Moving in a place of your own – what you need to know?
Did you know that more and more young people actually choose to live with their parents well into adulthood? The trend is strong and proven by statistical data. There are many reasons for this, most socio-economic.
Still, moving out of your parents’ nest is something that every responsible adult should do at one point in their life or another. Preferably, as soon as possible.
Finding a place
When you decide to move out, you will be faced with quite of a problem. The thing is that finding a place to stay, no matter whether you will be buying or simply renting, can be quite complex.
Property prices are quite high basically everywhere, and in big cities the problem becomes more and more evident. But have no fear, there are a lot of options for you.
You can always find roommates for example, if you decide that prices are too steep for you at the moment. It might not be the ideal option when considering your dreams of a bachelor’s/bachelorette’s pad, but at least in the beginning, it should work out.
Another option that you will have is to rent a place that is relatively far away from the city centre. Those places tend to be cheaper, unless we are talking about a posh gated community. If you choose this option, you will just need to make sure that there is comfortable transportation to accommodate your daily commute.
Skills that you will need to develop when living on your own
Let’s say that you have already found the place of your dreams and you are moving in. In addition to knowing how to hire professional movers to help you with the task – or at least how to sign up a bunch of your friends instead – there are some skills and know-how that you need to possess in case you want to survive on your own. Those include:
- Financial responsibility. You will need to know how to set up a budget and stick to it. Also, you will have to calculate your living expenses and get a realistic view on whether or not your income will be enough to sustain your lifestyle. If not, then you will need to do a few adjustments.
- Another related factor would be start putting money aside right away. You never know when you are going to need the safety net, and it is much better to have it than not to have it. The general rule is to put aside 10 to 20% of your monthly salary into a savings account, but truly – set aside as much as you can afford, even if the rate is lower.
- Cleaning and chores. Now that you are living on your own, you might feel the urge to become a total slob. Don’t. Teaching yourself the patience and persistence when it comes to handling the housework will pay off immensely. First and foremost, it will provide you with a healthy, clean environment to live in, which is always great. Then again, it will train your discipline in ways that you have never thought existed.
- You will need to learn to count on yourself and yourself only. When there is a problem you will no longer have mom or dad in the next room to help you, so developing problem-solving skills will be crucial.
- Go out. Now, that one is kind of obvious, but there is a chance that when you get in the wheel of going to work, going home, cleaning, eating, sleeping and then repeat, you will forget about your social life. It is normal for the first few weeks after you move out on your own, but it should not become a habit. Your friends are important.
- Enjoy your privacy. It all might seem very tough at first, but the truth is that living alone comes with a lot of perks – that’s why people do it. So you will need to find those that work for you.
And one last very useful advice
One thing that you are going to notice for sure once you move in to live alone in a house or apartment is that there is always something breaking down or in need of maintenance.
Now there are many people who are really passionate about DIY jobs, but the truth is that few of us actually have the time or the skills that are necessary in order to complete such a line of work successfully.
If you are not very good with the tools, or you just don’t want to risk violating the terms of your lease but fixing various problems on your own, you are going to have a reliable repairman on speed-dial. Fortunately, there are firms that you can count on in that direction.
As a first time homeowner, or simply a solitary renter, you will find a lot of peace of mind knowing a plumber or electrician and counting on him in every situation, no matter what time of the day it is, or what day it is.
