I've been following MMM for a while now, and yet there's one money-saving area that I feel's been completely untouched. Housing. It's so freaking expensive, and I've yet to find a good way to reduce costs to a reasonable level. FYI I'm 21 and living at home (I know, pathetic), and I plan to move out this year. But, I don't really have a career per se. I figure my starting wage will be ~$10-$15/hr (I make $12/hr right now, but it's a temp/part time and I really wanna get out of this town). At my current salary fulltime, that's about $20k of actual money ($4k get's stolen by the feds), and I figure about $17k for living expenses. Leaving only $3k to spend/save/invest/whatever. This budget figures no car, public transportation, no cable, no health insurance, just rent/food/utilities. At $700/mo $8400/yr it's about half of my expenses!
Anyways, I've looked into tiny houses, mobile homes, rvs, DIY home, roommates etc, but nothing seems to get the cost under $500/mo. I don't care about space ~200SF is plenty for me, and I have a cat, so that makes renting more difficult in certain areas. My target is $200~300/mo (inc. W/S & excess transportation, but not electric/gas) with solid walls (no tents/pop ups/haybales) and at least ~120SF. Any suggestions?