- “Spackle” is a fun word, but an awful activity. Also, you know all those adorable posters you bought at that vintage store? The nails and pushpins you used left holes. Holes that must be filled with spackle.
- Pay attention to the lease. For most apartments, a tenant has to submit a written notice 30 days before vacating the space in order to stop being charged, even if your lease is up. Even if the landlord is aware that you are leaving. I messed this one up, and ended up paying an extra $85 a night for 5 days. That’s enough money to get my hair and nails done, and still have some leftover cash for AYCE sushi and a bunch of cheap (but fabulous) lipsticks from Target.
- Don’t forget the fridge! When I had taken everything out of the apartment, cleaned as best as I could, and taken an adorable “last photo in my first apartment” Instagram photo, I was ready to lock up and drop off the key and head to work. Until I realized that I still had a fridge and freezer of food. Full. And it’s not one of those things where the workers will be grateful for snacks while repainting for the next tenants. Nope, they charge you to clean it out. So, in true rushed, broke-college-student fashion I grabbed a black trash bag and started throwing stuff in. Needless to say, my raw frozen chicken and leftover bottle of Guinness did not last too well in the car while I went to work at night.
- Kiss your deposit goodbye. Now, as this was my first apartment, I was under the impression that the deposit was just a long term savings plan for when I wanted to move out and start a new venture elsewhere. Wrong. It’s for the carpet, that I, you know, walked on. And for the apartment that I didn’t throw any massive parties in, but somehow managed to wreck just enough to get charged the full amount of my deposit. And this, unfortunately, is super normal. Adulting. Yay.
- Cancel everything. So this one should go without saying, but make yourself a list, and just get on the phone and make those calls. The things I had to cancel: Internet, electricity, water/trash, and renter’s insurance.
- Empty apartments have the best acoustics. Truth: moving sucks. So take a break once you have emptied a room of all of the furniture and random crap that you haven’t seen in a year, and sing your favorite song all out. You won’t regret it. You’ll sound like a dream.
- Keeping candles lit till the last minute is a great idea. I admittedly am a candle-a-holic, so I decided to try and burn out my candles until the last minute, and it was the best thing I could have done. While in the midst of moving, my apartment smelled delicious constantly, and it also made me feel more calm in the midst of a stressful (of course it was stressful, I was moving) situation.
- Forward your mail. Chances are pretty high that you won’t miss all the random junk mail, but you know what you will miss? Your friend’s wedding invitation. Your Netflix DVDs. Financial Aid checks.
- Asking for help is hard, but worth it. I am one of those people who hate asking people for help. Because I am a strong, independent woman. But there is no shame in buying some friends pizza in exchange for help moving some boxes and ordering you to throw away the birthday cards that you have saved for 5 years. Bonus: it gives you a reason to eat pizza too
- Living on the second floor is harder than you think it is. Think of Ross and the Friends gang trying to get the couch around the corner of the stairs. And then multiply it times a mattress, a bed frame, any furniture and lots of boxes. But hey, you can skip the gym for a couple days, and still get that booty in shape in the meantime.
From Your Site Articles
