Torn between moving out and living at home
 

I'm having a hard time making up my mind at the moment. Right now I'm in the process of signing my lease for my apartment and started thinking seriously about it. It's a matter of saving money versus my sanity, freedom, and improving my social life. So I made a pros and cons list. Tell me what you think:

Moving Out

Pros
-Freedom, independence
-No rules but my own
-Social life, hang out more with friends, meet more people
-Go wherever I want
-Sleep whenever I want
-Don't have to go to church

Cons
-Rent, utilities, car insurance, student loans
-Won't save as much money as living at home
-Have to buy and cook my own food
-Smaller living space

Living at home

Pros
-Rent for parents covers everything, supposedly is going to be put away for me when I need it later
-Larger living space
-Don't have to pay for car insurance
-Don't always have to cook my own food
-Save a little bit more money than living on my own

Cons
-Dealing with my parents and follow their rules
-Can't go to sleep whenever I want
-Always have to ask whenever I want to go somewhere
-Isolated, very little social life, potential of meeting new people decreased
-Forced to go to church and listen to the crazies
-Student loans

Stay at home. Unless you are financial sound, moving out will cause more problems than solutions.

Have you calculated how much it would cost to move out and live on your own? Will your current salary support such a move.

Yea I have. I can do it with my current job but I will need a lot of dicipline.

How much will you have left after paying off your monthly expenses like rent, utilities, car insurance, student loans, and food based on the your current income?

Approximately $600-800.

I'd stay at home until you think you're ready to support yourself without stress. Some people aren't given the opportunity to get on their feet after college; I'd take full advantage of it. I'm living with my parents at least a year after college if they let me so I can pay off as much of my college loan as possible. But I also put financial needs above social needs, so it's up to you!

-Lasereth

staying home and leeching off your parents is the only way to go man. basically... this is how life goes. you're born, you live, you die. you KNOW you're going to die, so why not make the most of it and just eat shit and enjoy life instead of working and paying bills. you have it made if somehow you can bend the rules around your house a little bit. not sure how old you are, but your parents really shouldn't care about what time you come home after a certain age, i'd say 23. don't move out 'til your 30 at least and have income. also... don't get married or have kids, other than that, you're set.

I find it strange that your old enough to move out on your own, but your parents still govern when you go to sleep and make you go to church. If your paying rent you should be able to have a little more freedom.

Have you looked into getting a roomate? Might be a lot more cost effective for you and you'll get all the freedoms you want.

holy shit man, if your making that much live with the rents for like 3-4 months

just hold off that long and put AAAAALL that into an account, once your out you should do fine as long as you dont get stupid with your money

Well I'm 24 and have some money saved up. My parents are the typical strict asian parents. So bending the rules won't be much help. I would ask one of my friends to be roomates but they either still living on their own leases or living with their girlfriends. So I ruled out that option.

If you have $600-$800 left over at the end of the month after bills are paid....then move out.
You may want to stay home until you have a decent amount of money to get yourself some furniture and what not.
And screw renting....buy buy buy.

Damn, dude. You're 24 and have $600-$800 AFTER monthly expenses like rent, utilities, car insurance, student loans, and food? What the hell are you waiting for? Hell, I'm despearetly looking for a job so I can move out ASAP.

I moved out at 17... knowing what i know now.. i would have coasted and stayed at home longer...

then again... moving out motivated me more than my parents were ever able to...

i would say stay at home so that you can slowly gain independence. also, unless you are really financially secure, it could be pretty difficult in the beginning if you lived alone.

Heh tough descision...I think living at home blows cause your parents are always there and that limits the amount of fun you can have but not paying for alot of stuff is nice also...

What a shitty attitude! You'll NEVER get anywhere in life if you waste it mooching off of other people! There's a bit more to it than eating and sitting around your parents' house all day.

I'm 21, and I've been living on my own for the past 3 years. As a result I've had times where I was living off ramen and I bounced the electric bill check a couple times. Yes, it fucking sucked at times. Hell, most of the time for a while. But I wouldn't have it any other way, because at least I can say I'm independent and not yet another lazy parasite who lives off of other people.

Now I'm living very comfortably. Yes I work my ass off, but that just means I can spend time away from work to go on vacation every few months, go out to eat all the time, etc. A bit better than sitting around my parents' house all damn day doing absolutely nothing.

That's like saying "I want to lose weight and bulk up so I'll sit around and imagine myself going to the gym."

And yes it can be difficult living alone. But that's life! Gives you good incentive to make money.

If you can afford it...I would probably suggest getting your own place. I mean, I have friends who are 19 or 20 and trying to survive on a meager budget, and I wouldn't suggest trying that if you can live at home. But if I were financially secure (or you know, semi-secure) I would definetly want to be on my own.

i think you should do it.
get out there and spread your wings so to speak.
you sound like you can afford it.
and hey, if it doesn´t work out, you can always move back home for a while.

Go. It will be tough but worth it. I've been living on my own for 10 years, and its been MUCH more rewarding than mooching off my folks.

Veritas en Lux!
JImmy The Hutt

Great news! I signed my lease this past tuesday. I will be moving in this saturday.

Excellent decision! You won't regret it. And if you are able to pay all the bills and have $600-800 left over, you're doing just fine. I went 2+ years having a lot less that left over at the end of the month and did just fine, with some occasional help from a credit card to cover unexpected stuff.

Congrats, you'll be fine. Bonus is you have forever removed yourself from the stigma of having to say to a girl, "Yeah, I live with my parents."

what my cousin did:

lived at home for 4 years after college and saved like a mother.

Got married and bought a house.

Moved into said house with now-husband-then-boyfriend.

Now completely financially sound and solidly in the black, with plenty of disposable income.

Reason? Saving at home enabled her to come up with over 2/3s the capital needed to buy the house with a relatively small loan. Living with you parents is the best way to give you a head start on your own, as strange as that may sound.

Best of luck either way

Ha! That's what my parents advised me to do. I'm not exactly ready to buy a house. I'm still trying to decide what I want to do with my life. I think living on my own will help me decide that.

You did the right thing. Looking over your Pro/Con list, it seems like you really wanted to move out. As long as you can swing it financially, even if it's a bit of a challenge, I think it's worth it. I lived at home for the first year after college and while it was super convenient, I had lost a lot of the independence I had gained in college.

Actually, Quadrette convinced me it was time to move out. I had been totally lulled into complacency living at home and probably would have done it for another year. I'm so glad I listened to her.

congrats on the moving out!!! good luck!

Yea, I recently moved out.. well about 6 months ago, and altho my parents were totally cool with whatever I did, its still alot more fun being on your own. Sounds like you really did want to move out, your con's list on your living at home side really made me wonder why the hell you were even considering living at home! Altho having money is nice, freedom is alot nicer.

Last week tho would have been a different story. 3bucks to my name, all bills paid, but no food to eat. Hah. Thank god I work in a kitchen!

Way to go!!
You definitely made the right decision to strike out on your own.
You're old enough to start living your own life as an adult.
It may be a struggle at times, but you'll emerge a much stronger person.
Kudos!

for the love of God, move away from your parents. It will make life much more interesting, trust me. You have to grow up sometime, and if you fall on bad times then you can always go back home. Your parents aren't going anywhere, right?

I say you should wait a bit longer, save up some more and in the mean time find a good friend/roomate who will be able to able to pay the bills. And make sure hes reliable, so that you wont have to pay for his bills on the times he cant, because it happens a lot. Also try to make a chart for weekly/monthly expenses.

Unless you're going to try to save money to buy your own place - you just as well move out. Unless you have a steady girlfriend who does not have a problem with the at home thing. Then stay at home. . . . or move out.

you dont want to go to church and listen to the crazies, yet your name on here is jesus pimp... im confused

Jesus Pimp is an oxymoron.