Should I Stay or Should I Go?
You might be contemplating moving out if you are a senior in high school or have recently graduated or are graduating from high school or maybe college.
You might be frustrated that even though you are 18 (and an adult for for gods sake), your parents still expect you to be home at a certain time, help out with household chores and even let them know where you are going! How dare they. No one else’s parents expect such things from them and some friends you know are moving out and getting their own place, why shouldn’t you?
Well, let me try to break it down for you. First of all, almost all parents (at least ones that are any good imho) have the same expectations as your parents do and even if they don’t, your parents are not being unreasonable for the value you are getting from staying with them for as long as you possibly can.
Second, your friends are in for a VERY rude awakening and will likely be living back at home in 6 months or less.
So, you have probably already figured out what my advice will be. STAY AT HOME living with your parents as long as they will let you. Don’t let anyone tell you that you are a Moma’s boy or any other bullcrap like that. It just makes good sense. Especially financial sense.
If you are bent on moving out right away, here are some things you should be aware of:
Rent
Utilities
Food
Entertainment
Clothing
Gas
Insurance
Cable TV
Internet
Cell Phone
Now, estimate what each of those are going to cost you. Now, add another 20% to that because its going to be a lot more than you think. Ask yourself, do I want to throw away that much every month just so I can live in a little apartment somewhere?
Now I know what you are thinking, you’ll get a roommate or roommates. Well, that will have to wait for another post but for now, ask around and see what others have experienced with room mates. Also, if your going to have roommates, you might find they have some “rules” they expect you to live by if you share a place with them. Thats not to mention all the rules your landlord will have.
Maybe what you already have is better than you thought. When I first moved out I was 18. That was a disaster. I’ll tell you about that some other time. The second time I moved out I was 22. Notice I said the second time. Obviously the first time ended as I will predict for your friends who are moving out. They’ll be back at home soon and probably deeply in debt and have an eviction on their record. Anyway, back to the second time I moved out. I not only held down a full time job but I also mowed the lawns, shoveled the snow and swept the parking lot for my landlord just so I could scrape by and eat macaroni and cheese (sometimes I could actually afford to add some cut up hotdogs to the Mac and Cheese).
If I had stayed with my parents instead of moving out on my own, I could have saved up and planned for making a better income early in life. I could have gotten a few small investments and maybe even bought a mobile home or a small condo for my first place instead of throwing away countless dollars on rent. I could have had $30,000 in 3 years and at 24 I could have purchased or started a small business of my own or paid cash for college.
