Sunday, February 17, 2013

Mom and Dad I'm back!

Moving in with parents when you have already left home


These are my parents. They were kind enough to let us move in with them to save some money.
I have been wanting to do this blog post for a while and even while I was living there I wrote down things I liked and maybe didn't like about moving back in. 
I want to share my experience because I feel a lot of young (and maybe not so young) 
people are doing this to save some money. 

Would I recommend it? Bottom line yes. 
You do save a ton of money not only in rent but if you share food together its much easier there as well.

But for how long? That is where it totally depends. 
Maybe a list of pros and cons will help? And two different scenarios.

I want to do the cons first because I like ending on a happy note. 
Cons:
Privacy
Dual Parenting
Family Drama

Those are really it. I think the biggest problem was the "dual parenting". My parents want to be grandparents. And rightly so. They want to spoil him and not have to discipline him. Which is fine when you visit your family on weekends but when you have grandparents and grandkids together everyday you can't have this. 
It was definitely hardest on me. Thayne literally hated me while we lived there. I did the disciplining and all the other things he did not like. It really hurt me. 
It also made me not like my mom because Thayne liked her better (sounds silly but have your only child hate you and you will know what I mean)
Which then hurt our relationship.  
BUT 
I do have a friend living with her parents and she has a daughter about the same age as Thayne. 
She loves living at home because her parents help with the parenting.
Its all about if you can handle some conflicting opinions and work through it.

I also think that if both you and your spouse are working then these are eliminated. 
My parents were home most the time with me and probably is what was so hard.

Onto the Pros:
First of all you save money
Reconnect with family-my sister is a senior and there is a 6 year gap and it was great to re-get-to-know her.
Get help with children
Family Meals Together- something I always enjoy
Able to do more things

We had a lot of fun with my family. They like to do a lot of things and invited us to be apart of it. 
For instance; boating, going to the gym, doing races, going skiing, ect.
We were able to do baby swap and spend time together and doing things we loved. 
I really felt like I re met my family I enjoyed being close (we still live close). 
Overall it was a great experience and we are so grateful we were able to do it. 

To make living at home work for you I would set everything up before you get there. 
If you have children the rules you have for them. 
Privacy rules like if our bedroom door is closed and its after 9:00pm DON'T OPEN THE DOOR
(apparently this was a rule that had to be said)
Things like that. I think the less you are at the home the easier it is to stay longer. We did six months and that worked out perfect for us. I love my family and again am so grateful we got to live with them. 
I am even more grateful that they still love us and try to come visit as much as they can.

Have you considered moving back in with mom and dad to save money?