A woman and her husband moved into her parents' garage to save money while they kick-started their careers

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In May 2024, MaryHelen Maida and Robbie Maida were newly engaged seniors at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois.

Like many soon-to-be grads, they weren't sure what they wanted to do after graduation. They discussed moving to a new state and opening a coffee shop, but neither option felt financially feasible because of student loans.

Then, MaryHelen Maida's mom suggested they open a coffee truck, a more affordable stepping stone toward their dream business.

Maida and her then-fiancé loved the concept. They decided to open Tmrw's Brew, which would be based in central Illinois and travel across the state to events. To make it happen, though, they knew they wouldn't have much money for housing.

"We just took all our savings and put everything that we had into Tmrw's Brew for about six months," Maida said. "We obviously didn't have any money to go get an apartment or rent somewhere."

Close to 20 years ago, Maida's parents built a detached garage in their backyard.

"They built it so that it would have a two-car garage and a back room behind that for a workshop for my dad because he does a lot of woodworking," Maida said, adding that the plan was to create a family game room complete with a wet bar and full bathroom. They ended up using the bar space for storage rather than recreation, but it did have plumbing and electricity installed.

As Tmrw's Brew began to take shape as a real business, Maida's mother offered to convert the garage into a rent-free apartment while the couple got it off the ground. They didn't hesitate to say yes.

"It's just the perfect situation where we still feel like we have our own little house and apartment," Maida said.

The garage apartment has a studio-style layout, complete with a kitchen and bathroom, and is accessible from the house's backyard. The entire garage is 1,500 square feet, with the apartment portion making up 560 square feet.

When they moved in, Maida's parents didn't expect the couple to contribute financially to the household.

"We don't pay rent or anything, but we fund our lifestyle," Maida said. "We pay all of our own student loans and personal bills."

They also took on costs associated with furnishing the house, searching for furniture on Facebook Marketplace and secondhand stores to outfit the apartment as affordably as possible.

A set of French doors leads into the bedroom from outside. Maida added curtains to cover the glass panes, since the room would otherwise be visible from the backyard. Maida said her parents also always knock before entering.

Before the Maidas moved in, the apartment was connected to the rest of the garage by a doorway. To add privacy and storage, Maida's dad built a closet to seal it off.

The bedroom also has a television that pulls out from the wall, so they can watch TV from bed.

Maida also hung an array of mirrors on the walls, making the space feel larger.

The living area of the open-concept space is compact, with a loveseat that turns into a pullout bed for guests and a few comfy chairs.

There's an additional TV on the wall across from the couch with a desk sitting under it.

"My husband got me this roll-down top desk so I can hide all my crafts," Maida said. "They used to just live on our kitchen table, and that was kind of annoying."

"It's a small space, so the more we can hide, the better," she added.

Windows also help fill the space with natural light.

The kitchen didn't exist before the Maidas moved in, so they had to build it out. Luckily, they were able to get much of the material they used in the space from loved ones in the area.

"We had a family friend who bought all new appliances for a house she just moved into, so she gave us all of our appliances for free," Maida said.

They got a dishwasher, oven, stove, microwave, and refrigerator for free, as well as cabinetry from another family friend who was renovating her kitchen when they moved in.

"I spent a couple of days refinishing them, and then we hung those up," Maida said.

The result was a kitchen with enough space for a coffee bar, a must-have for coffee-truck owners.

Although the cabinets they installed were great, the Maidas still didn't have a ton of storage space in their kitchen.

They added open shelving to the walls, allowing them to store glassware, dishware, and spices without taking up counter space in the small home.

They also didn't have to spend money on their large kitchen table, as Maida's father made it.

The bathroom sits at the back of the Maidas' side of the garage, though it isn't finished. It has a toilet and a shower, but no sink.

"You can't put the sink in until you do the floor, but we haven't done the floor," Maida said. "It's just a process."

The Maidas just use the sink in the kitchen around the corner, which works well for them.

Maida also put a vanity in the bathroom for herself.

They didn't have their own washing machine or dryer when they moved into the garage, so they did their laundry at Maida's parents' home.

"We did it for a couple of months, and then I was like, 'I just gotta buy some on Facebook Marketplace,'" Maida said.

The washer and dryer sit in the bathroom, so they aren't making noise in the couple's main living space.

"In our minds, when we moved in, it was going to be very temporary," Maida said of their plan for the garage apartment. "We were thinking maybe under a year. We really weren't sure."

However, they're still there nearly two years in, and they have come to love their garage home. Their dogs love the backyard, and Maida sees her parents in some capacity every day.

She and her husband have coffee with her parents on the weekends, join them for family dinner on Sunday evenings, and share weekday dinners with Maida's mom when her dad is working at the bar they own. Her mom owns a candle business, so she can offer advice to the young entrepreneurs as well.

"I think she was a little lonely when I was at school," Maida said of her mother. "She's like, 'Yes, you're back.'"

Maida said not having the "financial burden" of rent or a mortgage as she and her husband were starting their careers was life-changing.

"My husband and I both have pretty hefty student loans," she said. "We wouldn't have been able to afford to live off what we were making if we had to pay rent or a mortgage."

Because of the financial flexibility their apartment offered them, they were able to launch Tmrw's Brew and focus on it exclusively. When they were ready to have a bit more cash flow, Maida's husband got a full-time day job, and she started her own wedding planning business, Planning for Tmrw, running the truck alongside it. The garage gave them options.

Likewise, the months without rent allowed them to save enough money to buy a fixer-upper in February 2026 from Maida's brother. He bought it for $8,000 and planned to flip it, but he just sold it to his sister as is for the same price.

Now, the Maidas plan to use the skills they learned from fixing up the garage to renovate their first home, which is just six minutes from where they live now. They anticipate spending about a year on the project, but they aren't too worried about the timeline.

"We're not in a rush, because obviously we have a comfortable living situation until then," Maida said.

The proximity to her family, including her brother, who lives just a few minutes away, has made transitioning into adulthood easier for Maida and her husband.

"If we ever need things fixed on the trailer, my dad and my brother are always so helpful with that," she said. "If we have a flat tire, they come and help us. If I'm feeling overwhelmed about something with the business, I can walk over and talk to my parents, and they've already experienced it for the last 20 years. It's really wonderful to have that support."

Maida said she felt some insecurity about what others might think of her living situation for the first six months to a year after moving into the garage apartment, but she has since let that go. She hopes that other people moving back in with their parents to help build stronger futures can do the same.

"In reality, nobody really cares what you're doing," she said. "If you're building something you're passionate about, that's the most important thing."

She also hopes that multigenerational living becomes more common in the US, as it is in many other countries.

"In so many other cultures, it's so common for families to be living together throughout their entire lives," she said. "My grandpa lived with my parents for multiple years when I was in middle school and high school, and having him in our home was just so wonderful."