What age did you move out? What was most memorable?

willister on 19/02/2020 - 16:01
Last edited 19/02/2020 - 16:05

I moved out at 18 (well 17y10m to be precise), I'm 39 this year and yes I'm of Asian descent.

My folks were somewhat strange/cool/adaptive - they were very strong teaching us (my older sister) of our Asian culture/values but also really took the whole Western value/concept of Independence to a serious level. Both of us were encouraged/asked to move out upon completing our year 12 exams and before that to actually work (I worked at Woolies/Safeway as it was known back then). Don't get me wrong though, we were not pushed out by any means but both mum and dad gave us the freedom to move out and also did say it would do wonders growing up and it was a "rite of passage" but we were always told we could move back if we ever needed to.

I remembered it was hell daunting trying to organise how I'd move out right after the VCE exams, heck I had one exam left to go by the time I moved out. Looking back though it was one of life's best lessons..remember this was days prior to the Internet being useful. I was very fortunate I had 2 friends through my sports social group who were a little older than me who I actually managed to convince them to move in with. I rented for 2 years before I got my own place.

Poll Options

  • 20
    Before 18
  • 35
    18 - 21
  • 17
    22 - 25
  • 29
    25+
Home & Garden

Comments

  • Clear on 19/02/2020 - 16:10
    +3

    Milk the free board as long as possible.

  • saintpotter on 19/02/2020 - 16:25
    +5

    29 still living at home

  • Porker on 19/02/2020 - 16:25
    +3

    I'd say there's more to the decision to stay or leave home than just age.

    I move out of home later than you, but my circumstance was that my parents were divorced and I lived with my mum. The house was big enough that we never really saw each other except in the kitchen, and our relationship very much evolved to house mates.

    So in short, it was easier for me to stay at home to later in life and at the same time it enabled me to purchase a few properties.

    • Drakesy on 19/02/2020 - 16:41
      +2

      Ditto, exactly the same situation albeit haven't purchased a property. Have no reason to move out because board is so cheap and forking out more money to live in worse conditions didn't make sense.

  • ego22 on 19/02/2020 - 16:48

    almost 32, still at home.

  • [Deactivated] on 19/02/2020 - 16:58

    18

    The most memorable thing was how it wasn't as memorable as I thought it would be.

  • sharka on 19/02/2020 - 17:05

    23
    Marrying my wife

  • WreckTangle on 19/02/2020 - 17:31

    18, uni dorm

  • orangetrain on 19/02/2020 - 17:53

    Best to keep children with parents for long as possible it results in overall better financial situation for the ideal family. If you were a parent, would you prefer your children to have net debt or money in investments?

    18, uni dorm as uni was far.

    • willister on 19/02/2020 - 21:53

      I seriously don't know whether its worth it in today's world given the high cost of rent and living. In 1999 I remember the entire house rented (3 bed plus study) was $190 a week….this was in Maribrynong about 50m from the tram line/stop. I was lucky that one mate who lived with us worked at a Chinese restaurant as a part time chef (though he studied something else at uni) and he was able to get enough rice and veg leftovers to eat decent meals. Of course, also plenty of deep fried crap we ate. Furniture was mostly recycled stuff - family gave an old sofa, where as a lot of our tables and chairs were actually DIY refurbished jobs picked up off the kerb side collections LOL. Yes living was a bit rough - no heating and we'd all went our seperate ways in summer to beat the heat, I was mostly at work where it was air conditioned or in shopping centres.

      It was more so the good old fashioned impromptu drunken nights or parties and talking rubbish that I enjoyed most and having some uni mates and girls over that were just amazed in those days that any Asian actually moved out.

      I have 2 sons - this will be an consideration for me in 8 and 10 yrs time when they hit the 18 year old mark. In this day and age I'd probably look and plonking a granny flat out the back or if I can afford it a townhouse…as a trade off? Everyone today is just expensive.

      • try2bhelpful on 20/02/2020 - 10:03

        In 1981, three of us shared a renovated 1/2 house in Malvern for $75 a week. Housing has become, ridiculously, expensive.

  • Seraphin7 on 19/02/2020 - 18:17

    Moved out at 23 with another bloke. The joint wasn't much above flop house status. The most memorable thing was probably waking up to discover which other people had decided to stay their that night … usually unmemorable types.

  • Meeb on 19/02/2020 - 18:20
    +4

    Having sex virtually everywhere in the new place was most memorable after moving out.

  • roastchook on 19/02/2020 - 18:49
    +3

    Not having to deal with my dad was quite relaxing after 19 years of it.

  • try2bhelpful on 19/02/2020 - 18:50
    +1

    Moved into the Halls of Residence at Monash when I was 18 to go to Uni. The Halls were a good transition. Just moved from one family to a bigger one. To me the thing to keep in mind is no one is making sure you’re doing stuff, so you need to get yourself organised.

  • matt3 on 19/02/2020 - 20:15

    In late 80's when Uni was still more or less free, i moved interstate at 17 to go to Uni (Adelaide). All fellow students in my course were quite older than me so I quickly learnt to keep my mouth shut and eyes open.

    Lived in Uni Residence for 12 months (funded by parents) until I couldn't stand the food any longer.

    When I told my parents I couldn't do another day and had to move out of Res, they said "Fine but you'll have to finance it yourself". My last meal at Res I chipped a tooth biting into a lead shotgun pellet in a snag.

    My bartending income was supplemented by being a good craps player at the casino.

  • willister on 19/02/2020 - 22:22
    +1

    Gotta admit the freedom was unbelievable! Though it lasted about 1 month before the novelty factor wore off.

  • elgrande on 19/02/2020 - 23:26

    Moved out when I turned 17.

    • willister on 19/02/2020 - 23:31

      Far out, I thought I was early!

  • samfisher5986 on 20/02/2020 - 10:49

    The faster you move out the faster you grow up.

  • Diggins on 20/02/2020 - 11:04

    26 for me. i regret not doing it sooner.
    its been eye opening and way more fun

    • willister on 21/02/2020 - 13:04
      +1

      Yes and no. When I was "pushed" out at 18, I thought it was both good and bad. I wasn't quite ready maturity wise but it did catalyse it to a very large extent. By 20/21 I was ready to purchase (oddly I did get assistance from my folks on the deposit), a lot of info about how to get a loan so forth was through my room mates who had later moved onto buying. I did enjoy the 1 year worth of partying/drinking but very quickly realised that lifestyle wasn't for me. I was always budgeting this that when I rented….so it wasn't all peachy…so by 22 I was almost living a late 20s lifestyle. It made it a lot easier though after I met my gf at the time (now wife) having 2 incomes though.

      A lot of my high school and uni mates were in awe of my situation but to me honestly it wasn't all that once the novelty factor wore off.

      The sweet spot these days seem to be if you've had a stable/decent paying job for a few years - time to move out, say between 23-25ish.

      • Diggins on 21/02/2020 - 19:06

        yeah.
        reflecting back when i was 18. moving out prob wouldnt have been good for me either luckily my parents allowed me to stay
        24-25 is a good age to do it

  • onetwothreefour on 20/02/2020 - 12:19

    Moved out when I came to Oz as a backpacker at 22, I went back for 6 months after my visa expired and have been back here ever since (with a 12 month stay in NZ too) I'm 38 now.

  • kevsta on 20/02/2020 - 17:45

    30 for me. I wasn't keen on paying rent, so staying at home helped me save for a deposit for a house.

  • ngengerous on 21/02/2020 - 11:41

    20 - went on a month-long trip to Europe with a few friends, and when I returned to living with my parents and two younger sisters, I realised I would reeeeeally love some personal space to do my own thing (plus living with friends would be awesome). Parents are quite conservative so no inviting friends over for drinks at home… As soon as I moved out life was so much more relaxed, and I now happily live with 2 friends. Being able to invite my mates over for a big night on a Friday has given me memories which are worth much more than the money I could have saved at home. Wouldn't change a thing.

  • Alley Cat on 24/02/2020 - 00:26

    17, to this country — where the f are the koalas? Never trusted advertising since. But I didn't have to worry about making money for a long time so it's not technically moving out I guess. Did work at Hungry Jacks for a while, still have some of the $8/hr payslip, will frame one day.

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