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I am 26 years old and graduated from HS in a Bergen county. Not one of the "fancy" towns, but I consider it to be a normal middle class town.
The people who I went to HS with who still live in NJ are doing one of the following:
A- living with parents. Over half the people I went to school with are still living at home....
B- Living with 2-3 roommates, work some kind of mediocre job, party when not at work.
C- Live with girlfriend/boyfriend at an apartment
D- Moved out of state.
NJ is almost impossible to live in for a young person. I make $45,000 a year at my day job, and work 2 nights a week at a second job for some extra money (cash). And I still dont live very well at all after rent and everything else.
No one I know has a very good job. I have the best job out of my friends. I am friends with one teacher and that is the only other person who has an actual career. And the vast majority of people younger then me, who graduated from college are unemployed.
Seriously thinking about taking the $18,000 I have saved over the years, and saying goodbye to NJ and use it for a down payment on a house some place else. Which is a shame because I always thought that I would be raising my kids where I grew up. And I do not want to leave my friends and family at all.
If ur making 45k a year that isn't to bad. I don't think u would make that much somewhere else. I think its hard for people to believe that there are worse parts of the country but there really are.
If ur making 45k a year that isn't to bad. I don't think u would make that much somewhere else. I think its hard for people to believe that there are worse parts of the country but there really are.
My parents bought the house they have lived in their whole life, and raised 3 kids in when they were 24.... My Mom was an admin person in a doctors office and my Dad worked on phone lines.... Neither went to college.
There is not that kind of oppurtunity for young people today. Not at all.
I dont want to be doing "not too bad" with my life.
The third option~C- Live with girlfriend/boyfriend at an apartment~ sounds like a good step towards living life successfully! This is pretty much how many start out in their adult life, in NJ or otherwise. Perhaps graduated from college at 22 or 23, maybe spent a couple years with family or roommates while working towards goals in career, met someone with whom they could see themselves building a life, moved into an apartment together after a year or so of dating... Yup, this sounds pretty much right on track for those who have the notorious "5 year plan" in effect directly after graduating from college.
But, don't get me wrong- there is no one "right" way of living life successfully. Not everyone needs to adhere to a rigid plan. For some, this means security; but others may march to a different beat, which is just fine. The only true measures of success may be happiness, peace of mind, and living a good life, of which you can be proud.
Unless you're in a line of work where there is a compelling advantage to being in NJ or near NY city (e.g. finance, acting, graphic design, to name a few) you might be better off finding work elsewhere.
You're still young, so not much need to pull in a huge paycheck yet -- it should be mostly about professional development. It's fine that you're not pulling in 6 figures, but you should have some kind of mid term roadmap at least that gives you the kind of skill set that will help you go somewhere.
On the other hand, if you're not up for that kind of competitive mindset, you might find that you're more comfortable in a more laid back environment.
don't live with your gf/bf for housing situations. thats not a good idea for obvious reasons?
yep the cost of living in NJ is pretty high, which is mainly because of the close proximity of NYC. i assume you are in north jersey? because when i was living in central jersey the cost of living was significantly cheaper. and to top of the high cost of living add these terrible economics making it tougher on us young folk. but yea most of my friends living on their own are either not in NJ or they have some kind of family wealth.
"30 is the new 20"... whatever we heard about only lazy kids live at home after 21 etc etc is no longer really relevant. 31 yrs old and living at home then you may have a problem
I guess I dont understand why you say you dont live very well. When I was single and 25 I was making 30k, Rent was like $900/month for a nice one bedroom, had a brand new Nissan Maxima and a ratty old motorcycle, cell phone, highspeed internet, every cable channell available, went "out" every week (typically dinner, movies, bars, manhattan, clubbing, whetever), dated regularly, and always had 1-200 left over every month after all expenses. Im only 34 so it wasnt THAT long ago.
May I ask what field your in? I currently know ALOT of 20 somethings that are making close to 100k in corporate america (in NJ) in Accounting, Finance, Programming, Architectural design, and Engineering. I think the Programmer chick and the 2 engineering guys were lowest on the pay scale right out of college but 3-4 years later they are all about the same (my wife's friends). Only 1 has his masters and 2 just got their CPA this year. You are only a couple years younger than them so I dont see why you couldnt have done it too.
Something I asked myself a long time ago was whats more important? Making money or doing something you love? I dont make as much as the folk I just mentioned, but I'm very happy with what i do and the opportunities Ive had to travel and live all over the world. I would never trade my life so far for money. Now that I have a family and house more money would be very helpful but we get by.
The third option~C- Live with girlfriend/boyfriend at an apartment~ sounds like a good step towards living life successfully! This is pretty much how many start out in their adult life, in NJ or otherwise. Perhaps graduated from college at 22 or 23, maybe spent a couple years with family or roommates while working towards goals in career, met someone with whom they could see themselves building a life, moved into an apartment together after a year or so of dating... Yup, this sounds pretty much right on track for those who have the notorious "5 year plan" in effect directly after graduating from college.
But, don't get me wrong- there is no one "right" way of living life successfully. Not everyone needs to adhere to a rigid plan. For some, this means security; but others may march to a different beat, which is just fine. The only true measures of success may be happiness, peace of mind, and living a good life, of which you can be proud.
Wrong. That is a BAD idea. For real, I rather move in with friends. When you move in with a significant other, you're doing it for relationship purposes. Chances are you see a future with that person. Why put yourself in a position where you have to rely upon the status of a relationship to whether you have a roof over your head or being out on the street?
move to south Jersey.. Way cheaper down here.. $45k down here would be enough to live comfortably
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