Moving home as an adult – even if it is just as a stop-between in your current housing situation – can be really difficult to wrap your brain around. You love the people in your family, but going back can feel like you are going backward.
But everyone’s timeline is unique, circumstances are different, and if you are lucky enough to have a family to fall back on during the housing hunt, then you may just find yourself in the perfect situation.
The 5 Perks of Moving Home As An Adult.
1. Free Housing
Let’s start with the basics here, people. Moving home as an adult after college can be a bummer. Or after a quarter-life crisis. Or because of a tanking economy. Or after a mid-life crisis. Also, just to harass their aging parents. But your parents (or parent or guardian) live in a place they are paying for. And they’re still going to pay the same amount even if they have another tenant.
Do you know why? Because that’s what they did when they were raising you. And they love you. If you’re lucky, no more paying extravagant cable bills and making sure roommates give you the rent check on time. No more utilities and worrying about finding a place or the ever-rising cost of apartments. Mom’s got your back. Case closed.
*In some cases, mom probably mostly has your back. In other situations, they may charge rent, which will most likely be less than what a landlord charges – especially with the housing market as it currently is.
2. Free Food
When you left home, it probably took a long time for your parents to start grocery shopping for one less person. (Or two less, if you’re of a twin birth like I am.) Some parents never learn how to buy for fewer people, so food is never in short supply.
Take advantage of this time. They probably have better quality ingredients than the ramen and Kraft mac ‘n’ cheese you feasted on in college or when you first started out on your own. They’ll bring you coffee in the morning. Finally, you won’t have to span your one trip to Chipotle for a burrito bowl into 5 separate meals.
Plus, now that you are home, the worst “errand” that they might send you on to “earn your keep” is grocery shopping.
3. Free Laundry Services
Obviously, this doesn’t apply to everyone. But to those of you who have washers and dryers in your childhood homes, coming home to the whooshing and whirring of it all is a glorious occasion to be marked in the history books. Detergent, fabric softener, and dryer sheets a-plenty. Some of you might even have parents that offer to do your laundry for you while you pound the pavement looking for work.
No more buying laundry cards at overpriced facilities, trusting random strangers to clean your clothes, or digging in the sofa cushions for change to run the machines at the laundromat. This is your castle. And in your castle, your brights have never been brighter.
4. No curfew
For the lucky few, parents now realize you are too old for their old rules. Of course, some will still rule with an iron fist, while others might play you by guilt. But by now they have begun to back down on curfews, chores, and dating rules. You have been away for a number of years, and that independence has hopefully allowed them time to detach a bit and realize that you can make your own mistakes.
That being said, this will probably teach you respect and responsibility. They’re allowing you to live under their roof again – only temporarily, of course – so there are boundaries in most cases. But it can still be freeing not having to sneak out your window or your basement door to see that person you’ve been crushing on.
Just don’t get caught in a compromising position with that person you’ve been crushing on. No matter how mature you get, that is still awkward.
5. Witness Your Parents as Normal, Functioning Human Beings
You have experienced more of life, and may be able to see your parents in a different light than you did as an adolescent. You may find yourself admiring the career people they are, enjoying their cooking skills, or really opening your eyes to the individual traits they each contribute to your exosystem.
If it delights you, take your parents to the happy hour you are hosting, order them drinks, and introduce them to your friends. If you’re lucky, your sister might special request “D*** In A Box” as a dedication to your mother at the dueling piano bar you are at.
If your mom is a cool mom, she might get up on stage when the pianists invite her up. She may even show up the entire crowd by singing every word and doing the dance more perfectly than anyone else you know. Your dad will be thoroughly embarrassed, and you will enjoy hanging out with your parents — I mean, roommates.
Need I say more?
