My general attitude towards life has always been the “I’ll figure it out” attitude. However, as much as I appreciate both positivity and spontaneity, these two qualities are not the two most important when renting your first apartment.
If you have a plan then you most certainly will be able to be successful living on your own, if you plan on“winging it,” like my roommates and I are doing, you may want to stick with where you are now. Here are a few of the situations my roommates and I have found ourselves in so far.
RENTS DUE TOMORROW!!
Sure, on paper rent money alone doesn’t sound like THAT much money. In reality, it is. When my two roommates and I decided to rent our apartment we all stood there nodding our heads saying “of course, well be able to come up with the money each month.” Fact is we could come up with that much money in a month, if the rent were all we were paying. Silly us.
When the allure of our own place manifested in our heads we failed to consider everything else that costs money. On top of our rent, we also need to pay for the cable bill because as poor as we are- none of us are going without television or internet.We also have grown fairly accustomed to such things as electricity and heat over the years, also bills we must now pay. Not to mention gas money for our cars, and car insurance just to keep our cars on the road.
We also strangely disregarded that we need to eat at some points during the day and the cost of food is something we clearly forgot. ( I.E. my roommate calling her mom fake crying on the first day of school because we had nothing for dinner. ) Living on your own can be done just remember to add in your expenses before you make the decision.
COOKING? WHAT’S COOKING?
Only one out of the three of us in our apartment has some sort of cooking ability. My other cooking challenged roommate and I certainly would be living on a frosted flakes and yogurt diet if it were not for our roommate.
My first attempt at cooking for myself (chicken on the George Foreman Grill) ended with me taking two bites of my over seasoned, over salted, undercooked chicken- quitting- and wound up eating half a can of green beans for dinner. Not ideal.
Just remember when living on your own that also means (unless you buy a meal plan) that you must cook for yourself. I’d recommend buying some sort of cook book or choosing a roommate with some sort of culinary skills, because lean cuisines and frozen pizzas will get old real quick.
THIS PLACE IS A MESS!
“We now have to do all the gross stuff our parents used to do for us”, to quote my roommate a second time. It’s completely true. I had the luxury of a younger brother and a Dad who took out the trash at home, and a trash chute down the hall when I lived on campus.
On our own, the trash isn’t taking itself out. No lovely maintainers come to make our bathroom sparkling clean, and no matter, and there are ALWAYS dishes that need to be done. If your used to having things clean and tidy, then you might want to invest in some nice rubber gloves and a Swiffer.
PLANNING IS A MUST.
Living on your own does have its upsides: Your car is conveniently parked right outside ,you’re free to come and go as you please, plus you can eat, sleep, cook and clean, at your own leisure. However, being on your own does come with a great deal of responsibility, but if you are willing to work hard to pay for what you need, don’t mind learning how to cook or picking up the mop and scrubbing the bathroom every now and then. Then you just might be ready. Just make sure to consider all of the above before dotting your I’s and crossing those T’s on that twelve month lease!
What are you experiences living on your own? Have you considered moving into off campus housing?
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