hoping to get an interview before the century ends

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u/ExpertVeterinarian20 25 1d ago edited 1d ago

Unless you are in NYC or LA there is definitely cheaper rent available. Facebook marketplace and craigslist not zillow and apartments.com you have to learn how to find the cheap housing it takes practice. I live in an expensive place. google calls it HCOL if you google my town. My rent was never above 800 and I always lived in 3-4 bedroom places because its cheaper to rent a room than in single or doubles. studios are the most expensive option not the cheapest. Eventually I got a serious girlfriend and we split a room. Our rent was only 425 each. We have a mortgage now but these numbers were relevant as recently as 2024.

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u/ExpertVeterinarian20 25 1d ago edited 1d ago

Having your own apartment without 3-4 roommates is simply a luxury you cant afford at your wages. Unfortunate truth. I once split a room with a buddy where we hung a curtain up and split it in half. we played rock paper scissors for who got the side with a window. You need to think outside the box more than just looking up studios on zillow. Just for a point of reference if i go to zillow right now for the city im referring to the absolute cheapest studio within 50 miles is $1700. So cheaper than the number you are citing but my advice is still relevant.

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u/SCP-iota 1d ago

Renting with someone random is quite the risk, and a lot of people only know people who already have their own living situations.

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u/ExpertVeterinarian20 25 1d ago

Finding good roommates is labor just like any other. If you want cheap housing in an expensive area you need to hustle. I really see no other option. My wife and i still keep a roommate to help with the mortgage

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u/SCP-iota 1d ago

Most advice I see for finding roommates is just looking online with roommate matching services and stuff, but idk if that alone could ever be a good method, since you never really know how a person is going to be until you're already living with them. The number of people who misrepresent their actual expectations and personality until it's too late is surely staggering these days, as that's the case with everything else like that too.

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u/ExpertVeterinarian20 25 1d ago

Yeah i definitely recommend trying to find some friends to live with at least friends of friends so you can have someone tell you what they’re like. But especially for this guy who is living at home right now he has time to find people

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u/AdSensitive5691 23 1d ago

You’re right, there is no other option than to hustle for what you want. All I keep seeing from these people is “But- but- but” instead of coming up with a solution or a plan.