After living in hospitals and various kind of group homes from 1980 (when I first got sick) until 1995. I finally moved out on my own. In 1995 my sister offered to rent me a room in her condo she was living in with my nephew. I paid the same rent that she would have charged any other roommate, only $300.00 a month back then. I paid my share of utilities and other bills and I did my share of cleaning. I did all the yard work.
It was pretty cool living with her because she invited me to do stuff with her and her friends like going camping or to birthday parties, restaurants etc. Anyways, I stayed there for three years until she asked me to leave because she wanted to live alone with my nephew. So for the next 15 years I looked in the classified ads and on the internet and found rooms to rent from people.
After my sisters, I answered an ad on Craigslist or something and it was some guy a little older than me who was renting out two room s in his house to make a little extra cash. I ended up staying there for 3 1/2 years until his landlord who owned the house decided he wanted us to leave so he could live there himself.
So I found a new place. Anyways, I won’t list evry detail of what it was like renting rooms. But there were a lot of positive experiences. The reason I like renting rooms is because I used to get a little suicidal at living alone. So just having another body in the house solved the problem because I didn’t feel so alone. Plus, when most people rent rooms out to strangers they are nice people. Its almost like having a built in friend.
And after my sisters house, in all the subsequent rooms I rented I was really only responsible for keeping my own room clean and cleaning up after myself and the people who I rented it from did the rest. Also, renting a room is more affordable then finding a house or apartment and sharing it equally with someone you want to live with like a friend or something. So anyone who is considering living independently, maybe renting a room in someones house may work for you. You might want to just check it out.