As exciting as the thought seems to be in the first year of you moving out on your own. It soon dies and is replaced with the dread of bills. All those bills piling on without any break. Not having anyone to take care of the lights around the house. It even seems at times that someone is charging you for breathing only. Well, when you can’t catch a single break between breaths, you are going to get a little dramatic.
Who said being an adult is fun?? I just want to be two again and not worry about my next meal or keeping the roof on my head secure.
Well here are a few things that I learned on my glorious adventure of moving out and living on your own. Trust me, took me a long time to understand the tricks of the trade myself. So take it from someone who has made all the mistakes you are all planning to and will be making in the future. It is not as difficult as it seems but it has a lot to do with your level of patience.
First things first, you need a place a stay. You can’t just move out in your car. Parking bills also pile up. A decent rental place doesn’t come right next to your work place always. You need to be sure that rents are decent, and the area is safe. The discounts on properties need to really need to be looked into. You need to determine the security deposit, and the monthly rent that you can afford. You need to do your complete homework before you leave home. If you are a single person, without roommates. You need to not be afraid of getting something small. Get a studio, big places and nightmares of ghosts and bills is not worth it. So, love, please keep it small, you can climb the ladder of success than afford a better place. For starters keep your head out of the clouds.
Secondly, it comes down to your monthly spending. Gone are the days when you could spend anywhere and everywhere. Put away budgets for food, clothes, home essentials, petrol (if you are lucky enough to own a car, or the subway card reload. You need start determining where your money goes. Keep a diary and record the monthly expenditures. Doesn’t hurt to start collecting food stamps and looking for discount codes for your purchases. Be sure of where you need to spend and where you don’t. Ask yourself whether you really need that or are you being greedy. Reward yourself from time to time for working hard but do not get carried away with it.
Third in our list is leaving cash aside for emergencies. It may not seem possible after all the money being spent. But, you never know when you may need money immediately. At the end of each day you should put some money aside. At the start of each month you need to determine an amount that you will not spend no matter how tempting it may seem. So if you have any unexpected expenses they can be dealt with. How to live on your own has much more to do with your inner strength of managing money. It is more than everything else in the whole process. The more you save today, the more you will thank yourself later for it.
The fourth and most important tip is, shop cheap. Get second hand furniture, shop at the dollar store. Stock gifts with the help of big holiday sales, black Friday sale, and pair them up with coupon codes from the net or the ones you find in newspapers. Get your hands on all the deals and discounts you can. Earn rewards as a member at brands that you mostly shop from. Like I said before, save from wherever you can. Call your parents at times, they know exactly which deals to pair up together. Our mothers are a champion at it.
Fifth is, if you can’t get yourself to save money from the current pay-check then earn more. Yes, yes! I know you are already exhausted.
Relax and take a deep breath!
Don’t take up a second job if you don’t want. Find a place that lets you give your hair and pays you for it (saves you to pay for a haircut). Give blood to research centers (if you do not faint at the sight of it). Keep a lookout for those college students, that is if you live near a college. They throw away more useful things that you can get at a great price because replacement at times can be cheaper then moving the items. If you find things for free from their stash, keep it and sell it forward.
Lastly, darling, you don’t need the extra power units. Let your hair air dry. Buddy, turn of that AC, find the cheaper DIYs. Abs are great, monitor what you eat. Learn to cook, get a slow cooker, too many easy recipes that you can follow and save big on rather than ordering take-out all the time. Search online for deals, discounts and coupons, they are your best bet!!
Living on your own seems like something that would provide you a lot of freedom. The idea of it is actually much more exciting than the actual reality. Once, you get at it, it can become an endless black-hole that you may not be able to get out of.
My best tip is: Stay at your folks till you actually have a job and place secured from there. The reality of how to live on your own doesn’t come with a guide book. At eighteen the amount of smart we think that we are is actually a complete lie. There is a lot we need to understand. Keep on good terms with your folks. You will need them more now than you ever did before.
This is all I had for now. Hope you guys don’t make the mistakes I did. Well, even if you do, this is still here to remind you and ask you… did you have to be that silly when I told you not to overspend on anything!!
