Moving Out

[Pinarello Rider]

Job advice: don't think you're too good to do anything. You're in college - you need to pay for stuff. Earn your keep by cleaning porta-poties if that's what you need to do. Everyone starts somewhere, and actually GETTING your hands dirty is good.

Room-mate advice. Buy a lock and use it religiously, even if you are home. Your roommates might be honest, but friends of friends can really suck. I wouldn't plan on sharing ANY food until you know your roommates really well. My junior year room-mate and I went shopping together - it seemed like we were a couple at times . But we got along really well, were both anal about similar things, and had a good time together.

I learned during my junior year that there has to be a division between fun time and school time. 1st and 2nd year there was no division - fun time started as soon as classes were over. That dog didn't hunt - I did well enough to get by, but 3rd and 4th year, school time last from when classes were over that day until about 9pm. 9pm is when the fun time starts, and it ends when classes began the next day.

Focus on one thing at a time. I'd have graduated with honors if I figured that out sooner...

 

[Neme]

Job advice: don't think you're too good to do anything. You're in college - you need to pay for stuff. Earn your keep by cleaning porta-poties if that's what you need to do. Everyone starts somewhere, and actually GETTING your hands dirty is good.

Room-mate advice. Buy a lock and use it religiously, even if you are home. Your roommates might be honest, but friends of friends can really suck. I wouldn't plan on sharing ANY food until you know your roommates really well. My junior year room-mate and I went shopping together - it seemed like we were a couple at times . But we got along really well, were both anal about similar things, and had a good time together.

I learned during my junior year that there has to be a division between fun time and school time. 1st and 2nd year there was no division - fun time started as soon as classes were over. That dog didn't hunt - I did well enough to get by, but 3rd and 4th year, school time last from when classes were over that day until about 9pm. 9pm is when the fun time starts, and it ends when classes began the next day.

Focus on one thing at a time. I'd have graduated with honors if I figured that out sooner...

Thanks! I'm just going to take whatever job I get, I don't care what it is as long as it pays the bills.

That seems to be the most important part, separate school and fun. I probably won't have much time for fun between school 6 hours a day and then work. Hopefully I can squeeze some in there, I want to enjoy it.

 

[Anthony]

So its that time in my life. I'm moving out and going to college about 3 hours from home. I have a lease starting for an apartment. It's a furnished apartment with utilities included. So that relieves some stress. I'm attending Universal Technical Institute to get my Auto certifications.

I am REALLY nervous about moving out. I'm sharing the apartment with other people to split costs but I'm still nervous that I won't be able to find a good enough job to live. My parents are paying the first months rent so I have time to find a job down by my apartment but I'm scared I won't be able to find one.

Anybody have any tips, suggestions or comments? I'm sure most of you have been through this phase in your lives already so share some of those tricks you figured out along the way.

Thanks

Be sure to wear condoms....

 

[Neme]

Be sure to wear condoms....

HA! Yeah no doubt, I'll be sure not to over look that one

 

[Pinarello Rider]

Be sure to wear condoms....

Oh dear another thing, don't mix booze with sex. TRUST me.

 

[Neme]

Oh dear another thing, don't mix booze with sex. TRUST me.

That's probably the most valuable advice. Ha

 

[aquestionpoint]

About the job, I'd say work the minimum that you need to survive. It's been proven that if you work more than 20 hrs a week, generally the grades will take a hit. College is the time of your life where you get to experience new things, meet new people and grow as a person. You have your whole life to work.

You'll have a lot on your plate between classes and everything. I definitely agree with the suggestion of designating time for getting work done and time for fun. My best semester(3.89) was actually the semester that I went out the most. I told my self if I get my work done in time, I will reward myself by going out. If not, oh well.

Like others have said, just go with the flow with the roommate situation. I became really good friends with my one roommate however there were times when we got on each others nerves. Just take a break and get some space. It's like a relationship, you need to communicate haha.

Anyway, good luck, and have fun! It will go by fast!

 

[Neme]

About the job, I'd say work the minimum that you need to survive. It's been proven that if you work more than 20 hrs a week, generally the grades will take a hit. College is the time of your life where you get to experience new things, meet new people and grow as a person. You have your whole life to work.

You'll have a lot on your plate between classes and everything. I definitely agree with the suggestion of designating time for getting work done and time for fun. My best semester(3.89) was actually the semester that I went out the most. I told my self if I get my work done in time, I will reward myself by going out. If not, oh well.

Like others have said, just go with the flow with the roommate situation. I became really good friends with my one roommate however there were times when we got on each others nerves. Just take a break and get some space. It's like a relationship, you need to communicate haha.

Anyway, good luck, and have fun! It will go by fast!

Work just enough to live, got it. i guess i'm somewhat of a workaholic. i always feel like i need more money mo money. ill remember not to get too carried away with work because when it comes down to it, im there for school so that should always be top priority.

Neat trick! Reward yourself with going out after all work is done. i think i am going to use that.

I am a pretty opinionated guy so i can only hope it goes well with the roommates. if not, oh well i guess. we aren't there for each other, we are there for school. but it'd be nice to be good friends with your roommates to make it a more enjoyable experience, right?

 

[Pinarello Rider]

My best semester(3.89) was actually the semester that I went out the most. I told my self if I get my work done in time, I will reward myself by going out. If not, oh well.

Me too - I had WAY more fun, went out far more frequently, and made much better friends with people this way. My final two years I averaged a 3.8GPA, and had a better time. I didn't "party" as much as the first two years, but I socialized more and better. I joined a fraternity that I fit real well into, and found a group of guys I was able to connect with. Hung out with sorority girls who were really nice girls, and generally lived really well. Good times, glad I don't have to do it again!

I am a pretty opinionated guy so i can only hope it goes well with the roommates. if not, oh well i guess. we aren't there for each other, we are there for school. but it'd be nice to be good friends with your roommates to make it a more enjoyable experience, right?

Go out of your way to keep your room-mates happy - even if you're the only one. It doesn't take that much of an effort, but you need to make sure you get all your phonecalls, if you know I mean.

Personally, I'd leave the motorcycle at home if I couldn't put it in a locked garage in college. Buy yourself a $1k civic piece of crap if you need wheels to get to work. That bike will attract all the wrong attention. College kids do dumb things.

 

[Neme]

Go out of your way to keep your room-mates happy - even if you're the only one. It doesn't take that much of an effort, but you need to make sure you get all your phonecalls, if you know I mean.

Personally, I'd leave the motorcycle at home if I couldn't put it in a locked garage in college. Buy yourself a $1k civic piece of crap if you need wheels to get to work. That bike will attract all the wrong attention. College kids do dumb things.

Sounds good. i am going to bring my car down there for a couple weeks first until i get to know the area. but the problem is i drive a pro charged 8 cylinder mustang, so its terrible on gas. eventually im going to have to bring my bike down there. i dont want to be stuck with an unreliable $1000 car. Maybe ill get a ground level apartment and bring my bike inside. its not allowed but if it protects my bike, ill fight it. if not, im ordering every security thing i see for a motorcycle. worst comes to worst, i have good insurance if it gets stolen. which would suck, but i dont really have many choices. i doubt ill be able to afford to drive around a gas guzzler or have extra many to save up for a decent 4 cylinder.

 

[JT]

Be sure to wear condoms....

best advice!

 

[bmw675]

I am so glad I never had to deal with roommates. But all the advice given so far seems about right, from stories.

I love/hate this time of year. Living in a college town, I get to witness alot of things. Watching all the freshman at Walmart with blank stares in the toilet paper aisle, laundry detergent aisle, ect....
I just wish they would leave me some damn pizzas in the freezer section. :wtfgun:

Oh, and all the chicks making an effort to look good the first week or so. :rockon: Man, I need to go back to school.

But the return of the horrible drivers. If you take your bike, pay extra attention for those who don't.

 

[Neme]

I am so glad I never had to deal with roommates. But all the advice given so far seems about right, from stories.

I love/hate this time of year. Living in a college town, I get to witness alot of things. Watching all the freshman at Walmart with blank stares in the toilet paper aisle, laundry detergent aisle, ect....
I just wish they would leave me some damn pizzas in the freezer section. :wtfgun:

Oh, and all the chicks making an effort to look good the first week or so. :rockon: Man, I need to go back to school.

But the return of the horrible drivers. If you take your bike, pay extra attention for those who don't.

Lol thats going to be me.

Thanks, I'll be sure to pay attaention to all the distracted and crazy drivers.

 

[roundhouse]

Be sure to wear condoms....

my drunk uncle gave me some advice along those lines.

he said "take a lemon and squeeze it on her cooter, if she screams she gots a disease"

I now believe that a condom is a much safer bet.

congrats on the new place. biggest advice i can give is don't max out a credit card for beer, food, big screen TV ect. it WILL bite you in the *** later.

 

[SpawnXX]

So its that time in my life. I'm moving out and going to college about 3 hours from home. I have a lease starting for an apartment. It's a furnished apartment with utilities included. So that relieves some stress. I'm attending Universal Technical Institute to get my Auto certifications.

I am REALLY nervous about moving out. I'm sharing the apartment with other people to split costs but I'm still nervous that I won't be able to find a good enough job to live. My parents are paying the first months rent so I have time to find a job down by my apartment but I'm scared I won't be able to find one.

Anybody have any tips, suggestions or comments? I'm sure most of you have been through this phase in your lives already so share some of those tricks you figured out along the way.

Thanks

One of the big keys to starting out on your own (kindof late now but with having a month free that is better than nothing) Save a buffer of money. I'd suggest 2-3k. Learn how to manage a budget and make it your ultimate goal to not use more than 1/3 of that cushion at any given point and make sure you can replenish it within a certain amount of time before using it. Make meal plans... (sounds like it may be ramen for a while) but that's all part of starting out. My wife and I live off $60.00 a week for food. We eat three solid meals a day, all home prepared. Learning these habits early is much better than trying to break bad habits later.

Room mates are tricky, I always found them to be a hinderance because if you live with people that don't have the same working/cleaning ethics as yourself... you will always have trouble. If all else fails you can move in early and do this.... and if your room mates end up being asshats you can encourage them to replace the carpet in their room.

 

[Pinarello Rider]

My wife and I live off $60.00 a week for food. We eat three solid meals a day, all home prepared. Learning these habits early is much better than trying to break bad habits later.

Ha - that reminds me of the wife and I when we were starting out. We were lucky - we were both Americans from different schools on a study abroad in Moscow when we met. Long story short, we always had built in room-mates after we graduated. Sure made life easy on us in some respects. We could successfully thrive in a one one bedroom apt, and we had some pretty small ones in interesting places. We ended up fine. But your point, Spawn, is a good one. When you are starting out, you eat off of a folding tables in the kitchen because you found it at the dump, you sit on stained couches with phone books (or old laptops now I guess) holding up two corners, and you eat lots of pasta (I did the Ramen thing in college, didn't continue it afterwards). It was a fairly innocent way of living, and as a result, we could "afford" a bigger house now, but choose not to because we remember what living poor is like, and what we truly need to get by. We knew we were poor, but we knew it was temporary.

(please note, I would like a 1400sq' house with a 5k sq' garage.)

In 14 years of marriage, we've carried a balance on our credits cards ONCE, and our only debt is one car, and our house.

 

[Neme]

Haha thanks guys! I know the basics of cooking. I can cook simple foods. Would it be cheaper to cook rather than buy food?

 

[Riccochet]

When I shared a house with 3 friends we all fended for ourselves. We split rent and utilities 4 ways. Food, toiletries, consumables were all self supplied and consumed. Unless we all decided to split pizzas or something. Get a locking handle for your room. Keep ALL your shit in there. Otherwise someone else is going to use it. Seriously. You're not their mother and they're not yours. Clean up after yourself to keep the common areas clean and expect others do the same. Best to make a schedule for general cleaning duties like vacuuming, dusting, bathroom cleaning and such. Rotate that shit. Enforce it. Everyone chips in equally or the offender finds somewhere else to live. Make it just that simple. If everyone knows what's expected of them from day one then there is nothing for them to fall back on as an excuse. Put it all in writing, keep the cleaning schedule and monthly monetary obligations clearly posted in the kitchen and have everyone sign off on it.

It makes things a lot simpler in the end.

 

[Pinarello Rider]

Would it be cheaper to cook rather than buy food?

Everyday and twice on Sunday. How much is a trip to Mickey D's? Say 5 dollars. You could get a pound of rice and a loaf of bread for that money. The next day, that 5 dollars get you a stick of butter and some bananas. You just fed yourself for the week on 10 dollars. Nutritional? Not entirely, but enough to get by. Before you know it, your $5 fast food has turned into an egg with toast, fresh fruit, and some veggies and dip.

 

[Neme]

When I shared a house with 3 friends we all fended for ourselves. We split rent and utilities 4 ways. Food, toiletries, consumables were all self supplied and consumed. Unless we all decided to split pizzas or something. Get a locking handle for your room. Keep ALL your shit in there. Otherwise someone else is going to use it. Seriously. You're not their mother and they're not yours. Clean up after yourself to keep the common areas clean and expect others do the same. Best to make a schedule for general cleaning duties like vacuuming, dusting, bathroom cleaning and such. Rotate that shit. Enforce it. Everyone chips in equally or the offender finds somewhere else to live. Make it just that simple. If everyone knows what's expected of them from day one then there is nothing for them to fall back on as an excuse. Put it all in writing, keep the cleaning schedule and monthly monetary obligations clearly posted in the kitchen and have everyone sign off on it.

It makes things a lot simpler in the end.

thanks man, i like the cleaning schedule idea. im a neat and tidy guy so i dont want to be the only one cleaning all the time even when its not my mess. ill use that one for sure.