How to Live Alone Happily: Part 1

The Planning Stage

“The Only Constant in Life Is Change.”- Heraclitus

Are you planning to live alone? Whether you are moving to a new city or somewhere familiar, establishing a new life away from your childhood home is quite difficult. Whatever the reason may be for your move, you should prepare yourself for the upcoming challenges.

Having moved out in 2016, I have a few insights that will definitely help you learn how to live alone happily and make your experience much smoother.

Have you traveled alone before?

Don’t worry, you can successfully create a ‘Home away from Home’ in a new place even if you haven’t done anything like this.

Managing Everything Alone

Most of us don’t have to think about stuff like clean clothes, food, buying groceries, etc when we are living with our parents. There are several tasks that are mandatory for the upkeep of a human being / an individual; the following is the list of some of those things:

• Maintenance & Hygiene

• Of self: In order to maintain our health and not repel others, it is important that we keep ourselves clean. Below mentioned activities are some of the most essential regular tasks that a person must perform;
• Bathing
• Cutting nails
• Cleaning your ears
• Brushing your teeth
• Washing your hair
• Of surroundings: It is almost as important as keeping your body clean that you maintain a certain level of hygiene in your flat/room or your clothes/shoes. Following are some tasks that require particular attention to keep you most efficient;
• Brooming
• Mopping
• Laundry
• Dishwashing

• Finances

• Income source: You may not necessarily worry about this one if you are supported by your parents/guardian but if you are responsible for yourself, this is something you must figure out. The abundance of money is never the source of anyone’s stress but the lack of money is certainly something that brings people down.
• Budgeting: A great practice for everyone is to figure out your monthly living expense in terms of all the necessary spending required to sustain a balanced life. There are many ways you can start by making a list of things that are an absolute must for you to live by for a month.
• Saving: It may seem trivial when you are young, but this habit when practiced with discipline will give you some major return on investment in the long run.
• Investing: This does not have to be money-wise, you can invest in learning new skills to help you advance your career or even some basic skills like negotiation, persuasion, etc to help you maximize your life’s experiences.
• Tax filing: Daunting/Boring/Scary and many more such adjectives can be associated with this particular task and I get it. We live in a community of people, and filing your taxes on time will improve your credibility in society as a contributing member valuable to the government. Filing your taxes also helps you increase your CIBIL score, something you may use later in your life.
• Health/life insurance: You cannot really safeguard yourself from unforeseen health problems. Looking at the way things are progressing, it is recommended that you ensure a financial cushion in moments of distress by investing in a health insurance plan suitable for you and your family’s needs.

• Fuel/food

• Cooking: You can’t eat every meal of your day outside as the food you intake impacts your life in many profound ways. At some point, you will realize this yourself so when you are on your own, the sooner you start preparing food for yourself the better.
• Grocery shopping: An actual grocery list for any person is not just Maggi and snacks, make sure you take in a balanced diet.

• Health and wellness

• Working out: It is a personal choice to be honest but it can change your life for better (if you develop a sustainable routine)
• Healthy and balanced diet: Now that you will be on your own, it is crucial that you keep an eye out for yourself by taking the right care for your body and providing it the essential nutrients to flourish. We can’t have you falling sick often.
• Meditating/mindset: Again, it is a personal choice but you will notice that with everything going on in your life you may need something to provide you the sense of calm and help you reset your mindset to that of a winner.

Living Alone Can Be a Blessing in Disguise

Most of the things mentioned in the list above are crucial if you want to survive on your own; you have to step up your game if you wish to thrive also. 

Stay tuned for part 2 of this series to learn about the most common challenges faced by people living alone and how to deal with them.