Living at Home at 25 Years Old

I have a confession: I am a single mother and living at home at 25 years old. In the beginning, I was so embarrassed to say this to friends or even family. It was even worse when I met a man… But, I have now come to terms with it, and it is the smartest decision I made for my situation. Let me tell you why living at home at 25, or even older is not always pathetic; it can be a very smart move financially.

Let me first tell you a few things: I’m not a drug addict, alcoholic, or in massive debt. I live at home as an adult because I am preparing for a better financial future for myself and my daughter.

Living at Home to Save For a House

You definitely do not HAVE to live at home to save up for a house. But, it will save you a ton of money in the long run. The amount of money I am saving right now by not paying rent is going to be my down payment. The bigger the down payment, the cheaper it is to buy a house. Let me show you.

Go to any mortgage calculator online and you will see how much you really pay for a house in the end. You don’t just pay the sale price. You pay interest, and a lot of it. If you don’t have at least a 20% down payment, you are probably going to have to pay mortgage insurance until your balance is down to 80%.

Below is a mortgage repayment summary for a 30 year, $100,000 mortgage with no down payment, and a 4% interest rate. Total Private Mortgage Insurance payments over the life of the loan is $4750.38. Total interest paid over the life of the loan is $67,119.51. That is just crazy!

Below is a mortgage repayment summary for a 30 year, $100,000 mortgage with a 20% down payment, and a 4% interest rate. Total Private Mortgage Insurance payments over the life of the loan is the ZERO. This means I save almost $5000 over those 30 years just because I had $20,000 for a down payment. Total interest paid over the life of the loan drops down to %57,495.61. This is almost $10,000 less that what I would pay without a down payment. In the end, I save almost $15,000 just because I waited and saved up the 20% down payment.

 

Living at Home at 25 While in College

Living at home at 25 has never been my dream, but it has allowed me to pursue my dreams. I have always wanted to be an ER nurse, and always heard how time consuming nursing school was. If I lived on my own, I would have to find a “real” job to take care of myself and my daughter while going to school. But, living with my parents has given me a huge opportunity. I have free babysitting while I go to class at night. On the weekends, my parents will entertain my princess while I study. All of this has allowed my to focus.

If I wanted to live on my own, I would have to find a full time job. The problem with that is I would be working during the day and going to school at night or visa-verse. I would then be paying for full time daycare. In my area, it would run me around $700 every month. This would really defeat the purpose of working. The majority of my income would be taken up by daycare unless I made a good income. If I made a good income, why would I need to go to school, right? Without my parents, I would be so stressed out that my grades or my daughter would suffer. Let’s be realistic, my daughter is my priority and I didn’t want her to be neglected for me to pursue my dreams.

Final Thoughts on Living at Home at 25

If you are living at home passed the age of 18; take advantage of it. I’m not saying screw your parents over or take advantage of them. I am saying that if the living situation is not permanent, there is nothing wrong with it. Use the time to make a better life for yourself. Go to school, save money, start building and preparing for your life in the future. Don’t just sit there and watch t.v. all day because you don’t have to work. I may be a single mom and live with my parents at 25, but wait until you see me at 27 or 28! I WILL have the life I’ve been working towards.