Living Alone For The First Time – 5 Things You Need To Know
There’s no doubt, living alone for the first time presents challenges. However, it can offer many fun and exciting opportunities as well. Ensuring you know both the challenges and benefits of living alone is essential.
Living Alone – Things You Need To Know
Obviously, there are a multitude of things you’ll need to know when you decide to move out and get your own apartment. Regardless of your age, it’s essential to empower yourself with some key facts about living alone.
In fact, according to the 2019 U.S. Census Bureau, more than 35.7 million Americans live alone. In short, this means 28% of households today have folks living alone. The statistics show that is up by 13% of households in 1960 and 23% in 1980.
Whether it’s your first apartment or you made a decision to buy your first home, either way, this is a monumental step forward! Now, it’s time to start thinking and planning for your future. With your new-found independence, it’s time to put your priorities in order.
In this article, we will take a look at five things you should know about living alone. Remember, there’s a lot more to learn, but at least these tips will help you along the way.
1 – Coping With Stress And Anxiety
If this is your first time living alone, you might experience some bouts with stress and anxiety. If that’s the case, don’t worry. It’s entirely typical to feel these emotions when moving on your own.
Remember, it’s essential to show yourself some self-love and kindness. If you feel overwhelmed with these feelings, by all means, seek the help of a professional. You might discover these anxious feelings disappear within a few short days after living alone. If they don’t, it’s a good idea to reach out to family and friends and talk things over.
If you feel you can handle them on your own, there are some positive things you can do during your downtime to relax and learn coping skills. The internet is abundant with useful information as well. First, you can try watching self-help videos on YouTube to help you deal with stress and anxiety.
If you feel alone or afraid, try to join some online groups where you can reach out to new friends all over the globe. These groups can provide you with a fun way to chat about what it’s like living alone as well.
Bottom line, give yourself some time to adjust. Living alone is all about discovering your new independence and dealing with significant changes. You can also try some meditation apps on your phone as well.
In short, use the plethora of resources available to you, and if all else fails, be sure and seek professional help.
2 – Taking Proper Care Of Your Apartment
Of course, living alone means taking on the challenges of managing your place. With that comes the responsibility of handling things on your own. After all, you can’t call your family and friends every time something goes wrong.
More so, making sure your place is always clean and tidy will not only look good but help your self-esteem as well. Then, you’ll have to deal with things like plumbing issues. The guys at All Service Plumbers insist that plumbing is not one of those DIY tasks you’ll want to accomplish without the skills required.
When it comes to fixing drippy faucets, leaky taps, or running toilets, you may need to call a professional to help. If you have a landlord, you can, of course, call them. If you own your own home, you’ll want to make sure you know what to look for when hiring a plumbing company.
Here are tips when choosing plumbing contractors. They include:
- Their level of professionalism
- Licenses and insurance
- Location
- Availability
- The equipment used
- Response times
- Cost of plumbing projects
Either way, making sure you take care of paying your rent or mortgage on time, and handling other household issues, always research first. Issues like plumbing, electrical, or standard maintenance still require well-done research beforehand.
3 – Discovering Your Home Decor Style
Living alone for the first time means finding a style that suits you. Remember, it’s not always easy discovering a style you love. When decorating your home for the first time, don’t spend a lot of money on home decor elements. Instead, test things out with some thrift store pieces.
Discovering which style you love best takes time and patience. You don’t want to waste your money while exploring what style you like best. Also, it’s a good idea not to rely on your friend’s advice when it comes to home decor style. After all, you want to discover what you like best, not what your friends prefer.
For example, have fun decorating your new place. Experiment with color, textures, and style to see what truly makes you happy. Adding pops of color in your new apartment or home is a great way to create a comfortable environment as well. Don’t’ be afraid to take risks, but at the same time, try not to go overboard.
4 – Make Sure Your Place Is Secure When Living Alone
The first thing you need to do when living alone is to make sure your home is secure. Home safety takes top priority, and you need to take proper precautions to ensure your home is safe.
First, you’ll want to install a good home security system. With new advances in tech, you can purchase an affordable security system. If you don’t have any security in your home or apartment, nows the time to start thinking about installing one.
Next, get to know your neighbors. Try your best to reach out to them and at least get to know them. After all, you’ll want them to keep an eye on things when you are not around.
Then, you should always have a safe exit strategy ready. Make sure you have an emergency go-bag prepared for when you need to leave quickly. Pack all of your essentials and some food items too.
It’s also a good idea to set your lights on timers when you leave and install a doorbell camera. It’s time to think about your home security now that you are living alone.
5 – Try New Things
More than ever before, this is the perfect time for you to try new things. If you never had a pet, maybe it’s the ideal time. Try joining some community activities as well. Do some research and find places where people gather in your area. Reach out, make new friends, take a risk, go bungee jumping!
Living alone doesn’t have to be scary or cause you stress and anxiety. Rather, it’s the perfect time for you to grow and blossom into the person you always strive for. In a short time, you’ll discover things about yourself you never knew or thought possible.
Regardless of your age, when you decide to live alone, trust in yourself, and your abilities. You have more power and self-confidence than you know. Always listen to your inner voice and trust that it knows what’s best. And above all, always take care of yourself and show an abundance of self-love.
Before you know it, you’ll feel excited every day and alive with enthusiasm. Living alone can open doors for you that you never knew existed. All you need to do is trust in and believe in yourself. You can do this!
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