Staying at the parents house for a few years after the high school or college graduation might be the smartest financial decision a young Millennial can make (presuming his parents’ discretion, of course). It will give a young person making his first steps on his career path an opportunity to improve his financial situation, pay off a good share of his student loan and save some money to invest, contribute to the future house fund or have his own financial resources to start an independent life without getting into even more debt due to the modern living costs new grads often struggle to cover.
Despite decreasing unemployment rate and increasing wage indices among young adults in the 18-to-34 age range, a lot of American Millennials seem to ask for extra help when it comes to leaving their parents homes. According to the U.S. Census Bureau data, only 67% of young people live independently and run their own household without sharing it with the roommates.
While there’re numerous financial and lifestyle benefits related to not leaving your nest for a while and considering the fact that young individuals have to go through a number of milestones to get used to adult life and become proficient in it, they can’t continue living at your parents house and abusing their hospitality till they reach their 30s.
Transitioning into living on your own and undertaking all financial responsibilities is stressful and overwhelming for many, especially regarding emotional connection to your parents, the place you’ve spent your lifetime and the memories you’ve made there. While some find it almost impossible to fight the urge to move out of their parents house to start living as a self-sufficient accomplished individual living by his own rules and not looking up to parents’ restrictions, others get too anxious when assessing the difficulties and responsibilities that come in hand with moving out and living on your own.
Nevertheless, the longer you refuse to acknowledge the necessity to move out and push the deadline off, the bigger of a toll this step will cost you once you’re forced to make it. To be fair, moving out is even more unglamorous, stressful and difficult than most people describe. Therefore, you need to start ‘training’ for the adult life long before moving out of your parents’ house to be able to enter it being a well-prepared emotionally, financially and otherwise. These tips will help you along the way.
Tips for moving out of your parents house
Educate yourself on living expenses and budgeting basics
Once you move out and start living in your own apartment, whether with roommates or without, you’ll have a lot of bills and other expenses to cover. Some of them aren’t as obvious as others. Monthly rent and utility payments, groceries, transportation expenses, health insurance and vehicle payments, phone bills, credit card fines, household maintenance costs, expected irregular expenses (appliance repair or replacement, auto repair services, doctor’s visits, dentist appointments, buying things you run out of every now and then), clothes, personal necessities and entertainment add to the pile of things that cross quite a substantial sum out of a paycheck.
In order to get used to dealing with that responsibilities and determine how much you’d spend on living after moving out, make a list of things you use and buy throughout a month, include average rent and utility payments for a starter apartment in your local area and calculate the costs. That will give you a more or less accurate idea of how much you should make to live independently and what your future money saving opportunities are.
Obtain budgeting skills – learn to keep the track of your monthly earnings and expenses, balance and plan them correctly and set some money aside as emergency and development savings.
Start paying rent and utilities to your parents
Rent and utilities are the expenses a lot of young Millennials with starter incomes struggle to cover, partially due to the fact that they fail to budget their lives correctly and live according to their financial opportunities rather than desires.
A lot of experts and young people recommend developing bill-paying habits while staying at the parents house not to get too comfortable under parent’s protection and leave the nest being able to sustain the basics of their own living.
Thus, sit down with your parents to determine your part of utilities and monthly rent payment and commit to paying those on a regular basis. If your parents refuse to accept rent payments from you and let you resume your room for free, make a conscious effort to save the money you would otherwise spend on housing.
Contribute your share to the parents’ household
Once you’ve learned the basics of budgeting and determined the presumable cost of independent living, start paying for it while remaining at your parents house. Start buying groceries, pay your share for internet, television and other subscriptions you use as a family, fill op your own gas tank and pay for your vehicle insurance. Help your parents execute house maintenance and backyard chores, cook dinners with them, keep on top of cleaning, doing laundry and taking the bins out.
You won’t spend nearly as much as when living on your own, but you’ll acclimatize to being an independent self-supporting individual who’s able to provide for himself, function properly and deal with added household responsibilities. Your mom and dad will appreciate your support and admire your efforts as well.
Build up your emergency savings while living at your parents house
At the start of an independent financial life, when you have to adjust to paying increased number of bills and bare all household and personal expenses without anyone’s support, disposable income gets stretched out immensely and saving opportunities disappear. Therefore, make sure to contribute 10-15% of your paycheck to toward a high-yield savings account while living at your family home. Once you’ll move out, you’ll have an emergency fund to rely on in case you stumble upon the unexpected article of expenses to cover, encounter credit card/vehicle/medical bills or lose a job.
Continue to pay off your debt
The whole point of staying at your parents house post-graduation is to get your student loan out of the way and establish a favorable credit history, which is something you’re going to need when renting your first apartment or applying for a mortgage. Eliminating student loan and high-interest debt (credit cards) is a lot easier when you live at your parent’s home and have fewer monthly expenses.
Therefore, paying off as much of your debt as you can and developing your financial responsibility through establishing a credit history should be one of the top priorities to fulfill before moving out.
Keep yourself accountable
Keep a close eye on how much money you spend while still living with your parents and how much you’re saving. Track your achievements and report them to your mom and dad to show them your accomplishments and prove that you’re making the full use of their generosity and help.
Set a deadline and move out wisely
If you’re thinking about moving out of your parents house anytime soon and feel like you’re almost ready to make this crucial step, don’t drag the process out any further and make things official. Set a deadline and notify your parents about the move out date.
If you’re working, but your current job doesn’t pay enough to sustain your living, start searching for better opportunities and vacancies with higher wages and more promising career perspectives.
Start searching for an apartment and teaming up with prospective roommates if you’re willing to share and continue saving on housing for a while more. Set aside enough money for a security deposit, a few monthly rent payments and must-have purchases for your new place.
Once you finish all arrangements, go to HireRush.com to book movers, pack up your stuff and get excited to conquer the world as a fully independent aspired adult.
