Real Answers for Life’s Money Challenges
Im 23 and have a part-time job making $15 an hour.
I purposely work part time to pursue my passion of chess, which requires hours on end of study.
I wont qualify for government assistance, and my part-time job isnt enough to cover the place.
Grant aside, is this a sound money plan?
J.
Dear J.,
Hold up.
We need to break this down a little bit.
(Weve all been there.)
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Buying a camper and renting out your moms house sounds like more trouble than its worth.
Could you take on a roommate or two to live with you inside the house instead?
Your utility bills may rise from having additional people, but youd be splitting the tab with your roommates.
Plus, you may be able to share some additional expenses, like grocery staples or streaming video services.
Having roommatesisnt always easy especially when you want to preserve your quiet time for studying.
But it may provide a short-term solution to make taking care of your mothers home more bearable.
Now, for your work schedule.
The way I see it, you have two options.
Doing so will buy you time to study chess.
The second is to take on more hours at your current job.
I know this will be hard to consider, because youre dedicated to your studies.
But sometimes, having a challenging schedule pushes you to work smarter.
When Im busy, I might be stressed for a short period, but I can geta lotdone.
What if you could take on 10 more hours of work?
Could you still reach your chess goals and be able to earn that grant?
Maybe you could serve as a chess tutor and use the skill you already have to make extra cash.
Where can you add hours at work or add on side gig earnings?
How much could you cut back your chess studies and still develop your skills?
This seesaw might need to dip to one side more heavily than the other for a while.
This is only temporary.
Disclaimer: Chosen questions and featured answers will appear in The Penny Hoarders Dear Penny column.
I wont be able to answer every single letter (I can only pop in so fast!).
We reserve the right to edit and publish your questions.
Dont worry your identity will remain anonymous.
I do, however, promise to give you honest advice based on my own insights and real-life experiences.
Lisa Rowan is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder.
(Can you sense my millennial sarcasm there?)
You know which ones were talking about: rent, utilities, cell phone bill, insurance, groceries…
