When you become independent and start living by yourself, there are a few worries that may pop up once you’ve settled down. The same is true when you become a homeowner. I think it’s something that we experience when we start living in a place by ourselves, and we understand that we can’t rely on anyone but ourselves.
As someone who started living by himself during the beginning of his 20’s, I can relate to this feeling. I remember very well the moving process. It was stressful and tedious, and I was anxious even after a week has passed. I had many worries.
I had worries like “Will I be responsible and disciplined enough with my work?” At that time, I had stopped attending university so I had to focus completely on work to pay for my living expenses and not become a burden to my parents. And I understand it can be a pretty similar experience for those studying. It’s hard when you have expectations to fulfil.
I also had to worry about managing my money. Paying for my food with my own money and making sure I didn’t go crazy with fast food and snacks, was an absolute must. At the same time, I had to take care of my health, eat well, sleep properly, and make sure to exercise every once in a while.
When I started living by myself, I understood how truly difficult it was. It’s a sense of freedom that comes with a price, and that price is paid by tremendous efforts.
Besides that, there were other quite complicated problems I had to deal with: learning how to become a functional adult. And although parents my help a little with some teachings and advice, I believe no one actually teaches you how to do it. Most of the time, life lessons are something we manage to learn through failures and experiences.
Being an actual functional adult is not only about knowing how to cook, how to do laundry, and how to manage your time. It’s much more than that. And believe me when I say it… In order to be one, you’ll require some tools for it.
I’m going to avoid some of the most obvious things such as a bed, bed sheets, soap, shampoo, a toothbrush, among others, for the sake of talking about things people might miss out on during their move.
The Basics: Kitchen.
If we start following guides online, we’ll find websites recommending over 40 possible tools an independent functional adult (or handyman/woman) should have, but I believe we should start with the basics.
First of all, you’ll need cooking appliances and tools to cook your own meals. If you think you have enough money to survive without cooking, you can ignore some of the tools I’m going to share on this list. After all, you can find some pretty decent, healthy homemade meals for a decent price. Still, you’ll have to cook your own breakfast and dinners most of the time, so take that into consideration.
I’m going to skip some appliances like rice cookers and toasters since you can do that by yourself if you know. It’s up to you if you want to add them to your list. This list is aimed towards single people aiming to spend as little as possible, so take that into consideration!
First of all, you’ll need:
- Spoons, forks, and knives
- Plates, bowls, and cups
- One or two jars for water and juice
- A cutting board
- An electric oven or microwave
- Pots and pans.
If the place where you are moving doesn’t have them, you’ll also need a kitchen and a fridge, and might even need other stuff such as cupboards, but it heavily depends on the place. You should also add some cleaning materials, like dishcloths, sponges among others.
The Cleaning Tools
This is very important. You probably won’t notice their importance until you need them. First, we can start with the most common essential tools: a broom with a cleaning shovel, a mop, buckets, a cleaning brush, and you can add a vacuum if you want.
Also, you should absolutely get a toilet brush to clean your toilet whenever there’s a stain of you know what I’m talking about. People usually ignore these and they start accumulating, and that’s an absolute no! Get yourself a toilet brush, place it behind the toilet, and use it if needed!
You’ll also need, of course, a washing machine, and maybe a dryer, but if you have enough space to hang your clothes around, you can go by with some clothes hangers.
Dealing with Problematic Situations
Aside from the things I mentioned earlier, there are some things that might be better to consider as problem solvers, or possible necessities. You see, these things I’m going to mention over here are things that you might or might not need, depending on your luck.
They are also things that a lot of people don’t know how to use, and learning how to use them might help them solve problematic situations that might arise out of nowhere.
For example, you might buy yourself a bookshelf, or you might receive a package from an online purchase you did last week. To set up the bookshelf, you’ll need some tools, right? Like screwdrivers, or perhaps even a hammer. To open the package, you might need a sharper knife, a scissor, or a cuter.
- See? Those are things you might need in the future, and it’s easy to forget them until you need them! Among these, I can think of:
Hammer - Various Screwdrivers
- Scissor
- Cuter
- Marks, pens, and pencils
- Some over-the-counter medicines and painkillers
- Power strip
- Wrenches
These alternatives are optional, so you shouldn’t get them if you feel like you won’t use them. You can always hire a professional if the problem is too complicated.
When to Rely on Yourself, and When to Hire a Professional
This is something that a lot of people think about, although most beginners would surely hire a professional to solve most of their problems. With that said, there are a lot of things you can actually solve by yourself if you do some research and if you are ready to get your hands a little dirty.
For example, I was able to clean my kitchen sink pipes because I remember my dad used to do it by himself back in the day. It was dirty and pretty nasty since I had to use a bucket to gather all the clogged water inside the pipe with all the stuff that remained in there. It smelled terrible, but it pretty sure saved me some money.
I was also able to unclog my bathroom. Thanks to a bathroom opener I found it in the place I moved to when I started living on my own. I also used some chemicals I bought in a market store that one of my neighbours recommended. Advice from experienced people is also especially important, so make sure to get to know those around you in case of an emergency.
I’d say that, depending on the problem, you might want to do it yourself. But if you feel like you will probably make things worse, or the problem is too complex for you, just get professional help. You can also check this guide over here for more information about it.
