Let’s face it: Adulting is hard! How can you make your life smooth-sailing when transitioning from parent-dependent to living your life on your own terms?
When you were younger, you probably felt excited about the independence of adulthood. But as you entered this stage and went off to college, you probably realized you have to include home and health responsibilities, finance management, and some organization into the equation.
It can seem overwhelming at first. Here are some tips to make adjusting easier as you handle your grown-up responsibilities.
Home
Tip 1: Clean Your Home Regularly
By regularly, I mean at least once a week. During your adulting years, you’ll experience more stress. Putting off cleaning your home will just make it worse.
Cleaning your house regularly doesn’t just make the place tidy and organized, but it also clears your mind from too many worries. Vacuuming and mopping can be even more of a hassle if you put it off for a few weeks, so make it a habit to knock it out when you clean the bathrooms, counters, and other parts of your home.
As you declutter your house, you declutter your mind as well.
Tip 2: Learn To Do Minor Home Repairs
You don’t have to be like The Fixer from Youtube. You just have to learn the very basics to fix minor damages quickly.
You’ll also get to save some money you’d otherwise need to spend on experts for doing tasks you’ll later realize are so simple to do if you just did a little bit of digging on how to do it.
Some of the things you can learn to do online are:
- Clearing gutters
- Patching small holes
- Clearing gutters
- Replacing light bulbs and light fixtures
- Replacing a blown fuse
- Turning off the main power supply if you’ll be out for a few days
- Unclogging a drain
- Plunging a toilet
- Turning off the water supply
- Replacing air filters
Tip 3: Learn Laundry and Mending Skills
Did you ever have a white shirt that turned pink after laundry? That doesn’t only happen in movies; it happens when you mix colored shirts and white ones in one wash.
Or have you tried wearing a shirt that used to fit right only to feel extra tight after it went through the dryer? It happens.
To avoid those things from happening, here are some laundry skills you need to keep in mind:
- Separate delicates, whites, and darks when washing
- Do small loads at low heat when drying clothes to avoid shrinking
- Use warm water or cool setting to prevent color bleeds
- Hang delicates when drying to keep the cloth quality intact
Moreover, you’re bound to get ripped shirts, popped buttons, or broken zippers one day. Learn to do basic sewing, button, and zipper change. There are plenty of tutorials and how-to articles out there!
Health And Wellness
Tip 4: Learn To Cook
Relying on fast food, takeouts, and deliveries isn’t just unhealthy; it bores a big hole in your pocket. I’m not saying you have to avoid those altogether; you just have to minimize depending on them by learning to cook.
You can either take a cooking class, ask your mom to teach you, download meal apps, or watch Youtube videos on meals you’d like to eat.
Tip 5: Set At Least 30 Minutes Daily For Exercise
You don’t have to get a gym membership. A short walk, 15 minutes of light stretching, or a video-guided exercise on Youtube will suffice.
As you grow older, you’ll start to feel aches here and there. Setting a few minutes of exercise a day keeps you physically agile and prevents sores you’d likely get from sitting all day.
Tip 6: Schedule Annual Doctors Appointments
Taking care of your body now will save you from serious health complications down the line.
Scheduling appointments for yearly physicals, regular teeth cleaning, and eye checkups will help you catch anything early and get it treated before it gets worse.
Finances
Tip 7: Create A Budget
Unless you have an unlimited cash inflow, you’ll need to create a budget. It’ll help you prioritize spending on the essentials and put spending on wants in place.
Spending like a king on the day you receive your pay or allowance will get you hanging by a thread weeks before the next allowance or pay arrives.
Creating a budget also allows you to allot some cash for savings to have something handy for the rainy days.
Tip 8: Save For At Least 3-6 Months Of Your Monthly Expenses
You don’t know when times will get hard. If you find yourself unexpectedly unemployed, an emergency savings fund will save you stress and potentially get you in debt.
Tip 9: Consider a Secondary Source Of Income
If your time allows for it, find another source of income. It’ll help you save larger amounts, pay off debts faster, or take a nice vacation.
Flipping burgers isn’t your only choice. If you have a creative eye, you can design comic books, magazines, or booklets then get it printed to be sold or as a portfolio to get clients. You can also do digital illustrations if you have a knack for it. Side hustles are everywhere if you look hard enough.
Tip 10: Learn A New Skill
Find a skill you’d like to develop and think of ways you can make money from it.
The digital world offers a lot of potential, and it continues to grow since the demand for it in virtually all industries increases.
Interested in photography? Learn it and create a website for it.
Always on social media? Learn social media marketing.
Want to master writing? Learn copywriting or content writing SEO for eCommerce.
If you can’t find a physical job right after graduating or want to quit your stressful 9-5 job, having an extra skill will ensure you’ll have other ways to fend for yourself.
Tip 11: Get Insurance
There are tons of types of insurance, but for adulting, the best ones to get are life insurance, medical insurance, and auto insurance. Don’t forget tuition insurance if you’re still in college and renters insurance whether you’re living on or off-campus!
Getting insurance will ensure injuries or accidental damage are covered, and you won’t be shelling out a ton of money out of pocket.
Others
Tip 12: Plan Out Every Day And Stick To It
Wait. Before you say planning and organizing is not your cup of tea, hear me out first.
You don’t have to be extra detailed about your daily, weekly, or monthly activities. That’s too overwhelming.
Just jot down the most important things you need to get done on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
You can take note of:
- Homework
- Meetings
- Regular chores
- Bills payment dues
- And important events
This way, you won’t condemn yourself for missing events, forgetting to have some broken appliance checked, or being late and unprofessional in meetings.
Creating a simple organizer or journal says a lot about your work ethic. When adulting, you always want to leave a good impression.
Tip 13: Acknowledge Your Limits
You are no superhero. Don’t spread yourself too thin by committing to too many meetups, work, and other activities.
Thinking you can do everything will only lead to burnout. When you’re adulting, the world isn’t too forgiving when you break down from exhaustion, so make sure you get enough rest by acknowledging you can only do so much.
Also, learn to say no. It’ll save you a lot of trouble in the long run.
Tip 14: Take A Break
When everything is closing down on you, take a breather. It could be a weekend drive, a few days of vacation on a beach, a visit home, or a day of hiking near nature.
Pulling away from your usual routine will help you think clearly of why you’re doing what you’re doing and get you re-energized to start your routine again.
Tip 15: Keep A Routine Maintenance Of Your Car
Your car breaking down in the middle of nowhere or the middle of a busy street will take your stress to a whole new level. Towing and repairs can be costly too.
To keep preventable breakdowns from happening, always do:
- Regular oil change
- Tire rotation/alignment
- Filter change
Like learning minor repairs in a house, you should also learn to change a flat tire. It’ll save you time waiting for somebody else to do it for you and save you money for calling on a tire expert to do this simple task.
Don’t forget about registration renewals too. The last thing you want is to pay for a ticket!
Conclusion
Adulting doesn’t have to be back-breaking ( figuratively and literally). Keeping these 15 adulting tips on your home, health and wellness, finances, and other areas will make your grown-up responsibilities worth taking, less stressful, and enjoyable.
