What nobody told me about living on my own for the first time

living-on-my-own-for-the-first-time

By Issa Lopez

First I would like to start by saying that I truly thank life and my parents for giving me the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone and actually bump into situations that helped me become the human I am to this date, I wouldn’t appreciate the perks of living on my own if I wouldn’t have gone through the risks that life put me in front; and believe me, I’m still learning to handle life.   

There could be numerous reasons why people (around their 20’s) decide to live on their own, but one thing I can be sure everyone who had been through the transition of living in their parents’ and suddenly moved out to another place for the first time know that – life doesn’t get any easier on the beginning. It’s you, it is all on you, and it is your whole responsibility to take care of everything. Honestly, to this day I would have liked that somebody would have ‘warned’ me about things that every so often we, as free human beings, don’t even pay attention; we simply just go with the flow. Things such as having to figure out a budget, managing my bills and my finances, things that I thought were just going to work out immediately and they didn’t.

living on my own for the first time

This is why I’d like to share with you some of the lessons I’d learned during a memorable time of my young life. Hope you can enjoy my experiences from getting kicked out of my ‘sheltered life’. But don’t forget, turning into an adult really has it perks (oh yes), one step at the time and you’ll be fine.

1. Having a budget set for your expenses will save your buttocks every month

It will be a smart choice for you if you know how to limit your fun budget, I now that the whole “Living on my own rocks” still has you jumping of excitement and feeling so grown up, but at the end of the month, when things get serious chances are you will be asking your parents or friends for some money borrowed, and that’s not the point.

I strongly recommend you to have money set aside for your monthly expenses such as rent, gas, groceries, electricity bills, and have a sense of how much money you bring in every month and how much you should spend to live at ease on every month.

2.The first 3 months you will be cooking recipes made out of bread and canned tuna

Literally you will become like the Anthony Bourdain of your group of friends, your creativity will become so strong with just two cooking ingredients: Canned Tuna & Bread. Cooking for yourself can make you feel very liberated and is also a sign that you are handling things on your own compared to what was living with your mom, yet it’s not a simple task, which is why relying to a dish that turns to be very cheap and packed with protein becomes a great option when you start living on your own. Plus you will be cutting out some of your belly fat.  

3. Household cleaning is much more than sweeping the kitchen floor

Aaaand putting the dishes in the dishwasher. Believe me, taking care of the cleaning around the apartment was something I wasn’t looking forward even before I decided to move out on my own. In fact, this was the one part I wished somebody else could have handled it for me (for free). I was having so many questions. Where should I put my dishes? How do I use the oven? What cleaning products should I buy?  Ok, I actually don’t consider myself a messy person and you would think that living in a pocket-size apartment would turn out to be so much easier to clean. Apparently I was wrong, it was almost impossible not to see the space like a rat’s nest all day. If you want to have a neat place of your own then you’ll have to pay attention to your cleaning skills and take some action.

4. You can live “happily” with $40 bucks a month for food

And trust me, you’ll be just fine. Some might believe that ‘living on your own’ somehow gives you the comfort of buying the things you want and you had wished to spend on but couldn’t because you were attached to mom and dad’s rules. As a matter of fact, it does give you the liberty, but as an old saying goes “too much liberty is a dangerous thing” and when it comes to your economics + entire food budget there’s when you get to live the most humbling experiences (Deep words, huh?). Ok now, let’s get down to the point – You can hack your food expenses, you just have to be clever.

To learn more How to live comfortable with $36 bucks a month for food

5. You are alone…but not lonely

This point I would like to address it as it is. The fact that you are living by yourself and you take charge of what you’re entitled to as an independent person, does not mean that you do not need the help of anybody else. It’s okay to feel afraid at night the first few months, it is totally normal, you are in a stage where you are getting used to accept that there will not be your father, your mother, or a brother watching out if something happened in the house. It’s also ok to look for advice from people you know and have experience living alone for the first time. I actually remember myself trying to control everything that was happening to me (awful stages in life), some I didn’t understand and some I just tried to accept them as they go, but you know what, this is what your life will be, and yes you will be alone, but you can always count on your family.

Living on my own is something I was looking forward my entire life, even though it implied being alone most of the time, it gave me the strength to realize that so many things can go wrong, but even better things will come my way and change my life as I grow up. Besides, there are people who can always be ready to help since the very moment you move out from your former house and during the time you learn new things. Fortunately when I move out I had the help of my friends from Nice Guy Movers who handled with care my personal property.

If you are about to move out to live by yourself don’t hesitate to rely on a moving company that can make you feel that they’ve got their job figure out so well so you can be able to handle other aspects and spend a little more time with your parents before you say goodbye.