I'm in my mid-20s now and last year I moved back in with family to save money and pay off some debts. I've rented apartments and houses many times before so I'm not new to that, but living rent-free now I've been able to pay off most of my debts (I have a $200/month car payment with about $10k left to pay) and save ~$6k. It's a great feeling having money saved and a lot of other debts paid off (my credit has even improved!) and I'm extremely grateful to my family for giving me this opportunity, as I know not everyone is so fortunate.
That being said, the downsides are definitely there. I have less privacy and, though it's not of the utmost importance, living with family is not necessarily an attractive quality for a young single guy.
Everyone says their own respective family is crazy, I'm not unique in feeling that way, but family drama is frequent and inescapable while living with them. I have a room but it's hardly an escape from that. Besides, I'd rather not act like an ungrateful angsty teen, locking myself away in some hidey-hole of a room.
So the question is, do you personally see it as worth the money spent to have your own place? I get a lot of "hey, you're living rent free, I think you should do it for as long as possible! Why waste money on rent?" and other people say "dude, get out of there as soon as you can for your own mental health." So I'm torn.
TL;DR - Living with family rent free, one bedroom apartments rent for around $600 to $800 in my area, wondering if it makes sense to move out now and how you, personally, would feel about such a situation.
April 01, 2017 at 12:35PM
