Benefits of Living at Home During College

Hi loves! Today I started my third year of college and I am so excited. The past two years I was kind of all over the place with my major and deciding what I wanted to do and although I still kind of am I’m feeling really positive about this semester. I’m doing this semester a lot smarter than I did previous ones but thats a whole other post. If you don’t know me or haven’t been following my blog you probably wouldn’t know I took a year off of school after high school. I think this was one of the best decisions I made regarding college(again, that’s also a whole other post). But I think the absolute smartest thing I did was live at home. I currently live at home with my dad and siblings and I wouldn’t want it any other way. There are so many benefits of living home that outweigh the negatives of it. I am definitely a family oriented person so I don’t think this decision was difficult for me at all.

I think the biggest and most important(to me) is the ability to save money. I see so many college students paying at the least 700 dollars a month for rent or taking out huge loans for dorming. Yes, having your own apartment/space is probably really nice but think about what 700 dollars can get you. You can put that in your savings every month and save for a trip or general life experiences. I just think if you have the option to stay home for college you should definitely do it. If you decide you want to go out of state or town or whatever then obviously this won’t be useful for you. I know a few people that have wanted to stay home but they can go to better schools out of state for what they want to do. BUT if you’re going to a school in your town, like me, I just feel like its a waste of money to try and get an apartment. I am extremely grateful that my dad is completely okay with me staying home. A lot of people my age work minimum wage(or not much more) jobs and I cant imagine paying rent with that type of income.

Another great benefit of staying home is having support. Moving into a dorm or apartment can be super stressful for college students. I have heard endless stories of people having roommates they don’t get along with and have had really bad situations with that. Obviously we aren’t going to get along with our family 24/7 but they’ll always be family and support you. I’m lucky enough to have a family thats supportive and helps me whenever I need. It’s also good to have trustworthy people to talk to.

Most of you might not think this is a benefit but I think staying home will unintentionally make you stay in more. When you’re living in a dorm or apartment you’re surrounded by other college students who will influence what you do. Obviously a lot of colleges students go out and go to parties and you might be pressured into something you don’t truly want to do. Now, I’m not saying don’t have fun in college but I know its super easy to get caught up in the party life. At home you’ll definitely have less of those pressures to go out the night before an 8am class(:

There are probably many more benefits but my last one is regarding food, very important. A lot of dorms do not have kitchens so you’re forced to get a meal plan. I have never personally had a meal plan but I know a lot of people that have and have heard horrible stories. You don’t always get many options and if you’re vegetarian or vegan you’ll have even less options in most cases. Obviously if you live in an apartment you can chose what you eat but if you’re just going into college odds are you’re probably getting a traditional dorm room. When you live at home you definitely have control over what you eat and it’s nice to eat with your family every once in a while as well. 

College followers, do you live at home or in an apartment/dorm? I would love to know your experience and thoughts about it, leave me a comment!

xx,

Liv