The benefits of living at home vs moving out…
By: Elliott, redwigwam
Are we heading towards a situation where it’s almost expected that you aren’t going to be able to move out for a few years? Not everyone has the backing of a financial gift from their parents in order to afford a deposit, or someone willing to subsidise their payments on it.
So what are you meant to do?
On one hand, you could move out, live with a few roommates, scrape by paying extortionate rent and not save any money. On the other, you could live at home, save as much as you can and hope to make the leap in 1/2/3 years when you have enough savings to do so. At the end of the day you’ve got to go where the jobs are, so if that means moving to London and paying £600 a month to share a cardboard box with 5 other people, well maybe you’ve got to bite the bullet.
If that’s not the case then a lot of the time it just makes financial sense to stay at home while you can. You’ll save a large chunk of money on rent, gas, electric and water bills. Whilst your parent(s) may still charge you some board it pales in comparison to what you’d be paying if you were on your own.
It’s easy to be thrown into the category of “oh they’re too lazy to go and live by themselves” but I don’t see how you can criticise someone who is trying to earn a living, going out to work five days a week. In some cases, they simply can’t afford a home, but the negative connotations around it can force some people into moving out despite not being financially ready and causing themselves more problems.
Ultimately it’s not about what anyone else thinks if you have the opportunity to live at home whilst you’re earning then do it. The pros outweigh the cons and you’ll be much better off financially for it. That is provided you save your excess funds and don’t use it to go out every weekend!
Do you agree? Would you choose to live at home instead of move out?
