The Nomad Life vs. Moving Out

I am what you would call a nomad. I float around from work to the gym to my house to my boyfriends to my friends and back. I have three small duffel bags that I bring with me almost everywhere, packed full of gym clothes, going out clothes, and casual work clothes because I never know where I am going to end up next.

I wanted to move out when I graduated. I lived in a house while at school with my best friends and did whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Well, that’s not how it works when you graduate. When I graduated, I had no savings and no job. I spent all the money I got as graduation gifts while unemployed on LIFE. I mean what was I supposed to do? Stare at the wall? Starve? Stop buying clothes? No thanks.

When I finally became employed, not only could I not afford to move out – there was no reason to move out. I live 20 minutes outside Boston and 25 minutes from my job (that’s without traffic – I hate traffic – but that’s a whole other post). I needed to save. I also needed to pay off my credit card…  Anyway, this lifestyle worked for me – The Nomad Life.

Now, it’s almost been a year since I graduated and I am looking for an apartment to move into in September. By then, I will have lived at home for a year and 4 months (wow, time flies). Even though the perks of living at home are fantastic – no rent, free food, dinner already on the table when you get home, free gym membership, I save money and still go shopping, and I live in Boston on the weekends for free (sorry boyfriend). In addition to this, I’m saving enough money to possibly move to a new city one day in order to get the job of my dreams.

HOWEVER, this won’t be the case when I move out. More than half of each of my paychecks will be spent on rent, parking, gas, groceries, a gym membership, and other expenses. Will I be able to save ANY money at all??? Will I be able to keep up with my shopping habit? And what about my drinking/expensive bar habit? Will I ever save enough money to not live paycheck to paycheck?

But I can’t live at home forever! I want to live with friends again. I don’t want to sit in traffic anymore. I want my social life during the week back! Most importantly, I don’t want to be such a nomad anymore. I want to have my own place and not live out of my car with all my personal belongings stuffed into 3 duffel bags.

Therefore, I will be moving out in September. Good choice or bad choice? Post your opinions on living at home after college here!

Coming soon: The Dreaded Apartment Search.

If only life was easy…