Recently, I am trying to move out....and I am trying to take steps to living on my own, but every time I do, I get punished in some way.
Congratulations! You are within God's will and moving in the right direction! Satan hates people who try to walk in the Lord's ways and he enjoys punishing people who don't fall in line with his authority over this world as the "prince of the power of the air". The fact that you are looking for a deeper relationship with God by moving away from your parents' nominal Christianity has alerted the Enemy to attack.
Also, welcome to my life. My parents just want me to live a miserable life and never have my independence or a productive ministry, so they keep sabotaging and sabotaging and sabotaging. I am hoping that your situation is not as severe as my own, but perhaps I can give insight from my years of struggles.
I just need basic help with learning how to get a car, how to get insurance for the car, how to get life insurance, how to get an apartment, and things like these. Do you all have any advice? I found a person selling a 2008 Mazda 3 for $4200. I am also wondering if this is a good deal. It has 177,000 miles on it.
For the car, you want something that is reliable, usually a Toyota or Honda. Mazdas are usually pretty reliable, and yes, that is a good deal for a car of that model year and mileage.
For buying a used car, always inspect the car before you buy. Kick the tires to make sure that they have air in them. Open the trunk and check the inside for water damage, which could suggest that the car has been in a flood, you don't want that mold problem. Look for the jack, tire iron, and spare tire. Raise the hood and check the oil level via the dipstick. Old cars that have 177,000 miles on them can burn oil, so ask the previous owner about that. If the car burns oil, it's okay, but you'll need to keep a supply of engine oil around and check the oil level every one to two months.
Ask the previous owner for the oil change and tire rotation history. You'll need that to know when you need to change your oil and rotate your tires. New cars have that information in the computer and have lights that turn on when its time, but an old car from 2008 likely won't have them. Most cars need their oil changed and tires rotated every 5,000 miles. Speaking of tires, bring a penny along and check the tread wear for each of the tires. If you put the penny inside the tread and all of Abe is still visible, you need new tires. Negotiate the previous owner down on price to compensate for the new tires that you will need to buy.
If you can, arrange to have a wheel taken off so that you or a trusted mechanic can inspect the brake pads. If the brake pads are worn down, again, negotiate the previous owner down on price to cover the cost of new brake pads. If you can afford it, you may wish to have a trusted mechanic inspect the vehicle.
Do take a test drive and inspect the car for any unusual car behavior. Does the steering pull to the left? Are the brakes soft? Is there a check engine light on? Again, if you find anything that needs repaired, negotiate the price down to cover the repairs. Ask the previous owner about anything that has been changed about the vehicle since it was new. Has the transmission been replaced? The radio? The catalytic converter?
Ask the previous owner for the repair manual for the vehicle in attention to the maintenance log. If the previous owner doesn't have one, acquire it. Sometimes repair manuals are subscription services these days, which means that you shouldn't buy it until you need it, but read the vehicle owner's manual from cover to cover. That should be in the glove compartment at all times, along with your proof of insurance and your registration with the DMV. Don't buy the car without its owners' manual - in your situation, you won't survive without it.
When you buy the car, since it is a private sale, the previous owner will transfer the car title from their name to your name using a process through the DMV. Try to avoid sending the money to the seller until after the DMV has sent you the title to the vehicle in order to avoid getting scammed. At the very least, get a written contract for the transfer of title so you can contest the scam seller and prove your innocence in court. If you're buying from a used car lot or a dealer, you can largely forget what I said, but be wary of private car selling scams.
Keep your car title in a safe place, preferably a safe. While I'm at it, it's important that you also retrieve your birth certificate and Social Security card and put them in said safe, along with other sensitive documents such as passports, tax returns, bank statements, etc. You will need these documents when you are away from your parents. Do not allow your parents to hold them for you.
For auto insurance, if your family has any ties with the military and you're eligible, apply for USAA. That is the best auto insurance. If you aren't eligible for that, you need to shop around to find the best deal. My boyfriend says that Geico is a bad deal, so avoid them. Don't go with the cheapest auto insurance around. Still, with an old car from 2008 your insurance premium should be around $100 a month or so, unless you have a robust accident history of ramming into everyone else on the road.
If your parents do not have proper car maintenance equipment (and possibly even if they do), you'll want to buy some. You don't need fancy shop tools or power tools, but you will want a proper torque wrench, breaker bar, and second car jack for the tire rotations, and a pair of car ramps, an oil pain, an oil funnel, and an oil filter wrench for the oil changes. Before you start changing your oil, you'll need to buy engine oil for your car in the right weight, an oil filter in the right size for your car, and a crush washer for the oil drain plug to replace the old one. You'll find the oil weight for your car in the owners' manual (5W-30, 10W-30, 0W-40, etc). The oil filter size is usually found in most auto parts stores and Walmart by looking up your car make and model. Crush washers are purchased from your dealer, I think.
For tire rotations, it's as simple as taking the lug nuts off your wheels with a breaker bar and a socket of the correct size, then taking your wheel off. You'll want to jack up the front and back of one side of the car using two jacks after you loosen the lug nuts a bit (it's easier to loosen them with your wheels on the ground), take the wheels off, and swap the front and back wheels and put them back on, tightening your bolts to the correct torque using a torque wrench. The proper bolt torque for your wheel lug nuts should be in your repair manual or owners' manual.
For the oil change, you'll want to drive your car up on ramps. Wear old clothes and keep rags and paper towels close at hand. Raise the hood and look for the oil cap near the top of the engine cover. That's where you will put the oil in when the process is complete. Your next job is to find the oil drain plug near the bottom of the car, roughly in the same spot as the oil fill cap near the top. The location of your oil drain plug should also be in your repair manual. You'll need to loosen that up with your breaker bar and socket, and place the oil pan underneath the drain plug when you remove it by hand. You will get oil all over your hand and wrist and splash the stuff everywhere. Wait a few minutes for the flow of old oil to slow before sliding the pan toward where your oil filter is and removing that. Depending on the filter and your car, you will be able to use your hand or an oil filter wrench to get your oil filter off. If the filter has a one inch socket attachment, like the K&N filters, use that with your breaker bar and a one inch socket. You can use a punch to loosen the filter and pull it off if nothing else works.
After draining the oil, find the old crush washer, which could be stuck to the side of the oil pan or on the drain plug and remove it. Smear new engine oil around the gasket and wipe off the filter mount, and reinstall the new filter by twisting it on. It needs to be hand tight. If the filter has a 1-inch socket, turn the filter 280 degrees past hand tight. Replace the crush washer and reinstall the drain plug, tightening that to its torque spec. Then get out from under the car and go look under the hood again. Remove the oil fill cap and use your oil funnel to fill the car to capacity. You'll find your car's oil capacity in its owners' manual. Most oil bottles tell you how many quarts are inside for ease of use. When you are done filling, replace the oil fill cap securely. Start the engine and let it run for a minute or two, then turn it off. Check your oil level using the car's dipstick to make sure you have enough oil. For an old car that is burning oil, keep the oil level in the upper half of the dipstick range for each oil change.
If you're still confused, YouTube is probably your best friend and you can hopefully learn about car maintenance online for your specific car model. The reason I'm giving you all of this advice is because you're probably going to need it to keep your car on the road. Mechanics are expensive for a student living on a working-for-the-university salary. You will need all of the money you can get to avoid having to move back in with your parents.
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As for the apartment, your first step in getting an apartment is getting a car. You will need it to bring groceries to your new apartment and commute from your apartment to your job on the university in a reasonable timeframe. In most areas, bikes simply aren't fast enough. A bike trailer might work for groceries in a pinch, but since you're still a student, don't do that. You need every second you can get.
The second step is to get a credit card. Apply for one that is to your advantage and gives you rewards for your common everyday purchases. A landlord will pull your credit history, and a landlord will be looking for evidence that you pay your bills on time. If your income is too small to pass a credit card application, get a secured credit card and force the issue like I did. Pick one from a major credit card issuer like Visa or Discover. After 6 months of on-time payments in which my balance was paid off in full each month, I got my security deposit back from Discover. Very little reckless spending on a $300 credit limit.
Ha!
Your third step is to view available listings in your area which rent you can afford. Your fourth step is to tour the property you'll be renting, the exact unit, not a show model of it. Don't rent an apartment sight unseen. You don't want one that is infested with cockroaches or next to the budding musician with the drum kit and guitar going late into the night.
You'll probably want a female roommate to share the space with, both so you can spilt the cost with them and so you're not lonely. As awful as your family may be, they are people to talk to and spending hours alone will take its toll on you.
The big "deal" is arranging health insurance.
If the OP is still a student, they likely have access to the student health clinic and psychological services on campus. If they are low-income, they can apply for Medicaid, which is state sponsored health insurance specific by state.
Failing that, they can go to Christian Healthcare Ministries and get health coverage for as low as $85/month.
