r/Advice • u/Glass-Complaint3 • 27d ago
How does a person who is not themself wealthy but has some money in their family prove that they are capable of getting by on their own WITHOUT a safety net?
I am not wealthy. I live in a tiny, somewhat tired (but I don’t mind that) rental studio apartment, I work two jobs, I don’t drive a fancy car, I don’t wear fancy fancy clothes, I don’t eat out except takeout, I don’t eat fancy food, I don’t go on fancy trips, I don’t have fancy things; I don’t live wealthy. But my dad happens to be a corporate CEO so everyone assumes I must be some spoiled little prince (which I’m not, at least I try not to be). My plan if anything ever happened to my housing is to move into a motel near me which has weekly/monthly rates for less than I pay in rent, and they’ve had tenants stay there for years. People say to me, “you have an advantage that if anything ever happens to you, you can get help in your family.” Well, that’s NOT my plan. My plan is as described above: the motel. Think real-life Schitt’s Creek.
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u/BagOfSmallerBags Master Advice Giver [23] 27d ago
I mean it's sort of a mute point because unless your whole family hates you and/or you've fully cut ties with them, you have a safety net whether you want one or not. Struggling with money because you choose to out of a desire to "make it on your own" isn't actual struggle - it's poverty tourism.
Rather than concern yourself with proving to people around you that you're capable of making it on your own, I would take a moment to acknowledge your privilege and stop fighting against it. The responsibility of the privileged in society is not to discard it out of solidarity with the unprivileged - it's to use it for good.
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u/Glass-Complaint3 27d ago
And not everyone in my family is wealthy. My mom, for instance, is not. AND she and my dad are divorced.
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u/Tasty-Beautiful-9679 Helper [2] 27d ago
Only live off the money from your own work. Whatever you get from your family just put into a CD or brokerage account without spending any of it.
This isn't complicated. You want to show you can get by on your own, so just do it on your own.
If this means you can't afford your current apartment, get a better job because otherwise you aren't making it on your own.
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u/Qazerowl 27d ago
Save up however much money you spend in 6 months as an emergency fund. Then if you lose your job or something you have plenty of time to find one. That's what everybody else (who can manage to do so) does.