If you are about to leave home for college, you have no idea how comfortable you’ve had it until now. When you are living with your parents, everything is taken care of, from buying groceries and cooking to paying utilities and doing various household chores. But as eager as you might be to finally leave the place where you have spent most of your life, you will soon find out that adult life (college students are adults, too) involves many headaches and responsibilities, so you will need to learn a few things to become self-sufficient. Here are five skills everyone should master before moving out of their parents’ house.
5 Skills Everyone Should Master Before Moving Out
Basic Home Maintenance
Moving out comes with a lot of work! So before you move out, prepare yourself for what’s to come. When you have finally settled in your new place (assuming you’re not living in a dorm), all the cleaning and basic home maintenance responsibilities will fall on your shoulders. Therefore, the first thing you want to do is arrange a clear schedule. For example, clean every Saturday, do the laundry on Sunday, grocery shop on Monday, and so on.
While the landlord will take care of serious repairs, it is still a good idea to learn how to accomplish basic tasks. Be prepared to do small maintenance work like changing light bulbs, fixing the toilet, changing the shower head, and unclogging the sink.
Money Management and Bill Payments
If you are leaving for college, you will likely have to live off a monthly allowance from your parents or get a part-time job to cover expenses. As exciting as it might be to have your ‘’own’’ money (in the sense that you are in charge of spending it), you have no idea how easy it is to be wasteful. So, as soon as the money rolls into your account, take the cash meant for basic living expenses (i.e., rent, food, bills, etc.) out, place it separately, and split the rest of the money by days. Learn to separate wants from needs, and you should be fine. Do this, and eventually, you will even learn how to save money on monthly expenses like heating.
Time Management
As a college student, you will be busier than you have ever been, so you will have to learn how to manage your time. A good way of accomplishing this is assigning tasks to specific days, and then splitting those days into other subsets of chores like studying, paying bills, washing, grocery shopping, cleaning, and, of course, leisure time.
Cooking
This is a big sore spot for our generation – many college students can’t cook, and 53% of millennials revealed that they dine out at least once a week. However, you do not have to be a master chef to have some basic cooking skills under your belt. There are tons of YouTube channels and tutorials dedicated to inexpensive cooking, so use those as a starting point.
Car Maintenance
Believe it or not, as sturdy as your fifth-generation Honda Civic might seem, you will have to expand your maintenance skills beyond filling up the gas tank. You should learn how to change a flat tire, jumpstart a car, change the oil, and open the hood. You can ask your parents to teach you, or you could go online and learn.
Conclusion
While adult life involves much more than we have presented here, the said skills are just enough to get you going until you get accustomed to living alone. Before moving out, remember that leaving home is an excellent opportunity to grow and learn new stuff, so you might as well make your life comfortable while you’re at it.
Author Bio: With an educational background in Engineering Design and growing experience in home improvement and DIY projects, Vince is part of the team behind www.ThePlumbingInfo.com. You can see more of Vince’s work on Twitter and Facebook.
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