How old were you when you moved out of your parents' home? (cheaper, school)

[Ceece]

Yay Bayarea4...you hit something there.

I moved out when I was 21. I had a high school diploma, a good job, and a new car. I could easily afford rent, utilities, car payment, insurance, and everything else. I also had a bf I wanted to sleep with and wouldn't have considered doing that under my parents roof. I got on the pill the week I moved out.

My son is 21 and will no doubt be with me for awhile. He's worked part time jobs since he was 16 and now goes to college (he commutes). It is a different world, that's for sure. He doesn't have a gf so things could change if that happens because there are no overnights allowed here . Never underestimate the incentive of the opposite sex.

[NJBest]

I moved out initially when I was 18 but moved back in at 20 when I dropped out of college (I returned later on). I moved out when I built a house at 26. The biggest benefit of living at home for those 6 years was that I was able to build up a significant amount of savings.

[WyoEagle]

I always find it strange how people are so eager to move back home after a small setback. When I did it for those few months after my first layoff I felt like such a leech. I made sure I spent every chance I could looking for a job. I couldn't understand people living at home to save up and buy a place. I figure if I don't own a place until I'm 40 because that's when I have enough to buy then so be it.

[LaFemme86]

I moved out at 18. Initially, I moved on campus for freshman year in college. The summer following that, I started working full time. I was fortunate in that my company offered to pay for the rest of my degree if I stayed on with them (my parents had saved up for me, and I gave that money back to them). The next year, I rented an apartment with 2 friends for about a year. By age 20, I had saved up enough to purchase my first apartment. My bf (now husband) moved in with me soon after.

For the record, I am 26 and have a great relationship with my parents (didn't move out due to relationship issues). I cringe when I hear people of my generation saying they are disadvantaged due to economy, etc. I worked my @ss off, but it's paid off.

ETA: I do have to agree, I sometimes think about how much more I would have saved if I stayed at home with my parents. But that's offset by the fact that I've moved and worked in 3 different countries since I began my career, and many of the opportunities presented to me today would not have been there if I didn't venture out/take some risks. FWIW, my parents and I live 500 miles apart.

[CTGirlNoMore]

I was kicked out at 21 while I was in the middle of going to college.

ETA: this has affected my life. I had to quit school to work 2 jobs just to keep a roof over my head. I worked 2 jobs for many years to make ends meet. With no degree it has been difficult to get anything more than basic file clerk work (i.e. - no room for moving up anywhere). At just about to turn 36, I am finally able to go back to school and hope to get a degree at some point.

[brocco]

i moved out for college at 17, but i didn't move out with financial independence until i was 21 and had graduated college. i moved back in for about 6 months when i was 23 (got a new job near my parents' house), and then moved out for good at 24.

[NJBest]

Originally Posted by WyoEagle

I always find it strange how people are so eager to move back home after a small setback. When I did it for those few months after my first layoff I felt like such a leech. I made sure I spent every chance I could looking for a job. I couldn't understand people living at home to save up and buy a place. I figure if I don't own a place until I'm 40 because that's when I have enough to buy then so be it.

Moving back home is really a win/win scenario. You get a cheap place to live and your parents get some financial help. My rent when living with my parents was $600/month (about 1/3rd of the going rate for an apartment in our town) and I had a flat rate of $150 in utilities and services (use of the help, basically). When I purchased solar panels for their roof, they were kind enough to drop the utilities.

The other aspect of it for me personally was that I spent the weekdays traveling for business so I was never home. I didn't want to pay rent for an apartment that I would never be at.

I guess I was a "leech" as you put it... but I honestly didn't feel like one and my mom enjoyed me living at home.

[ReblTeen84]

18. My dad was transferred from VA to NE. I stayed in VA to go to school, lived with my grandparents. Moved out of their house at 22 in with my then fiance, now wife.

[ReblTeen84]

Originally Posted by Ceece

Yay Bayarea4...you hit something there.

I moved out when I was 21. I had a high school diploma, a good job, and a new car. I could easily afford rent, utilities, car payment, insurance, and everything else. I also had a bf I wanted to sleep with and wouldn't have considered doing that under my parents roof. I got on the pill the week I moved out.

My son is 21 and will no doubt be with me for awhile. He's worked part time jobs since he was 16 and now goes to college (he commutes). It is a different world, that's for sure. He doesn't have a gf so things could change if that happens because there are no overnights allowed here . Never underestimate the incentive of the opposite sex.

It's funny you mention the overnight part. My parents were not so keen on the idea as well (ok, I was 17 at the time, so sue me). My grandparents were totally fine with it though, which was weird given that they grew up through the 40's and 50's. My senior year of HS, we'd stay over there for the weekend. It was a non-issue when I was living there in college.

[Snoop22]

At 17 into a non-insinuated one room garage apartment (sucked during the winter) due to my mother deciding to move to another city to attend collage, it was a larger city then we were living in and I had no desire for that type of change in my life (being in 11th grade at the time). Around the late 70s early 80s.