I found out when my mom kicked me out at 18 that there's a Catch-22 in the U.S. — a car costs money, you need a car to have a job.

Actually you don't, of course. I had a 10-speed bike (remember those?) and a minimum wage job at a restaurant. I rented a room for $100/mo. from a young woman (maybe I was helping cover her rent?). I was able to swing tuition at a local community college.

Man, I still remember riding the 10-speed in the midwest snow to the community college in the morning as cars threw up sleet speeding past.

It was a delicate balancing act to "bootstrap". And this was in the 80's. I don't think today's rent or college costs would make it repeatable today.