5 Important Skills You Learn From Living Alone

Living alone has its own pros and cons. Sometimes it's boring, but at the same time you have as much silence as you need and nobody scolds you for playing music too loud. But living alone isn't only fun, because you have to learn new essential skills for the life as an adult.

#1 You learn planning. Planning is the most important thing that you need to learn. Well, it doesn't happen overnight, but eventually you will understand what you need to plan and what it requires. Are you planning your first vacation? Then you need to think about the destination, means of traveling there, where you stay. And, of course, it requires saving money. This was an example of big plans, but there are also smaller plans, like your weekly supply of food, how much you can spend this month, so you don't have to ask your parents to help you pay bills etc.

#2 You learn cooking. There's nobody for you to cook now, so you have to take care of yourself. Well, you can eat at local restaurants, but it will cost you a fortune, so start cooking. As a beginner, you can start from something as simple as fried eggs or mashed potatoes, then proceed to something more difficult, like soups. Also remember, that now you're in charge of shopping at the grocery store, that's why plan (see, how it's important) what you will cook and buy ingredients you need. And don't throw away any leftovers, it's totally fine to containerize them and put into fridge to make sandwiches tomorrow. Or you can freeze leftovers and use them any time when you're hungry and have no time to cook.

#3 You learn to value money. Now, when you work and live alone, you start to value money better, because there's no one to ask for extra pocket money. Your family may require your help, that's why you start counting every penny and you will think twice before buying that expensive dress that you need just to impress others.

#4 You learn to keep your house clean. You never know when your friends will come to see you, that's why you need to keep your house clean. No more mess and waiting till your mom cleans up. And do you know what? Now you have an extra item to consider when creating your budget: cleaners. There are lots of them, and many of them you'd never thought of.

#5 You learn taking care of yourself, and maybe others. Living alone means that now you're in charge of everything, and if you don't do that, nobody will do that. Nobody will wake you up, if you snooze the alarm, nobody will prepare your breakfast and nobody will motivate you for the morning exercise. And there is nobody to entertain you in the evening when you come home, and that's the time when you think about buying a pet. Having a cat or a dog and taking care of it on your own will discipline you and you will become more responsible. But think twice before doing that, because if you hardly have enough money to feed yourself, will you be able to feed your pet and give it the care it needs?