19 Signs It’s Time to Move Out of Your Parent’s House

How do you know when it’s time to move away from home? Here’s 19 signs it’s time to move out of your parent’s house.

Growing up, it seems like the best place in the world is our parent’s home.

However, around the age of 18 to 20, something starts to click and no longer is going home after school or work our top priority.

Instead, you may feel hesitant to go back home or start to feel like having your own living space would be 10x better.

If you share any of these 19 thoughts or feelings down below, it may be a real sign that it’s time to move out of your parent’s house.

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1. You start fighting more with your parents

As much as you love you parents, you’re a grown-up now and your thoughts and actions are more mature than they were when you were in high school or middle school.

With that being said, how you think and how you act can come under attack by your parents. Alternatively, you may think how your parents think or act is crazy and start getting fed up with them.

When generational differences, or differences in general, start becoming more evident at home and you find yourself fighting with your parents over petty things, then it may be time to move out of your parent’s house.

2. You start to feel like you don’t own anything

Being an adult living at home can be quite challenging in the ownership department.

For your entire life your parents have shared everything with you, so now as an adult, your parents may still feel ownership over your belongings even if they are rightfully yours.

Or you may have siblings who don’t understand the concept of personal belongings, so you constantly feel like your belongs, like your TV, food, and even car, are being taken away by them. If that’s the case, I’d start making arrangements to move out ASAP.

3. You have a decent-sized emergency fund or savings

If you have been money savvy since your teen years, or you got great job after high school or college, you may have accumulated enough money to put towards a security deposit on an apartment and even pay the first few months of rent. Sometimes we can even consider the strategy to pay our rent with loans. Get it done so you can improve your life.

If that’s the case, what are you waiting for? I’d start filling out apartment applications ASAP!

And, if you’re already paying bills, like your phone and/or car insurance, and have been paying those bills on-time and still have room in your budget for an apartment, moving out can be a great way to add more financial independence in your life and can even help you build credit.

4. Your schedule is crazy and you feel guilty coming home at weird hours

During your college or early adult years you tend to find yourself out past your parent’s bedtime.

With that being said, it can be pretty awkward stumbling through your parent’s door at 4 AM half drunk with your makeup in shambles after a night of drinking and partying.

Or maybe you have a job or college classes at weird hours and feel bad about coming home in the middle of dinner after class or at 12 AM after a long closing shift.

If that’s the case, then getting your own place would allow you to come and go as often as you please without bothering your parents and their steady 9-5 routine.

5. You feel like your parents intrude on your friendships

One of the best parts (and worst parts) about being an adult is that you get to decide who you’re friends with.

But if you still live at home, it may be harder to maintain those adult friendships if you can’t invite them to hang out at your place.

You may also like: 10 Easy Ways to Make Friends After College

I mean yes, it’s totally fine to say, “hey, do you want to hang out at my parent’s house tonight?”

But do you really want to?

Especially if they’re friends from college or work and not friends you’ve known since high school.

I personally did not have any friends over when I lived with my parents in college. I only invited over my boyfriend to my parent’s house for dinner.

And it wasn’t because I was embarrassed to invite my friends over to my parent’s house, it was more of a commute problem since I lived about 30-minutes from my college.

6. You want a pet, but your parents don’t agree with it

Have you always dreamed of having your own pet, but you parent’s either 1) hate pets or 2) already have enough of a zoo already in their household?

If you have the desire and the financial means to raise a fur baby (or scaly friend), but are prevented by your parents, it may be a sign that it’s time to move out of your parents house.

Personally, my parents did not like my dogs. Particularly my dad.

He didn’t hate them, but he also didn’t seem to find them too cute either. And that brought a lot of tension when I lived at my parent’s house.

So once I moved out, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and my dogs seemed happier too.

7. You start feeling cramped

If you start to feel like the four corners of your room can’t fit all of your things, it may be time to get a space of your own.

I mean think of the potential a larger living space could bring.

You could own more clothes, get your own couch, and even a larger bed for yourself.

8. You feel limited on how you can decorate your space

Some parents are pretty strict on how they decorated their home.

For example, my parents always kept the walls bare, neutral colors only, and never had a cohesive look to their furniture. It made me feel really restricted and unable to express myself.

If you’re feeling the same way, then it’s seriously time to consider moving out of your parent’s house.

9. You have a significant other and want more privacy

If you’re in a serious relationship you may feel more inclined to have your own private living space rather than your chilldhood bedroom down the hall from your parents.

If you can’t afford an apartment by yourself, see if your significant other is open and ready to let you move in with them.

Or even better, going on an apartment search together for a place you both can call your own.

10. You feel like all your food at home is being eaten

If you’re living at home with your parents and paying for your groceries only to find your food is being eaten by your younger siblings or even your dad, it may be a sign it’s time to get your own apartment with your own fridge and pantry.

Even living with a roommate or two, you may have the same issue with people eating your food, but if you come up with a good roommate contract and set up different sections in your fridge/pantry for your food and your individual roommates food, it shouldn’t be too much of an issue.

11. You feel like living at home is harming your personal growth

Sometimes you may feel like you are being babied while living at home as a young adult.

Your mom (or dad) may try to help you out too much at home by still cooking for you, offering to help you pay for things, or maybe even micromanage some aspects life like setting a curfew or judging your spending habits.

As a result, you may lack the necessary skills or opportunities to live an independent life from your parents and this can be very frustrating.

Your best bet is to start making a moving plan to move out of your parent’s house.

And you’d be surprised how capable you truly are of living on your own and supporting yourself financially once you move out of your parent’s house.

12. You feel jealous of all your friends moving out of their parent’s house

In college, and especially once you graduate from college, you’ll start seeing a lot of your friends on Facebook moving into their first “real” apartments or even buying/renting houses.

Seeing people you knew in high school or college hitting these milestones while you’re still in the same bed you’ve had since middle school can make you feel jealous. I know I do.

13. You feel limited on what you can watch or listen to

Our music tastes change in adulthood.

Instead of those pop songs with catchy lyrics, maybe you have grown to love rap music with explicit lyrics, like my boyfriend…

And those songs may not be the best to blast on full volume when you’re living at home with your parents and possibly younger siblings.

Or maybe you’ve grown to love Grey’s Anatomy and want to watch the season premier on the big TV in the living room, but you know everyone in your parent’s household would start gagging at the sight of blood.

If you feel unable to enjoy your own entertainment while living at your parent’s house, that’s a small, but telltale sign it’s time to move out.

14. You feel ready and confident to move out

There’s a lot of uncertainty that comes along with moving out for the first time.

You may question if you’re even ready to move out.

And while moving out is scary, there’s a lot of benefits to moving out and you’ll soon recognize how much more free you feel after moving into your own apartment.

So if you already…

• Pay a majority, if not all, of your own bills
• Make enough income to afford rent (either by yourself or split with roommates)
• You parents already ask you to pay rent or a small fee to live with them
• Have an emergency fund of at least 3 months worth of expenses

Then you should be fully capable of moving out. All you need to do next is start apartment hunting!

But if you’re not already paying bills, don’t have enough income, etc., or you’re scared to move out then that’s ok too.

If your parents will let you stay longer at your house and you like it there, then wait.

I honestly wish I could have waited longer to move out, so I could save up more money, but I’ve also done fine on my own as well.

So if you choose to stay at home for longer, keep saving up money, and wait until you feel ready and confident to move out. Your time will come, I promise you!

15. You spend all your time at your friend’s or significant other’s apartments

When it comes to the point where you’re spending at least 4 out of the 7 days of the week crashing at your friend’s or significant other’s apartments, it’s time to get your own place or become your friend’s/significant other’s roommate.

Plus, your parents may not appreciate how often you’re away and not knowing when you’ll be coming back, so the easiest thing to do is to move out and save yourself from lectures on the importance of coming back home.

16. You feel like your mental health is compromised by living at home

Unfortunately, we are not all dealt the same cards in life.

And there may come a point, or it’s always been this way, where there are more disadvantages to living at home with your parents than advantages.

If this is the case, you may feel like your living situation is taking a toll on your mental health.

For instance, if you are:

• Feeling anxious about coming home after work or school
• Sitting in your car outside of your house dreading to go in
• Feeling like you can’t openly express your feelings to anyone in your household
• Feeling confined to your room

Then moving out could be the best next step for you.

17. You hate the commute to work or school

One of the worst parts about adulting is commuting to work or school.

Of course it isn’t bad if you’re 10 to 20 minutes away, but if you are driving 30+ minutes to work, especially at high traffic hours, it can be real drag sitting in traffic when you could be getting more sleep or at home already and relaxing.

When I was in college, I had about a 30-minute commute to college, and that was on a good day.

If I went home during rush hour, it could easily take me 50-minutes to get home and I absolutely hated it.

Moving to an apartment closer to campus made all the difference for me and saved me so much time and gas money.

So if you’re finding your parent’s house is less than favorable for your commute, then see about finding an apartment, or even a townhouse, with roommates closer to work or school.

This of course may not be possible if you work in a downtown area with ridiculous rent prices, but even moving slightly closer can make all the difference in your sanity during your commutes.

18. There’s limited opportunity to meet new people your age

As much as you love your parents, where they live may be preventing you from making friends or meeting people your own age.

And although there are apps now like Bumble that let you connect and meet people in your area, there’s still is nothing better than to live, work, and go to school in an area with people around your own age.

Even moving to a college town, where rent may be slightly cheaper to accommodate broke college students, can be beneficial to your social life. You’ll have the opportunity to get out of your comfort zone and make brand new friends.

19. You’re tired of doing your parent’s errands

One of the worst parts about living at home as an adult is that become the errand runner of the family.

And of course after years of taking care of you, your parents definitely deserve the favor returned, but it can get pretty out of hand if you become:

• The weekly grocery store shopper
• The person who picks up medications at the pharmacy
• The sibling chauffeur
• The take out picker-upper
• The doctor’s appointment driver
• Etc.

If you are tired of doing everyone’s errands, and just want to do your own errands on your own time, then moving out is the best solution. Unless you have a sibling living at your parent’s home with you who can rotate errands with you.

For awhile, my twin sister and I lived at our parent’s home together in college and it was nice to do our parent’s errands together or rotate them.

How long is too long to live with your parents?

There is really no cutoff age to when you should be moved out from your parent’s house.

It’s honestly depends on 3 key factors:

• How you feel about living with your parents as an adult
• How your parent’s feel about you staying at home as an adult
• And your financial situation

If you are comfortable and happy living at home and your parent’s feel the same way, then there’s no reason to rush the moving out process.

Also, if you lack the financial means to support yourself in your own place, then you’re better off waiting until you get ahold of your finances and a secure job.

However, if any of the 19 signs mentioned above resonate with you, then moving out would be the most ideal if you can financially do it on your own or with a roommate or two.

Concluding thoughts on knowing when it’s time to move out of your parent’s house

There will come a time in your life when you’re ready to make the move from your parent’s humble abode to your own.

If you are uncertain that now is the right time to move these 19 signs it’s time to move out of your parent’s house hopefully provided you some clarity and motivation to start finding a place of your own.

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• How To Build An Emergency Fund
• How To Prepare for Life After College

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