How To Move Home After College With Your Dignity Intact

Talk with your parents, and lay down some mutually agreeable house rules. That 10 p.m. curfew needs to be a thing of the past, but you might have to compromise in other areas.

Unless your parents are bikers or roadies, they may not want your beer pong tournaments in the living room. Try to be respectful of the people who are putting you up—and offer to pay some rent.

Make a plan and a realistic time line for achieving the goals that will let you fly the nest. This’ll keep you on track, give you and the folks an accurate forecast of how long you’ll be around, and help remind you that it won’t be forever.

Those boy band posters you put up in junior high might feel a little outdated. Upgrade your room to reflect the new you.

Become the master of your finances! Since you’re probably not paying much for rent or utilities, you can boost your savings account, which means being able to afford rent on your own place a lot faster.

Nosy relatives, doubting dates, and trust fund babies may not understand why you’re cohabitating with the folks. Come up with a simple excuse, like “Once you become an adult you realize how much you owe your parents—I’m sticking around a little while to help them out.”