Moving out of your parent’s home and into your own place is a real adventure and growth opportunity no matter at what age you decide to leave the nest. Starting your life on your own can be daunting too though – there’s a lot you haven’t experienced yet and will need to learn, and it can take months or even years until you feel completely settled. This transition period is normal and okay, and learning through your own mistakes is the best way to navigate certain aspects of life. However, here are a few key tips for moving into your own home for the first time.
Get a Sleeper Sofa
If you’re moving out for the very first time, there’s a good chance that you’re still young and you might not have the financial means for your dream home just yet. What we mean by this is that you might be living in a pretty tiny apartment at first. A cosy one-bedroom can be more than enough space to keep you happy and comfortable, but it’s not likely to be sufficient for hosting friends and family, which is an especially important consideration if you’re moving to a different city and expect visitors from home. You might want to consider something like a 50 inch sofa bed or similar options for your first sofa, to function as a sleeping space for your visitors.
Grab Some Hand-Me-Downs
Fully furnishing and equipping a home with all the necessities (and nice-to-haves) can be extremely expensive and take ages to achieve. When you move out, ask your family if there is anything they wouldn’t mind parting with – most families will have an extra mixing bowl or vegetable peeler lying around that they wouldn’t really miss. You won’t necessarily have to stick with them forever, but taking whatever hand-me-downs are available to you might help keep your initial expenses a little lower, and you can always replace the second-hand items over time if you really want or need to.
Learn How to Cook
Living off takeout gets old really fast – trust us. There are always going to be nights where you’re simply too tired or lazy to cook a nourishing meal at home, but for the most part, it’s a healthier and more cost-effective decision to prepare your own meals. Learning a few different meals and mastering them is a great way to make sure you’re prepared to take good care of yourself. Get the hang of one or two different breakfasts, lunches and dinners that you enjoy and slowly start incorporating variation. Try to focus on quick and easy ones, so that there’s less hassle involved and you’ll be more motivated to whip out the frying pan and get busy in the kitchen.
Track Your Expenses
We’ve all been told the importance of budgeting and planning out our expenses at the beginning of each month, but what’s just as important (if not even more) is to actually track your expenses throughout each week or month to make sure you’re aware of what you’re actually spending. Budgeting doesn’t help if you’re not sticking to the numbers you set out for yourself and moving into your own place will often make you realise that things are more expensive than you imagined. Keeping tabs on this will help you identify if there are any areas where you might need to cut down.
Schedule Your Chores
Finally living on your own and not having anyone to complain about your messes sounds dreamy, but things can get ugly fast. Perhaps you don’t need to be as intense as your mother was about dirty jeans on the floor, but keeping a clean and tidy home is important for your mental health, hygiene and overall wellbeing. If you don’t want things to pile up (you really don’t), consider writing out a weekly schedule for yourself indicating when you need to get stuff done. In this way, you’ll ensure that you don’t forget and end up with no clean underwear to wear to work.
Ask For Help
While moving out is a “grown-up” step to take, there’s no shame in struggling. New experiences are hard for everyone, no matter the circumstances, and there might be things you’re not sure how to do or handle. If you find yourself unable to get the washing machine going, don’t know what to do about leaking pipes or struggle with assembling your furniture, reach out to family and friends for some support – nobody will think any less of you.
