I feel like most people’s first time living on their own is when they live in a college dorm for their first year. Then after that they go to an apartment or back home. Then if they’re lucky, they’ll move into a house. I moved into an apartment after living with roommates all through college and wanting a break from living with other people. If you’re considering moving into an apartment or want tips about apartment life, this is for you. This post may contain affiliate links. Read my policy here if you’d like. Step 1: Finding an Apartment I started looking at apartments about 3 months in advanced of when I wanted to move. This was way too early, because apartments change their prices often so the apartments I looked at couldn’t give me an accurate rate or guarantee vacancy when I actually wanted to move. I think 30-60 days is the most accurate because that’s how many days people have to give their vacancies. I don’t regret looking that early because I was able to figure out what area I wanted to live in. When looking I made a list of some of the features I was looking for:
Step 2: Moving Because I was the primary roommate in my previous living arrangements, I didn’t need any furniture which was nice. I already had a bed, bathroom decor, kitchen supplies, etc. Some items needed to be replaced but that wasn’t a big deal. The not so nice part was I lived on the second floor and the apartment didn’t have an elevator so my parent’s and I definitely got our workout in. Step 3: Decorating the ApartmentI decided early on that I didn’t want to do anything too crazy. A lot of the color in my apartment came from flowers my now husband would bring me and decor that didn’t have to be hung up which made moving easier. I hung up a couple things with command strips. In addition to command strips, I had 2 over the door hangers to hang up stuff in my cleaning closet and in my room. I also had 2 peg boards for my office/streaming area. I seriously can’t hype those up enough. They let you have so much flexibility in storing / displaying items. If you’re looking for apartment decor or kitchen supplies and you want to support the blog, I've got you. Over the Door Hangers I mentioned over the door hangers as a great way to add extra storage without drilling holes. I don't know your personal style so I have two options for you. Option one has one big and two small hooks and comes in lots of color options. Option two has one big and one small hook and also comes in lots of colors. Stair Climbing Cart Because I lived in an apartment with no elevator I invested in one of these to haul up groceries after I dropped a carton of eggs and broke a few. This was back when eggs were ~$6-8 a carton for the crappy eggs. I can't hype it up enough. It folds away so it'll fit in a closet or in the back of your car. Command Strips One of my hacks for making Command Strips work is making sure you have the right weight for the object you're hanging up. So if you need to hang up something ~15 pounds: use these. If you're looking to hold up posters or things that are super light, use these. If you need a hook attachment type, these ones are good for 3lbs items. If you need to hold a little bit more but don't want a hook attachment, these work well. These ones are for ~20lbs heavy items. This one has a hook and can hold ~7lbs. This one has multiple options that are all water resistant for any bathroom needs. Bathroom Essentials Speaking of the bathroom, under the sink storage that rolls out is awesome! You can find exactly what you need when you need it. Need towels? These ones come in a few colors, are 100% cotton, and come in several sizes as a set. Everyone should own a med kit, I can't tell you how many times my cat has scratched me or I cut myself shaving. Kitchen Essentials There are so many guides for what to buy for kitchen essentials. I think bowls like these are a good start. I like that they have lids and come in a few colors to match your aesthetic. Little by little, I'm trying to be better when in comes to holistic living so you know I gotta recommend wooden cooking utensils. Another one I'm going to recommend is a diffuser so that your house can smell good without candles which you can't leave alone. I liked dish mats over dish racks because you can fold them up and put them away and get some counter space back. This one comes in a few colors. These oven mitts come in several colors and are essential for taking anything out of the oven. Decor Options One of the fun things about living on your own is you can decorate and find your own decor style. There's a lot of interior home designers who will give you all kinds of advice. I like the idea of having a color scheme for your home and then you can mix and match patterns and neutrals within your home. These posters come in a few colors and as a set which makes them look cohesive. If none of those fit your style, these all have a floral theme but not all of them are girly. If you like a more beach-y vibe, you might like one of these options. Is your vibe more western or farmhouse-y? You should check these posters out. I'm not super western but the Highland cows one is super cute. If you don't like posters, why not try out a mirror set? What Apartment Life Was LikeIt’s very quiet. So I got back into YouTube video creation. I would come home from work and make video after video. Never tried editing but I learned how to set up a stream. I posted a video every weekend for about a month. I also got back into TikTok and posted every day. Then I adopted a cat and she made my life less quiet and gave me evening and morning snuggles. It’s kinda lonely. Every month the apartment would have a pancake breakfast and I would volunteer in an effort to get to know the people around me. I took their free consultation to learn how to lift gym equipment properly. I invited more friends over for dinner and to hangout. I made friends with some of the staff and started conversations with my neighbors. I went and volunteered at a weekly church group to meet and hangout with people closer to my age. That got me a boyfriend turned husband. It’s easy to take care of. Cleaning up took about an hour because there’s not a lot of space. If you’re the tidy roommate there’s also not a lot of mess to clean up because you’re not cleaning up after other people. Step 4: Moving Out I don’t think my move out experience is the standard experience. A month before my move out date, my apartment underwent new management. All of the staff were let go. The new lease I was going to get didn’t come. The new management were in over their heads with no real answers on any of the big questions people had. So I moved out before my original lease was up after much back and forth with the apartment and moved into a house where I never looked back. If you’re moving out, make sure you get everything in writing with your apartment. If you have an in-person meeting, send an email receipt. I pray your move out experience is not as chaotic and stressful as mine was. Is getting an apartment worth it? As much as I enjoyed my time in an apartment, I would say being a homeowner is so much better. An apartment is temporary, a house you own is forever that gets cheaper to own over time. I look back and think of all the money I was paying for my apartment vs if I had moved back in with my parents or continued living with roommates how much I could have saved for a downpayment on another house or literally anything else. My apartment cost about 2.5-3 times the cost of what I’m paying on my mortgage per month. Granted, I have a husband who pays for half of the mortgage but the apartment is still about 1.5 times more expensive compared to the total mortgage and other costs. The best part about a house is I can decorate however I want. If I want to add my own amenities like a home gym, I can do that. If I want to hang something up, I can put as many holes in the walls as I please. I don’t have quiet hours. A spouse is the best roommate because they also own the house so they put forth effort to take care of it. How do I build my credit? In order to get a house, you’ll want to build your credit for lower mortgage rates. Some people think they can do this in an apartment by just paying their bills but my husband was a former mortgage loan officer and that’s not true. To actually build your credit, get a credit card. Any one will do because it’s your first. I opted for one that gave me cash back versus travel points because I didn’t do much traveling back then. #grindyears. If you hate credit cards or grew up on Dave Ramsey like I did, I would highly recommend only using it for one category and paying it back as you use it. I chose to use it only for gas. It’s something I was going to pay for anyway, now I get to build my credit too. Next you’ll want to sign up with a site like Credit Karma so you can estimate your current credit score. They’ll tell you how often it goes up but they are just an estimate. I hope this blog post was helpful and informative. If you like this post, share with someone you know who is looking to move out soon and comment down below what you think on the apartment vs house debate. I’ll see you in the next post!
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