After living on my own for about 2 years, I made the decision to move back home for about a year to aid speed the process of Financial Independence. I am so blessed to have such supportive parents that allowed me to move back home rent free. I try to help with the groceries and cooking/cleaning. Renting out my house and moving back home will allow me to pay off my $30K student loan by the end of the year. Having those loans paid off will allow me to start maxing out my 401k and my Roth IRA accounts, as well as saving for more investment properties. At least that is the current plan. However this wasn’t an easy decision. While financially speaking this is great, emotionally it’s been hard and sometimes I doubt if this was the best decision.
I thought that once I had purchased a home, that was the last time I was going to live with my parents. I was wrong. As I know that this is a temporary decision it’s still a little hard to move back home. I think is because somehow it feels like moving backwards. In reality though is helping me for my future. I know that I don’t want to work a 9-5 job forever, doing this is going to help me towards that goal.
It has been 6 months since I moved back and it hasn’t been easy. However I have been able to pay about $15K worth of debt off. I think what has been the hardest about moving back home is the driving. Driving anywhere is usually a 40 min drive. Driving to work is 45min to 1 hr drive. Going out on the weekends is usually 40 min drive. I can’t uber anywhere because it gets expensive. My social life hasn’t been affected which I’m glad, my friends are also very supportive and understanding. Carpooling and coffee shops are my new best friend. When I have something going on after work, a happy hour or a networking event, I head over to a coffee shop get some work done, kill some time. If it’s a social weekend event I definitely try to carpool with a friend. It makes things easier and the drive funner.
Those first $15K felt amazing to pay off. Things have slowed down a bit for the past 2 months. I had a vacancy in one bedroom for almost 2 months and had a lot of family and friends events. Overall I am still on track to paying off the student loans by the end of 2017. Now that all the rooms are rented until October, because I am thinking on moving back into the house. I can refocus on my goal and keep moving forward. I’ve learned that I need to not only make decisions from a financial perspective but also think about how its going to affect me emotionally. I have also learned that I need to be nicer to myself. I need to be patient and I need be more open to change. I have definitely learned a lot about myself throughout this process. Lets see what the next 6 months have in store.
3 Comments
I can think how hard can be to move back to parents home, but at same time you learn the value of being debt free, worth the sacrifice of travel which you love the most.
You are still very young and can postpone traveling for a little bit. This experience is not for free, because you growth, mature, manage a budget, improve financial responsibility, know what means to be able for any problems that may occur to the property and be ready to learn how to make contacts to work with contractors, learning to manage people different from your friends, family and co-workers. Negotiate prices, officially learn how to expend and what it means to administer a house, believe it or not at your age is not that easy, kudos for that. You have ” cojones” . Means berraquerra sin tenor a nada.
See how big it has been for you this experience and the goal you thought ” it was to pay student loans” you already have gained tremendous experience opportunity to deal with people, money, change behaviors and adapt to any new situation that could happen in the future.
I love how you have demonstrated how far you dream and how to plan to get where ever you want to be.
That $15K isn’t shabby at all! I have friends with like 60-80K in debt and another 600K in debt (both doctors) so this little sacrifice will be over soon and you’ll look back on it without regret, I’m sure 🙂
Thank you Lily for the encouragement. I know it’s going to be worth it in the end.