Developed by Maryland Secretarial Services, Inc. in cooperation with the Greater Bowie Chamber of Commerce. For more information, contact Cindy Freland at (301) 352-7927 or emai webmss33@aol.com
The Get a Job! program is a FREE job referral list for teens ages 14-17 residing in Bowie.
Do you ever think about moving out of your parents' house and living on your own? Where will you live? Do you have a car? How much will it cost? Do you know the amount of money that is required to live a normal life?
Throughout your life, your parents have provided you with everything. Teenagers, therefore, live in a dream world. The moment you exit this dream world and have to live life on your own, your opinions about money will change dramatically. I would like to show you how much money it takes to live a normal life in America. Once you understand that, adults and everything about them begin to make a lot more sense.
You've worked for a while and now you're ready to live on your own. You find an apartment and a car.
Certainly this is not a luxury situation. You are living in a tiny apartment with used furniture and a junky car. But you now have the essentials. So far it has cost you this much to get situated:
Apartment $900
Security Deposit 900
Cable Installation 70
Phone Installation 70
Furniture 1,000
Car 2,000
Car Registration 96
Car Insurance 200
Health Insurance 200
Food 100
Cleaning Supplies 50
TOTAL START UP COST: $5,686
So you must have almost $6,000 to begin living on your own.
Now that you are on your own you have monthly expenses as listed below:
Apartment $900
Car Insurance 150
Car Gas 100
Car Maintenance 100
Cable 50
Cell Phone 100
Phone 50
Food 100
Clothing 50
Health Insurance 200
Entertainment 50
So you must earn at least $1,850 each and every month to continue living this way.