I wouldn't say that I'm financially independent, as, even though I'm going to college in less than a month, my parents are paying for most of the cost of the dorm. Additionally, because of the Mobil Speedpass that my parents had put on the keychain to the car that has passed on to me, whenever I pay for gas, it's put into a fund that it divided between their bank account and mine, so I don't even pay the full price of my gas. However, I pay for most other things myself--food, clothes, internet, cable, car insurance, etc.
I think that as I'm in college I'll probably be forced to leech off of my parents for various purposes; but as Beloit gives you a job on campus, I'll be making $1,500 dollars during the school year. Not a windfall, but enough to finance my discretionary spending, I should think, combined with the 800 or so I currently have in my checking account--again, not a goldmine, but enough.
The real question about financial independence will come when I reach age 21 and then have access to the funds that my rather well-off grandma left for me in her will (some $40,000 dollars). My grandfather was the vice-president of one of the biggest companies in America in the late 1950's--I can't remember the name, which I know seems suspicious, but it's the truth. After he passed away, that money obviously transferred to my grandmother, who died just a year ago. I think she intended that money to be used as a nest egg--to put a good chunk towards the purchase of a home, etc. But I wonder if, when I reach the age when I need to use that money, since it's not money that I actually earned myself, will that qualify as being financially independent, since I won't be reliant on my parents?
I feel almost guilty about it, like I shouldn't have that money, because with it, I know that no matter what, I won't be sleeping on the streets. I'm very big on the idea of self-sufficiency, but I've never been self-sufficient in my life, and I won't be for awhile still, as I go through college, those expenses are being largely subsidized by my parents, and once I get out of college, I have that lump sum to help me get started up with a "real" life. Am I justified in feeling that way? Or should I just be happy about it and stop whining?