The time has come. Your own place. Your own bills. Your own rules. Living alone for the first time can be exhilarating and terrifying all at once! There's plenty to worry about when living on your own: rent, furniture, location, safety... But there's also a whole crop of things nobody tells you when you get your own place. Here are seven untold truths about living alone:
1. You will become messy.
It's very easy to slide into this habit when you're living by yourself because you don't have to maintain a shared living space. Beware of becoming messy! Becoming a messy person when you live alone makes it harder to invite people over as well as more difficult if you ever cohabit in the future. The more you're working, the harder this becomes. However, if you're aware of your inclination to be messy now, you can prepare for that feeling when you're on your own.
2. It's hard to trust people.
This is less true for men living on their own, but women living on their own can trust no one. You get out of your car the same time a stranger does and he's heading towards the same building as you? Safety says don't hold the door; you don't have proof that he lives in that building. Women of the world, it's one thing to keep your guard up, but it's another to assume the worst of the entire human race. Finding balance between the two can be difficult, and no one tells you how to prepare for this when you're living on your own for the first time. Assess the area, and follow your gut.
3. You need to become your own handy-man.
Problems with your apartment/home are never going to be solved as quickly as you would like them to be. Loose door handle? Get a screwdriver and tighten it. Leaking sink? Buy a wrench. Broken oven? Do your best with the stove. Broken air conditioning? Get a fan or open some windows. Most apartment complexes have hundreds of people requesting maintenance every single day. Unless you report something like a gas leak or no electric, your problem is most likely on the bottom of the totem pole. Learn the difference between what you can solve on your own, what you can live with, and what you need fixed immediately. Though be sure to buy a tool kit for good measure.
4. You will be tempted to eat less and snack more.
This is a very dangerous temptation for your health. If you're working a forty-hour work week, and it's 7:00 (or later) by the time you get home, then you won't want to cook an actual meal. You'll want a nap, and after a nap, you'll eat whatever is the most convenient or just snack until you're full. I cannot stress enough how dangerous this is! Not only is living off of chips, cookies, popcorn, and cereal dangerous, but it can get expensive very fast. Cooking a meal takes time, but it's surely cheaper to make a salad or heat up some soup than to go through two boxes of popcorn a week. Money is more valuable than time when you live on your own. You live by yourself, you have all the time in the world! So do yourself a favor and eat.
5. You have to make a lot of phone calls.
No more having your mom make a doctor's appointment for you! Need a doctor? Call one. Need wifi installed? Call for a set-up appointment. Need something fixed immediately? Call your landlord. Even if you live the simplest of lifestyles, get ready to spend a lot more time on the phone. This is an undeniable truth of adulthood that no one ever warns you about.
6. You will get very lonely and very bored.
When you finally move out on your own, all anyone wants to talk about is freedom and independence and "the exciting journey ahead." No one ever mentions how boring it can get when it's 7:30 on a Friday and you have nothing to do. No one ever warns you about how isolating it feels to live in a building where you know no one. This is where forming hobbies and meeting new people become crucial in order to actually enjoy your new-found freedom. Having freedom but no one to share it with doesn't actually leave you feeling very free at all.
7. You will make a lot of mistakes.
Everyone who lives on their own has experienced everything on this list. Everyone has had to learn the hard way what it means to be an independent adult. Which is good news for you, because it means that the mistakes you make while adjusting are perfectly normal. Transitioning to a new lifestyle can be hard, so of course you're going to screw up along the way! But everyone does it. It's something that everyone has to experience in his or her own way. The important thing to remember about every mistake you make is what you learn from that situation. Accidentally put food wrapped in aluminum foil in the microwave? Well now you know how dangerous it is to put metal in a microwave.
When you live on your own, there's a lot you have to learn. You learn more about the real world and you learn more about yourself. Arrive at this season in your life prepared for battle. The real world has a sharp learning curve and it doesn't hold back on its punches. There's no way to avoid it! Though hopefully this list softens the blow, because independence is certainly worth fighting for.
