So, for a while I've been strongly considering the idea of living on my own, at least for a little while. Long story short, I think it will be healthier for myself, and maybe my Mom if we're apart for a bit. And, to sum up what I might make a huge rant about, I don't think I could manage living with my Dad. I'm still a high school student with probably a year and a half to go before I graduate. Due to that and other circumstances, I don't think I could manage holding down any employment until then.
Unfortunately a lot of the student housing in my area, from what I've seen, is absolutely dismal and I wouldn't choose any of them over my Mother's house in a million years. One place I looked at was utterly horrendous, the bathroom was a mess and the shower stall was a wreck covered in black mold; the basement literally looked like a dungeon because it was completely unfinished, and someone had a rickety table and a hot plate right next to the furnace, and it was all dusty and filthy and... yeah, not great.
Plus most of these places are utter ripoffs, they charge you 400-500 dollars monthly to rent just a small bedroom, and that's the only private space you get, the bathroom and kitchen and everything else you have to share.
Today however, I looked at a place that looked very good. There's a lady who is renting out her basement, which is basically like a small apartment, with a living room space, a bathroom, bedroom, and a small sort of kitchen space. The rent is $525 monthly, which seems like a pretty sweet deal considering I'd get all of that sort of private space, and that covers all the utilities and such, plus it's furnished (which I liked because I don't really have any of my own furniture). The living room space also has a sliding glass door that opens out into a back yard and patio space, which is really nice cause then it doesn't feel like a dungeon.
On top of that, I could also bring my kitty, which is a VERY nice bonus, cause he's extremely important to me. She actually has two cats of her own, but they're not allowed downstairs at all, so I don't think there's any real concern there. My cat is very well behaved; he's completely litter trained and he occasionally scratches the carpet, but he doesn't scratch furniture or walls. He's completely an indoor cat; occasionally he likes to escape outside, but he's very shy with strange people so he doesn't go far.
I think the space is a decent size for him to run around in. A lot smaller than what he's lived in all his life, but I think he will be okay. Cats are usually good at adapting to smaller living spaces, unlike dogs...
The lady seems very very nice, and very willing to respect her tenants' privacy... she said the only time she'd need to come downstairs would be to use the washer and dryer; she'd try to do that when I'm not home, but I'm okay with that either way.
She seemed pretty flexible and only has a few conditions, most of them are just common sense and respect. I'm definitely and absolutely not a person who would be throwing parties or having all kinds of strange people over. She wouldn't want me to use the washing machine every second day, but I'm alright with that, I'm not like my Mom in that respect at all... I only do cold or lukewarm washes, and only small or medium washes, and only every few days at most.
She said she'd like to put our washes together to save water, but honestly I don't think I'd be comfortable with that at all, I really don't want to wash my clothing with the underwear and such of someone who isn't my family...
The only thing I'm kind of unsure about is there's no closing door at the top of the stairs, it's more sort of like a shutter folding closet door that doesn't have a lock or anything on it... which is okay, but I just hope my cat wouldn't be able to push it open or anything...
Anyways, my Dad is away on the other side of the country right now, when he gets back on Thursday I'm going to have to discuss all of this with him. Nothing is for certain yet; my plans aren't really solid at the moment. I'm going to look at some other options soon.
If I go through with this, which I'm still not entirely sure of yet, I'm going to have to apply for social assistance... which only gives out 599$ a month at the most, which makes paying rent and buying things like food and such really hard... I'll have to talk to my Dad about all of this and the finance issue though, but he's said he's willing to help with that.
Sigh... I wish I could just find a good, healthy place where I could be happy. I really don't like having to do this. I hope I won't get to horribly lonely... though even with my Mom around I'm still pretty lonely anyway...
Any advice? 
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Why don't you get a roommate? Why do you need to insist on living alone (with the financial burden that it carries)?
