I've said it 100 times ...

I need to move. I came home from a relaxing trip to the U.P. only to have a note written by my father about how I need to keep up my place better. I pay this man a lot of money a month to live in his basement (it's supposed to be an arrangement to "save" money; however taking a good chunk of disposable income a month doesn't quite save money) and, in reality, I have not been saving as I had planned because no matter how many times I try to convince myself to move out - I can't seem to put the money away. On top of it all, he keeps mentioning how broke he is, so a bit of daughter-fed guilt has made me not take the plunge and save away for getting out.

I managed to get myself into a lot of college and post-college debt and don't really have the credit rating to pay a standard move-in of security deposit plus first month's rent (not to mention get the "free" deals that are going on right now), instead I'm faced with a double security deposit and first months rent (which around these parts comes out to about $2000). So instead of relaxing last night I crunched numbers to see how long it would be before I could move - 7 freaking months and that's being pretty damn stingy. That leaves me a mere $200 a month for groceries and gas (gas alone these days is about $240-$300). To top it off, I was hoping my tax return might make for the down payment - but it turns out one year post college means no HOPE credit and means a total of $80 for a return.

I looked desperately around my destitute living quarters and silently tallied up the cost of everything I own, which sadly would realistically be around $300. I had sold everything good a couple months back as I was trying to make rent and pay back my student loans.

So here are my options:
(1) Continue being miserable, living at home. Not wanting to come home, because I live in my dad's basement and I'm 25.
(2) Live in Dad's basement for 7 months to try and save up the money to move out. 7 long months.
(3) Find another job to occupy what little free time I have to make up the income and possibly move out in 3-4 months.
(4) Find a roommate, move out and have to live with a roommate, again. Which never really works out for me.

I go back and forth on the second job, I'm dead tired as is and have no free time - but I'm going to look anyway. I might be able to make just enough to work at the position for ONLY the month before moving and be able to afford a semi-decent place.

Let's hope the other job I applied for calls soon.