Ten ways your ‘everyday’ will change when you move out of home

To fully prep you for the excitement of moving out of home, Hijacked and Bank of Melbourne have put together a handy guide on what to expect.

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Moving out of home for the first time is a pretty awesome rite of passage: you’ll no doubt become more independent, you’ve got in-built friends to come home to each night, and you can finally do everything your parents told you not to. If you’re about to leave the family nest, here are a few ways your life will change on the daily.

You’ll be eating out a lot more

Upon moving out, you might be under the false impression that you’ll be able to embrace your inner Masterchef and become the next big culinary sensation in your kitchen. However, the reality of the situation is that you won’t be able to resist the temptation of being lazy and spending money on food that tastes good and doesn’t require cooking. Win/win.

Paradoxically, you won’t be able to afford to eat out as much as you’d like

As fate would have it, spending a lot of money on food is going to send you broke, and your subconscious will tell you to stop it. However, your innate need to be lazy will also push you to continue splurging on food, and you’ll exist in one very confusing paradox.

You’ll suddenly be after a lot more coffee

Not exactly sure why this is the case, but you’ll find yourself in need of a lot more caffeine when you’re living out of home. It might be because housemates generally stay awake until the wee hours of the morning every morning, even before a big day at uni.

You’ll splurge, and no one’s there to judge you for it

Last weekend, my housemate spent $300 on a ping-pong table. We all divulge in excess purchases once in a while, and there’s nothing wrong with that, fam. Plus, if the splurge is beneficial for the entire household, keep your judgements quiet and reap the fun that you didn’t have to pay for.

You’ll have a newfound appreciation for a clean kitchen

TRUST ME.

You’ll feel no shame coming home at 5am

Coming home at an offensive hour of the morning to your family’s house was like Mission Impossible every weekend. You had to make no noise, or a relative would wake up and berate you. Such criticism doesn’t exist in a share house, potentially because everyone’s coming home at an offensive hour of the morning.

You’ll automatically learn to save real quick (by having to fork out money for rent each week)

Should the time come when you opt to move back in with your family, you’ll be pretty shocked when you realise you have a lot more money to your name than you did in a share house. That’s because week in, week out, you were forking out money for rent. In a way, living out of home is brilliant for your bank account because you’ll subconsciously pick up the ability to save money.

Suddenly, home brand food items won’t taste so bad

We’ve all been a little brand-biased – it’s a fact of life. But you can’t really do that when you move out of home, so that home brand stuff suddenly doesn’t taste so bad. It’s another useful skill to take with you upon moving out, as it’s going to save you a tonne of cash.

Use-by dates become a light suggestion

I used to throw milk out if it was within two days of its use-by date. Now, I won’t stop until that bottle is finished. I’ll deal with the hospital bills later.

Every day is some sort of new fun

There’s always some new adventure to be had, a new show for you all to binge-watch, or a new and stimulating conversation to be shared over mi goreng. Living out of home is going to be the best experience of your life, and you’re going to absolutely love it.

Jackson Langford

Jackson is studying a Bachelor of Communication degree at the University of Newcastle and is the rightful heir to the throne.

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