Moving Out

If you have to move across town, here are some tips and ideas about how to pack and move:

1. Determine the date, and recruit help. If you have friends or family with a pick up truck, ask for their help. Be sure to mention gas money and that you will buy pizza or feed them in some way. If needed, reserve a rental truck. Check around, sometimes local companies are cheaper!

2. Gather boxes, you can get them for free usually from stores, they usually rip them up and recycle them. Inquire when the best time is to go seek them out, or if the night crew can save you some. Get a few rolls of packaging tape and black sharpie markers to label boxes. Also gather old newspapers or plastic grocery bags to pack delicate things.

3. Pack up things that aren’t needed immediately, such as decorations and baking pans. As you sort through your things and pack them, put things into black garbage bags that are unwanted and able to be donated. Set aside a designated area in your home for the boxes to gather, labeling which room they will go into and a memo of what is inside.

4. Try to not grocery shop as often, you want to only take the things necessary. Nothing is worse than unloading a freezer full of food to drive across town or half way across the state with.

5. As the date gets closer, leave out things that are needed immediately, but pack the rest. I would set aside a duffel bag with a change of clothes and pjs, contact lenses, face wash and lotion, shampoo and body wash, a towel and hand cloth, medications, and Tylenol. This bag will go into the cab of the truck with a blanket and pillow so if anything goes wrong, you will at least be safe and comfortable.

6. Before moving anything in, take a quick video or pictures to record the condition of the place as you are moving in. As friends move your boxes and things into the rooms, try to have a designated area for all of the boxes to go into coordinating rooms. For instance, all things labeled for the kitchen should get stacked up in the dinning area.

7. After you have moved everything and it is the first night in your new place, take time to relax. Make up a bed and get comfortable. I would recommend taking some Tylenol if you are in pain or swelling anywhere from the strain of moving, apply something cold to any painful joints.

8. Take your time unpacking, it isn’t a race. I usually try to accomplish one room at a time. I like to clean the bathroom and unpack that first. I then usually will clean out all of the kitchen cupboards and disinfect the fridge. As you go through each room, make note of the condition if renting.

So one of the many life events for a growing young adult is moving out of their parent’s home. It depends where in life you are, but you will need to sort and move your belongings. As you begin to look around your childhood or dorm room, what should you take with you? There are so many memories of things that you don’t use on a daily basis, but they take up space.

For a childhood room, sort your clothes out. Set aside any clothes that don’t fit right or you have no intentions to wear again. If they have so much meaning you should consider making a blanket with them. Only take things that will be practical! Try to fill a plastic storage box with only the most meaningful memories, that will be stored easily.

Talk with your parents, they may wish to keep your things elsewhere and use the room for another use, such as a guest room or office. If they wish for you to keep it as your room, put things away. If there are things that are useless and meaningless, you should toss or recycle them. Keep out pictures of yourself and a few friends in frames on a desk or dresser, but put away the collage of friends taped up to the wall. If there are lots of items that are cluttering the dresser, desk, or bookshelf, pack them away in a box in the closet. I would empty the dresser drawers so anyone spending the night will have a place to put clothes away.

If moving from a dorm room, you should empty the space of all your belongings. When you get to your destination, you should get rid of anything that is not useful. Try to find a place for everything in your space after emptying all boxes, weather renting a room in a house or unpacking in your first apartment. If you have too many things, consider priorities of space and belongings. One of life’s lessons is that space and time are always expensive. Also remember that you can find scholarships for graduate school after moving out of state.

Moving in with a significant other is a huge step. It can be a great step for a relationship, or it can ruin a relationship. And if you are buying a home together it can put even more pressure on the relationship.

Be sure to talk about money without arguing. If you are adult enough to move in together, you should be able to speak like adults and not fight over finances.

Open a joint checking account to pay house bills together if you feel it is appropriate. My friend and her husband both have their own separate accounts, but they transfer a set amount of money into their joint account for house bills and into their joint savings for Christmas gifts. Then they use their separate accounts for their own car payments and credit card payments and spending money.

Have equal trust in your partner. If you expect there to be certain amount of money in a joint account to pay bills, it should be there. People don’t like to feel like they’ve been burned, so keep up your end of the bargain.

Share your credit report with one another. It is a good sign that you can both sit down and discuss your past, present, and future finances together. This is even more important if buying a home together as a negative credit score can impact your purchasing power together as a couple. Also if there are any negative marks on your credit, discuss plans on how to remedy them.

Ensure that you are both paying bills on time. It’s a good feeling to know that your potential housemate has the same attitude towards getting bills paid on time.

Talk about the future. What are your plans for the future, all the way until retirement and death? This will also ensure both parties are committed to the relationship. Sometimes it’s easy to think about the short term future, but things get serious when you discuss how long you intend on being with the person. You may not desire to marry them at the moment, but consider the future!

How do they handle a financial crisis? This is important in knowing that your future partner and housemate will handle something. It’s a great sign when they re-evaluate their spending and determine how to fix the situation.

One of the best places to shop and save some money is the dollar store. After paying rent and tuition to Western Governors University, I have little money left to spend on things for my household. Here is how to save some money and navigate the local dollar store:

Get to know prices because as you shop at your local dollar store you may not be getting the best prices. For example, I found toilet paper at Big Lots, 12 rolls for $5. At Wal-Mart I found Angel Soft for $5.99 for 24 rolls. Be sure you are checking local ads too; sometimes Kroger has great sales on milk.

Check the expiration dates so you are buying products that have a proper shelf life. You don’t want to purchase food or medicine and discover at home that it has expired and waste your money. While it is the store’s responsibility to pull expired merchandise off shelves, it only takes a minute for you to look over the item before tossing it into the shopping cart.

Use coupons on name brand items. There are many ways to look for coupons, including newspapers. Other places I’ve found coupons are on coupons websites, product company’s websites, or corporate websites.

Sometimes you get what you pay for when it comes to quality of cleaning products. I have found many of the cleaning products to use twice as much or are totally ineffective from the dollar store, therefore costing me more money. Use a coupon when you can to purchase name brand products that are effective.

Save money as you can by purchasing health and beauty items from the dollar store. There are some items that are wonderful quality as EmilyNoel83 demonstrates. Be sure again to check expiration dates on lotions and medications, especially sunscreen.

Look around the store for other things that you may need for your house. There is usually a wide variety such as kitchen gadgets, clothing, bathroom accessories, office supplies, auto care, and much more. Keep an open mind and be willing to explore to save money.

How do you get along with a roommate? Here are some ideas on how to make this an easy living situation.

Respect is the most important. You need to respect the rules set up, each other as a person, and one another’s property.

Communicate what is acceptable and is limited. Discuss if borrowing clothes, CDS or DVDs is ok. If you can, put a lock on your door as well so you can prevent theft.

Discuss food arrangements. You may want to only purchase food for yourself, or you may want to share in the cost of food and share meals. The arrangement that works well for my friends is they take turns setting up a menu for the week and share in the cost of diner. There are 16 girls living in their sorority house so it works well for everyone to pitch in, and worry about themselves for the rest. They all have their own cupboards with locks that contain their dishes and food, the main pantry cabinet and fridge is for shared food intended for dinners. They also have small fridges in their rooms for food they wish to not share.

Clean up after yourself. It is common curtsey to keep your place clean for yourself and roommates. One friend and her roommates spend Sunday nights together cleaning the common areas. They set a timer for a half hour and together clean the entire house. Make sure you do your share of taking out the trash as needed, and tossing your spoiled food.

Follow through with obligations. If you gave your word to do something, don’t drag your feet. Get it done to prevent friction between you and your roommate. If bills are due, make sure they are paid. One person is in charge of collecting the bill money from everyone at the sorority house.

Just putting a little effort will make you and your roommates lives easier and happier.

Once you have moved in, what are the first things you should buy? While you can buy many things new, it’s cheaper to purchase used when possible. It’s not easy, even for someone working on their online master’s degree. There is a balance between saving money and sacrificing time searching for used items that one needs to determine which is more important.

Pots and pans are necessary for any stovetop cooking. You’ll also need a strainer to drain water out of cooked pasta, I like the ones that collapse and save space. You can find random pots and pans at garage sales or at a resale shop, or purchase a whole set of pans with matching lids. I find this the easier route to save time. A set of dishes can be cheaper to purchase at garage sales, and it provides an eclectic set of dishes; silverware is easy to find too. As you cook, you will uncover other things that you will need for your kitchen, try to keep an eye out for these random things, such as a blender or mixer. Be sure to have plastic or cermaic dishes that are microwave safe.

Furniture can be easy to find at garage sales, however I would caution to watch for bad signs. You want to be sure the piece is solid and not going to fall apart soon. If it is scratched, maybe you could paint it to give it a fresh look. Also look underneath it, be aware of any signs of critters that could have damaged it. If there is any odor for a couch or mattress, consider renting a steam cleaner that will sanitize it.

Towels and linens can be easy to find at a garage sale. If there is a musty smell, add some baking soda in the washing machine and wash on cold. If no window coverings were provided, consider purchasing blinds or curtains. Shower curtains or flat sheets can be used as well, cutting the bottom as nessecary. Cut equal slits in a sheet near the top to run a curtain rod through.

Its a long process to get situated in a new apartment, especially if you are starting with nothing. Just take it slowly, start with the basics and expand your list as you need to. Some places to look include consignment shops, junk stores, freecycle, and flea markets. Your creativeness will save you money while still having a nice home.

One of the biggest pains in moving out is finding somewhere to move to. There are many resources you can utilize in finding an apartment that will meet your needs.

A friend recommended Michigan Housing Locator, saying it was the most useful for him. Other states have similar locators, such as Alaska and Ohio. Other sources to find apartments are local newspapers. They often have classifieds listed online for free so you can view the information. There is also Craigslist with options to seek out a roommate as well. One of the best tips old my friend told me was putting word out among friends. He said that everyone was keeping an eye open and letting him know of for rent signs and if there was any openings in their apartment buildings.

So now that you are gathering all of this information, how do you organize it? For my friend, using a word processor was the best method. All apartments were organized by most promising at the top. Favorites were based on location and number of bedrooms for him. Phone numbers were listed, along with detailed notes of who he called and additional information about the apartments not initially provided. As time progressed he deleted ones that would not work, and added pictures of apartments he walked through to keep his memory refreshed.

What else is included with rent? Will the landlord provide trash pickup, or shoveling? Will you have to pay for water and sewer? These will increase your monthly cost of the apartment. A tip my father provided me was to look under the bathroom and kitchen sinks; be aware of any water damage. You want to make sure that the landlord will maintain the property as necessary. If possible, ask neighbors in the building about how they enjoy the building and what it is like. You want to ensure you will be comfortable as possible in your apartment, so you should consider security and laundry options as well.

As you continue your search, feel free to add or remove apartments from your master list. When your list is narrowed down, you should ask friends for input. If you are torn between two apartments, you should consider advice from friends and family, however it is ultimately the apartment you will live in, so it should be your decision in the end.

The economy is down, leaving more and more people moving back home. While financial pressures are easier to deal with, the stress of living with family can be just as bad for some. It depends on everyone’s own individual situation on whether they should move out or stay with their parents or family. In some cultures there is an expectancy to continue to live with your spouse and children under the same roof as the people that raised you. In the upbringing I received, independence was the most important characteristics they bestowed upon me.

No matter your situation: a teenager, a community college student, a graduate student, or even beginning your career, like an embedded software engineer, you may want to move out at some point. There are things to consider, the most important for me was can I afford this? I determined that no matter what, I would get my rent paid and finally have a home to call my own. While attending school part time and working two part time jobs, I think I have done the best I could. I just take things one step at a time, while looking at the future.

The best way I approached moving out was to discuss things first with my parents. I let them know of my intentions, and they did what they could to help me prepare. I saved enough money up to pay for the first month’s rent and deposit. I also saved up for other necessities I would need, such as pans, a microwave, a couch, and much more. Once I moved into my first apartment with the bare essentials I had on hand, I asked around if anyone had things they no longer needed. My friend’s grandma gave me so many things that she had no use for. Almost everything in my first apartment was family and friend’s recycled junk that was given to me, or paid very little. I was lucky that the next weekend was Labor Day weekend, and I hit up some yard sales to supplement what I needed for an apartment. Now people are lucky to find deals on Craigslist, online newspaper’s classifieds, or online yard sales through Facebook as groups, or using the Marketplace. Once I was fully furnished, I focused on how I would pay bills and when. I used a giant calendar in the kitchen to keep track of everything, when bills were due, my work schedule, even meal plans. I also had colored markers to write things in too, red for bills, blue for schedule, green for meal ideas and such. It is much easier to plan out meals so you know ahead of time what to purchase and how much it will cost. Hope this inspires you to get thinking about the decision to move out!