u/juicy_shoes

I already make $35-40 an hour, but with all of my other bills, renting by myself would leave me with almost nothing to save (like $800 a month AT BEST, and pretty much nothing regularly).

I have an SAI of -1500 meaning I get like $3000-8000 per semester in student loan refunds depending on my grades.

I originally planned on staying here with my $400/month rent and saving up as much money as possible to repay my car loan and student loans early, but should I just fucking move and hope I land a higher paying job once I’m done with school..?

It’s $1200-1400/month here to split with a roommate and $1500-700/month to live alone.

I haven’t been able to find a roommate, so should I just leave and use my student loan refunds as a buffer / emergency backup???

UGH

**also** in case going to question how I have an SAI of -1500 and make this much, it’s because FAFSA goes off prior prior year income and I was on an unpaid medical leave for almost the entire year in 2024. So I happened to get “lucky”, I guess, even though I got fucked in every other aspect of life. But I probably won’t be able to afford much in the way of college courses after the 2026-27 school year.

A year ago, while in my abusive relationship, a small cat screamed under my house for two weeks. I fed her, and eventually she came out. She was weak and frail, and curled up in my lap on the doorstep.

I took her in and nursed her back to health, she has been the light of my life since. She is my best friend, and she is prescribed by my psychiatrist as my ESA. This cat is the only reason I haven’t committed suicide due to the abuse, in all honesty. She is my reason to keep going.

My mom has offered me to move back in for free, but won’t allow me to bring her. I can’t imagine giving her away and making her feel abandoned after everything she’s already been through. She is glued to me.

My mom’s reasonings are that my stepdad is allergic and she thinks their golden retriever might harm my cat.

My room at their house is down a hallway that has a sliding door. The only way the dogs would get anywhere near my cats is if someone left it open and then opened my bedroom door.

My cat already lives solely in my bedroom at my boyfriend’s house because the three male cats harass her. She’s free to leave the room but chooses not to, so I have a bunch of things set up for her in the room - cat tree, scratching posts, separate cat condo and cat bed, litter box, two windows to look out of, cat TV, toys, etc.

I am feeling really abandoned by my family right now, even though they are willing to help me purchase a condo by contributing $10,000 to down payment + closing costs.

I would still have to go through a grant program for an extra down payment assistance, set up a repayment plan with the IRS, it’s a whole process that will take 3-6 months MINIMUM and I am in a really bad spot already where my boss has cut my shifts because I’ve had to call out so much due to the abuse.

I don’t know how to feel. I am thankful for my family, but if I were my parents, the cat wouldn’t be a barrier.

I cannot afford to rent on my own feasibly despite making 35-40 an hour, so I am stuck here until I can formulate a plan with my family to buy a condo. (It would be $1200/month for a mortgage on a condo and it’s $1800/month to rent here, $1400 with a roommate).

I’m just heartbroken. I want to give up. This whole economic crisis is driving me insane, I really don’t know how to feel in general.

I had just started with a new therapist last week and then when I went to pay my copay for my appt this week, it jumped from $20 to $128. I could afford it, but for an hour it would’ve been pointless - if I’m going to pay $512 a month for therapy I might as well just go rent alone and deal with having no extra money.

I’m losing my mind.

I was born here, and I haven’t lived anywhere else.

My first apartment was $750/month for a 1br/1b downtown in 2017. You can’t even split a 2/1 for that price now and most of these rentals don’t have a W/D or full kitchen.

Not only that, but WHERE are the private owners?! It seems everything has been snatched up by massive corporations and is now represented by PMC’s!

So either you deal with renting a shoddy house, or you pay an extra $400/month to live in an apartment.

How tf are people affording to live here right now?!