I'm moving out in 3 days. I think I have everything but

Anons, please. I will give myself one bump.

How to cook.

I lived out for 6 months. Living at home before I move to a new apartment.

What I wish I knew before I moved out?
You can get very lonely.
Giving your gf the spare key is a bad idea.
Decorating is expensive and takes time.

Np anon. Good luck!

>>17454813
There isn't even that much to know, honestly.

When I was little my parents made it seem like just existing as an adult was some big difficult fucking task. It actually isn't, at all.

>>17454856
On it boss! My mom recommended some Babby's first cookbook thing to me.
>>17454866
I'm not worried about decorations since I'm an autist that has blank walls here at home. I will be living with a couple other dudes so I won't be people-starved (but I can still get lonely). I'll keep that in mind. I'm a grad student so I should be able to buddy up with other students in the program and the professors I'll be working with hopefully.
>>17454869
This is what I'm hoping for. I'm already fairly self-sufficient. Besides having no time outside of school and household stuff it doesn't seem like a big deal.

>>17454877
No trust me. Living in an apartment. At some point in time, you'll get tired of it... Fed up. You'll seek for something els. Thats when you get lonely.

>>17454869
>When I was little my parents made it seem like just existing as an adult was some big difficult fucking task. It actually isn't, at all.
same anon
>>17454877
I'd recommend Good Eats - its basically Bill Nye the Science Guy but with cooking. Helps you think like a cook.

>>17454895
Neat, thanks for the rec.
>>17454888
>trips
I'll believe you, anon. Forewarned is forearmed.

>>17454813
Whenever doing groceries, make sure to look out for good deals on things that cannot spoil, like laundry detergent, toilet paper, toothpaste, etc. Buy those in bulk if there are deals like 1+1 free or something. It might cost a little extra on the short term but you can bet your ass it saves you money over time.

Check your water, gas and electricity usage weekly/monthly. Getting a nasty surprise in the form of an extra bill by the end of the year isn't fun. I talk from experience, I had to pay 1,5k extra than I was originally billed for, it also raised my monthly expenses by almost 200 bucks a month, forcing me to move to a cheaper, smaller place.

Get on good terms with your neighbors. That way you can get away with some shit like throwing a party every once in a while without them calling the cops on your ass.

Plan out meals for a week or so (so spaghetti one night, chicken another night). Make a list of possible dinner combinations from the things you have. Do not go to the grocery store again until you've consumed about 80% of your meal options. I used to be fucking horrible about letting food expire, so restraining myself in this way has helped me save a lot.

Get condiments to make different variations (bbq chicken one night, lemon herb another, teriyaki). Go to the 99 cents store to get those and boxed goods like pasta, stuffing, potatoes, or cleaning supplies. I wouldn't buy bread or vegetables or anything with a small shelf life at the 99 cents store unless you're going to eat it that day.

Get items that can be thrown together relatively easy. My two favorite kitchen utensils are my rice maker and my crock pot. Crock pot is fucking amazing because you can toss in some veggies and layer meat on top then go to work and your meal is ready when you get home. Fajitas and pulled pork so good mang.

Introduce yourself to the neighbors and have friendly small talk. There's lots of theft in my area, so when one us sees a package in the middle of the day, we'll knock to see if the other is home or hold onto the package until evening. Not everyone does this as it requires a lot of trust, but good relationships with neighbors helps a lot.

>>17454904
>>17454906
These are both helpful. Thank you. The neighbor one especially.

>>17454920

I knew I forgot something. Boundaries with roommates. You need to establish the rules for cleaning the general areas and rooms because people are fucking slobs.

First roommate: Nice guy, cleaned his area and dishes but kept cups in his room. Had to ask him several times to bring his cups out because there was nothing else to drink from. Eventually set the rule that if he had 2 cups in his room he had to bring them out to wash before getting another. No problems there.

Roommate 2: Always had his door shut, but when he opened it there was a god awful smell. He left dishes of half eaten food in his room and eventually got ants and roaches in the apartment. When he brought out dishes to clean, he only cleaned them halfway (the hard, dried bits that are tough to remove were always there). Made messes when he cooked. Tried talking to him politely several times but it always slid back to the way it was before. Got to the point where he would be washing dishes and put them on the rack to dry, I would put them right back in the sink in front of him because there was still hardened marinara sauce on the side. I felt like such a dickhead but a year of asking him to be more careful didn't work.

We all shared a shower (roommate2 had his own bathroom though). Roommate 1 and I would take turns cleaning the shower but 2 would leave his hair clogging the drain when he decided to shower once a week. When we all finally moved on, I volunteered to give the apartment a final sweeping over while the other two were at work. Took 4 vacuum bags to clear out the carpet in roommate 2s room (he vacuumed once during the year we lived together) and there was a weird black square on the wall. I eventually realized as I tried to scrub it clean that it was from his feet as he sat at his computer. I considered throwing up, but his bathroom was too dirty and covered in more hair.

So, yeah, make sure you drop some cleaning rules and enforce that shit.

>>17454813
Pack things you will need when you move into a box that you can easily identify and get to, things like the kettle can go in it.

If you want to save money, buy tinned foods like tinned potatoes, they keep for a long time and are dirt cheap, frozen veggies are decent if you need to get your veggies in.

Budget for what you can afford, then budget to put money aside to save for a rainy day (6 months living expenses for the worst case scenario), then put more money aside for unexpected bills, anything after that you can spend.

Don't get things like TV packages or internet access put in until you know how much it costs, even then be cautious as some charge X a month then Y after the first 3 months.

Get along with your neighbours, if they make noise don't be petty and blast your music back, you live next to one another and don't want to fret over annoying neighbours on your days off.

Don't have take aways or junk food like McDick's more than once a week

Learn to clean up and polish etc, if you pull a girl on a night out and take her back to yours she might be put off if she walks into your place and is struck by the smell of old food and BO

Close your windows and lock your door when you leave

Decorating is expensive

You don't need nice new furniture

Inform your landlord of any issues ASAP in writing and keep any responses

Don't throw a house warming party

Don't get a pet, especially if you aren't supposed to have one

Food prep, if you struggle for cash, buying food in bulk can sort you out, cook it all at once, put it in tupperware or something and you have a cheap meal ready to go, just make sure the ingredients don't go off before you finish your meals that week.

>>17454947

Also got cold sores constantly from roommate 2 because he would do a shit job cleaning his dishes even when he had a cold sore. Eventually bought an entire set of dishware and utensils just for him.

Anyway, that's my story. As for my shit habits, I left my stuff laying around (paperwork, mail, etc) in common areas a lot and I took up most of the fridge space, though I tried to make up for the last part by cooking dinner for roommate 1 and myself.

>>17454956
My man! These are some good tips.
>if you pull a girl
Lol
>>17454947
>>17454962
Oh God that guy sounds nasty. I'm not a germophobe but I clean my shit. I'll be sure to communicate the cleanliness of the rooms to my roommates.