Moving out to a different state at 17

First really think about whether moving out is worth it. Can you really afford to live by yourself so young? Do you really want to straddle the life of a teenager and the life of an adult: having to work, having to pay for utilities, for rent, for groceries? And at the same time have fun, NOT get burnt out from all the work you have to do, go to school, hang out with friends? The magic number for the percentage of what SHOULD go to your home is 25-30% of your bank account/salary. At seventeen, you can’t really get a very good job unless you get lucky somewhere. In New Jersey, you’d have to get paid over $22 an hour and work over forty hours a week just to live on the necessities – and that is literally living paycheck to paycheck. You won’t be able to get government aid oftentimes if you work overtime too much. Do you know how much taxes you must pay if you are to live in Hawaii? A lot of their things are imported, so I suspect that they might be high.

I am not trying to discourage you. I just want you to think smart. You are young and you do not want to mess up your credit, or a chance at allowing yourself to grow as a person. Your parents should be giving you that opportunity. If you want to feel more independent and feel like you’re not relying on your parents so much, get a job so that you have your own spending money. Save up so that one day you could dip into those savings when the time is right. This is a decision that takes a lot of planning, and it’s not always guaranteed to go smoothly especially if you’re young and you’re looking to live in a different region with no school degrees or anything noteworthy on paper to support you. There are a lot of entry level jobs that you can move up from in time, but you really must look. But there is oftentimes that accursed glass ceiling that won’t let you get anywhere because you have not attained your degrees/gone to school/gotten certified. Everything else requires school certification and what have you.

Take into account that you’re going to have to look for someplace to live, and at the same time you’re going to have to look for a job, and you’ll have to have something to eat. If there’s a job there waiting for you, perhaps that is ok, but you can’t risk being idle for too long because things pile up in the worst ways that way.

Or you could go to college in Hawaii. At least you’ll have some security that way. You’ll have a school where you’ll most likely have a meal plan, a place to live short term, etc.