I think a lot of people get ridiculed for staying at home after high school. I know a lot of kids do it, but the ones who go off to college and graduate and then immediately get their own apartment or house are the ones who are going to fall flat on their nose when life hits them. Those are also the young adults we praise. Don't get me wrong, at that age you need to experience independence and grow and learn as an individual. But there's ways to do it that make your financial security stronger.

Sure, it sucks kind of socially but you will still be able to make friends and hang out with old ones if they didn't stray too far. I lived at home until I was about 22, after HS I went to community college and worked a part time job and was practically able to pay for it all out of pocket. Parents were nice and would occasionally give me a $20 here and there to help me out on weekends, but for the most part I could pay for school, work, and have fun without feeling like I was a slack. Parents also didn't really give a shit what I did as long as they knew I was alive. So, that took care of my first two years of school and got me an associate's. If I went to a university I'd have spent what on those two years, anything from $25,000-40,000? Fuck that noise. I eventually landed a better part-time job and finished up my bachelor's at an actual university and only had a bit less than $10k of loans to pay off. Yeah, that's still some money but at least it's manageable and I won't be slugging through bills until I'm 38. I know there's a negative stigma surrounding community colleges, but I really did feel that my quality of education was just as good, if not better in some manners, than the university's.

Seriously, if anyone reading this is at that time in your life where you're about to make big decisions about your education and future, at least consider it as an option. It's much cheaper, easier, and will benefit you immensely in the future. No, you won't be shagging slutty sorority girls or playing beer pong every weekend but that shit isn't important in the grand scheme of things. You'll still be able to go out and have fun if you have friends and other colleges in your area. Community colleges still have clubs and organization. You might have to sit next to that weird thirty-five year old ex-con heroin dealer in that one class, but who friggin' cares, man. There's nothing good about being $30+ grand in debt. Looking at my buddies who graduated and seeing how they're life is a negative sum of money is just fucking sad. I know I'm being haughty, but I'm over here in my decent sized downtown apartment, new car, decent job, able to spend money on my hobbies, booze, and fun, and a good chunk of money stashed away in my savings and retirement fund.