TLDR; Is 5 years better spent buying a property but staying on low wages, or studying for a high paying job but paying rent forever?
I thought of a way to end the rent demon forever – by living in a van near my job, renting parking space for $80 – $120 per month, $0 on energy bills, $0 on travel and using public facilities.
In 4-5 years of nightmare rough living, I would have enough to buy a tiny one bed apartment in a cheap area and never pay rent again. It's not great, but my terrible wage would do more than double what it does for me today.
When I mentioned this to my parents, their reaction was disgust, suspicion and confusion. They didn't understand why I wanted to live a “hobo lifestyle” and accused me of taking shortcuts to avoid working hard for a better job.
My three closest friends' reactions were no better. They said I would be a miserable, low-status drifter with no fixed address and that 5 years would be better spent “on a STEM degree”.
I was super confident before but now I'm almost backing out. How is 5 years better spent for a low paid worker:
Staying on the same wage but never paying rent again?
Or studying to massively increase my wage but still paying rent forever?