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I'm about to move away from my family. What should I know about living alone that no one told you before you started?
For context: I'm going from southern California to Salt Lake City, Utah, and I'm moving for work. I've never lived alone for an extended period of time before. I figure I've got a handle on it, but there's always something that I forget or don't know, so I'd like to ask you all for advice.
I don't know if this is the kind of thing you mean because it's a very a small thing, but it's one that I didn't think about until after it happened to me: make sure you have "sick day" supplies handy ahead of time, like your favorite canned soup, crackers, electrolyte drink, ginger ale/ginger tea, cold meds, whatever. Not to be too gross about it, but when you're stuck in the bathroom you don't want to have to worry about getting those things delivered or going to the store for them yourself. I went from my mom's house to living with a boyfriend before living alone, and I was totally unprepared the first time I was really sick and didn't have someone to take care of me.
I actually had a container of "emergency chicken soup" that I cooked and dropped in my freezer for that purpose. There really is nothing like real soup when you're sick and feeling miserable. Homemade chicken stock with dill tastes leagues better than the canned stuff.
Absolutely. I lived alone for years and always had my own medicine draw, and never run out of paracetamol and ibuprofen and strepsils and the lot. You really have to be prepared.
Here is a scattered list that has come to mind. I make no claim that these are the most important things to have in mind but it may be useful.
If possible, make a copy of your apartment key as soon as you get it. Nothing worse than losing your key and having to wait around for someone (i.e. landlord) to let you in. You can keep the copy at your work desk for example.
Buy a plunger on the sooner side. This falls in the list of items you don't want to need and not have!
When you move in take pictures of everything and save them in a google drive or equivalent location. It's common when moving in for management companies to have you do a checklist noting anything broken or damaged. This is used to prove the state of the apartment when you move in, and if you miss something on it you could be charged for it when moving out. It helps to document everything with photos.
I have found it useful to have a couple of physical checks when moving. You never know when they may come in handy. Sometimes landlords will ask for the first rent payment via check (I don't think this is common but has happened to me), plus sometimes places like the post office or DMV won't accept card. This isn't as much a problem as it used to be but it doesn't hurt to have a couple of checks should you need to write any.
Living on your own in a new place can be difficult, especially if it is your first time really being away from family. Definitely try to find a group or community on the earlier side as its nice to just have people to shoot the shit with. If your coworkers go out after work it might be worthwhile to go with, at least at the beginning, unless you genuinely don't get along with them. Look into clubs or meetups for any interests you might have. It can be tough to put yourself out there but if you do so early on it will help you down the line. If you settle into a solitary routine it can be hard to shake.
Set up mail forwarding with the USPS. Having mail addressed to you in your new apartment is useful as certain types of mail (bank statements, utility bills, etc) can be used as a secondary proof of residence which is often necessary when applying for things like a driver's license. If this is a long term move it can be useful to get this done on the sooner side.
This is a good list. Let me just reiterate the plunger đȘ haha. I know from experience.
You should also consider Informed Delivery. You'll get an email showing images of any letters you'll receive that day, and information on any packages for the next few days.
Absolutely second the socialising aspects. Everyone needs friends and in a new town you need some folks to hang out with during weekends.
I will say, whether living alone is difficult or fantastic does depend on your personality and circumstances. My first flat alone I would come home feeling so excited because I had never had an entire house all to myself, and as an introvert I loved loved LOVED it. I had always had to share a kitchen so when I had my own I started trying new recipes, baking etc. It was liberating.
That said, my first place was in a town where I had friends. Loneliness can still creep in so even as a solitary loving introvert you would still do well to make friends and acquaintances to go for coffee with
Itâs up to you now to keep the dishes washed and the clothes folded. Something nobody talks about is the everyday maintenance of your living space. Itâs boring and it will eat a surprisingly big chunk of your day, especially when youâre working full time.
One of the big benefits of remote work is the flexibility to just sack off work for an hour and do chores eh?
I must snag my wife and it's washing twice a week, morning it goes in the washer. At lunch it's outside and she'll bring it in when she gets home from work.
Dinner is already ready as one of us is home when the others out.
It's just so helpful for avoiding those days of chores.
Yes, most definitely. Iâm nine out of ten days at home, working remote. Itâs been okay, because I could do what you described. And at the same time, it wore on me. There where stretches of days I barely got out of the house. Get up in the morning, get kids ready for school, work, kids get home, school debriefing, study assistance, get them to their activities, dinner, bed. Rinse, repeat.
And that is what I wanted to remark to OP. There is this grind of a routine that one can fall into, that gets to you. I found the stoics to offer great wisdom to deal with this.
Indeed. They do have a lot of help for it.
I also find bookending the days is a good idea. Solid routines on each side of the day is hugely helpful.
Any particular recommended stoic reading on this? I frequently struggle with feeling trapped in routine/responsibility piling up with no end.
To be honest, Iâm not too well versed on the classics, so I donât really have any recommendations.
Over the years I found that Camus and his philosophy of the absurd really speak to me. It has been a while since Iâve read the texts, but I would recommend starting with the essay The Myth of Sisyphus and the novella The Stranger to get into Camusâ line of thought.
I understand Camus and the Absurdism as a contemporary continuation of the stoics. The end result is the same. There is ultimately no point to all of this, so we need grin and bear it. Itâs the packaging of the thoughts in a world after the Industrial Revolution that speaks more to me than the ancient greeks.
OP, while you're still alone you can take advantage of certain behavior that would otherwise mark you as a degenerate, e.g. just eating off of wax paper / using paper plates to avoid dishes. The amount of time I saved by virtually having no dishes & always coming home to a clean kitchen did wonders for my mental health, as there was never a reason to not make food.
Sure, on the other hand if you ever decide to share a kitchen, bathroom and more with someone else, they will appreciate if youâre able to pull your weight. This comes with practice and going through the seven stages of grief that mark your transition to a responsible human being.
There is a time and place for paper plates. Most definitely. The stoics help you with the dirty dishes.
True, it isn't something that is sustainable forever. Honestly doing dishes is more about how it's placed in there than the actual washing. I've roomed with people to don't even bother running a quick rinse, letting the food crust onto the pan/plate...
Ha, yes. I know exactly what you are talking about.
After many moons, I have learned a few things to avoid piling up.
Iâm not sure if this really applies to you, but Iâll put it on the record anyway. Itâs very easy to isolate yourself and get stuck doing nothing but engaging with folks online and âdoomscrollingâ or whatever. If youâre fine with that, and thatâs a really big pleasure in your life, thatâs awesome. I am married and have children, and my job sent me halfway across the country for the better part of a year. My family could not relocate with me for several reasons. While not quite the same as your circumstance, it did lead me to spend most of my time in my apartment, and that made my mental health situation far worse. When I started forcing myself to get out and engage in some forgotten hobbies (mainly rock climbing), I started noticing a marked improvement in my overall quality of life.
I guess the main thing Iâm trying to say is donât get caught in a trap of self-isolution; itâs very easy to do. You donât even have to interact with other people, necessarily, just make an effort to keep doing the things you like to do and maybe try out some new activities in your new area.
Best of luck!
One thing for me was recreating a community around myself. I went from having family and friends close by, to just friends, then to a place where I knew one person. It was difficult going from having a built in community to having a community I built around myself, but (for me personally) it was necessary for my mental well being. I enjoy and flourish when I have other people around to talk to and learn from.
Not to scare you, but the older you get, the harder it is to make friends.
Be friendly to folks at work. Suggest lunches or dinners.
Whenever anyone suggests something, you should always say "yes" even if you don't particularly feel like it.
It also helps to find some activities where you can spend some time around the same group of people.
Underrated advice. I moved to a new city recently and just said yes to basically everything. I now have loads of friends and have to turn stuff down because I just canât keep up with it all.
Honestly I don't really find it "harder". If you want people to do things with then it's harder because adults have less time/are more picky/have less interest, but if you just want friends I feel like a lot of people are in the same boat so they appreciate it when someone shows interest in being around them.
It also depends on the kind of people you wanna make friends with... if you are single/childless and want to meet other single/childless people there are avenues for that because many activities are full of people like that. Meanwhile anything that caters to kids is obviously a place where lots of parents meet one another.
I'd also strongly recommend finding some activit(y|ies) to participate in independent of work.
Nonexistent employer loyalty and short work tenure has been a thing for decades. Now there's WFH / remote work to compound that --- not only are any work-related ties you have largely dependent on your continued employment, but they're now thin and tenuous to begin with.
Civic groups, hobbies, outdoor activities, crafts, community classes, neighbourhood groups, getting involved in local government, volunteering, teaching / tutoring --- they're all not only activities in themselves but ways to meet other people. Far superior to clubs, bars, and singles / dating scenes / apps as well.
Always have at least a couple of go to meal you can easily and cheaply prepare.
When I moved out and came to Japan, I could barely cook anything, and heavily relied on convenience store food, instant ramen, and microwavables for sustenance . Sure it kept me fed, but it felt bad eating the same stuff day after day, wasn't particularly healthy, and overtime got more and more expensive (the convenient store food at least)
After awhile I tried learning how to cook, and I started with some basic foods such as spaghetti, rice bowls, and curry. Basically ways of making food that incorporated veggies into my diet. I noticed a boost in my mood and energy, and have tried to cook at least a few times a week ever since.
I don't always have the energy to cook something complex or time consuming, but learning how to boil noodles or use a rice cooker is very simple and doesn't require a lot of brain power. Rice and Noodles also take a long time to go bad when they're dry, so perfect if you are as forgetful as I am. Also, if you ever want to cook something, but don't want to read someone's autobiography before getting to the directions, typing in "just the recipe" on Google can simplify the process.
Many grocery stores sell frozen veggies in microwaveable steamer packets nowadays. Toss one in the microwave and toast some bread and you've got yourself a basic healthy meal with zero prep. And if that's too plain for you (I wouldn't blame you), toss some sauce on the veggies and put some spread on the toast.
If you're the type for a savory breakfast, get a good quality rice cooker and set it to start cooking in the morning and keep it warm, and you'll have all-day rice.
And of course, if you can cook, you can also meal prep to have food available for the rest of the week - though I would always recommend having a backup.
There's a million different ways to do it!
By the way, I've noticed that most recipe websites have a "jump to recipe" button if you don't want to scroll.
that shin ramen with some extra chunks of butter really hits the spot sometimes
Get a toolbox with some basic but decent quality tools. You don't need to splurge but don't buy super cheap as they can break quickly (and usually at the worst possible moment). Useful to have tools like a hammer, tape measurer, screwdriver with changeable ends, a couple of pliers, a level and an assortment of nails and screws. You can probably find guides online. Even if you rent, you might find you need to use these tools from time to time and if you don't have them when you need them it's a pain.
An interesting approach I heard is to buy cheap tools at first, and then replace them with quality ones when they break. That way, you only splash out on things you need to splash out on.
For the specialty stuff, sure, but there are a few things you can almost guarantee you're gonna need one day:
A drill and bits
Screwdrivers, flat and Phillips
Adjustable wrench
Hammer
Stud finder
Outlet tester: really not that expensive and way more informative and easier to use than the "plug a lamp into it" approach
Flashlight: Most drill brands also make a flashlight. It sounds like overkill, but it's been incredible. Ours is bright and has an adjustable head, and also a hook right at the balance point so it can hang like a lamp if we need it to.
scissors
edit: While I'm here...
Consumables:
hanging nails
screws and drywall anchors
hole filler, just a little tiny one.
Paint samples in the colors of your walls and ceilings
Optionals:
Alan keys: if all of your furniture comes from Ikea, a higher quality key than the one they include will be significantly more comfortable and prevent stripping heads.
rj45 crimp and ends: make your own ethernet cables in custom lengths
fuse box tester: to map which outlet goes to which fuse
Staple gun and staples
On alan keys: when I first moved into my first flat on my own, I got a screwdriver kit with about 40 different heads including the alan key type head. I have barely bought any other screwdrivers ever since, nor alan keys. For a beginner not expert DIY person I recommend just getting the kit and not bothering with individual ones until you run into a situation where you really need them.
Re:drill and drill bits, it also depends if OP is intending to put up shelves, and how long they are there for. Most rental places don't love drilling in walls, and plenty of people don't bother drilling. If you're there for 3 years and have a tonne of stuff, sure. If you are there for a year or less I would just get some drill free solutions and cupboards and manage without.
Buy a plunger.
Nobody ever thinks to buy a plunger until after they desperately needed a plunger.
Learn to cook. Eating out every night is not only expensive, but also unhealthy. Itâs also an all-around great skill to have. Plus, treating a guest with a home cooked meal is like nothing else.
Expanding on just learn to cook - because it can be hard to find starting points - find big healthy easy meals to repeat. Meals that are a pile of veggies/meats, a bunch of spices to pre-mix, and you throw them together. Like:
Pastas, but try to find ones you can throw peppers/onions/other veggies into like a nice bolognese or other red sauce. My wife and I have everything for a dummy simple tuna pasta meal in the pantry for emergency lazy days.
Don't gorge carbs all the time, obviously.
Curries. There are five billion of them from dozens of different cultures, try a bunch of recipes. Usually we have a pile of peppers, onions, broccoli, chickpeas, and sweet potatoes in the fridge and it's just easy to sautee them together with curry fixings, stew in coconut milk, and throw it over brown rice. (ideally, but white does soak it up way better lol) It's like two or three meals of stuff and easy.
Tacos. Same idea, you have a bunch of ingredients and they just go in. I didn't like tacos til we made our own. We make them practically every week now.
Meat loafs. Mix it and bake. EEAAASYYY
Roast or baked chicken, pork, and salmon are pretty easy. Just get an instant read cooking thermometer, it's the best cooking decision of my life.
Soups and chilis. Super, super easy and you can get into arguments about what constitutes a good chili. This licenses you to look down upon Cincinnati residents. Also seconding a homemade chicken noodle soup is the absolute bomb.
Egg dishes, scrambled or omelettes. Be creative, throw whatever shit and spices you like at it. Who cares, it's your house.
You can get into the weeds about authenticity, but just Google a recipe and you'll get something decent and easy to make in the first results until you can identify what makes a good recipe. I grabbed the cookbook Good and Cheap by Leanne Brown to start and still use it, it's got a lot of easy and very good starting points in there.
Do portion control and put stuff away right after you make it, it'll last longer through the week. Find frozen vegetables you want to eat and stock the freezer with them as healthy sides. Yes, kale is good for you. No, you will not eat it if you don't like it. Healthy eating decisions happen AT THE GROCERY STORE - you can't make bad decisions about Oreos if they're not in the house in the first place. Don't spend a bunch of money on cooking appliances you probably won't use more than once, but a pressure cooker is very flexible - sautéing, slow cooking, soups, rice or quinoa, pulled pork, good steamed vegetables, some cakes and desserts, etc etc etc. Do some research on pots/pans and don't worry about getting nonstick at first if you're more likely to clean it. Did I mention a meat thermometer, the best cooking decision of my life? Seriously I have no idea why I just guessed if things were cooked or not for literal years. So much overcooked chicken...
I'm in baby mode right now and strung out - he's literally screaming on my shoulder as I type this - but cooking is one of the more relaxing things to do because my wife and I have everything down pat. Just gotta get into a good rhythm!
Another helpful thing, and some of your suggestions fall into this category -- cooking is fun, cleaning isn't. If you are new to cooking try to focus on easy recipes that only require one pan or something like that. There are even cookbooks specifically designed around this, with the idea being that they require as little cleaning as possible. When I was living on my own and cooking for one I almost always followed this philosophy - just trying to keep it simple so I wouldn't have to clean a dozen things, especially since I didn't have a dishwasher (and I still mostly cook this one when I can).
Addition: learning to cook, taking cooking classes, joining or volunteering at a co-op or community bakery, and helping / hosting BBQs, parties, etc., are also a great way to meet people.
The key to cooking for me is to go beyond simple recipies to understanding how dishes and meals come together. Good cookbooks are quite useful here. Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is a book that's been referenced a few times recently on Hacker News. I've not read it though the discussion suggests it's a good start. My own sourdough experiments over the past 3+ years have been quite instructive.
Atlantic review: https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/10/samin-nosrat-salt-fat-acid-heat-netflix/572731/
HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18479845
I've also (and to my surprise) found cooking Youtube quite helpful. Beware some channels are bogus. The good ones should be evident, especially after attempting a few recipes.
Give yourself some time to settle in and possibly grieve for a few days. I moved from my home city to another city 5 hours away for college, so not quite the same distance as you, but I had some friends in the area already so I didnât feel completely alone. I did miss my family like crazy for the first couple of weeks, enough to actually come back for a few days a week or so into moving.
It might be good to analyze your hobbies and try to meet some people online who share those hobbies so you can have 1-2 people to hang with and show you around when you move.
Most importantly though, moving to a new location where you donât know anyone is exciting and scary as hell. You get an opportunity to live a new life and everything/anything that bothered you in your past is now irrelevant. You can do just about anything youâd like. Iâm not gonna lie, depending on how close you were to everyone at home, youâll feel sad for a few months and question your decision but once you get a solid friend or two, youâll more than likely consider it one of the best decisions youâve made down the road.
Cheers!
Personally, I wish someone would have told me to plan where my money goes before it gets spent. Hopefully personal finance was taught to you, but for me it was not.
There are a gazillion resources that will give you advice, but I would suggest - if you haven't already - writing down your income and your expenses in a simple spreadsheet. What I do then is translate everything to be the same duration as your pay cycle. E.g., if you get paid every two weeks and have a monthly bill, multiply your bill by 12 and then divide it by 26 - that is how much of each paycheck you need to set aside each paycheck to pay that bill . Do that for all your necessary bills, then for all the other necessities (e.g., food, car maintenance or taxes, etc.), and you're left with what you can spend on other, nonessential things ("discretionary spending") without feeling stressed.
Hopefully you're already financially literate, but if there's something I could answer please ask and I (or someone smarter than I) will chip in.
I would also add that if you think youâve remembered all the bills, add a little extra because thereâs a good chance there might be a one off or something youâve forgotten and itâs better to have a little extra money in the account at the end of the month rather than find yourself short.
Also have an emergency fund and make sure itâs actually got enough money in to help in case of emergency
Ok, coming from a different direction as a fellow former Californian: get a nice winter coat. Like spend 3-4 hundred dollars on it. Make it down, below your knees, rated for negative temperatures. I just looked up Salt Lake City climate and you can probably get away with something less expensive but itâs going to be the most expensive coat youâve ever bought in your life.
I thought I would be fine with my system of layers and shells when I moved. I spent years suffering through the winters and dreading going outside until I caved and bought a nice coat. It opened up a world of experiences for me and I started enjoying winters! Trust me, it makes a huge difference in how isolated you feel for a huge chunk of the year.
Like that saying goes: Thereâs no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes!
Just going to provide a counterpoint to this... as a Canadian... this sounds insane. I get that someone from California might have no experience with cold temperatures, but Salt Lake City is not particularly cold -- the average temperature in January is just below freezing (29F).
While OP obviously needs to buy a winter coat, there is no need to spend 300-400 dollars on one. Here in Canada you can get a perfectly good winter coat that will protect you in temperatures much colder than that for probably $150 CAD. $400 USD coats are mostly designer shit, which will usually also do the job, but it's generally a waste of money. I've never spent more than $100 on a winter coat, personally (I said $150 because of inflation recently).
Also worth noting that this is a great time of year to buy one, because if stores still have winter coats in stock at all they may be on sale/clearance.
Having said that I visited LA in February and saw people wearing puffer coats so maybe Californians really do need the extreme. Where I live temperatures swing pretty far both positive and negative, Salt Lake City seems like the heat is more of a concern than the cold which is pretty mild.
Just for some reference, 60*F was being reported as âarctic chillâ in San Diego.
I agree that you can find perfectly acceptable coats for 150, if you know what to look for. 400 is probably overkill for SLC, I agree. But coming to a different climate from california is really hard, and advice on dealing with cold is all from the point of view of someone acclimated to it.
My winter coat was $400, but it changed my life and I use it daily for 6 months of the year for the last 10 years so it was worth it. Its so warm, I walked home from swim practice in my wet swimsuit in the snow in February at 6am, and was perfectly warm all the way home. It is overkill, but thatâs what it takes for me to be social outdoors in the winter here.
Kind of a specific one, but I've seen it happen a lot; don't get a pet right when you move out. Give yourself some time to settle in and learn to live on your own, and also to explore the local community. Like months worth of time. I've seen a lot of pets end up being rehomed or neglected by college kids or young adults moving out for the first time as someone who's worked with animals a lot in rescue and medial settings. People feel lonely and are afraid to be alone or are excited to finally be allowed to have a pet. They get a pet and then realize how hard it is to adjust to caring for themselves, let alone another life, or they end up making friends or joining some sort of group and are out all day long leaving the animal behind.
Puppies and kittens are really prone to this as they're cute and people want to raise a baby. But you can't leave them alone all day and spay/neuter and shots are expensive, as are supplies like puppy food. Small animals have the issue of people treating them like a starter pet and not researching proper care, or not having the finances to care for the animal when it gets sick. For example, within 1 months of getting a pair of rats we spent $1000 in vet bills. Small does not equal cheap, a lot of the time it equals more expensive.
If you get a pet, let yourself settle into a routine and figure out how much free time you have. Always plan finances and call local vets to ask for costs for common ailments, don't trust google. Look at the cost of pet rent and deposits in your new area so you know what to expect. Also, please research your animal, and don't trust the first site that comes up on Google. Find a community, like a forum or subreddit and go from there because lots of info is outdated.
This maybe totally useless info for you but maybe it'll help someone else who reads it. Good luck with your move, you got this!
Piggy back on this great comment about pets: volunteer first!! Go to the shelter and be their occassional gopher or cleaner or cute animal companion for a bit first.
If you feel somewhat stable but not yet ready for 15-20 year commitment, foster: all your vet bills are paid for, all the food, when you go home for the holidays or travel they can place the foster somewhere else, and you get to see the kind of applications and folks who are ready as forever homes and take your time.
SLC has some advantages. For one, it's on a grid. 0,0 is downtown, and then the numbers increase in direction with distance, save for the 0,0 streets and a few exceptions (such as Redwood Road).
Learn the mountain ranges. One is the east side of the valley, and the other is west. Once you have that down, it's hard to get lost there. At night, the east side is the one with the huge U on it (University of Utah) Even in the neighborhoods, the street might have a name, but that's the top of the sign, at the bottom you have the numbers and direction. SLC is also generally seismically stable compared to LA. Alas, when it does rock with a quake, the whole valley is basically a prehistoric lake bed (Lake Bonneville - you can see the shoreline on the mountainsides), so it's basically gravel and sand, and shakes like Jello. Incidentally the Mormons love Jello (and ice cream). They make Jello desserts with it, which are often delicious. Except the ones with shredded carrots, which I find weird.
Make sure you get a Crown Burger in SLC. Also if you ever hit Park City (which is pretty awesome), the next town over, Heber, has this place called Grannies which has amazing milk shakes. If you drink, you have to buy your booze in the State Liquor Stores, and they close pretty early and are not open on Sundays, so stock up.
Downsides? If you've yet to drive in snow, I hope your car is AWD or FWD, because RWD is a disaster on slick roads. Overpasses freeze first, so watch it when you're on those. Try to hold it steady. If the tail wanders, keep those wheels pointed in the direction you wish to go, for the most part.
The other I'm hearing about is the GSL is drying up and going to cause some air quality issues. Thank Governor Norm Bangerter for pumping the lake out into the west desert. That guy was such a heel.
Meet your neighbors. Just wave, say hi, I'm x from x, just moved here. Get to know people a little bit and learn some of their names. You don't have to make best friends but it's always good to know people.
Have a look at some cleaning apps, which were a lifesaver when I moved out. They schedule and remind you of what to clean and when, so for instance a daily reminder to clean dishes, a weekly reminder to clean the bathroom, a monthly reminder to clean out the fridge. It takes an incredible amount of the mental load off needing to remember everything.
Make sure to have your own bank account in your name only if you don't.
Credit card with good rewards ( capital one cards are really good). Just pay it off each month. But you get those first 30 extra days which is good (positive working capital).
Don't be afraid to buy used. Especially glasses, plates, cook ware. They older the better. Almost all our furniture is used. We have an old Peruvian church door as a coffee table. A huge sectional leather couch. Lamps etc. Got most of it for under 2k. Find the rich neighborhoods and go to thrift stores around there. Not the big chains if you can find them.
First aid kit (bandaids, gauze, hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol)
Small sewing kit to fix clothes
Scissors
Renters insurance
SLC may be less prone to disaster scenarios than most places, but stockpile and rotate some water, and think about a hand-powered (or gravity-powered) filter option just in case something does happen and you have a 'boil water' notice. Often there's no power to boil the water when those notices come out, at least from my experience in Oregon wildfires.
Have 4 litres of water available for every day. When I lived in Central America, I saved a few dozen 2- and 3-litre bottles for water storage. Two weeks worth of drinking water can make life feel a lot more reasonable when things get weird.
Plug for life straws - no power needed just human straw action to filter.
If itâs your first time living truly alone, be prepared that you might feel very lonely the first couple of days. Like, âquestioning the decision to move outâ-lonely. When I moved out, I was SO ready for it⊠had been longing for it for years. Yet, the first night alone.. I felt soooo lonely and âon my ownâ that I actually cried. Despite being a âmanlyâ dude that almost never cries. Despite having friends in the neighborhood, despite being a 15 minute walk away from my parents house. It took a couple of days for that feeling to subside, and me getting to the joyful feeling of being on my own - living by my own rules etc. Iâve since heard similar stories from many others about their first couple of nights away. Itâs normal, and itâll pass quickly - but I was definitely NOT prepared for it, and no one warned me about it.
Just going to point out since I don't think anybody else has... it probably wouldn't hurt to do a little reading about Mormonism. Salt Lake City is about 50% Mormons, so it's probably going to be worth understanding the strange world of Mormons even if you aren't one yourself because chances are one of your neighbors will be as it may color your experiences. Especially if you are a woman.
When I moved away from my parents I wasnât nearly as far as you, but something that really helped me out when I moved was plants. I got a few plants that were low maintenance, and the routine of taking care of them was helpful for me. I would get up early have a cup of coffee and just chat to the plants. It was a small way for me to take care of something other than myself.
Now I live with my girlfriend and I had a lapse of time without plants, but Iâm getting back into it and itâs the same feeling as I had before.
Take the habit to always have some prepared meals you can freeze for the days you don't feel like cooking.
Don't let chores go undone for too long, make sure to do the dishes and all the basic stuff before going to bed.
Always keep the essentials you'll need for sick days: chicken broth, rice, electrolytes, toilet paper, a bucket, a waterproof quilted pad for the bed (you will definitely not feel in shape to change your entire bedding sheets if you trusted the wrong fart while sick)
Prepare some small tasks in advance before going to bed: choose your clothes for tomorrow, set up the coffee maker so that it brews before you get up, etc. Be nice to future-you.
Set up routines:
After a few weeks, you wonât even think about these things, youâll just do them. Be as minimalist as possible to avoid clutter.
I guess itâs just important to me to have things look tidy. I feel shitty if things are messy. Maybe others might have that same response, even if unconsciously. Everyoneâs different of course, so ymmv.
Talk with locals about their preferred handyman or mechanic. If something does go wrong you will want to know who is more trusted or reasonably priced. A lot of the better ones don't need to do much for advertising their business and the ones that pay for more or bigger ads are generally going to cost you more and might not be well run businesses with happy workers.
Enjoy yourself! I moved out at 18 and moved in together with my SO when we were 24. By the time I was 28 I spent some time abroad alone, and it felt like a second chance to âmove outâ all over. It was awesome. I love exploring new places and do not mind being alone one bit. I quickly found a barber where a lot of people would hang out, and even though it was only a buzzcut, I would spent a couple of hours there and just listen to the conversations. I would go have brunch somewhere on the weekends, watch loads of movies I had written down but never had time for and Iâd hang out with coworkers. It really was one of the best times of my life, just having almost no obligations and being in full control of my weekends. I worked out a lot too and just was way more social than I usually am. To me itâs liberating to break free from the daily routines.
Don't get a place too big.
Learn to fix things.
I renting on move in day take pictures put them on a flash drive and mail to yoruself and keep it sealed. Use as evidence later.
Enjoy your space. Personalize it howeve ryou want. Its yours.
Ditto when you move out: take picture of the place after you've cleaned it all up, maybe with an up to date news paper front page with date as well. Bad landlords / building managers will claim you destroyed the place or didn't clean and withhold / reduce deposit.
As for personalization, make sure you read through the rental agreement: some of them won't allow you to paint or change drapes or put up posters or have plants. đ
And again read the agreement: if you try to fix a clogged drain and it doesn't work and they have to bring in someone else you might get blamed. If the agreement says they fix things for sure let them fix things. -- but for personal belongings absolutely learn to sew a little bit and hot glue and small things go a long way.
Get a small UPS to keep internet for power outages!
Not sure I follow with the fiber? I have cable and the UPS powers the modem, computer running my router, computer running proxmox, 50 port poe switch running my APs for WiFi. Get about 20-30 minutes. Obviously that won't work for long power outages, but where I live they usually don't last more a couple minutes.
Ah interesting. I have no competition so it's just Comcast or ATT (garbage). While I hate Comcast, the service has been mostly rock solid.
Utilities for sure, but before you do any of that, find out where the fuse box is!
It may seem obvious, but as someone who has moved a lot in the past, I have been in flats where finding the fuse box was really difficult, and I had to run out and ask a neighbour. If you live alone you need to ask your landlord straight away or search for it, so you know what to do if a fuse pops.
And similarly, locate and test all of the water shutoff valves. Each sink and toilet should have their own. There should also be a master valve to shut off water to the whole place (and, if itâs a house, likely a second master for all outside). Make sure they all can be turned smoothly and actually shut off the water; a stuck valve is not a fun surprise when your home is getting flooded.