Should I get a car or an apartment first, given my life circumstances?
So, I F23 am trying to decide whether I should focus on saving up for a car, or saving up for a security deposit + picking up a second job to be able to have my own apartment.
A few things, I live in a toxic home environment with a severely alcoholic mother (always getting into altercations, calls the cops over minor things, cops themselves are tired of her and always tell ME to press charges or get a restraining order , surprised shes not blacklisted yet lol, tells me to go die, calls me a bitch, threatens to kill me, almost stabbed me once, etc)
& a verbally abusive grandmother (calls me stupid and retarded, tells my brother and I we’re the reason my mother is an alcoholic, threatens to kick me out every 5 seconds even though I pay rent). So yeah, that’s why I’m adamant about moving out.
At the same time, while I do have a good job, full time hours and decent pay, $22.00 per hr as a cook; I have to take 3 buses to & from work. Sometimes my first bus doesn’t even come, so I clock out at 9:30pm and get home past midnight, & my job is 20 mins away by car, so that’s exhausting. I have to decide between the two unless I pick up a second job.
I feel like with a car, even if I do get kicked out, I could at least live in my car until I figure something out? But at the same time, I’d like to have secure housing. So I don’t know. Which is the wiser chose given my situation?
Also I must note, I’m kinda stubborn and really really don’t want a roommate, but if that’s what it has to be, then I’m willing to budge. Just want to know if it’s possible to live on my own first.
TL;DR Car or apartment first? Toxic home environment, but at the same time transportation is unreliable going to and from work. Prefer to live on my own without roommates also. Should I pick up a second job to afford the apartment, or save up for a car?
Posted Mar 5, 2026, 2:28 AM UTC