Currently living with parents but I’d like to know how to become independent so I can fall back on that knowledge in future
If location is relevant, I live in Australia
Currently living with parents but I’d like to know how to become independent so I can fall back on that knowledge in future
If location is relevant, I live in Australia
This might not work for everybody’s abilities but this is what I’d recommend:
• Get a steady income, even if it’s not work you love or want to spend your life doing. Health insurance coverage is helpful, and getting your own through work may be your cheapest and most useful option (location depending).
• Get a car/truck/van or whatever vehicle that can get you around, hopefully for cheap (may not apply if you live in a big city). Get insurance on it.
• Find a residence such as an apartment or even a house, hopefully for cheap but not too cheap. Get insurance on it.
• Separate your parents from your bank accounts, credit cards, etc. and get your own. [EDIT: also get ahold of your birth certificate, social security card, personal IDs, etc., and put them in a waterproof and fireproof safety box and keep this in your possession]
• Get your own cell phone, cell plan, and internet plan.
• Know where you can get groceries and know at least some basic meal prep and cooking.
• Know how to do your laundry. If you don’t have a washer and dryer in your residence, find a laundromat.
• Budget all of the above. If you will be paying rent, this will probably be the biggest consumer of your income, so use the frequency of rent payments as your unit span of time to budget for (ex. monthly). You want to try to end each month with more money than you had at the start of the month, so you want to spend less than you earn.
• Find some way to socialize, to be part of a community, and to be physically active without your parents making you (I’m still working on this one).
• Keep good hygiene and cleanliness for yourself and your home. You have to do the sweeping and cleaning now, and you have to keep your schedule with appointments for dentists, doctors, etc.
• Expect for things to go sideways sometimes. Your car might break down and cost a fortune to fix, you might lose your job, your home might flood, etc. “Independent” isn’t an absolute. Friends and family are important to have as contacts so we can help each other out when these rare big problems occur.