Is there such thing as living on your own by the age of nineteen? This is a question I am facing right now. I live almost an hour away from ICC and soon I will need to be in Peoria every day during the week for the radiology program. I have been looking at apartments for months now and the prices are outrageous! For a one bedroom apartment in a good part of Peoria or Dunlap is over five hundred dollars a month in rent and that does not include utilities. I am a full time student and work part time, but there is no way I make enough money to pay rent, cable, utilities, a car payment, and food. My boyfriend is moving with me, but it is still hard to make ends meet. With the way our economy is today it is so hard for young adults to get their lives started. It is hard to establish credit when you are this young, pay bills, and go to school. I do not want to live with my parents until I am thirty, but I might have to if I do not find something cheaper. In ten months of living in an apartment I could spend five thousand dollars alone in just rent. I might as well start paying a mortgage on a house.
You are so right! The cost of rent is outrageous, and with mortgage rates buying seems the practical decision. Of course, then you have the responsibility to upkeep the home as well. Have you considered on campus student housing? Or maybe even finding additional roommates? Roommates not only cut down on the cost of the rent, but also on the utilities. You are right that the economy is no help, but realistically all students face these challenges and some of the places the young have lived are less than becoming! Consider it an adventure and be thankful you have your boyfriend!
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