Curious to hear experiences from strangers online, Redditor WallStreetDoesntBet asked:
"People who moved out of the parent’s house before 30, how?"
Most people can't afford to live on their own.
Roommate Is Key
"yeah this exactly. I've never lived by myself, was roommates until I got a serious girlfriend and now fiance. There's exactly 0% chance of me being in the same position I'm in financially if I had been paying full rent all those years."
– lick_me_where_I_fart
Not A Care In The World
"I was 17, we had 4 of us in a ghetto 2bd apt (bunkbeds) we had a beer bong on a lanyard screwed to the ceiling. We'd have keggers, party's every weekend and always had randoms crashing on the floor. Could barely afford to feed myself and pay bills but still not a worry in the world and it was the best time of my life."
– ApprehensiveAd6006
Oh, Josh
"I had 5 in my first place. 4 of us shared rooms. Despite the random brawls over Josh never doing the dishes, it was actually awesome."
– duracellchipmunk
Too Close For Comfort
"6 of us in a punk house the moment I turned 18. I had the walk-in closet as my room and I paid $100 for it. It was absolutely disgusting but I remember it so fondly."
– Theatre_throw
One inconvenience shared by many was the sacrifice of a good, home-cooked meal.
Change Of Scenery
"Just needed a little R&R."
"Roommates and Ramen."
– SudoPuff
The "Wild" Years
"This, lol. I was kicked out at 16 and after couch-surfing for a few months I moved into a studio apartment with 4 other people."
"When I say we were poor, I mean poor - most of us didn’t have jobs. I lived off the worst of the worst food. Knockoff ramen. Dollar store canned veg. Rice and terrible year old pasta."
"It was a wild few years."
– Vetiversailles
Rice For Life
"Or rice. I lived off rice for a full year. Fancied it up by adding some salsa, and then extra fancy by also adding ranch dressing."
"Those were hard times."
– Ok_Opinion_
Having work definitely makes things easier.
Saving Up To Leave
"Started working while I was in school. Got out as soon as I could."
– ReallyIdleBones
Not Much Fanfare
"Yep, moved out for college in 2006. Came back for the summer in 2007, but thereafter I got an internship so I just stayed in the city. Got a job at the same place after I graduated."
"It was never some big moment for me (my parents are fine, just annoying), just a natural progression for me."
– Zerole00
Building A Life
"At 18. Worked in construction. Lived on a couch with 6 buddies in one house paying for college. Bought cheap land during the recession. Then built my own house."
– ReubenZWeiner
Not moving out by choice seemed to be a common shared experience.
High Turnover Rate
"Got kicked out at 14. Finished high school sleeping on friends couches while serving tables. Had a ton of roommates for the next 10 years. At any given time I was living with like 3 or 4 people, it was never boring haha"
– herriotact
Different Parenting
"I am hearing that so many people are actually kicked out in the really young age is well."
"But i am not getting that why parents are so tough because in my country they try to keep them under their wings."
– wowoao
Tough Love
"My friends parents were going to kick him out immediately after he graduated high school simply because 'That's what their parents did when they were his age.' His Dad fully expected him to go out at 18 and buy a house because 'he was able to.'"
"Then his Dad got pissed when my friend did not buy a house and went to live with his uncle instead. Even after his uncle broke down the whole 'Your mortgage is $2200/month with taxes and you expect your son, who works part time at $7.25 an hour to afford a mortgage? With no credit history?'"
"Some parents do it out of tough love. Some parents do it because they shouldn't have had children. Some parents still think the world is the same as it was in the 70s-80s and think minimum wage part time employees can thrive."
– bangersnmash13
Placed Expectations
"My parents didn't kick me out, but there was definitely an expectation for me to be moved out and financially independent at 18. My mother walked into a job as a radio DJ at the age of 18 and then became a journalist with only a high school education a few years later (early 1970s), so she had this expectation that I could do the same. The thought of me being able to do anything like that in the 2000s was laughable."
– pie12345678
Lucky Break
"I walked into a journalism career with only a high school diploma in the late 1990s, but I was well aware of my unicorn status and would never have expected my kids to have the same kind of luck I did."
"That being said, of my kids who are now adults, only one of the three has had to move back home after leaving. The other two have managed to make it work with roommates and busting their ass, just like I did after I got my lucky break."
– ExtantAuctioneer
I moved out of my parents' house because I booked my first professional gig on a cruise ship.
It couldn't have worked out better. I was paid to perform on board in the shows while my rent was already taken care of since I lived and worked on the ship.
I packed one suitcase and traveled the world doing what I loved for about two years. It was the best way to transition into an exciting new chapter in my adolescent life.
What's your moving out story?
Making that choice for little bits of silly is something people are starting to proudly embrace.
Reddit user RepresentativeFast97 asked:
"To all the adults. What is one childish thing you still do to this day?"
Cheers to the childish ones, may you stay forever young ... and forever laughing at fart jokes.
Farts Are Funny
Power Rangers Fart GIFGiphy"I'm not sure if it's childish or just being a man, but I will never fail to laugh at a good fart joke."
-fanofclutch
"There was this one time, late at night before going to bed I was talking to my dad about some benign thing and for absolutely no reason he just let one rip."
"Opposite end of the room dead in the face while I'm talking, blasting and it straight up stun locked me."
"He wasn't even phased asked me 'What's wrong bud?' and I still laugh when thinking back on it."
-Verunum
The Darkness
"Run away from the darkness when I turn off lights"
-ilovedtransyIvania
"Run one all fours up the stairs while you're doing it to be faster"
-Z4mb0ni
"And jump on the bed when you turn the light switch off on the wall. That way, whatever is underneath can't grab your feet"
-User Deleted
Splash
"When it rains heavily for a few days, our backyard walkway floods."
"I like to put on my rubber boots, my raincoat, grab an umbrella and stomp away in the puddles. I'm 65."
-invalidpassword
"You are my inspiration. Im 18 and hope I will never grow up."
-Oliver_Queen_4587
X-Games in Aisle 3
zach galifianakis dale GIF by BasketsFXGiphy"I still stand on the back of the shopping cart and kick-scoot it like a scooter up and down the aisles while grocery shopping. I’m nearly 50 years old."
-VictorBlimpmuscle
"Same here."
"I find Costco carts, while requiring more effort to get going, carry a lot of momentum."
"Aldi carts are notably in good shape due to getting returned so often."
"Giant Eagle carts are hit and miss, lots of wobble-wheels unfortunately."
-LeonardGhostal
That Food Was Bomb
"I still open the microwave before the bomb goes off."
-robbini3
"I never understood why I open the microwave at 1 sec left until now lol."
-BigWingWangKen
Blankie
"I had a comfort blanket as a kid, sometimes the lining of a coat pocket feels just like it so I walk around rubbing it like a comfort blanket."
-Targetmissed
"32 and I don’t go anywhere in the house or overnight without my super adult comfort blanket"
-dejapasstime
"My mom is 48 and still sleeps with a baby blanket her parents got her"
-Boneal171
Chocolate Milk
"I drink chocolate milk at restaurants."
"When asked if I seriously just ordered chocolate milk, I respond with 'you’re god damned right I did.'"
-DBM
"We had a buffet in our area that had chocolate milk."
"There were more adults than children who drank it."
-nauticalrangale
"Chocolate milk is delicious and that's the glorious thing about being adults. We can drink as much of it as we damn well please."
-Concerned-Pineapple
Puppy Love
Happy Dog GIF by TikTokGiphy"I'm a 53 year old man. I just went up to my dog laying on the couch and smooshed my face into her fur and said:"
" 'Shmoopy Smoopy Poopy? Are you a SHHHmoopy poo? Who made you so fluffy? Why you fluffy bum? YOU SO FLUFF BUM BUM SMOOGLY BOOGLY!' "
"...while my wife looked on an shook her head."
-ClownfishSoup
Rhyme And Reason
"36 here, and still sing the alphabet (when I need to, not just randomly) and sometimes say the rabbit rhyme when tying my shoes lol"
-Mike_TKE
"I relate with the alphabet singing, and similarly I sing a rhyme in my head to remember which months have 30 days and which have ones have 31 days."
-Laleena_
"I still do the "righty tighty, lefty loosey" thing when working with tools."
-Gladix
"Righty Tighty/Lefty Loosey is the best way!"
"I'm a medical professional on a HIGHLY specialized team working with very complicated equipment on a VERY sick child."
"Trouble shooting a difficult problem, I say out loud to a room of probably 7 specialists: 'Okay Guys, so righty tighty.... we're going to do A, B, and C thing to the right'. "
"No one questioned the righty tighty comment! Everyone gets it!"
-JustGenericName
Impulse Speed
"I indulge in my impulses."
"Wanna walk on that garden wall like it's a balance beam? Wanna take my shoes off? Want to sing loudly?"
"Restraint is something I learned for adulthood, then promptly discarded. It doesn't suit me."
-InimitableMe
"I too have ADHD"
-Iron_physik
Kids having all the fun is whack.
Reclaim childishness. It's good for you!
As for my confession - everything! Cartoons, coloring, dance breaks, little songs, toys and games, bubbles ... I'm not sure I ever outgrew any of those things.
I, too, have ADHD.
Want to know more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
I grew up in New York. When I was about six, I was walking up the stairs from the train when a rat fell from the street onto my head. I don't remember the rest. Need I say more?
Look Away
Scared Dog GIF by MOODMANGiphy"Mirrors, I'm always have a thought that I'm going to see something that I shouldn't. lol"
Deep Blue Sea...
"Sharks in the pool at night. Can't see 'em but I know they're there."
"Came here to say this, but it goes beyond pools. It can be any body of water. Sometimes when I'm in the shower I just start thinking about sharks and have to shower real fast and get the freak out of there."
"Sometimes I get freaked out when I'm not even around water thinking I'm just gonna wake up and realize I've been passed out in the middle of the ocean with a shark about to attack me. Kinda weird. I watched Deep Blue Sea when I was really little and it freaked me out, and I've always blamed it on that."
Can't See
"The dark, I'm 48."
"My caution meter goes up. Not like I can't walked around my house in the dark but hearing or watching horror or thriller stories, it's quite rational to be cautious and recheck all the doors are locked."
"It's not just 'the dark' for me, I'm fine in the dark outside or in rooms of my house. It's dark in unfamiliar places/rooms."
From Beneath
"The fear that something under my bed will grab my foot if it hangs off the bed."
"Yo... I specifically store a bunch of stuff under my bed so it is all full up under there specifically so I can know. NOPE NO MONSTERS HIDDING IN THERE. and if they are. They much smaller than me so I could overpower those smurf sized monsters grabbing my feetsies. Not tonight non-existent underbed gnomes. Not tonight."
- Kondrias
Mighty Waters
loud house animation GIF by NickelodeonGiphy"As a child every time a toilet clogged I would start crying because I thought it was going to overflow, flood the house and we would all drown. Now I don't cry, but the fear is still there."
I hate toilets. I've been involved in too many floodings. It's like I'm cursed when I go number two. And that under the bed thing, that's real problem.
Entanglements
Jazz Seaweed GIF by The ItchywormsGiphy"Swimming in the ocean in the sections that have sea weed and are consequently dark."
Shut It!
"I absolutely cannot under any circumstances fall asleep if the closet door is open. I've tried so many times. I KNOW there's not demons in there but at the same time like what if there is???"
"I can't sleep with my bedroom door closed. Closet and my en suite bathroom doors HAVE to be closed, but the door to the bedroom HAS to stay open. I blame my being a mom. WhAt If SoMeTHiNg HaPpEnS tO tHe BoY aNd I dOn'T hEaR iT!? He's 11 now and in no risk of SIDS or anything else I panicked about when he was a baby."
- KixStar
KaBoom!
"It took a long time to grow out of but propane tank and torches used to freak me out I thought everytime one was turned on it could possibly explode."
- Boat3000
"Me too! I was probably 8 hanging around in the basement of one of the "older boys". I was helping him with something and he was using a little propane torch."
"Well I guess he didn't tighten the tip onto the propane bottle well enough, propane escaped creating a second flame that went spewing out the side. He freaked out and threw it and we both BOLTED out of the house - his Mom in tow. Luckily a larger fire didn't start but I was quite fearful of those things for a long time. Now I know how to handle them and I can sweat pipes with little anxiety."
Superstitions...
"I'm 27 and I still smack the light off and run up the stairs like a dog ASAP."
- jrocbb
"I'm 32 and still jump in bed and hide under the blanket for a minute until my eyes adjust. Thankfully I only have to do this at certain relatives houses as I have a light with hanging switch above my bed so I can do it while partially under cover already."
Who is there?
"Always checking behind the shower curtain before using the restroom. My dad used it to scare me so much as a kid, that I now get relatively extreme anxiety from a closed shower curtain."
"Yup I have my own apartment now and only clear shower curtains are allowed lmao. Nothing happened to trigger this fear, except possibly a movie or something where the killer was hiding behind a shower curtain? Idk but at my parent's house I still check under and in anything in my room a killer could be hiding in before I go to sleep so I guess I'm just paranoid. lol"
Let me Poop
steve irwin snakes GIF by BustleGiphy"A snake swimming through my plumbing lines and biting me in the butt while I'm taking a poop. It went away after a while until I saw a video of this exact scenario happening. Now I will never be able to poop in peace."
What did I tell you about snakes? See! And it's wise to always check every corner of the house when you can. You never know.
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.