Just Beginning

When someone moves out more often then not, the first thing they think about is "how am I going to pay the bills?" and/or "how am I going to support myself?" or even just basking in the bliss of having no parents around anymore to tell you what to do. No one ever seems to think of "what will we eat?" or "what/how do we cook for ourselves?"

I went through the same thing back in February when my boyfriend and I moved out of home and into our own place, about 20 minutes drive from our families, our closest friends, and from our work. I have gone from being a 20-30 minute walk from all of these things to a 20-30 minute drive, and that's without traffic. This was the hardest thing we had to get used to...to not being able to see everyone whenever we wanted, but trying to work out how to pay our bills.

Three months in and we were working it out. It's was still not a perfect system, yet we worked on it. Bills got paid; the housework got done, and the place looks neat and tidy. We even see our friends (after having had to fit each other into our working/uni going weeks), and it may not be as often as we wanted to - but at least we still get to see them. But anyway as I mentioned earlier, no one ever asks "what will we eat?"

I love cooking. I never used to though. My idea of cooking was warming frozen chicken nuggets and chips in the oven, or grabbing a box of microwaveable chips. I was used to eat fast food on a regular basis, and I only ate vegetables once/twice a week. Not very nutritious. Even though being a uni student, this may be the typical diet one might expect - however this was my diet when I was a kid. I now love cooking and experimenting with different recipes and ingredients.

This question though should be at the forefront of any person who is moving out of home, as no one ever tells you that paying the bills is the easiest part. Just put a $100 a week into a bank account, and then every three months you pay the bills out of that money. Buying food on the other hand is annoying and expensive. No one ever tells you that you will spend at least $150 - 200 on shopping every week. Even though this may sound like a lot, you are actually buying food for a week and cleaning products and toiletries - and not to mention anything else you may need throughout the weeks to come. Also if you don't like to cook, you may end up spending this amount or more on fast food and take away, rather then fresh food that you have cooked yourself.

And I must admit though I’m not quite guilt free. I do occasionally eat out, order take out and even visit McDonald's, but what person doesn't these days?

Categories:

#_life
#_life_skills
#_money
#_mindset
#_planning
#_coping_devices
#_change
#_comfort_zone
#_coping_mechanisms


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