If so, you (and your young adult) should read this:
Your young adult, or at least they think they are at this stage, is about to graduate from high school (or college) and is talking about moving out. Their motivation lies in the fact that seemingly ALL their friends have their own place or they are tired of the “tyrannical” rules they have to follow while living at home. Perhaps at the same time you are getting kind of tired of them and their know- it-all attitude as well.
Well, as a parent who has dealt with this more than once, I have some advice for both of you.
First, all those friends who have their own place are finding out real fast that it wasn’t all they thought it would be. Getting the rent together, the utilities, cell phone, cable TV, food, insurance, fuel, etc, is turning out to be WAY harder then they expected.
They used to have plenty of money to eat out, go to the movies, buy new clothes and didn’t really have to budget for anything. Now those are all luxuries.
I would imagine they are probably only a few dollars away from having to move back home themselves and, statistically speaking, they will after less than 6 months (so don’t sign a long lease!).
As a parent you should know what I’ve just described because you will likely end up carrying the burden of their rent until the lease is up and then you’ll need to clean out your new crafts room so your kid can move back in with you.
This is what happened with my son Ira. He went straight into the Army after high school. I thought, “Oh good, they will take care of him and he’ll get out with a GI bill so he can go to college”.
Boy was I mistaken.
In the Army all his expenses were covered so he got in the habit of spending all the cash he earned. All the advice I was giving him on saving and investing fell on deaf ears. When he got out he had about $7000.00 and couldn’t wait to get his own place. I was trying to get him to come home until college started but he insisted on renting a house. I was shocked when he called me the very next month needing a loan for $300 just to cover his rent. He had burned through the $7000 in less than 30 days! I looked over his bank statement and found he was trying to spend money the same as he did when he was in the military but now he had bills and he wasn’t prepared for planning for them.
If you just HAVE to move out, here are some things you should be aware of:
- Rent
- Utilities
- Food
- Entertainment
- Clothing
- Gas
- Insurance
- Cable TV
- Internet
Figure out what each of those are going to cost you. Now, add another 20% because its going to be much more than you expect. Do you want to throw that away every month just so you can live in a little apartment?
Sure, you can get a roommate but that’s probably not going to go like you have planned either. Ira thought the roommate idea was the way to go. I tried to warn him but he was sure it wasn’t going to be a problem. Well, part of the reason he needed the loan from me was because the other roommates didn’t have their share so he was covering everything including all the security deposits.
This is what I predict for your kids who prematurely moved out. They’ll be back at home soon and likely deep in debt and maybe have an eviction on their record. If you (or your son/daughter) are thinking of moving out, be sure you are ready and really want to burn the bulk of you income on housing.
If Ira had stayed with me instead of moving out on his own, he could have planned for making a better income early in life. He might have gotten a few small investments and maybe even bought a small condo for his first place instead of wasting thousands of dollars on rent. He could have had $30,000 in 3 years and at 24 he could have purchased or started a business of his own or paid cash for college (The GI bill has kicked in now that he’s going to school and fortunately, they cover his rent).
