Should I find a regular job or continue doing what am doing?

Question

I'm 21 years old I joined college for some years and dropped out due to family problems. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to continue due to pressure from college and family although I worked really hard to obtain good marks and be in a good shape. It's really circumstantial but I also realized that the college I went to was horrible. I wasn't able to pay for it financially so I had a scholarship which funded the expenses, it was expensive. I'm just glad that I'm debt free.

My major was in computer science and I started programming at the age of 17 so I had a good experience and background on that field. However, I never programmed for money, I only programmed for fun, to keep myself busy and to free my mind from thinking about the problems that I face.

So I'm aiming to be free and independent and I have two things in my mind, I can only choose one:

A) Find a regular job and save money to move out of my parents' home

The disadvantage to this is that, I'll worry about different things, the bills and my living costs and you name it. But that's part of being independent which is responsibility, however I'll struggle to make end-needs because I'll be most likely receiving a minimum wage, I think that's after a huge effort to find a job. Here the system is really annoying. Employers can very easily hire foreign work-force for very cheap; for example as a citizen if I work $10 an hour, they can get someone from outside to work for $5 per hour, half the amount and this is a very big gap. Plus, those foreign workers won't really complain, they don't mind to live under very very poor circumstances. That's unethical of the employers here.

And once I had enough money, I may consider starting my own business whether in software or something else is circumstantial.

B) Start a software project without moving out

The problem to this approach would be time. It really takes time for a software project to take off and become recognized. Also, there's no guarantee that the project will succeed. In addition to that, I won't be moving out. I'm desperate to be independent and free from their control. After all all the tolerance that I have is just for the simple fact that I live in their home.

I cannot really work and at the same time develop software on my free time. Given the fact that I suck at doing two things at the same time I know myself I won't be able to have commitment to software development once I find a full-time job. I don't work for the current time I just make out of selling small goodies here and there.

Despite my failures in the past, I was not the main person that's responsible for those failures. I believe that I worked and gave everything I could to achieve at least a stable life, but those around me got the idea that so long as I live with my family things will only get worse. Therefore, it's good that I realized now that I should act. Now in terms in arranging my finance, I have many questions:

1) Should I quit regular programming for a normal job because I never monetized programming so I can move out of my parents' home?

2) Should I monetize programming and gamble with the future?

3) Would it be wise to essentially quit programming for the sake of a minimum wage job?

I might consider online degree which is futuristic but I'm not into it for now.

Answer 1

This might sound harsh, but the first thing I would suggest is to stop making excuses.

I wasn't able to continue due to pressure from college and family

The college I went to was horrible.

Employers can very easily hire foreign work-force for very cheap; for example as a citizen if I work $10 an hour, they can get someone from outside to work for $5 per hour

There's no guarantee that the project will succeed.

I cannot really work and at the same time develop software on my free time.

Despite my failures in the past, I was not the main person that's responsible for those failures.

Even if all of this is true, it's not helping you move forward and it seems to be getting in the way of creating a good action plan and motivating yourself to succeed. If you believe (based on past experiences) that you are doomed to fail, then you are indeed doomed to fail.

You need to take a step back and re-evaluate your current circumstances and what you can do to reach your goals. You have a couple of things working in your favor here.

1. It's great that you are debt free. That already puts you ahead of a lot of your peers.

2. You have the option of living with your parents. Presumably for no rent, or at least much lower rent than you would have to pay if you move out. This is worth literally thousands of $/£/€ for every year you stay.

Now, onto your questions:

1) Should I quit regular programming for a normal job because I never monetized programming so I can move out of my parents' home?

Are you being paid for this "regular programming"? If so, are you being paid more than minimum wage? If not, it's perfectly acceptable to consider alternative ways to spend your time and generate income. However, this doesn't have to be at the expense of living with your parents. Have you thought about getting a new or second job while still living with them?

If you absolutely must move out of your parent's home, consider renting a room in a house with other people to keep the rent costs to a minimum. That way, even if your main job is low paying, you should be able to put aside some money each month for future endeavors.

2) Should I monetize programming and gamble with the future?

What does this mean? Are you thinking you'll write a mobile app and sell thousands of copies for 99¢ each? That would indeed be a big gamble, but maybe that's not what you meant, so you'll need to clarify.

3) Would it be wise to essentially quit programming for the sake of a minimum wage job?

I'm not sure how this is different from question 1. So I'll reiterate what I said there - moving out is going to be expensive. You can still do it, but you're asking on a Personal Finance site where the focus is usually how to minimize living costs and maximize income. Without knowing more about where you live (employment opportunities, cost of living) the default recommendation is usually to save money by staying in your parents house.

TLDR:

Don't focus on anyone else. They are not preventing you from getting the job you want. Look at your own skills and qualifications (not just programming, consider all of your abilities). What are you good at? Who might need those skills? What is the cost of reaching those people (commute time, moving nearer)? What is the reward?

If the reward exceeds the cost, start approaching those people. Show them what you can do.