Have you ever just not been to able to do that so called "adult" thing? Well same. Moving out of your childhood home, and learning to plan, shop, and be in charge of your whereabouts can get tiresome and prove difficult if you constantly relied on your parents and other supporters at home.
For me, this resulted in living off Cheez-its, fudge striped cookies, and water bottles for the first week by myself. Then, I yelled at myself for falling into a bout of child-like behavior and refusing to take responsibility, so I decided I had to take some steps toward living like an adult.
I first attempted cleaning and fully organizing my living spaces so I felt at home and had a mentally comfortable space to relax. Then I made myself dinner. Don't get to excited, it was just scrambled eggs and spinach which initially tasted a tad off, but nonetheless I was proud of the effort. Finally, I organized all my kitchen supplies, water filter, dishes, and containers to prevent myself from relying on wasteful water bottles and use the resources I specially purchased to prevent such issues.
After this was all done to the best of my ability (while running on a lackluster amount of sleep), I sat down and decided that I should try to organize my whereabouts and decide what I'm doing the next day, the day before.
And that is how I've mentally and physically reacted to moving out. This is a list of five key steps my reusable straws and I found necessary to efficiently run your life as an adult.
1. Find a place to live (ON BUDGET)
I know I know, that penthouse in Rittenhouse Square is calling all of our names, but it doesn't mean you can justify taking out twenty billion loans. Try to find something a little more reasonable, on budget, and in a neighborhood you prefer. As a college student in a city, for me, that meant compromising on room space for a building and area I wanted to live in.
2. Decide on a theme and decoraaaate!!
Whether your theme is perfectly matching your couch to your tupperware, or hanging up a tasteful ribbon you trash picked, it's more efficient to know what you want and understand expectations heading into a living situation. With good planning, this method can allow you to be satisfied and budget conscious when shopping.
3. Budget out your needs and wants
We've all gone through the phase of needing to have 7/11 and Wawa whenever our hearts desire, but judging by the typical college student's bank account, that is not a realistic way to live and excel financially. To organize your finances and learn to budget, it's important to separate the needs from the wants. I need to pay for rent, electric, food, and hygiene products, but don't need to pay to attend opening night for all the new films showing in theaters. Budgeting these needs allows you to be wary of how much money this will actually cost you, whether or not you can afford it without taking up a job or multiple jobs, and if you have enough money leftover that you feel comfortable splurging on that new coat or frappe every once in awhile.
4. Organization is key
GiphyAs most people know, when your things are organized, it appears as your usage of your items such as clothes, blankets, soaps and other necessities is much more whole and efficient because you know where everything is. So instead of quickly tossing your clothes around your room in the morning, you can lessen the difficulty on yourself by changing how you organize your lifestyle items.
5. Create a routine
Routine is often looked upon as a boring drag people can fall into without anything fun or interesting in their lives. But, on the contrary, I believe that to live efficiently, people need a routine or slight structure to their daily life to be able to maximize what they are getting out of their day. This doesn't mean write down everything you may possibly do on the dot, but provide key bullet points or an idea of what your expecting and should be getting out of your day. Go to the grocery store, go to the gym, sit down and spend time working, spend time with friends, and get to bed early. That's just a simple list of things you may be expecting, and a way to hold yourself accountable so you are able to achieve it all.
