Whether you’re taking your first step of independence through a modest dorm room on the university campus or moving in your first real home together with your sweet heart there are a few clichés that most people seem to fall foul of at some point in the early days of their independent living. These are a collection of tips from own personal experience, and I hope they allow some of you younger readers out there to avoid these pitfalls for yourself so you can enjoy a smooth first year on your own.
Under estimating your food budget.
When I first moved out with a group of my friends into a student house near my university I had the time of my life for the first few months. I was working hard, having a lot of fun and burning a lot of energy. As such I was eating with an insatiable appetite. This ground to a halt in about my third month of residency. My student loan payment (which at the time was a corner stone supplement to my meagre wages as a part time supermarket clerk) had been delayed – by several weeks. By this point in my rampant spending I had put no money aside at all for this kind of situation. I didn’t want to be a burden to my fellow house mates and so in my unyielding hunger I actually ended up taking an additional loan from an online website to help keep me alive until the next instalment of the bigger loan came in. Needless to say it was an embarrassing and educational experience in budgeting and money management for me…
Moving in with your best friends.
They say you never truly know someone until you are living with them. This old gem of advice has lasted through the ages because it is 100% completely true. While you may have the time of your lives with your best mates on a night out or chilling out with a movie this is in no way an accurate reflection of how they live their lives as a human being. I have seen friendships destroyed because of the stress placed upon the relationship when living in close quarters with little breathing space from one another. The best thing you can do (if it’s possible) is to see how your friend lives at home currently. Are they a lazy slob, or meticulous and neat? Do you know if they help with the house work and take initiative to help earn their keep in different ways? You could overcome this by hiring a domestic cleaning service like proclean home cleaning glasgow, and, of course, sharing the cost! Factors like personal hygiene become pretty important when living in a communal group so it’s best to keep an eye on this too! You should also be wary that you and your amigos share a similar social profile. By this I mean take the time to see if this is going to be a house where every night is a party loudly and drink alcohol night. This is all well and good if everyone is on the same page, but if you have friends (who are no co-residents) who are less a fan of this lifestyle you’re inevitably going to end up with some conflicts of interest. Do as much research and forward planning with your friends as you possible can to try and reduce the odds of this becoming an issue.
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