Coming home to a family dinner, made with love by your mother, is the heart-warming light at the end of the tunnel that’s keeping many ASU students going this finals week. But for many young professionals (and some ASU grads), that homemade meal is the typical end to a hard day at work.

Lingering effects of the recession and the debt that comes with funding a college education is causing grads to flock home to save a few bucks after receiving their diplomas.

And not only does the decision come with homemade cookies, it comes with fiscal perks as well.

Many of us have grown up on the idea that in order to be a success, students have to put as much distance between them and their parents’ house after getting a degree.

No one wants to become that 40-year-old couch potato playing videogames in his parents’ garage for the rest of his life.

But the stereotype of moving back home is outdated and so is the stigma attached to it.

With the economy as it is, living in your parents’ basement or your old room while you gain your post-college footing may not be such a bad idea.

For many young professionals, daily life consists of work and going out with friends, not homemaking. Why funnel money into an apartment or renting a house when the real reason you come home at night is primarily to get enough sleep to go out again tomorrow?

Living at home shouldn’t indicate that you’ve messed up your life track in some way; it should show that you’re responsible enough to build for your future now instead of splurging on a bachelor pad that leaves you with no money in the bank, or worse, in debt.

Trying to maintain a high standard of living on your own with student-loan debt and while job hunting is a recipe for failure and unlikely to serve college graduates well in the future.

Granted, living at home into your 20s is not an ideal situation, but there shouldn’t be any shame in it. And as much as it might bother you to have your parents checking up on you, it could give you the chance to build up a better relationship with your family in a time when most young adults are trying to distance themselves from their youth.

Sure, having your parents in the next room might put a cramp in your dating style for a couple of years, but at least the money you make can be spent impressing your date, not paying for a lifestyle you can’t maintain.

Certainly, the decision to move home should depend on your situation, but it shouldn’t be dependent on a stereotype that makes no sense in today’s economy.

You may have to hear your childhood nickname more often than you’d like, but the humility and financial stability gained will be worth it in the long run.