im going to move out pretty soon, and so I wonder if anyone has any solid tips on how to manage, and what mistakes to avoid, when first moving into a new place alone!!


I really want this thread to be for everyone so besides my background and situation let's all give good hints for anyone looking ahead, or maybe already living on their own. Adulting seems hard, and I didn't fully experience it yet, so it must be pretty damn hard hehe


*here is a small explanation of my situation to broaden the hints, though I still want this thread to be a very general advice thread, so everyone can gain from it:

Invest into things you need and not what you want. Buy daily essentials or long term items that'll save you money. Ofc, finding a spot that'll give you that homey feel will be pretty hard, knowing this is you're very first experience moving out, I'd say be patient, look for something that wont nip you in the butt later. Love you Mel <3

been living alone for 4 years now (im 22), the strongest advices i can give you, is keep really close to your money for the first few month so you know exactly what goes where (gas,rent, food) everything, i used to hold an excel for the first 6-7 months, now it's natural and i know exactly what i can and can't do, and how much i save
money wise,
now moving wise, i would say be patient when looking for a place, have detailed needs and wants, because in the long term, the needs you wont get, will get annoying, for exemple i had an appartment whitout balcony even tho i needed one, and man corona lockdown was hard whitout one, so in this new one it was a necessity
if the flat or house you're visiting doesn't tick all your boxes, you will most certainly find better by waiting a bit more, even if it's a month, i say be patient.


now i don't know your whole work/family situation, but mentally wise, the first month are very hard in an empty house, so keep distracted a lot if you can, sport gym work family /friends, because that's a huge step and when loneliness gets to you, it's weird af.


might forget some, here are some things i hope someone would have said to me when i got my first flat, enjoy

Whats your living situation? do you work or study? have you found an appartment? I remember when I moved out for the first time, it was pure blizz.

Its nice to develop a habit of cleaning a little bit every now and then when you are bored, or just have a little time to spare, it will be way easier than doing everything at once a few times a month.

Cook your own meals rather than just buying ready meals/eating out, I usually meal prepped when I lived alone, on saturday I made food for the entire week, its just way cheaper and easier that way. And it doesn't necessarily take that long, but just making food for a couple of days works good too. Its so nice to not have to worry about food during the week when you are busy working or studying. And the girls like a guy that can cook some decent meals too (I don't know if you are a guy or a girl, but I just guessed a guy since its the toribash forums) so its nice to get some practice if you aren't planning on being single forever.

Buy a robovacuum if you can afford it/if your Apartment that is big enough to need it. Its just so nice to have, and saved me a ton of vacuuming hours. And remember to clean when you have friends/family over to visit, they will respect you more if your Apartment is clean/looks nice.

And just enjoy your hobbies, you probably won't have as much spare time as you have right now until you retire, so just enjoy it as much as you can. Speaking from experience.

Buy an airfryer.

get 2 so you can make food with one while washing the other so when you want to use it again you have already washed it and can spend the time cooking cleaning the dirty one

*THE AIRFRIER SEEMS LIKE A VERY GOOD INVESTMENT BTW, I almost forgot they exist (not as popular in Europe)

Hello, so I updated the thread to give more info on my current situation, so it'll be easier to give hints, but I really like the idea of making it pretty general, so everyone can use these tips for themselves. I really appreciate all the positivity that came from this thread, I really didn't expect it to have actual responses, so given that it is doing pretty well I'll throw in what I learned too! love you too Rythm


so here I go:

• When it comes to an apartment/room you definitely need to check the windows, if they're fully connected and the quality isn't cheap, so you won't have any issues with either humidity or cold weather.
  
  
• Checking water pressure in the shower, how water runs in the whole apartment is a must.
  
  
• ALWAYS READ THE CONTRACT OR ASK SOMEONE MORE EXPERIENCED TO DO IT FOR YOU (sometimes its better to pay somebody to have a glance at it, than be stuck with a contract on well hidden terrible rules).
  
  
  
• Never get an apartment/room only via pictures, they're made to be appealing, nobody will show you the negative things in a preview.
  
  
• If you're able to, get as much help from your parents as you can, get any silverware, cups, mugs, plates from your house because they're really expensive, and they are less affordable if you buy them in singles instead of bulks.
  
  
• Ikea is good, you can definitely rely on ikea.
  
  
• Although you may want to focus on what you need, treat yourself from time to time. Buy things for your room/flat, apparently even the small things will drastically change the way you feel. (first thing ill buy for myself is a nice blanket and some pillows, make my small flat cozier and more homely).
  
  
• Facebook has "area groups", you can get to know people in your neighbourhood, you never know when you may need some help. Thanks to joining one group I borrowed a drill, instead of buying one only to use it once.
  
  
• When renting a room, when it comes to long-term rental contracts, try and aim for 3-4 people in an apartment, apparently anything more gets too crowdy and it can get messy. I think it's safe to say that even given the whole pandemic situation, it may be more reasonable, because if one person gets COVID, everyone is homebound, depending on regulations per country.

Although I haven't yet lived alone YET, these are all the hints I gathered from my friends and my parents, hopefully anything will be useful. I'll come back with more :--)

Oh, that changes things if you haven't found and Apartment yet, and are planning to live with 3-4 people.

Whats nice to do is to take photos of every scratch/damage in the Apartment when you move in, so when you move out you can document that the damages were already there so you don't have to pay for it.

When it comes to long-term binding contracts I would stand clear of them, rents with 1-3 months notice is way better than being stuck living a place for at least a year. I once tried to move out of an apartment that had a 1 year bind, and I had to go to court to get back my deposit (law was on my side, but landlord refused to pay back deposit)

I don't know how it works where you are from, but here we have something called deposit accounts which are really good to have in these cases. When you end your rental period you definitely want to document this by mail and not verbal, so you won't have any legal issues, there are a lot of crooked landlords out there that seems nice at first.

I don't agree that silverware, cups, mugs, plates are expensive, if you go to a second-hand shop / antique store you can almost get them for free, at least where I'm from. Its just buying them new that is expensive. I got everything I needed for the kitchen, plates, mugs, knives, pans for around 30$ so yeah, would definitely recommend going to such shops.

I'm currently trying to get an apartment for myself, because the pricepoint is nearly identical (for the flat i found and any room with a decent standard and location). I'll most likely live alone, if the deal with the flat goes through, but I don't have the certainty for it yet. It's just a weird situation where the landlord lives in a different country and has nobody to help with the contract, so she'll get some middleman contract company or whatever.


Yeah, the point with taking pictures is like a top priority, so nobody can say its your fault that there are some scratches or indents, where they were there before.

Usually the contracts I come across when browsing the internet are yearly contracts, and you get your deposit only when the contract elapses or you find another person to take your spot. I'm okay with signing a yearly contract, but i wouldn't risk doing 2 years even if i plan on staying in one place for that long.

As a certified old man, I've already been living away from home for like 8 years lol. When I was in college, I lived in the dorms so thats different from when I got an apartment by myself after college and was already working. The main thing you'll want to do is keep on top of the little things they really add up. Do your laundry every week, do your grocery shopping every week, don't forget to go to the gym or exercise a few times a week, clean your bathroom sink shower and toilet, keep food in your kitchen eat at your dining table, wash your dishes as soon as you're done eating. Throw away things that rot if you didn't eat them. Try to find an apartment that isn't loud street noise and neighbors. If you have roommates it helps if you actually like them and that they are quiet when you want to sleep so look for quiet friends that won't destroy your house. You can bring women home to your house so make it look like a place a girl could come back to and be like wow this guy has his shit together. Put a small trashcan in your bathroom for woman visitors. Clean your sheets every couple weeks. Open your windows sometimes. Don't let your room freeze in the winter. Call your parents sometimes they want to know about your life. Remember to go outside sometimes, you need vitamin D. Try to keep a schedule and don't sleep unreasonably late for no reason. That's a pretty good list of things to keep in mind when living alone. Don't do too much drugs and alcohol also, some is fine but keep it so that it doesn't ruin your life.