<prompt> Human: To make a long story short, my mother has never been good with money constantly letting utilities get cut off, cars taken away, threatened foreclosure, ect. Not because we are lacking money, but because she constantly buys unnecessary material items so she cant pay important things. Im 21 now and her issues have really effected me over the past few years. She is constantly writing me checks that bounce and my account gets credited, the bounced checks have caused me to not be able to pay my rent or bills on time. Ive been almost completely kicked out of university because she didnt pay tuition, my sorority will no longer accept checks from her. These are just a few things. Im fed up with it now and how its negatively effecting my life, so Im tying to become as independent as possible. Im going today to open a separate bank account she has no knowledge of, but so far this is the only idea I have. So, if anyone has advice on how to get away from toxic parents and be independent in college please help.I know a lot of people might say to drop my sorority but 1 I have tried and she will not let me quit and 2 I cannot drop if I have bills there she hasnt paid, which I do. So Im not in the position right now to do that. Thank you.  <response>: First step to being independent is dropping something if you want to. Youre 21. Your mom wont let you drop your sorority is frankly, complete bullshit.Get a job. 