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I'm seventeen, and just graduated high school a year early. I've been in a long-distance relationship for quite a while now. The distance is becoming very difficult, and my girlfriend and I want to live together as soon as possible.
She lives in Myrtle Beach right now, so I'll be moving there as soon as I can (which will be a while, sadly). I just want to know what the cost of living is there, maybe an estimate of how much money will be going out towards bills and such per month?
She is going to have a cell phone bill to pay (but we won't have to pay for a regular phone that way), we both have cars, we're probably going to live in a studio or one-bedroom apartment. We're both going to have jobs, maybe two. She works at Starbucks now and she'll be getting another job soon. I'll probably get a job at a bookstore or something, maybe as a waitress because of the tips. She's starting college there in the fall, and I'll probably still be in college when I move there, too.
Please tell me, is it possible for us to pull this off? To live on our own with these bills to pay? I'm so stressed and just overall upset over all of this, because we've been apart for far too long.
It would also be a great help to have suggestions on how much money I should have saved before moving there.
I've been looking at all of these things online, but thought I should just check and see.
I'm about an hour outside of Pittsburgh, PA, by the way.
Well, if you work hard enough you should be able to pull it off but why kill yourself? Please pardon my parental tone.
I am sure that you and your girlfriend love each other and want to be with each other. But... You have finished HS early, so you are not a dope and should concentrate on your college. There will be plenty of time to be an adult and you both should be enjoying your younger years.
Location: Sunny Phoenix Arizona...wishing for a beach.
4,300 posts, read 14,951,960 times
Reputation: 813
Quote:
Originally Posted by dollparts
I'm seventeen, and just graduated high school a year early. I've been in a long-distance relationship for quite a while now. The distance is becoming very difficult, and my girlfriend and I want to live together as soon as possible.
She lives in Myrtle Beach right now, so I'll be moving there as soon as I can (which will be a while, sadly). I just want to know what the cost of living is there, maybe an estimate of how much money will be going out towards bills and such per month?
She is going to have a cell phone bill to pay (but we won't have to pay for a regular phone that way), we both have cars, we're probably going to live in a studio or one-bedroom apartment. We're both going to have jobs, maybe two. She works at Starbucks now and she'll be getting another job soon. I'll probably get a job at a bookstore or something, maybe as a waitress because of the tips. She's starting college there in the fall, and I'll probably still be in college when I move there, too.
Please tell me, is it possible for us to pull this off? To live on our own with these bills to pay? I'm so stressed and just overall upset over all of this, because we've been apart for far too long.
It would also be a great help to have suggestions on how much money I should have saved before moving there.
I've been looking at all of these things online, but thought I should just check and see.
I'm about an hour outside of Pittsburgh, PA, by the way.
Where there's a will there's a way. But I did the same darn thing at that young of an age. I have twins your age and I'm always telling them to make sure they get a good education. My daughter does not listen but my son does. I know you don't want to here this but come down to Myrtle and go to school but why kill yourself trying to keep a household running?
I'm seventeen, and just graduated high school a year early. I've been in a long-distance relationship for quite a while now. The distance is becoming very difficult, and my girlfriend and I want to live together as soon as possible.
She lives in Myrtle Beach right now, so I'll be moving there as soon as I can (which will be a while, sadly). I just want to know what the cost of living is there, maybe an estimate of how much money will be going out towards bills and such per month?
She is going to have a cell phone bill to pay (but we won't have to pay for a regular phone that way), we both have cars, we're probably going to live in a studio or one-bedroom apartment. We're both going to have jobs, maybe two. She works at Starbucks now and she'll be getting another job soon. I'll probably get a job at a bookstore or something, maybe as a waitress because of the tips. She's starting college there in the fall, and I'll probably still be in college when I move there, too.
Please tell me, is it possible for us to pull this off? To live on our own with these bills to pay? I'm so stressed and just overall upset over all of this, because we've been apart for far too long.
It would also be a great help to have suggestions on how much money I should have saved before moving there.
I've been looking at all of these things online, but thought I should just check and see.
I'm about an hour outside of Pittsburgh, PA, by the way.
Keep in mind that this is a Resort/Tourist area and during off season things are slow and jobs at food/retail, etc. are cut back.
Where there's a will there's a way. But I did the same darn thing at that young of an age. I have twins your age and I'm always telling them to make sure they get a good education. My daughter does not listen but my son does. I know you don't want to here this but come down to Myrtle and go to school but why kill yourself trying to keep a household running?
Good luck to you. Remember education is key.
If I can get enough grants/loans/scholarships, I'd be willing to live on campus. But yeah, if not, I do want to move there to be with her. I know that I'm young, and too young to know exactly what I want, but right now, I do want this, so I want to work for this. I want to move there, yeah, but my grades aren't suffering. I've worked hard to get where I am, and I wouldn't throw it all away to move there.
Well, if you work hard enough you should be able to pull it off but why kill yourself? Please pardon my parental tone.
I am sure that you and your girlfriend love each other and want to be with each other. But... You have finished HS early, so you are not a dope and should concentrate on your college. There will be plenty of time to be an adult and you both should be enjoying your younger years.
Haha, I don't mind working hard for something that I want. Believe me, just because I want to move somewhere else and to be in a relationship doesn't mean that I'm going to make education a lesser priority. We enjoy being our age fine, we're normal teenagers, we just want to have a good start together, too.
I'm seventeen, and just graduated high school a year early. I've been in a long-distance relationship for quite a while now. The distance is becoming very difficult, and my girlfriend and I want to live together as soon as possible.
She lives in Myrtle Beach right now, so I'll be moving there as soon as I can (which will be a while, sadly). I just want to know what the cost of living is there, maybe an estimate of how much money will be going out towards bills and such per month?
She is going to have a cell phone bill to pay (but we won't have to pay for a regular phone that way), we both have cars, we're probably going to live in a studio or one-bedroom apartment. We're both going to have jobs, maybe two. She works at Starbucks now and she'll be getting another job soon. I'll probably get a job at a bookstore or something, maybe as a waitress because of the tips. She's starting college there in the fall, and I'll probably still be in college when I move there, too.
Please tell me, is it possible for us to pull this off? To live on our own with these bills to pay? I'm so stressed and just overall upset over all of this, because we've been apart for far too long.
It would also be a great help to have suggestions on how much money I should have saved before moving there.
I've been looking at all of these things online, but thought I should just check and see.
I'm about an hour outside of Pittsburgh, PA, by the way.
Is it possible to pull this off? Yes, if both of you want to make it work bad enough you will be able to. The cost of living close to the beach is very high, but if you live further inland (Conway, for instance), it will be more affordable. All of us on here that are older than you were once teenagers and we honestly know how it is when you're in love for the first time - it seems like nothing can stand in your way. I'm glad to see that you're asking about being able to make it, it shows a nice level of maturity. There is no way I can express to you how difficult it will be. You will be totally on your own for the first time, living with someone in a relationship for the first time - both of which are difficult at any age. I would recommend not moving until you have at least 2 month's worth of living expenses in savings - 2 month's worth if you had to pay everything by yourself. I know that sounds like a lot of money to save up, but it will take a huge amount of pressure out of your relationship if you are financially independent.
The advice about the off-season was sound. Pretty much any job you could have at the beach will either cease to exist during the winter or will have reduced hours/income during the winter. This means you should try and save as much money as possible during the spring and summer and probably wait until next spring to move there. I'd also recommend maybe spending a long weekend or week down there before you actually move. Good luck.
Check Craigs List for apartments for rent to get an idea of rent cost. You can probably find something between $600 & $800 a month. Your girlffriend already lives here? She can look in the Sunday paper to get that info. also. I would use high numbers to figure everything out:
Rent $800
Utilities $100
You didn't say if you have car payments & I don't know what your insurance will be because I don't know your driving record or age, & make of your car. Add that all in, plus yearly personal property tax you have to pay on it.
2 - Cell phones on one plan with 800 minutes a month - around $100
Cable & Internet - around $80
Food? Gas? Health Insurance? Misc. items etc...
It's really hard to give you numbers w/o having more info. but if I had to guess $1800 - $2000 could probably get you by. That's not including college and all the expense that comes with that and your car expenses. This of course is cooking and eating at home.
Location: Sunny Phoenix Arizona...wishing for a beach.
4,300 posts, read 14,951,960 times
Reputation: 813
Quote:
Originally Posted by dollparts
If I can get enough grants/loans/scholarships, I'd be willing to live on campus. But yeah, if not, I do want to move there to be with her. I know that I'm young, and too young to know exactly what I want, but right now, I do want this, so I want to work for this. I want to move there, yeah, but my grades aren't suffering. I've worked hard to get where I am, and I wouldn't throw it all away to move there.
Well good for you, at least you know what's important. Maybe If you move here I could introduce you to my kids that need to know what you know
I wish you the best of luck, Myrtle Beach is an exciting place, especially for someone your age. Just keep with the good crowd and be careful.
I dated someone who was a student at Coastal Carolina and lived in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment in Conway for $750 a month (TOTAL, not individualized rent). That was also 3 years ago though, so I'm sure prices have gone up, but I couldn't believe how cheap it was to rent a beautiful place. None of the roommates paid rent (their parents did), but for $250 a piece a month you could be a part time water and easily make that in a week.
I don't want to sound preachy, but moving when you're only 17 to be with a girlfriend seems like a rash decision. I had a long distance boyfriend in Myrtle when I was 17 (8 hours apart, I went to West Virginia U and he was a student at Coastal Carolina). I wanted to transfer to be closer to him so bad, and thank God my parents didn't allow me, because we broke up shortly into my second semester.
My point is, if I had transfered, I would've been miserable down there once we broke up. 17 is so young to make life altering decisions that are influenced by someone you're dating. I completely understand how difficult long distance relationships are, but if you're going to be struggling financially to make it work (which will most likely stress you out a lot), is it really worth it?
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