A Young Adult's Guide To Moving Back Home

Furman says it might be time to go home if:

· You wake up in a sweat from nightmares of credit card and school loan hell at least once a week.

· You have big goals for the future (buying a house, saving for retirement, attending graduate school, starting a small business), but you have no idea how you will accomplish these things living on your own.

· You've been hit by a series of harsh life events and need time to regroup.

With humor and lots of common sense, Furman helps those who have boomeranged home navigate this tricky territory. For instance, how do you deal with the touchy (pun intended) subject of telling your date you live at home?

"You can point to all the boomeranger statistics you want," Furman writes. "You can talk about the high unemployment rate and the failing economy until you turn blue in the face. But no matter what you say, it's tough to get out those five little words -- 'I live with my parents' -- when your sex life is on the line."

I particularly like the "Ka-Ching! Minding Your Money" section. One of the top reasons people move home is to save for a home or graduate school or to pay down debt. But that often doesn't happen. Without the responsibility of paying rent or utilities or other household expenses, many boomerangers have more discretionary income than they're used to and, as a result, go hog wild spending when they should be saving.

Furman aptly lays out some basic strategies to help people stay on financial track.

"Once you make the decision to return to the nest, it's important to make good use of your time there. After all, isn't this relatively financially stress-free period the best time to deal with your money issues?"

Whatever the reason you moved back home, "Boomerang Nation" provides some honest and humorous advice on dealing with the challenges of going home again.

If you are interested in discussing this month's book selection, join me at noon May 26 at http://www.washingtonpost.com/ . Furman will be my guest.

To become a member of the Color of Money Book Club, all you have to do is read the recommended book and come chat online with me and the author. In addition, every month I randomly select readers to receive copies of the selected book, donated by the publisher. For a chance to win a copy of "Boomerang Nation," send an e-mail to colorofmoney@washpost.com . Please include your name and address so we can send you a book if you win.

Michelle Singletary discusses personal finance Tuesdays on NPR's "Day to Day" program and online athttp://www.npr.org. Readers can write to her at The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071 or send e-mail tosingletarym@washpost.com. Comments and questions are welcome, but because of the volume of mail, personal responses are not always possible. Please also note comments or questions may be used in a future column, with the writer's name, unless a specific request to do otherwise is indicated.