For young people at the beginning of their careers, living alone is a challenge. Not because they don’t want to, but because they can’t afford it. A studio apartment is rented for around 300 euros, and for two-room apartments, the prices jump by 500. Almost as much as the salary for a beginner, complain the young people.
Young people’s dilemma: how they can afford to move away from their parents
“A year ago I finished college and since then I started looking for rent, because I wanted to leave my family. I wanted to be completely independent from them.
The problem is that I didn’t manage to find a job right away, so months passed when I couldn’t raise money. I managed to get a job this year, in March, on a salary of 3000 lei and that’s how I managed to save as well. But I succeeded because that money didn’t go on rent and utilities precisely because I stayed with my parents.
I don’t have any acquaintances that I could move in with, and I don’t even like the idea of looking for flatmates on various groups, because the thought of living with a stranger scares me.”wrote a young woman on the Reddit platform.
After explaining the situation in which he finds himself, he asks a question that many other young people at the beginning of their careers find themselves in:
,,I ask in the most sincere way, how are you doing, those of you who live alone, and if you manage to be completely financially independent from your parents at this age? Personally, I don’t think I could handle the expenses for more than 3 months, at least not in Bucharest”.
What answers did he get?
“I’ve been working for four years and still haven’t moved from home”someone wrote.
“With a salary of 3,000 lei, moving alone is very difficult. If you really want to move, the best option is to have a roommate. Then expenses are halved and it’s more acceptable”someone else replied.
Another young man suggests that he wait until his salary increases:
“3,000 lei seems far too little to me. If it will increase in the future, wait. There is nothing wrong with staying with your parents until you stabilize. It’s good that you have a salary. If you don’t see any upward trend, take it and look for something better paid. After college, working for three thousand lei seems illogical to me at least.”
A user who works as a resident doctor is of the same opinion:
“I live with my parents, save the money I earn and invest it in government bonds / investment funds, so that in 5-6 years of saving I can buy an apartment. Last year I had a return of 30%. Resident doctor.”
Those who live alone save on blood
The young woman also received a lot of responses from young adults who moved out of their parents’ house. They tell how they watch every penny and expense to succeed.
“I have been living alone for a year and a half. For rent, in a studio apartment near the subway December 1, 1918, two minutes’ walk from the subway. Why did I move? I love my parents and yet living with them is awful. Arguments over nothing, lack of emotional intelligence, emotional abuse, typical. Income: 2450 lei net per month + 700-800 lei meal vouchers. I work as a game tester and I only work from home, so I don’t pay for shipping. Expenses 250 euros rent plus utilities.
Other expenses: only the occasional subway, expenses related to hobbies, although I have cheap hobbies (50-100 lei per month). Clothes from the second hand, I buy materials to sculpt, I do sports in the calisthenics park in Cișmigiu, so I don’t pay a subscription to the gym.
Food: with food I only fit in vouchers. I never go into money. I only eat what I cook at home because I like to cook”.
Even if they have very little money left from their salary, many young people still prefer this option, because they want to be independent:
“You can’t afford a lot when you’re single, honestly, but somehow you have your peace, your order. Ignoring the stress of not being out of a job, that was one of the things I was most stressed about, not having anything set aside for rent in case something happened.”
“When I started my first job, I had 3,000 lei, so the maximum budget for rent was 1,000 lei. I found a studio in an old block in a good part of town, but it needed a launderette and some minor repairs to make it ok. I can’t say it was ideal; basically, the money went to rent, utilities, food and a night out, but that was the situation. Meanwhile, I pushed hard to develop my career and my salary increased considerably. I recommend looking for a modest studio apartment for ~250€, even if it means staying on the outskirts, and simultaneously trying to grow in your field of activity.”
“Inhuman effort or parents with money”
Others recount how hard it was for them to cope:
“Hey, I worked full time during college (I did Automatic) and I haven’t received any money from my parents since the 2nd year of college. Unfortunately, it took an inhuman effort to work full time and be an integralist. But I came out of college with three years of experience in the field + one year of call center. So basically, to live alone in our generation you need an inhuman effort on your own or parents with money. I don’t really see a middle way.”
The two of N
Another user talks about needing… luck. Even so, he says, it is not easy:
“You need the two “N’s”. Good luck finding a decent rental for the price. Lucky to have a stable job that pays okay. That’s it. If you make at least 4,000 lei and also receive vouchers or bonuses, you can find a studio apartment for 250-300 euros and you’ve moved. You’re living on the edge, but hey, at least you’re alone. (…) There are sacrifices to be made, but being alone is a very beneficial thing overall. It’s a financial torment and I think it will become more and more difficult for a young man to take his life into his own hands”.
Alone and yet not. The roommate, another option
Another solution used by many young people who want to move away from home is renting with someone else, either a partner or friends.
“I rented a 3-room apartment with two other people. Each had their own room, and the kitchen and bathroom were shared. That was all I could afford at the time.” someone wrote.
And this is a happy option. In other cases, even more people can stay in an apartment:
“After graduating from college, I stayed with flatmates for 6 years, during the first two I also had a roommate. They were usually college mates”sounds like a different experience.
“Have you thought about the partner/husband option? It’s the oldest version”someone else answered the young woman.
What salary is needed to handle everything
A young man who works in IT says that only after reaching a salary of over 10,000 lei did he feel that he could live without parents or flatmates.
“I’ve been working as a programmer in Cluj for four years and only this month I moved on my own (…) How did I manage? I’ve been working as an IT-ist since I was 21, I stayed at the dormitory until I finished college. From the age of 23, when I finished college, I jumped 8,000 RON in salary and, until this month, I shared a communist apartment with a colleague, paying 600 RON in rent. Now, after another 2 years and a promotion, I reached somewhere around 12,000 RON and collected enough money to move, furnished exactly as I want.
As well as expenses: rent – 480 euros for an apartment with a large room in the Gheorgheni area, new building; about 600–700 RON per invoice, plus the rest of the expenses, I reach about 6,000 RON monthly. So, if you don’t have a salary of around €2,000 and enough money to stay without a job for at least 6-8 months, I don’t recommend moving alone to big cities. Better share with others and raise money.”, wrote the young man.
Another says that he managed to buy an apartment during the pandemic, with the money made from IT:
“I bought my own apartment at the age of 22, in 2020. It was the pandemic, IT was in its prime, I was making about 70,000 lei net per month working for three companies through SRL.
There was nothing to do, I stayed at home all day with my family, I had practically zero expenses for about five months, money that I spent on a two-room apartment”.
Someone else’s recommendation: work abroad
For another young generation Z, the solution was different. He moved to the neighboring country, Hungary, where, he says, salaries are higher even right after graduating from college. Even if the income is higher, the prices for rent and maintenance are the same as in Romania. Thus he also manages to put money aside every month.
“I’ve been moved to Budapest for some time and I work for a corporation in the field of compliance. Because I’m 22 years old, part of my taxes are cut until I’m 25, and thus I have a salary that I would only have dreamed of in my 30s if I had continued to live in Romania (7,200 lei net). The rent is almost 500 euros, and the maintenance and bills (plus internet and TV) are, in total, I recommend 650-700 lei. Otherwise, I pay for supplies, possible clothes and shoes, plus outings to shows and movies, and I do it in such a way that I have about 2,000 lei left at the end of the month (because it may happen that I spend money on plane tickets to see my family, to pay for courses to develop my professional skills and so on). to work elsewhere if a great professional opportunity arises.”, wrote the young man.
