When you had become self sustained.

[VFK57]

At what age you had become a financially self sustained person? Usually there are reasons for it if it happens earlier than average like growing up in a single parent household, parent(s) who did not spoil you or buy even necessary things for you, requiring working for it etc.
I started to work at 18 and while living with my parents, gave them 1/2 of my wages just because my parents could not afford things I wanted to have.

 

[travelover]

This summarizes my situation:

 

[razztazz]

Age 38. Grew up under the tutelage of ignorance, anger, and alcoholism. Was good enough for the grown-ups I suppose but not for me. I ran away from home at 18 and joined the circus... I mean the Air Force. Did the minimum to get where I wanted to be then kissed them off too.

 

[Souschef]

At age 20. A friend of mine gave me some good advice. As soon as you graduate, get out of NY.
I left home and never looked back. In a book called "The Run for Home" there is a statement"His home had become a loving prison", and I felt that way too.
Years later my mom said that they sort of resented the fact that I left, but that was the way it was.
I worked over 50 years in Aerospace, then retired and again never looked back.

 

[2017ish]

23. Second year of law school. Made enough summer after first year to support myself (First year was living off of loans, so don't count that one.)

 

[eta2020]

At 18 when I escaped from behind an Iron Curtain and had no choice but to become self sustained.

 

[razztazz]

I think I may have misread. Self-sustaining, not Financially independent? That would be age 18.

 

[Meadbh]

23. Graduated medical school with no debt. Earned low wages as an intern, but did little except work and sleep, so expenses were low. Lived at home, paid rent to Mum and Dad. Saved 75% of the cost of my first car during internship.

 

[Dash man]

Age 19 when my parents divorced and said I was on my own. Worked my way through a state university along with a few student loans to help. I think it all made me wiser financially.


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[FUEGO]

Somewhere around 18. My parents paid for part of the first year of college, but between loans, scholarships, grants, and part time work I was able to pay for everything after my first year in college.

I figured I was an adult at that point and my parents had their own financial goals in life (mainly retirement) so no need for me to mooch off of them when my arms and legs worked just fine. We never lived a luxurious life growing up so living like a broke college student suited me just fine (and mostly still does!).

I did received a $7000 gift during law school when I was 21. My dad had given my older brother a few thousand $$ in his UTMA account (designed for college savings though he never attended) when we were little, and so wanted to make it fair between what we each received. So after hearing I had PMI on my mortgage for my condo, he asked how much it would take to get it removed. $7,000 which was the 10% of the loan needed to pay it off to get to 80% LTV. I look at that as a gift and not something I needed for support, though the spoon was still silver.

Other than that, it's been $25 or $50 here and there for birthdays and Christmas, and they probably buy slightly more meals out than I do, though I try to treat when I can sneak the bill.

 

[scrabbler1]

Age 22, when I graduated from college. I moved out but then moved back home for a few months before moving out again. I was working the whole time and paying my parents some rent for the 7 months I was back home.

 

[Walt34]

Age 23 when I was hired by the police department and had enough income to support myself. I was still living at home at the time since there was no urgency to leave (we got along well) and Mom liked having a live-in handyman. I paid some rent but it was admittedly token.

My older sister boomeranged back with a 2-year-old son a year or so later. Toddlers and shift work don't go well together so I then got an apartment. She was in a much tougher spot than I was so it didn't trouble me.

 

[kaudrey]

22, when I graduated college.

 

[jjquantz]

20, when DW and I got married. Took care of the last 2 years of state college on our own, back in the day when a full-time summer job and part time work during the school year could actually cover costs.

 

[cooch96]

I had a job at 16 and paid for many expenses then (gas, clothes, school supplies etc.), but DM still provided room and at least a third of my board. I was 17 when I joined the army. Future Step-Dad must've paid for flights home on leave (I can't imagine I would've saved 40-60% of my stipend just to return to Iowa), but Uncle Sam provided all the necessities.

I was commissioned a month before I turned 22 and I'm sure I paid for my personal travel after that, but I still wasn't too proud to let my folks pick up the occasional dinner tab.

 

[hnzw_rui]

I've been financially self-sustaining since 23 even though I still live with my parents (apartment rental). We immigrated when I was 19 and I was the first one to get a job. Since we moved to the US, my income has always been greater than my parents' combined income. We live together for practical purposes and around 75% of my take-home pay goes towards shared household expenses (and I expect I'll be supporting them upon retirement, too).

 

[big-papa]

At 18-ish. Left home in a small town in Louisiana to go to college. Grants, Student Loans, summer jobs were required to pay for it. Spent summers at home. Parents were emotionally supportive (especially since I was the first one in the family to go to college out of a total of 11 kids), just couldn't be financially. After graduation moved away from the state at age 22 to work in the semiconductor industry. Priority 1 was to pay off student loans and did that in just a few years.

 

[canuck5]

I grew up on the farm in a farming community and was fortunate enough to get paid for whatever work I did. Started work, very, very young and was taught how to save money, only because we never had a lot. Lucky enough to work in the auto industry, in summers after I turned 18 and made big money back then ($10/hr in 1978).

Paid my way thru Engineering School, and bought a brand new car when I graduated. My plan was to take 6 months off and travel to see the things I've missed out on, but the week after I graduated, I started a new job. Been working ever since.

I've been FI for a couple of years now, but just have not pulled that retiring early trigger yet. Maybe soon!

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

When I volunteered into the Army at 19.

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[I was misinformed]

Well this brings back 40+ year memories...

Age 17 when I left home for college. I had a $1350 scholarship from
which they deducted $600 tuition. That plus a very tiny (maybe about $250)
student loan kept me going. Of course that meant no phone, no car, no travel...

Later in college I had a summer job which paid $860/month and the
opportunity to live in a kind of company dormitory for $25/month. I never
felt so rich ever again...

 

[Major Tom]

At age 23, after graduating from University in the UK, my Dad picked me up from campus and gave me a ride home. After arriving, he congratulated me and said, "I know I don't have to tell you this, but you're on your own now". One or two people I told this to thought it was a bit harsh, but I didn't take it that way at all, as I was keen to get out on my own and see the big, wide world.

So I moved to Los Angeles

 

[ejman]

19, second year of college. Worked part time that year and full time after that and also attended college full time. Of course, those were the days when tuition at a State College were very reasonable ( I think from memory tuition and fees at UT Austin was about $100 a semester or something like that)

 

[Big_Hitter]

married a rich woman at 26

 

[Sunset]

I paid for my College, but got free room and board from parents, so I don't count that.
At 23 I had a job and moved out.

 

[kgtest]

Thought I knew it all at 18 and tried to sustain by leaving the nest. After 1 year of college I was broke and back in the nest.

Falling into a bout of depression and not having a clear vision on what it required to make it in the "real-world" I worked some construction jobs for a few years while I shacked up with a girl. I decided it would serve me best to ditch the girl and head back to the nest as I was travelling down a path I felt was not right.

I eventually found a women who was willing to help me tie my shoes so I don't know if I will actually ever really be "fully sustained" with her by my side.

I think the turning point and the point when I felt I had finally "made it" in the "real world" was when I started paying my parents cell phone bills instead of them paying mine.

I was 26, now I'm 34 and I still pay their cell phone bills which is a small token of my appreciation for them not giving up on me.

Looking back, my parents were willing and had tried to do everything they could to get it to "sink in" but I was a party animal. Man did I have some good times, just glad I was able to right the ship eventually...that took some serious self-evaluation.