How much money did you save up before moving out?

[Looch City]

Kind of piggy backing off the real estate thread with this. How much money did you save up (or plan to save up) before moving out? Rent/buy/live out of a car?

I don't want this to turn into a 'oh look at you with your privileged life' etc etc. I just want to share strategies or stories on how you started out your adult lives. Or if you could do it over again, what would you do different?

I'll start with myself:

I'm in my mid twenties now, been working full time for about 1.5 years. I'm starting to look into buying a house and talking to brokers and so on. I have about 70k saved up (I'm damn lucky living at home with meals/shelter paid for).

[Ozy_Flame]

Yeah you're good

[Locke]

When I first moved out I basically had 3 months of cash. That meant, insurance, rent, fuel, food, etc.

If something went south I could survive for 3 months with no money coming through the door.

In hindsight its not much, but its enough to give yourself an opportunity to do something about any given situation before having to hit the panic button.

[undercoverbrother]

zero dollars

[Maccalus]

I put approx. 40k down when I bought my house 5 years ago. That worked out to about a 14% down payment.

[FlamesAddiction]

None. My parents were split up and my mom died when I was a teen, so I was out with nothing but my clothes on my back. In fact, she left debts so I was in the negative. To be fair, I moved in with my girlfriend and her mom, so I had a decent situation all things considered (and a more than fair rent agreement), so I wasn't on the street or anything.

[the_only_turek_fan]

When I moved out and moved in with my wife (gf at the time), I had about $120,000.

[the_only_turek_fan]

Staying home for University and my parents paying for my tuition was a huge factor, but my dad made me open up my first RRSP account when I was 17 or 18.

[Swarly]

was in the negatives. borrowed cash from my Visa at the time to pay the DD. luckily I had a steady job so it was a temporary measure.

[peter12]

Don't buy a house. It is a bone-headed idea. $70,000 is a lot of money, and it should be invested. Think of putting some in your TFSA, and starting an index fund.

I had around $10,000, but it was in an RRSP.

I have siblings who stuck around at home for as long as possible, but me, I just wanted my freedom as quickly as I could get it.

[8sPOT]

1. Bought house with zero down in 2005.
2. Sold house in 2007.
3. Profit.
4. Real down payment on a different house in Strathmore.

So basically lucked my way through the early years.

[pseudoreality]

I was 16 when I moved out of my parents and maybe $1000 to my name. I lived in some pretty crappy places and maybe took a bit longer to grow-up than some, but I always had my eye on the prize. Paid off my student loans at 27 and five months later bought my first house. My first place was a small old bungalow that needed a lot of work. I lived there for nine years and fixed the place up nice. Sold it for twice I paid for and just got my dream home at 36.

[troutman]

None.

Rented until I was about 32.

[northcrunk]

$0. Made $2000/month with a baby on the way and lived in a 2 bedroom apartment.

[btimbit]

About $20, lived paycheque to paycheque for quite a while

[burn_this_city]

Almost none, barely scrapped together a DD and first months rent.

[GP_Matt]

I got a $2000 signing bonus after graduating UofC and moved to Grande Prairie with my gf the day after my last exam. I might have had $2500 to my name but I worked 70 hours a week at my first job for most of the first two years and built a bit of savings.

I really had no backup plan other than a credit card and knew no one in the city but it worked out well for me.

[polak]

I thought I had a decent amount. Then I realized very quickly that budgeting is a lie and that I don't make very much money...

Building equity is nice though

[Muta]

Gave up my condo after it burned down and moved into an abandoned house that was real fixer-upper. Didn't put any money down, but the parties were fun. Eventually people loved it so much they started moving in, so we had to establish some ground rules. One of our boys got killed and we had to bury him the backyard. Those were the days.

[MoneyGuy]

Buy the house and rent it out, but keep it a secret from the parents. Continue to live free. It's a shrewd financial move.