When you finally go off to college, there will be many things that you will be experiencing for the first time. Living on your own will be one of those things.
Here are some tips that you may want to keep in mind to make it as easy and as enjoyable as possible.
Stick to a Budget
One behaviour that is essential to living on your own and that will also help you later in life creating a budget. You need to sit down and figure out how much money you have coming in and how much you are spending. If you are spending every dime that you bring in, then you are essentially broke all of the time. There are many apps that you can use to help you with designing a budget that works for you.
Think About the Future
If you are going to college, you obviously need a way to pay for it. After using all of the free money options available to you, such as grants and scholarships, most of your classmates will choose to take out student loans backed by the government. However, you are much smarter than that, right? Try going the private student loan route instead. If you start your application today, you are entering a world of more flexible payment options, potentially better interest rates, and a hidden gem of developing a relationship with a private lender that you can leverage when you need money for other things such as an automobile or a home.
Learn to Cook at Least a Little
You can't eat out all of the time as a college student. While having a pizza night here and there is fine, go about learning how to cook a few simple dishes such as spaghetti or tacos. You can save a ton of money by cooking at home and the great thing is the more you do it, the better you become at it.
Get a Credit Card
While most may tell you to shy away from getting a credit card, at some point in life you are going to need to have one. Learning how to use a credit card responsibly is the best way to help cultivate a good credit history. The simple act of knowing how to be financially responsible will open up many doors to you that may otherwise be closed.
Doing Laundry
If your parents have been doing your laundry all of your life, now is the time to grow up and learn how to wash your own clothes. The main thing to remember is to separate your colours and that most things can be washed in cold water. Most people can simply separate darks from whites and be done with it. Some may want to separate light colours from dark colours but honestly, this isn't necessary. Wash your underwear and whites (if you are using bleach) in hot water as this gives an extra boost to getting rid of germs and keeps your whites white. Everything else can be washed in cold water.
