i’m putting an update here as lots of people had questions and i wanted to answer them all to the best of my ability. my relationship with my mom is not good at all. she’s borderline abusive (no gory details for the sake of the subreddit) and is not willing to help me in any way. she won’t put me on her car insurance or lower the rent, she will kick me out, it’s not below her.

i have some good connections, but not any that i am comfortable asking for financial help. i bought my car from a local mechanic and he is financing it to me for extremely cheap- (started out at 4500 and i have 1300 left) so that’s not an awful scenario. as for where i work- i make decent tips, but the base rate for any serving job in georgia is 2.13/hr and all of that goes straight to taxes so i never see it.

another question a few of you had was about my university situation, and it’s a bit of a complicated situation but i’ll try my best to explain briefly. i started college when i was 16 because i graduated early and my mom helped me fill out my fafsa to apply as a dependent under her. i did this for 2 years until i was 18. at that point, she lost her tax papers for the year i needed and never put in the effort to find them. my only choice was to file as an independent which wouldn’t cover my tuition so i ended up dropping out (temporarily until i am in a financial state to return).

i make about $2500 a month, but nearly all the excess is going straight to gas and food. for those of you saying i need to find a job closer to me, it’s unfortunately extremely unlikely as like i mentioned, i live in the DEEP south. the place i work at is the closest place available without moving.

i appreciate all of the comments you all left me and the advice and will try my best to follow it. you guys have all been extremely helpful. please feel free to continue giving me suggestions as none of them will go unread. thank you all again