At almost 27, I find myself in a serious relationship looking to make the next step that will eventually lead to the marriage step. It is very hard to take your relationship to the next level when you live with your parents.
Now, of course, I know plenty of couples that dated, got engaged and moved in after the wedding, but the difference is, whether they moved in before or after the wedding, they still had the funds necessary to move in together. No one gets engaged if they can’t afford to move out or in the case of many Long Island couples, have a basement apartment in their parent’s house they can move into.
My mother has offered to separate part of the house into an apartment, which would require the installation of a kitchen and possibly a bathroom. If not a bathroom, then it would require major construction to make the upstairs bedrooms larger to accommodate my parents and siblings. They would spend a butt-load of money and get nearly nothing on their return, because my parents would refuse to take rent from us. After Chuck and I spent a few years in this makeshift mother-daughter home, they would rent it out to a stranger, which would possibly help their investment.
The idea sounded great at first, but in the end I’ve put it on the bottom of the option list because I’d rather my parents not demolish my entire house just so Chuck and I can move in together.
Truth be told, it’s a bad time in general for young couples. While I am one of the lone few attached friends still living at home, those that have been able to settle on the Island acknowledged times are tough. In passing conversation I hear about taxes increasing and how the heat will be left off until the first snow falls.
A home should be your castle not your prison, but right now, my childhood bedroom is starting to feel like a prison.
Ariella
