I'm 23 and I still live with my parents. It's not that I can't afford rent — I could, no problem. It's that I don't want to.
When someone asks me why I'm still at home at this age, the short answer is this: every euro I'd pay in rent is a euro I'll never get back, and every month I stay here is one more month of contributions toward the down payment on a home. This isn't sacrifice for its own sake. It's a decision with a very specific goal: save enough for a down payment and skip the renting phase entirely.
The numbers
Right now I save around 60% of what I earn, sometimes more. First I built an emergency fund — several months of expenses covered, just in case — and once that was in place, everything left over each month goes into stocks. That percentage doesn't come out of nowhere: living with my parents is what makes it possible. If I had to pay rent, I'd probably be saving half that, or less.
Why waiting is worth it
The real reason behind this is compound interest. Every year I manage to get money into the market earlier is another year of accumulated growth, and those first years — even if it doesn't feel like it while you're living through them — are the ones that matter most in the long run. Waiting a couple more years before moving out isn't "wasting time": it's real money that translates into reaching my down payment sooner.
And then there's rent itself. For me, paying rent for years is money that disappears without giving you anything back: at the end of the lease you have neither the money nor the home. I'd rather put up with a few more years at my parents' place than start paying rent I know won't return anything to me.
What I actually give up (and what I don't)
It would be a lie to say it costs nothing. A lot of the time I do want to live alone: to have my own space, my privacy, to do things on my own schedule without depending on anyone else's. That's real and I don't downplay it. But for me the trade-off is clear: I'd rather put up with that discomfort for a few years in exchange for reaching real financial freedom sooner.
What I don't give up, though, is my social life or my plans with friends or a partner. Living with my parents doesn't mean living worse day to day; it just means not paying for a space I don't need to own or rent right now.
The question I know is coming
It hasn't happened yet, but I know at some point someone's going to ask me: "if you can afford it, why don't you just move out already?" And I get it — it's the logical question when someone sees you have the money to pay rent and choose not to spend it on that. My answer will always be the same: being able to afford rent doesn't mean it's the best use of that money. For me, putting it into the market now is worth more than spending it on something that won't give me anything back in ten years.
If you're in the same situation
If you're 22 or 23 and thinking about staying at your parents' place a bit longer to save, my advice is simple: set a concrete goal and a number. It's not "stay home indefinitely," it's "save X for a down payment and, until then, stay here." Having a clear goal is what makes the wait feel like a strategy instead of being stuck.
I don't know exactly how much longer I'll live with my parents. It depends on how long it takes to hit the number I've set for myself. But in the meantime, every month I stay here is one month closer to buying without ever having to go through renting.