Although I live with my parent right now, I decided to use this assignment to estimate living costs for when I move out. According to the EPI's estimation, it would cost about $3,444 a month for me to live on my own in Mercer County, NJ (EPI, 2016b). Housing costs for an independent contribute to almost 30% of this total at $1,015 a month. Transportation costs around $757 which is nearly 23% of the EPI's monthly estimation. Food cost accounts for the smallest amount of monthly expenses at $298. Health care costs, assuming I have purchased the lowest costing insurance package, averages about $389 a month. Lastly, taxes cost around $509 a month and other necessities cost about $476 a month. These monthly estimations bring me to an annual cost of $41,332 to live independently in Mercer County, NJ.