I was a month away from being 17 when I moved out of the house to go to college in Austin. But of course I still came home in the summers, and my parents supported me all that time. I was 21 when I got an apartment and left home for good and was 22 before I completely supported myself. I got married later that year, which was a good thing since we were both still in school and money was tight. It was easier to manage on two small incomes than one. Living at home was fairly easy. My parents were cool and didn't set a lot of rules, even for me. I know that at times, I was a major handful because I was such a smart alec. But they taught college and so were used to letting smart alecs roll off their backs.