Ever since I (23f) graduated from college, I have been living at home to take care of my severely special needs brother (21M) -- think 2 year old, he can't speak, read or write. However, due to various familial reasons, I am debating on getting my own apartment with him but am not sure if I can afford it.
As far as me being able to live my own life etc, he goes to school from 7:30-3:30 on weekdays, has an in home therapist from 3:30-5:30 on weekdays and then we get 10 hours of respite care from the government a week. I also occasionally pay the respite care guy $50 an hour to take care of my brother when I need more respite care. The daycare will allow me to have my work from home job and the respite care will allow me to hang out with my friends, party etc.
We live in Central NJ for context.
Savings: 15k in my 401k, 6.5k in my Roth IRA, 20k emergency fund
Income: After putting, 15% of my income into my 401k, I make ~$5k a month. My brother gets $1k a month in SSI and food stamps combined.
Here's my (really rough) budget:
Rent: $1800 apartment (including utilities) for a large studio apartment with gym and work from home areas (for when therapist comes). The rent is more expensive than what I'd get for myself but it has a good location and is larger for 2 people.
Transportation: $400 for ubers, trains to nyc etc. I don't have a car and I got quoted for $200 a month of car insurance as I'm 23 so I figured this might be cheaper. Please tell me if I'm wrong. We live a 10 min walk from the grocery store/tj maxx at least in the complex I am looking into.
Food: $500 a month on groceries and take out for the two of us
My Entertainment and Personal Expenses: $600 a month for skincare, medical costs, concerts, makeup, travel, clothes, eating out, whatever
Brother's Entertainment Expenses: $400 a month for clothes, concerts, swimming classes, bowling, whatever
Brother's Medical Expenses: $200 a month, copays, prescriptions, etc
My insurances (Life, Rent, Health): $150 a month. Is there anything else I should be getting?
Brother's extra respite care: $350 a month (sometimes I need an extra hour or two a week to give me a break)
Random household expenses: $100 a month (cleaning supplies, paper towels etc)
Savings: $500 a month for Roth IRA (put 15% of income in 401k beforehand), $500 a month for brother's emergency medical expenses fund, $500 a month in emergency fund
Does this all look right? Is there anything I am not accounting for? Am I ready to move out with him? I also graduated with $20k in student loan debt (thanks for working 2 jobs in college and my internships) which I wiped out using my sign on bonus, random payments and my end of year bonus at work.
original posted by Ambitious_Ad_409 to r/personalfinance on Tue, 27 Feb 2024 20:01:43 GMT.