Moving away from your childhood home can be scary, especially when you know you are going to be living on your own. You may think you’re totally prepared and have heard it all, but there are probably things that have slipped your mind. Here are five things everyone should know before moving out on their own for the first time.
- Grocery shopping can rack up quite the bill.
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As silly as it sounds, it’s extremely hard to learn how to grocery shop for yourself after living with your family for your whole life. The first time, you may go in with a long list of things you think you will need for the week, but once you unpack everything at home, you’ll probably realize there’s no way you can consume everything you bought alone.
Things expire really quickly, too. If you forget about that one container of strawberries you bought a few days ago, chances are, they’ve already gone bad and you’ve wasted your money.
The key is to look for grocery stores that are a good fit for your financial needs and make a list of absolute essentials you’re gonna need for the week everytime you go. Everyone has their personal preference, but our favorite is Trader Joe’s for their fresh produce, amazing frozen meals and low prices!
- Decorating never officially ends.
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It’s easy to get wrapped up in apartment decor when you’re constantly seeing TikToks or pictures on Pinterest of other people’s amazing spaces. Because of this, you’re probably going to want to rearrange your space a million times.
While this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, constantly buying furniture and decorations for your home can put a dent in your wallet. Stores like Ikea and websites like Depop and Facebook Marketplace are good places to look for items you may need or want at a low price. Creating your own paintings for your walls and growing your own plants can make your place unique and homey.
- Budgeting can be hard!
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Your funds go towards so many things. Instead of just being able to devote all of your spending money towards fun activities with friends, you’re going to have to account for rent, utilities, food, transportation and furniture as well. While you may want to go out to eat with friends all the time, it can get extremely expensive and, as much as we hate to admit it sometimes, it is cheaper to just eat at home and save your money for other things. This also goes for ordering takeout, which can add up if you’re doing it often.
This isn’t to say you’re never going to be able to go out and have fun with your friends anymore, but you definitely do become more conscious of how much money you should be spending. It’s helpful to save up months before moving out, if possible. If that just isn’t possible for your situation, making a spreadsheet with your monthly expenses can make everything more manageable.
- It’s easy to feel lonely.
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Living in an empty house or apartment by yourself means a whole lot of quiet, but maybe not so much peace. Even if you are living with roommates, you may have opposite schedules and barely ever see them except on the weekends.
Find ways to occupy yourself, whether it’s doing homework, cleaning your room or just watching Netflix. It’s important to learn to be OK with disconnecting and spending time by yourself, especially just for your own mental health. It’s key to helping you develop as a person, but also to just allow yourself to unwind.
- You’re completely responsible for yourself.
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Laundry and dishes can pile up extremely quickly, and you’re now the one who has to choose when to do all the cleaning. It’s easy to let things become messy when you have no one constantly telling you to pick up after yourself. Motivate yourself by making a chore schedule that you can follow each week to keep your space tidy. Although they may take up a decent chunk of your day, you can make these annoying tasks go quicker by putting on music or a podcast while doing them.
While it can be intimidating to branch out and live on your own, it can also be very rewarding. Learning to be independent helps you grow as a person and figure out who you really are. It can also help you become more organized and confident, and you’ll have way more freedom than you know what to do with. As an added bonus on top of all of this, there’s finally no one you have to fight to choose what to watch on Netflix every night!