Living Alone for the First Time

Living alone can be hard, especially if you have gone to an unknown place which is far away from your previous home. Many reasons compel us to move out of our parents house, it can be higher studies, can be a new job, relationship breakup, etc.

If you are facing such a situation and don't know how to deal with it then, here are some simple and effective tips that will surely help you to cope with this situation comfortably...

First thing you need to do is to stop sulking in self-sympathy and stop complaining about the things and people around you. Accept, whatever is there. This will surely help you transform the whole situation, as once you accept you will see the situation clearly and will be able to deal with it better and come up with better solutions to keep yourself happy.

Even if you are not finding any happiness in a new place, first of all you need to take care of the basic needs - a decent place to stay and decent food. Renting an apartment for the first time or a house can be a difficult job. However, the key to it is to plan way in advance. This will ensure you get a good place.

However, if you don't have much time, then there are still some ways to find a good place. Use Internet, use newspapers, use bulletin boards, ask people, contact agents, make calls, etc. whatever works is good. If you are a student then the college itself has a directory of places where you can rent a room and stay.

If you are in a new place due to the job, then ask your office colleagues, they might help you find a decent place for a lower price. Once you have found a decent place to stay, other basic need is decent food. Either you can cook or buy it from eateries. However, this can be time-consuming and a total disaster if you don't know anything about cooking.

You can get enough ready-to-eat meals from the supermarket. But, this ain't the best thing for health, so once or twice a week go for grocery shopping to get fresh fruit, salad veggies, milk, some snacks like crackers, cookies, cheese, etc.

So, you will be eating healthy, which will prevent you from falling ill. So, try to keep your diet as much as healthy and balanced as you can. Soon, you will become better at this.

Last comes money management. This can be really difficult, as this is your first time living alone. Keeping a stash of money as a backup tucked under the couch. So, in case you get broke towards the end of the month, you can use this stash.

Noting down all your expenses in excel is a little boring, and one tends to get even more lazy when staying alone, so just keep a daily/weekly 'spending money' limit and avoid exceeding it. For example, you can keep a limit of 25 dollars everyday, which includes your travel, food, and some other daily basic expenses.

The above was the easy part, now here's the difficult part which is dealing with loneliness. Here is a tip, call up your mom everyday. Yes I said everyday! If you are not very close to your mother, then call your best buddy or someone who is closest to you and probably will listen to you.

This will greatly help to keep your mental state balanced, as once you crib out on the phone 'how sucky your life living alone is' you will feel better after the conversation. This is a religious thing that all the people who live alone devotedly follow.

Now, the advanced stage. Try to make new friends, I know, I know what you are thinking. You must be thinking - 'oh but the people here are so snobbish, and not my kind of people at all'. That is not true, you can always make at least a few friends in a new place.

A cheerful attitude will help to attract people. However, be yourself and sooner or later people will realize that you are a nice person, and will start getting friendly towards you.

Another way to deal with depression and loneliness when living alone is to keep yourself busy. If you feel that today the blues are hitting you real bad, then just go to a movie, or a laughing club, or do something that cheers you up. Explore some hangout places around you. You might even get to meet some nice people there, or meet someone special there...

The bouts of depression and loneliness while staying alone for the first time are temporary, and soon you will get used to it and even learn to enjoy it. That's because of all the freedom and space it offers. Trust me!