Yes, it's nice to be able to pay for something with money that is your own rather than your parents'. But frankly, what is important at 16 does not quite have the same glow of triumph at 46. Life should be about more than being financially independent. And if you have no place besides work to find friends and a social life, I have to wonder about how impoverished a life you lead. Do you have no church, reading interests, women's groups or clubs or institutes, political parties, associations, charities, voluntary groups, evening classes, etc., in your area? Is "wage slavery" really your main way to develop a social life? The very idea scares me half to death.