On Saturday, March 10, I am moving out. I am 24 and have always lived with my parents. Since I am from Tuscaloosa, I went to Shelton for college for 2 years to save money and then went to The University of Alabama and opted to still live at home to continue to save money.

Now that I have a full-time job, I have the money to move out. But, I have mixed emotions about moving out...

Pure excitement

I am beyond excited to move out away from my parents. I can sleep late on days I am not working. I can stay up as late as I want. I will have no curfew. I can walk around naked if I wanted...well when the roommate isn’t there (and I wouldn’t do this; however, if I ever wanted to [doubt it] I now have the ability to do so). No one will be asking when I will be home. No one will ask where I am going. Total freedom.

Kind of scared

Total freedom. Total. Freedom. No one will ask when I will be home so if I don’t make it home, no one will be worried about me. What am I going to do with all this freedom? I am so used to having a curfew that I am going to be out with friends and I am afraid that I am going to keep looking at the time to see why I haven’t been summoned home yet. I don’t know the house. What if I hear a noise? Who will check behind the shower curtain for me?

Worried about cooking

So, I once cooked fish sticks in the microwave for 10 minutes. Of course, they burned. Not my finest cooking moment. But, that was one meal AND we had other stuff in the pantry that I was able to eat. At my own house, what if I hadn’t been to the grocery store yet? What if the food I burn is my only food? Also, it’s a gas stove. I have never used a gas stove before! So, now not only do I have to worry about burning my food, but I also have to learn how to cook on a gas stove!

Realizing I have to worry about paying for rent, water, power, gas, and trash plus the other bills I had

Living at home with my parents meant that I never paid for rent or any of the utilities. However, I have been paying car insurance since 2012, my phone bill since 2015, and a car loan since 2014. So, I am fortunate enough to have already been paying bills. However, now I have all these extra bills I have to worry about. When you add it all together, it isn’t too bad but it is still the fact that I have new bills to add to my monthly bills.

I can sleep whenever I want

There won’t be anyone to tell me to get out of bed. I can sleep as late as I want or stay awake as late as I want. I can sleep the day away if I wanted.

I can pig out with no judgment

It’s basically the same as me sleeping whenever I want. Now I get to eat icing out of the container and eat anything I want without judgment!

I now have to make sure my area is clean plus other rooms of the house; when I was living at my parents’ house, it was just my room and the dishes.

At my mom’s house, I was responsible for the dishes/kitchen and my room. I sometimes had to help with the bathroom, living room, and laundry room but mostly it was my room and the kitchen.

But, with just my roommate and I in one house together, this means that I am actually responsible for the entire house and she is too. There is no "leave it until the weekend." Our lease says that if the homeowner happened to come by, the house needs to be clean. So, we have to make sure the house is in tip-top shape at all times. Plus, having our own house, we might want to have friends over and we wouldn’t want them to see a messy house either.

Overall, I am excited. I mean, after all, I will basically have my own place. It is kind of scary to think that I will have that much freedom but I think it will help me grow up a little bit. I mean, I will have to learn how to cook and do things around the house that I never had to do before. So, I think this was a great decision for me to make in 2018.