I'm Moving Out of My Parent's House

All the stuff I bought for my apartment

After 21 years of living at home I finally make enough money to move out of my parent's house and into my own apartment. With this in mind, my parents and I struck out on an adventure filled weekend that began with a simple declaration of financial independence and ended with a reduction in car insurance, a down payment on a really nice apartment with a view, and a very cluttered bedroom.

It all started when I decided to redo my monthly budget and check to see if I could afford move out on my own. After plugging in all the numbers, it appeared that I was bringing in enough money to afford paying rent on an apartment plus keep up on all my other bills (student loan, car insurance, etc.). I spoke to my parents about my goal and, while they agreed that I could in fact afford to move out, there were some rather large financial hurdles I would have to overcome.

My car insurance was eating my bank account alive! Fortunately, due to my grandfather's military service, my folks and I were eligible for car and renter's insurance through USAA. After switching to them, my car insurance bill went from $190 dollars a month to $40 dollars a month. Wow! Now all I had to do was find an apartment.

The thing you must understand about apartment shopping in the Bellevue/Omaha area is that there are basically two kinds of apartments available: The really cheap kind where the carpets, drapes and light fixtures were installed somewhere between The Summer of Love and Woodstock and the kind that are so ridiculously expensive that you wonder how crazy you'd have to be to actually live there. If you couple that with the fact that I can only live on the first floor, you'll begin to see how finding an affordable place to live can be a daunting task. However, with a sound budget and good connections, I was able to find just the apartment I was looking for; that's where Tregaron Oaks comes in.

Tregaron Oaks had a gorgeous one bedroom apartment available that was right up my alley in terms of size and price. It's 865 square feet, has a view of the lake, a club house and comes with the following perks and amenities:

All of that and it will only cost me $685 a month. With my official move in date being August 15, my parents and I have already gone shopping and picked up everything I need for my new place for a little over $470. After all that, the most difficult part was finding space in my current bedroom to store it all until I can move out!

All in all, preparing to strike out on my own has been an amazing experience. I can't say that I don't have my worries but I'm certain that everything is going to work out just fine. Which brings me to the final and most important thing to have on hand when moving out on your own: faith. I firmly believe that this major transition in my life is exactly what God was planning on. This entire adventure began on a Wednesday afternoon and by the end of that weekend I had a wonderful apartment, a full set of furniture and every amenity I need to get on my feet. I don't believe that it was a coincidence, good timing or great planning. What I do believe is that this is a fulfillment of a promise:

&ldqou;For I know the plans I have for you,&rdqou; declares the LORD, &ldqou;plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.&rdqou; Jeremiah 29:11.

I can't say I deserve everything that I've been given but I can definitely tell you where it comes from. The events of the past few days have taught me a lot about myself, where I'm headed and how big a part God has to play in it.

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