Moving out tips

Congratulations again! This is huge for you!

@CALICO and @balooga have given great advice, and I'll second everything they've said. Especially the toilet paper! Make it the first thing you unpack, for the comfort of yourself and anyone helping you move. Getting stranded is the absolute worst. I'll also add handsoap, a hand towel, and cups to the top of that list. Wanting a refreshing drink of water at your new place, only to realize that your cups are in the bottom of a box shoved behind six others, is no fun.

With regards to the actual act of moving itself, there's the adage "many hands make light work," and it's the absolute truth. Recruit friends or family members to help you, bribe them with food and drinks, and make a day of the event. Trying to do everything yourself or with a single helper is exhausting and difficult, especially if you have any bulky items (e.g. furniture).

Moving also has a way of making you see your possessions in a different light. For example, I love books, but I absolutely abhor moving books. They're heavy as hell. Every time I move them I realize I haven't touched most of them since the last move. They feel like deadweight, which pains me to say, but it's the absolute truth, especially in the moments when you're carrying your twelfth overloaded box of them up three flights of stairs.

Now is a good chance to simplify your life and get rid of things you don't really need. Declutter and trim the fat. Now that computers are commonplace, it's easy to hoard things digitally, as data doesn't take up space, is weightless, and transports easily. For items that are sentimental but useless, take pictures of them for your memories and then leave the item behind (or get rid of it). It's usually not the item itself that matters but your associations with it that give it meaning. A picture is an easy, effortless way to hold onto that meaning.

When I got my first apartment I didn't have a lot of money and bought the cheapest versions of everything. Cheap pans. Cheap vacuum. Cheap everything. Naturally, you get what you pay for, and I ended up having to replace everything over the next few years. If you have the means, it's worth buying better quality items of things you know you will use over whatever's cheapest. That said, if those are out of reach, the cheapest will get the job done.

The corollary here is to only buy what you'll actually use. It's easy to get into an apartment and feel the urge to fill the space. It's also easy to get tempted by all of the kitchen gadgets out there when you start cooking for yourself. It's easy to get the urge to start a collection of something or a new hobby that expects you to buy a bunch of different stuff to support it. If these things "spark joy" for you, then go for them, but know that it's totally fine to have a spartan living space, and it's totally fine to have vacant corners, walls, and even rooms. In fact, the less furniture and stuff you have, the easier it will be to clean!

I have a preventative rule that greatly helps cleaning: minimize surface area. Consider a flat desk. You can wipe it free of dust in seconds. Effortlessly. Now imagine one or two tchotchkes on the desk. Not only do you have to either move them or wipe around them to clean the desk, but now they have surfaces which will also collect dust. You've just increased your cleaning time significantly by having to deal with their added irregularity! Now imagine that you've filled the surfaces of your home with decorative items and other assorted cruft. Think of how much more effort it will be to keep things clean! Simplicity and minimalism aren't just nice philosophy -- they're also time savers.

That's not to say don't make the space yours. Some people absolutely love amassing items that give their spaces a certain feeling. If that's your style, go for it! As @CALICO put beautifully, follow your bliss! I've just found that, in my experience, any items I would put up became "invisible" after a time, once I got used to them, so I stopped getting the aesthetic pleasure of their presence. They then just became obstacles to cleanliness and organization. I deliberately made my new home much more minimal after my last move, and I am loving that aspect of it.

I don't know what to tell you about turkey, but as someone who's moved every 2 years max within europe for the past 14 years:

• Know what your backup plan/safety net is if you run out of money. Knowing your parents can always take you back in is a great way to feel safe living on your own.
• if you can afford it, paying your rent 1 year in advance is a fantastic way to have your landlord like you a lot, treat you well, as well as get a discount (Shaving 10-15% off the asking price, maybe more if the house is overpriced in the first place). If you do get a discount, this can end up carrying over at the end of the year when you switch to monthly payments.
• Don't get a lease that lasts more than a year. Don't get stuck somewhere. You don't know what your life will be like a year from now.
• Set aside at least 1000-1500 EUR you're ready to spend on misc purchases as you move in. Things you didn't know you needed, especially if you're moving into an unfurnished appartment. If you can't afford that, you'll have to plan your move very carefully.
• Find a roommate if possible to share the rent, but only move in with them if you can trust them. A friend you've known for a long time if possible.
• Moving in with a girlfriend/boyfriend: Have an exit plan if the relationship goes to shit. This needs to be agreed upon by both parties ahead of time. If this is not a talk you're ready to have, this is not a step in your relationship you're ready to take.
• Buy some canned/long-term goods when you move in. Pasta, rice, canned beans, frozen pizzas, frozen veggies, flour, salt, sugar, some spices, oil, canned tuna/salmon… This is great food to have as backup if you run out either through bad planning or if you run out of money for whatever reason.
• Take a few minutes when you move in to make a video of the house the day you move in, with your phone. Make sure any issues (stains on the wall/carpeting, cracks, holes, etc) are very visible. This is in case your landlord starts lying about (or simply misremembering) the state of the house when your lease ends.

My go-to advice for moving to your first place is make sure you have a shower curtain! And towels, soaps, bathmat, etc., not packed away in box somewhere but easy to get to. Figuring out what to do in your first 48 hours is bewildering enough but it's a lot worse if you can't bathe. I was so preoccupied with the big-picture logistics that I completely neglected the immediate stuff.

Toilet paper too.

Here's what I've learned from 10+ moves

• If you haven't used the object since your last move, donate it or throw it out. If this is your first move, anything that hasn't been used in 2-3 years should be considered for donation/trash.
• Move your clothes in trash bags. As a bonus, you can use them as actual trash bags after you've unloaded them.
• Stuff that goes in the same room goes in the same box; things don't necessarily need to be more organized than that
• If you don't have moving boxes, you can often find them for free. Anything above "medium" sized is usually too large to be very useful and annoying to carry
• Invite all of your friends to help the physical move, offer them free food and beer. Let them know there's no pressure to come and you're just reaching out to make it a bit easier. Even if they can only help you in the city you're currently in, it helps a lot.
• Find out where the closest grocery store, general store, hardware store, and restaurants are... you'll probably be relying on them in the first week or so
• If you feel like there's something you need that isn't absolutely essential, try living without it for a week before buying it. You can use that time to do some research on what the best version of this item is within your budget. Better to buy something mid-range that will last awhile than something cheap that you'll replace every year.
• Take pictures of everything in the apartment when you move in and again when you move out. All floors, windows, doors, walls, appliances, kitchen, etc.

Here are some tips that apply to England. Not all of these will make sense outside of England.

1. Learn what type of tenancy agreement you have, and what rights it gives you and what responsibilities you have under it. A tenancy agreement is a legal contract and some people have considerable trouble because they don't understand what they've signed.

2. Take lots of photos of the property and the items in the property on the day you move in. You want to keep a detailed catalogue of the condition of the property as it was on the day you moved in. This helps avoid arguments about deposits when you move out. Check the inventory, and query anything that doesn't seem right.

3. Take photos of the utility meters. Make sure when you open an account with the utility provider that they're using the correct readings to start from, and that they're using the correct meters. Take meter readings every couple of months to make sure you're paying for what you use.

4. Learn about the refuse and recycling bins. What is or isn't taken; where are the bins kept; do they have to be moved from that place to somewhere else to be collected; is there a rota for doing this?

5. BUDGET!! Don't get behind on rent, or bills, or taxes. In general pay your rent first, then taxes, then bills, then food, then everything else. There doesn't seem to be one best method that works for everyone. Some people like bullet journals or envelope budgeting or setting up direct debits. Find what works for you. @Algernon_Asimov makes a good point about paying bills when you get paid. You may find that paying a little bit more than you need to each time gives you a buffer against times when you have no income. You'll also need to try to save a bit of emergency money.

6. Emergency stuff. Make sure the smoke detectors and fire alarms work. If you have gas appliances (like a gas cooker) make sure it has a safety certificate. Consider buying fire extinguishers and keeping them maintained. Plan an evacuation route: how will you leave the property if there's a fire? Get some torches and a radio and some batteries and keep them in an easy to find place.

7. Work out a good cleaning routine. I cope better doing a small amount very often rather than a big clean up once a day. Other people like to have quite a rigid schedule.

Budget, budget, budget!

Know your income. Know your expenses. Don't spend more than you earn. It sounds simple, but it's not.

Where possible, pre-pay your expenses and smooth them out. For example, many people get paid every week or every two weeks, but many bills arrive only once per month. Imagine your phone bill is €60 per month and you get paid every two weeks. If you pay your phone bill when it arrives, then you lose €60 from this pay, while you lose nothing from your next pay (between bills), then you lose €60 from the pay after that, and so on. Every second pay, you pay €60 on your phone bill, and every other pay, you pay nothing.

What ends up happening is that your regular predictable income becomes irregular and unpredictable. "This pay I only have €440 to spend, but last pay I had €500!" How can you budget when your disposable income keeps changing?

Instead, pay part of your bill every time you get paid. If you get paid every two weeks, then pay half your monthly bill every payday: pay €30 every pay. If you get paid every week, pay a quarter of your monthly bill every payday: pay €15 every pay. Start this before the first bill, so by the time the first bill comes in you've already paid 2x €30 or 4 x €15 = €60, and your bill is paid by the time it arrives.

Do this for every bill: electricity, phone, internet, gas, water, etc. You can even ask to pay your rent in line with your pay cycles: weekly or two-weekly, rather than monthly.

This has multiple benefits:

• It gets your bills paid. Don't fall behind on bills. Once you fall behind, it's very very hard to catch up again. You'll end up using the money for this month's bills to pay last month's bills - but then you have to pay this month's bill next month, which means next month's bills won't get paid... and the cycle goes on forever.

• It smooths out your expenses, so that you have the same left-over money every pay. Having a predictable amount of money left over every pay is very helpful when it comes to buying food and paying for travel costs and spending on entertainment.

I speak from hard-learned experience. Keep up with your bills. Smooth them out. Stay on top of your finances. Be proactive, rather than reactive.

Congratulations! A few things I learned over the years after moving out:

• learn to cook, if you your parents are good cooks, ask them not only for recipes but to go home and cook the dishes with them. Lots of experiences and you learn to make food you already are familiar with.
• I always buy my friends a copy of the "The Joy of Cooking" as a housewarming gift, along with toilet paper and lightbulbs.. it's a great book and i'm sure there's something similar in Turkey.
• roommates are great until they are not. Do it for the experience, savings, and having other people around.. but some day you'll have had enough and move on.
• did I mention learning to cook? Well, that also requires learning to buy food and not have it go to waste. Don't buy more fresh stuff than you need for a day or two. Once you've got experience you can plan things out longer.
• set a routine! Especially if you work from home, make sure to get up at a regular time, get outside, go check out those third-places (what a wonderful term!)
• budget. yep, I failed at that many times. The envelope system works well.
• it's your space! Decorate it any way you want ;-)
• invite friends over often.. it helps keep the place clean and is great for your mental health. Don't be shy to make it pot-luck (each person brings some food/drinks to share), don't be shy to ask folks to being chairs etc.. my parents tell me that when I was very little their apartment was so small they had get togethers out in the street, and friends were told to bring chairs, plates etc.. as they only had enough for themselves ;-)

All the best from Canada!

I'm going to assume you're male. If so:

• Sit when you pee.

Get used to it. It's what real men do. Why? Toilets get dirty waaaaaaaay less quickly. Even if you aim well. There's spray. There's splash-back. Sit down. Relax. Clean less often and/or with less scrubbing necessary. Someone gave me this tip when I had just gotten my own first apartment, been happy with the habit ever since. Your future partner will be, too.

#1. Buy a good vacuum. Spend the extra cash and get a good one instead of buying five $45-$100 ones.

#2. Enjoy!