8 Lessons of Life You Learn When You Start Living Alone
Living alone is not easy. And while it has its own advantages, nobody can deny the fact that the first few months of transition – where you move out of your comfort zones and actually start to live alone – are difficult and challenging. The kind of pressures that you face when you start to live alone are amusing, shocking, and sometimes, quite painful too. Many people say that some of the biggest lessons of life can be learnt when you are living alone. Here are some of them.
1. Nothing is for free
For as long as you were living with your parents, you were probably earning well enough to buy your own clothes, shoes and fund your own outings, or were paying for your medical bills. However, only when you start living alone do you realize that everything costs money. You were taking a lot of things for granted when you were living with your parents, which includes electricity bills, groceries, small things like toothpastes or toilet papers and what not! Live alone, and your monthly salary will suddenly seem less when you have to pay for all these things yourself.
2. Loneliness is a love-hate kind of friend
There will be days when you will love the fact that you live alone and have the kind of privacy that some people around you die for. However, there will also be days when entering into an empty apartment after a terrible day at work will pinch you. Living all by yourself has its own advantages and disadvantages, and sooner or later, you will get accustomed to them. You will define your own boundaries of space, and will understand when you need outings with friends, and when you need to stay at home and relax alone.
3. Everything needs repairs
To be able to save enough money to buy things is one half of the process; to maintain all those things is the other, tougher half. When you buy new appliances, your work doesn’t end there. Your house will need repairs every now and then for various things – from broken flush pots to not working mixer-grinders to cracked bookshelves and a lot more. You need to save enough money for these things as well, and at the same time, be very careful of how you use and maintain everything in your house. Now you know why your mother scolded you each time you used the sofa as a trampoline or threw water all around the music system and the TV!
4. You are responsible for your own safety
You are a grown up person now, and there won’t be your parents to fight the burglar in case something unexpected happens. Your safety is in your own hands. Hence, you need to lock your house properly on your own, take care of the gas leakages on your own, and even take care of not leaving the windows and backdoors open at the night. In other words, you need to be more alert for your own safety and security. Install security cameras if you can, and always keep important helplines and other phone numbers handy with you.
