Moving out for the first time into an apartment is so exciting! You’re gaining that independence from your parents in a whole new and exciting way. More freedom, more space – more responsibility.
Once you’ve made that first step in deciding to make the big move, there’s a few steps you can take to make the transition a lot smoother.
Though it’s super exciting and all you want to do is pick a place and show up with the clothes on your back, there’s a few key things that should be covered first.
Your First Apartment: Moving Out of Your Parents’ House
Begin the Search
Once the decision has been made, you’re going to have to start looking for a place to live. Do you want a shorter commute to work or school? Look in the neighborhoods close by. Maybe you take transit? Search for places near bus or train stations.
You’re also going to have to work within your budget. Are you moving out alone? With your significant other? A friend? A bunch of roommates? Price out what is going to work for your income, and split between who else you’re going to live with. Don’t forget about utilities, power, internet and other monthly fees that are necessities (like groceries!).
Once you have your budget set upon, you can see what’s available within that price range. I recommend starting off with a one bedroom apartment (if it’s just you, or just you and your partner), as that will likely be in a lower price range. If you can afford more than that, perfect! Go with what works for you.
The internet is a God sent for helping to search for apartments. We have just used our local classifieds website to find our previous apartments, and it makes it very easy to come in contact with landlords. Even just googling what you’re looking for can come up with great results as well!
Gather Some Necessary Items
When you move into your own place, you’re not gonna have stocked cupboards like at mom and dad’s house – and I’m talking dishes, containers and cooking essentials (and of course food LOL).
If you’re lucky enough, your parents might be giving you some of their old items, which is awesome! But there’s a lot of stuff you’re going to have to purchase yourself. And if you leave all of it until you’re actually moved in, you’re going to have a huge bill.
What I recommend is slowly gathering together some house items before you move out of your parents. I did this for many months before leaving my parent’s house, and it saved me a huge bill upon move in day. Plus, we were able to actually cook in our kitchen right away because we had the all the kitchen essentials!
Under the bed is a great place to store said items until move in day LOL.
Having a bunch of smaller purchases was so nice, plus I love shopping for home items so I really got to enjoy the process LOL. Check out Amazon
Learn To Cook
This ones seems silly, but who better to teach you to make your meals than the people who fed you the last 18+ years!? Whether it was mom, dad, grandma – whoever helped feed you over the years – ask them to teach you how to make some of your favorite meals!
I would hope by the time you’re moving out that you can make something other than toast, but there’s also going to be some more complex meals that you’ve loved having at home that you’re not too sure how to throw together.
Being able to recreate those meals will really make your new place feel like home, maybe helping the homesickness a little bit. And unfortunately you can’t really live off of macaroni and cheese and ramen noodles (though I know you’ll try!).
Moving out is a super big step, and filled with so many emotions. Everyone’s situation is different, and the best thing you can do is feel prepared. This is probably the biggest “adult” thing you’ll do to date, and feeling comfortable and ready will help to ease the stress of it all.
A few more things I wish I knew before moving out can be found here, as well as some awesome packing and moving tips for when the big move begins!