5 Ways to Know if You’re Ready to Live Alone for the First Time
Living with the family or roommates may be fun, easy, and comfortable, but the time comes when we need to embrace adulthood and move out in order to find our own path in life. Whether you’re considering renting or buying a house (or condominium unit), here are 5 tell-tale signs to know that your time to live alone has come.
1. You Have Your Finances in Order
Living alone means you shoulder all expenses associated with it. You pay your own rent or mortgage, utility bills, groceries, and even repair and maintenance. This means you have to make sure you are able to pay all your bills on time. Otherwise, you might be coming home to a place with no electricity or water.
I recently shared a financial planner I personally designed, which helped me have an honest-to-goodness assessment of my finances and set some actionable steps to get me to my goals. You can go ahead and get your copy of the ultimate printable financial planner here.
2. You’re Comfortable With Being Alone
Living alone could mean literal freedom. You can do whatever you like, cook anything you want, use the bathroom without the pressure of someone else needing to use it, and binge-watch via Netflix without headphones on. Living alone also means you enjoy your own company. Sure, you can invite friends over and maybe go out as often as you like, but most of the time, you’re really on your own.
3. You Can Take Care of Yourself
Taking care of yourself means you’re responsible enough to get yourself up in the morning, making sure you have enough supplies at all times, and keeping your home in tiptop shape. This also means you are able to change a lightbulb, unclog the toilet without getting squeamish, deal with spiders, or maybe just know who to call (and not panicking) when you have a leaking faucet. Living alone means you need to be independent and resourceful, able to figure out problems on your own.
4. You are organized
When you’re living alone, you have to be organized and responsible. You need to keep your home clean, wash your dishes, get food for yourself, and make sure you have clean clothes to wear. Well, technically, you don’t necessarily have to keep your home picture-perfect at all times, but at a minimum, you have to wash your dishes and get food for yourself. You have to have a working system — for cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, etc — to keep your home livable.
5. You Want to Create a Home
You’ve probably daydreamed about decorating your own space. You may even have purchased some homely items, like special cushions, organizational items, and kitchen stuff. You may get too excited and giddy browsing through the home section of the department store.
Living alone is an opportunity to discover and embrace your own personal style. You get to decide where the couch goes, what artworks to go on the walls, and explore your personal design aesthetic.
