Living at home

I've decided to live at home while at uni, for loads of reasons like free rent, hot meals, a shower that works, blah blah, and I can drive to uni everyday. Ok, it all saves me a few thousand, but the big problem is my house is tiny, there is too many of us and I am the eldest. I share a room with my 12 year old sister who is a stroppy teenager, and there isn't enough space or privacy, so I couldn't have friends over. I also live in the middle of nowhere. Does anyone else have this problem and if so, got any tips? Ta x x

Reply 1

gianthead

12

you mean you're just gonna live off your parents for free???!!! :redface:

I wouldn't do that, I'd feel really guilty.
how the heck to you manage to SHARE a room with anyone who's not your partner?? that's completely inhuman :eek:

personally, I'd move out. staying at home dooms you to another three years of the ordeal and you'd have to go sometime anyway...

still if you feel you must stay, spend as much time on the campus/going out as you can in the evenings. If you've got free time in the daytime, when your parents are out at work and the others are at school the house should be empty and you invite people round then, if the house is tidy enough :smile:

at least you've got a car so the middle of nowhere isn't that terrible
hope that helps

Reply 2

Shockley

OP

15

gianthead

you mean you're just gonna live off your parents for free???!!! :redface:

I wouldn't do that, I'd feel really guilty.
how the heck to you manage to SHARE a room with anyone who's not your partner?? that's completely inhuman :eek:

personally, I'd move out. staying at home dooms you to another three years of the ordeal and you'd have to go sometime anyway...

still if you feel you must stay, spend as much time on the campus/going out as you can in the evenings. If you've got free time in the daytime, when your parents are out at work and the others are at school the house should be empty and you invite people round then, if the house is tidy enough :smile:

at least you've got a car so the middle of nowhere isn't that terrible
hope that helps

Yeah, I will definately be at the union most nights. Mum isn't bothered about me paying rent, she'd rather I didn't. What time do most unions shut at?

Reply 3

gianthead

12

true, but you can still hang around having fun and being a teetotaller won't make you unpopular if you've got a car :wink:

Reply 4

Shockley

OP

15

Exactly. Anway I can always get a bus home, or stay over with friends. God I never thought it would be this difficult.

Reply 5

Arminius

14

Sup to you i guess.

It depends what your looking from Uni, a qualification or an experiance aswell.

Your way, you will save quite a bit of money, but ..... well i couldn't do it. It would be too limiting.

Reply 6

Dr. Blazed

16

Zakatu

Your way, you will save quite a bit of money, but ..... well i couldn't do it. It would be too limiting.

Plus cars are obscenely expensive to run and maintain.

Reply 7

BlueRoses

14

This is showing me the reasons why i don't wanna live at home lolol.

Reply 8

midloon

Will there be somewhere to park your car at uni? As mines a town uni there is nowhere to park ever it seems without having to pay. But ive got a couple of friends living at home whilst at uni, both seem to be having fun, but i guess it depends on the person. I see living at uni as an intermediate between leaving your parents and living in the real world. an easy escape :smile:

Reply 9

bewithoutyou

Is there any chance you could live in halls for the 1st year and then perhaps move back home for the 2nd and 3rd? It'll give you the chance to settle in, make friends and experience student life, but still won't be as expensive as three years of university accommodation (and home might not seem so bad after a year in noisy halls!).

Reply 10

icklehc

1

£K22

Exactly. Anway I can always get a bus home, or stay over with friends. God I never thought it would be this difficult.

im in my second year and im still living at home for a number of reasons.
1) i am in uni 2 days a week and its not worth paying to live on campus if i would be going home for 5 days a week
2) my parents are letting me live here rent free because i am hoping to move into a flat with my boyfriend at some point and they are cool :cool:

3) It takes half an hour for me to get the bus to uni
4) If i lived on campus i doubt i wud be doing as well because of distractions.
5) i have made loads of mates at uni and i dont feel i have missed out in anyway. being mates doesnt necessarily mean being together 24/7
6) i can stay in contact with mates at home and uni easily

basically its not as big a deal as people make out. if you dont mind travelling and it saves you money then why not!

Reply 11

Arminius

14

thats fine, it obviously suits you.

But for me living in hall is something i am currently really enjoying and hopefully will continue too.

Where i live at home its the middle of nowhere and i don;t have a car, theres not really anywhere to go out and most of the time i have to get lifts with mates to go to the pub or see a film. Going to see a film is like 30 minutes of driving.

So for me, living in a city for the first time and living in amongst 1000's of other students is a really big thing, a bigger change than acacedmically - allthough i enjoy that too.

If i was living at home, uni would be like a big, scarier version of college.

But, it depends where you live and how good you are at making freinds. I feel i need the 24/7 aspect.

Reply 12

Platinum Mech

12

At the end of the day, I think people should do what they want -- if they genuinely feel they would be happier staying at home, they shouldn't be agressively persuaded otherwise.

Reply 13

cleas001

1

i had the same prob last year bt in the end ive stayed at home n im glad- im never in- i go out party blah blah blah- work weekends...it works quite well... also staying at home helps to build a really great relationship with my parents

Reply 14

ellewoods

10

I lived in halls in the first year, and in a flat in the second year with some friends. I commute for a final year (takes about an hour to Leeds) and Im going to Sheffield Uni (20mins) for my Legal Practice Course next year.

I made the decision for many reasons, but mostly financial and also my boyfriend is here and we;ve been together for 4 years, and it was about time I came home and stopped being the centre of attention ie him driving to Leeds constantly and me being away all the time :rolleyes:

(he's a proper grown up!)

It works perfectly for me.

It is harder - I have to make more of an effort with studying because its so easy to get distracted with all the home comforts of Sky+, etc, plus my boyfriend and all old school friends, but I suppose thats only the same when I was at uni really, except with different distractions! I tend to come straight home after lectures rather than stay at uni doing work like I used to, so that makes a difference.

Socially, its great - the social scene seems to have quietened significantly in the 3rd year due to increased workload, and I never miss out as there are so many people still living in Leeds who I can stay with at the drop of a hat. Trick is always have a little overnight bag in the boot of the car just in case :wink:

I dont feel guilty for living off my parents - they would rather I went to uni and helped to `fulfill my potential` :p:

than leave at 16/18 and have a minimum wage job and pay them 80 pounds a month or something silly like that. (like my sister does)
Plus I make sure I pull my weight with household chores and my boyfriend and I buy food regularly. (we stay at mine most nights and I have my desk and stuff here to work)

You will need to make an effort to `get in` with people more as its your first year - i was lucky as i had friends established from when I lived there. But everyone is SO social in the first year, it's be harder NOT to make friends!!! :biggrin:

And everyone will love you because of your car - you can take them to Tesco for their weekly shop that is too heavy for the bus :rolleyes:

Have LOADS of fun and PM me if you have any specific questions regarding this topic :smile:

Reply 15

gianthead

12

I dont feel guilty for living off my parents - they would rather I went to uni and helped to `fulfill my potential` than leave at 16/18 and have a minimum wage job and pay them 80 pounds a month or something silly like that (like my sister does).

my sister's only got 3 GCSE's, but she's got a job that earns enough to pay her own living, have driving lessons, have fun and save some. she got more xmas cards than the rest of the family put together so you can have a social life without uni!!!
anyway, that's a bit off topic, you can pay parents some rent out out of your student loan, but if they don't want it and you don't feel guilty about going free that's fine! :smile:

perhaps you won't be taking out a loan, which'll save you a lot of debt later on :biggrin:

Reply 16

AT82

I lived at home and had a good time. The key to is to make sure the university's 'town' is also your 'town'.

What I mean by that is it shares the same city or town centre. I lived 5 miles away and it was in a different city but it shared the same city centre Manchester. So when ever people went out they want to Manchester, I live just 3 miles away from Manchester city centre so in effect it was like I was living in an area very close to university even though it was in fact miles away.

You need to live near a big city though or one with a good university otherwise you may be strictly limited. I was lucky that I had lots of commutable universities I could have gone to.

Reply 17

Shockley

OP

15

AT82

I lived at home and had a good time. The key to is to make sure the university's 'town' is also your 'town'.

What I mean by that is it shares the same city or town centre. I lived 5 miles away and it was in a different city but it shared the same city centre Manchester. So when ever people went out they want to Manchester, I live just 3 miles away from Manchester city centre so in effect it was like I was living in an area very close to university even though it was in fact miles away.

You need to live near a big city though or one with a good university otherwise you may be strictly limited. I was lucky that I had lots of commutable universities I could have gone to.

Yeah, I'm from Aberdeen and so there's always something to do. There is also 2 unis, and that means loads of students! I don't think I'll have a problem and at least I don't have to pay tuition fees. Hurrah!

Reply 18

adogintheocean

get urself a partner who has own flat and stay there all the time or doss on peoples floors :p:

first few weeks i never had a flat so i jujust dossed on floors and couches

Reply 19

ellewoods

10

gianthead

my sister's only got 3 GCSE's, but she's got a job that earns enough to pay her own living, have driving lessons, have fun and save some. she got more xmas cards than the rest of the family put together so you can have a social life without uni!!!
anyway, that's a bit off topic, you can pay parents some rent out out of your student loan, but if they don't want it and you don't feel guilty about going free that's fine! :smile:

perhaps you won't be taking out a loan, which'll save you a lot of debt later on :biggrin:

I wasn't criticising my sister necessarily - however she chose not to continue her education through sheer laziness, :eek:

(her words not mine) and my parents would not want me to do the same - I WANT a degree and to achieve as much as possible :smile:

Of course you can have a social life without uni! :smile:

But this is a student forum and we generally like to extoll the virtues of having a degree :rolleyes:

Living at home allows me to afford to do what I want with my life, unfortunately I still need my loan but thats not the end of the world.

Living at home

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