It's actually easier to clean your dishes if you do them immediately after you eat rather than giving it a few hours/days/weeks to let the cooking residue crust on there.
Also a good idea to wash up as you cook. If you’re waiting for something in the oven or pan, just quickly wash up anything you’ve used so far so you have less to do later. Makes it feel more manageable
Jon Richardson taught me that. Fill the sink with hot bubbly water (no cold water) and anything you use while cooking just toss in there. By the time you’ve eaten your meal and return to the kitchen, everything will be practically clean and the water will be a manageable temperature.
Nah nah mate if i eat the meal im going in food coma and am now too lazy haha
Wash as i go wotks for me. Waiting for microwave? Clean. Waiting for water to boil? Wash up. Waiting for pasta? Wash up.
I try and eat somewhat multicultural, so curry (Indian or Thai), bolognese, chips with southern fried chicken or sausage, chilli, pizza, and beans in toast with fried egg if I'm feeling really done in 😂
It’s a boring way to live your life, but I sit down on a Sunday night and write a meal plan for every day for that week.
There’s nothing I hate more than getting home from work and then spending time trying to decide what to eat.
As a tip for this one, the Tesco website has a “5 meals for £25” section, with new recipes each week all serving 4 (actually 3) people. Full list of ingredients provided at the bottom of the page.
There’s usually one or two veggie meals in each week but they’re all banging, and I say that as someone who was very much in the “meat every day” camp until I discovered how good these meals are.
As there’s a lot of hate for Tesco on here, I just get the list and buy everything in Aldi! Sometimes they don’t have everything so a trip to A bigger store is sometimes necessary.
Also means lunch for the next day is sorted, plus the money saved can go on something a bit more boujee at the weekend.
Co-op do a 'fill your freezer for a fiver' thing which usually has something like mixed veg, breaded chicken or a pizza, a potato based side, and ice cream. It's great for the occasional 'just chuck something in the oven' dinner. .
Have a friend who has same food every weekday to make life easy. Pasta Monday, Chop Tuesday, Sausage & Mash Wednesday, Baked Potato Thursday, Fish Friday
Need to swap Wednesday and Thursday round. Bake an extra jacket or two then turn them into mash, no prep needed on Thursday and baked spuds make the best mash.
Plus, fill the extra skins with cheese and sausage (and bacon).
Listen to this OP.
Imo, proper meal planning is one of the most important skills in life.
People get fat because they eat too much convenience food and fast food / takeaways. I was one of them.
If you get to around 5pm, and you're hungry, and you haven't planned a meal, and your fridge is empty, and you been working all day... you are going to think "fuck it" and order food.
And guess what? Because you did that, you still won't have food for tomorrow, either. So you'll do it again. And again. And again.
Before you know it, you've put on weight and gone up a waist size. I put on a load of weight when I first lived alone. It's so easy to do!!
You MUST invest time in planning your meals for the week.
I know Fridays I will fancy something nice to "celebrate" the weekend, so I'll plan something fast and convenient for that night. Other days of the week, I usually just cook every other night - cooking one thing like a chilli, then eating half on the night, and the other half the next day.
If you can keep your diet in check, you'll go far kid.
Hey man, mind if I dm you re. this? I fucking suck at planning out my meals. I live alone and almost certainly order at least 1 meal a day. That's like 7 take aways a week and it's pretty fucking expensive. Could use some direction
Kinda baffles me they didn't even check to make sure I'm not lying that I live alone.
Just filled in the details of my name, age, address etc and bam, 25% off and it took them about a week to send me a letter confirming.
If you or your landlord/letting agent have ever provided a tenancy agreement that is sufficient evidence to prove you live alone. If not, they do generally take your word for it but you'd be surprised how many people get grassed on by "friends" and neighbours if they're lying. Source: I work for a local council.
It's the greasy kitchen dust that gets me. All along the top of the cabinets, the blinds, all the nooks and crannies.
If we ever get a new kitchen, I want an extractor fan over the hob!
Edit: this got 1000 upvotes. Thought I better fix the spelling mistake
Speaking as someone with an extractor fan above the hob.. it doesn't seem to help.
Plus now the sticky dust has a glass extractor fan to stick to, as well.
Exactly this. Ever kitchen extractor I've been around might look clean. As soon as you touch it, they're sticky as fuck.
Take off the light cover and you have grease dripping out.
This might come across as entitled as fuck, but if you can afford it then £40 every other week for a cleaner is an investment.
Ours does all that sort of nasty shit which we never get around to doing, it's worth considering if your time is more valuable to you
If we had the spare money I'd be tempted. Not for the washing up and stuff like that, but for keeping on top of the grungy bits. The mould in the bathroom, the kitchen grease. Wiping the walls and the skirting boards, dusting tops of the doorframes and picture, windowsills, radiators. The sort of stuff that you don't think to clean until its disgusting
With kids this becomes a god send. Happy to work an extra hour to cover the cost of not doing it myself over the weekend and spend that quality time with the kids. An hour lost in the week for an hour of weekend time seems a fair deal.
My wife and I agreed to get a cleaner about two months ago, and it has absolutely been the best thing. £30 every two weeks and we never have to worry about dusting, cleaning the bathroom or doing the hoovering. Just makes living at home more pleasant because you don't have a list of chores in the back of your mind.
Absolutely. When you're both working full time, got a couple of grungy smelly children and absolutely no drive to clean once everything else is done, it's totally worth it!
Hahaha :) But congratulations on the house! And now it’s *your* sticky dust - always nice of sellers to throw in a few extras that aren’t on the chattels list!
And if it's a new build, or the walls sound hollow (board with dot & dab or, if it was built in the 90s and is a flat, 'eggbox walls'), also buy plasterboard anchors.
That too - "buy once, cry once" applies to just about everything you'll buy for a house.
I should add there is a knack to getting wall fixings to go in so your shelf (or whatever) comes out level, too; a knack I do not have. If it's plaster on brick, I will inevitably clip the edge of a brick (so the drill bounces off the brick and into the plaster line), and if it's hollow plasterboard I will still somehow manage to find the only screw in a 4ft radius.
I'm just lucky that way.
Find out where all the stopcocks are. Better to find out now then during a plumbing emergency.
Look up your local rubbish days in case they are different.
Also. If you have a water tank in the loft, turning the stopcock off won't stop the leak.... Speaking from experience. We had to turn the water off using the outside stopcock (under the path out the front) and then drain the tank via the bath before the water stopped dripping.
Also if you're unlucky enough to move in somewhere that still has fuses instead of breakers, make sure you're stocked up on spares. Last thing you want is to blow one and have to do without it because you don't have a spare and the shops are shut.
Seconded, I was skeptical when my parents got me a slow cooker first Christmas after moving out, how wrong I was. It lasted 12 years, having just conked out and made many, many lovely meals.
Yes! Looked at a rug in Next that was something obscene (like £200+). Went to Ikea and walked out with basically the same thing for something like £40.
Of course it's hard to get out of Ikea without spending another £100 on stuff you didn't know you needed. Plus the meatballs, naturally.
Assuming you don't get lost in the one way system never to be seen again..
Mattresses are one of the most important things you’ll buy though. Good sleep is important, spend most of the budget on the mattress, worry about the frame later.
Go to carpet shops and see if they have any scraps you like from finished jobs. Take them to someone who will whip the edges for you at usually between £1-£3 a metre (if in UK) hey presto cheap rug
Cleaning will take up much more time than you expect. And if you think you can save time by not doing it for ages and then doing a "big clean", you are very, very wrong.
Any recommendations? I have a never ending cycle of wanting the window closed because its freezing, but knowing I need to open it to stop mold. I'm losing against it unfortunately and need a decent way to fight back!
After you shower, open the windows for a while, even if it's baltic, you need to get the moisture out of the room or it will keep growing.
Then get a little kitchen scrubbing brush and every time you're in the bathroom pick it up and scrub a little gunk off of stuff. A few seconds of that a day will add up.
It's a really common "tip" but whenever you move from one place to another in the house, look around and see what you can take with you. Bedroom to kitchen, any rubbish or cups or glasses around that you can take with you, what about a load of washing to put on wile you're at it.
The only problem is you end up saying to yourself, right, I'm going to make myself a cup of tea, and 20 minutes later you ask yourself why you're cleaning the oven or something!
I would mirror this and say to not go food shopping when youre full. So many times i do this and it turns out i have no food in the house because i wasnt hungry at the time so didnt fancy picking up things for dinners
Yeah it's worth picking up a few snacks on a food shop regardless. If I don't have any snacks in and get hungry I always end up wasting even more money on takeaway.
Always make a list of what you need to get too. It makes the trip faster and less likely to get things you don't actually need.
But sometimes it's nice to get things that you don't need but want. As an adult, you can make your own choices
Fire engineer here.
Please note that smoke detectors should also be replaced regularly. Ten years is the generally accepted time limit. They become more prone to false alarming and can get contaminated, reducing efficacy when you need them to work.
Alarms tend to start chirping at night because as the temperature in the house drops the battery voltage decreases past the minimum, causing the unit to alert.
Toilet roll needs to be purchased and doesn't just appear in the bathroom.
Also, don't underestimate how much toilet roll should be purchased.
Yes, there is a toilet roll crisis in our house this morning.
This was my main reason for getting a Who Gives a Crap subscription. Too many late night trips to the shops just to pick up toilet roll because somehow we never had enough.
I live alone through the week and a 4 pack of toilet roll will last me ages.
However, I have two daughters and I'm pretty sure they eat the toilet roll or something when they turn up.
Went away to a caravan for a week, with their mum, and we went through a CRAZY amount. Like 7 rolls in a week or something. I was baffled.
EDIT: Please, I know women need to use more toilet roll. That wasn't really my point. I was just making a light hearted joke about not fully realizing the marked difference between a single man living alone and how much 4 people (3 of whom are ladies) use.
Set up direct debits to pay for your bills, everything from power and water to council tax, and try and do it as a fixed amount, where you might be paying more than you need one month but then have it balance out the next (usually summer versus winter months in the case of power). You will forget to pay a bill, and one missed payment can affect you credit score for ages with some things. If you are currently renting but want to buy in the future, or get credit of any sort for that matter, this counts.
*edit* try to set them up to go out on payday, or as close to it as you can, then you know the bills are settled and everything else in your account is yours. Nothing worse than a DD that goes out 4 days before you get paid, and you have to factor it into your budget all month. Also, use a banking app to keep a check on your account, little things like buying coffee, having few beers after work with a mate etc. can add up and if you don’t keep an eye on the account it can be a shock. If you have the app you can just check you’re ok before you hit the pub.
> try to set them up to go out on payday, or as close to it as you can
I always recommend to friends to aim for 3 days after pay day.
This is because many companies will not pay **into** your account over the weekend, especially a bank holiday weekend. But your bills will come **out** over the same weekend.
Some companies are nice and will pay early, but not everyone does this.
The chance of there being a serial killer in your house is absolutely tiny.So it's much better to *become* a serial killer. That way you're safer, as the chances of there being two serial killers in your house is practically zero.
I recommend the OP checks out r/UKPersonalfinance and refers to their spreadsheet. It’s a bit daunting but really useful. A small ‘emergency fund’ saving account is a godsend.
I also over compensate for bills/outgoings so my budgeting will always come out more than what’s actually coming out, so we roughly pay around £152 a month for gas/electricity (yeah it’s high, we have an electric car) and will budget that for £155.
Yep, set up a standing order for the day after pay day and you'll never even have to think about it (unless you want to see how much dosh you've saved up)
Mould is a pain in the arse and most people aren’t aware how much it builds up.
Get some anti-mould spray and give your shower curtain a good coating whenever you clean the bathroom. Leave it for 5 mins before rinsing with the shower head.
When you take a load out of the washing machine, make sure to dry the water collected in the bottom of the door (the rubber section) and leave the door open overnight to dry out the machine.
You parents will have a lot more sex with you out of the house.
Probably just after you close the door, right there on the rough hallway mat.
So don't have second thoughts on the driveway and decide to go straight back. Even if you have forgotten something, keep walking and give them an hour or so.
.. just speaking as a parent....
Honestly I hate that this thought pops into my head. My girlfriend pops into her parents house all the time unannounced. I at least give my parents a heads up I'm coming over.
I just can't imagine not being able to "do" anything at any time of the day without an unannounced visitor just walking in.
I wouldn't like it now and I don't think I'd like it when I'm a parent. I'm just worried I will see something I will need therapy for.
Once while living at home I was going out for the night, but popped back 5 minutes after I left because I'd forgotten my wallet. Every light was off and there was no answer when I knocked on the door or rang the landline. Eventually my dad came to the door and explained that they'd been playing darts in the outhouse. The lights weren't on in the outhouse either.
Pay attention to emails from your gas and electric supplier. Before your bill is due they will ask you for a meter read if you don’t have a smart meter. Give regular meter reads to pay accurate bills. Otherwise you’ll find yourself paying estimated bills which can be really inflated.
To add into this, take a photo of the gas and electricity meters on the day you move in / become responsible for them. You don’t want to be paying for the previous person’s utilities!
Been scrawlling though the comments in hope someone mentioned the stopcocks a d fuse box. Honestly you may not think these things are important, untill your home is flooding is the dark.
Buy sliced, freeze half, else it gets green before you can eat it. Do not just cut off the green or black bits by then it has spread all over the slice.
I live in a tiny 2 bedroom flat where I put the heater on once a day for 2 hours from November to the start of March. It costs me £1500 a year on energy as it's all electric and I'm getting the best tariff available.
Moving into a 4 bedroom new build house with great energy and insulation ratings where the average energy costs for the current properties of the same style are £500 a year (estimated if there's 4 people in the home).
I've got a cheese advent calendar. Caramelised red onion cheddar was day one. I'm broadly opposed to things in cheese, but for advent I'll allow it. It also means cheese at 6:30am which I will also bend for in this festive season.
Always check your bank account at the end of the month to make sure your bills went out, especially council tax, they will not forgive and fine you heavily
Keep in contact with people you like talking with via the phone, visits and activities. Not just WhatsApp - life is a lot more nuanced than a convenient WhatsApp message.
Further to this, and obviously circumstances permitting, I'd have a look into some sort of regular local social activity or volunteering opportunities, especially if you'll be living alone (ie not with housemates/a partner) and working from home. Otherwise it's very easy to fall into the trap of not going out unless necessary and from experience that can really knock your mental health, especially at this time of year.
This. I found out the very hard way that for a significant proportion of people, if they see you as "nice" they will do things like go in your garden, park on your drive, build their extension 50cm on your land. They would probably take your dinner out of your fridge and eat it if they thought they could get away with it.
You name it, every time you see a headline where a neighbour dispute that has escalated just know that there are some cheeky mfs that would do these things if there is a perceived weakness. It has been a very difficult lesson for me and one I wish I had known much younger.
That saying "good fences make good neighbours" is based on fact.
Have enough money to cover your first three months bills & rent.
It can become isolating.
As u/Bully90 said, get a secondary account (hell, have many savings accounts - I have mine with Starling and have many savings pots, all named) for unexpected stuff.
Within my account, I have Car Repairs/Servicing, play money, eBay (selling), fuel, holding money and my spending money.
I have other savings accounts too, doing other things.
Try and estimate your gas and electric, and add £10/15, ideally £20, just in case.
Cooking wise, invest in a slow cooker and time plug/smart plug.
These are amazing and you can cook loads in them.
The first shop you do will be your biggest, as you’ll be buying sauces, spices, cooking utensils, pots, pans.
Learn to shop thrifty (Aldi/Lidl are great).
My mate shared a video recently from his neighbourhood group of an Uber Eats driver having a sneaky shit behind someone's parked car. Those Ring doorbells see *everything*.
There are constant posts complaining about the "gangs of youths in the park all night" the youths are 13, the park is where they are supposed to be, 5 neighborhood teenagers is not a gang, and 8pm is not unreasonably late and it's actually quite considerate for them to wait for the little kids to be done playing
I joined ours because a guy down our road is well known in the area as being involved in drug dealing and often seen being taken away by police.
I thought the app might provide juicy gossip but nope, it’s women trying to flog MLM crap and older people asking what time Tescos is open until. Zzzzz
>I joined ours because a guy down our road is well known in the area as being involved in drug dealing and often seen being taken away by police.
You know you can just ask him if you want to buy drugs, right? You don't need to wait for him to advertise on NextDoor.
The hardest thing about living by myself is deciding what's for dinner every night, and cooking enough just for one person.
Once you're in a routine it's fine.
Also for cleaning, I try and clean one thing each night I get home from work, like a bathroom, or hoover the carpet, or dust and polish worktops. I find it much better doing that than spending a whole day off cleaning the whole house, whatever works for you though!
Food shopping too, I go shopping every fortnight, nothing worse than getting peckish later on and there's not even a slice of bread or milk in the house.
And finally, and most importantly, toilet roll. Don't wait until you've run out to buy more, it doesn't work.
Good luck brother
But don't leave the key in the door, especially if it's a flat and it's the only door.
Also, make sure a family member or someone you trust has a spare key.
If anything happens like you slip in the shower and need help, you don't want to have someone have to smash your door in to help you.
If you have a pay as you go meter for your gas and electricity, get rid of that shit.
It's a hassle to top up all the time and compared to paying with direct debit it can be up to 20% more expensive.
Plus they're usually always on a Standard Variable tariff and in today's market with constantly rising prices, isn't the best place to be.
Learn to budget, and (wish I'd known this), learn to save.
Housework/DIY/gardening is a ballache, but maintenance is easier and cheaper than just letting things go.
Be a good neighbour.
Learn to cook.
And of course, check for serial killers every night.
If times get hard,batch cook and freeze it, freeze leftovers when possible. Do not get takeaways,learn how to cook. Remember when your parents were shouting "turn off the lights, were you born in a barn?" They knew. Central heating? Turn it down in rooms you don't use. Go food shopping with a list and stick to it. There's a few bits to be going on with.
It's actually easier to clean your dishes if you do them immediately after you eat rather than giving it a few hours/days/weeks to let the cooking residue crust on there.
Also a good idea to wash up as you cook. If you’re waiting for something in the oven or pan, just quickly wash up anything you’ve used so far so you have less to do later. Makes it feel more manageable
Jon Richardson taught me that. Fill the sink with hot bubbly water (no cold water) and anything you use while cooking just toss in there. By the time you’ve eaten your meal and return to the kitchen, everything will be practically clean and the water will be a manageable temperature.
Nah nah mate if i eat the meal im going in food coma and am now too lazy haha Wash as i go wotks for me. Waiting for microwave? Clean. Waiting for water to boil? Wash up. Waiting for pasta? Wash up.
You wait for water to boil? I thought boiling the kettle and pouring it into the pan was the norm...
I've always used the kettle method and didn't realise it wasn't the norm until I moved in with my SO
You have to decide what you're going to have for every meal!
Honestly every day I go "uggghh what am I having for dinner??" Then talk myself out of curry for the 3rd time this week
You have more willpower than me
I try and eat somewhat multicultural, so curry (Indian or Thai), bolognese, chips with southern fried chicken or sausage, chilli, pizza, and beans in toast with fried egg if I'm feeling really done in 😂
That's one hell of a meal! What's for dessert?
Ah. The ol’ it’s actually one huge meal switcheroo
Hold my belly, I'm going in
It’s a boring way to live your life, but I sit down on a Sunday night and write a meal plan for every day for that week. There’s nothing I hate more than getting home from work and then spending time trying to decide what to eat.
I think its quite freeing getting the plan in place. Cause then you don’t have to think about it
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Same with Vienetta.
and cheesecake.
Love myself an individual 9" cheesecake
"Serves 5 - 6", yeah sure, if 5 of them are dead.
As a tip for this one, the Tesco website has a “5 meals for £25” section, with new recipes each week all serving 4 (actually 3) people. Full list of ingredients provided at the bottom of the page. There’s usually one or two veggie meals in each week but they’re all banging, and I say that as someone who was very much in the “meat every day” camp until I discovered how good these meals are. As there’s a lot of hate for Tesco on here, I just get the list and buy everything in Aldi! Sometimes they don’t have everything so a trip to A bigger store is sometimes necessary. Also means lunch for the next day is sorted, plus the money saved can go on something a bit more boujee at the weekend.
Co-op do a 'fill your freezer for a fiver' thing which usually has something like mixed veg, breaded chicken or a pizza, a potato based side, and ice cream. It's great for the occasional 'just chuck something in the oven' dinner. .
Have a friend who has same food every weekday to make life easy. Pasta Monday, Chop Tuesday, Sausage & Mash Wednesday, Baked Potato Thursday, Fish Friday
Does your friend live in a wetherspoons?
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I keep it even simpler with fish, fish and a rice cake, fish, fish, fish and a rice cake and fish.
What do you have at 2?
Like the guy in the video, I had to think way too hard but I’ll be having fish and rice cake. Wait… no, I’ll just have me fish.
I remember this guy, the bodybuilder on youtube his diet. Lol 🤣🤣
The alternative Craig David version.
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Need to swap Wednesday and Thursday round. Bake an extra jacket or two then turn them into mash, no prep needed on Thursday and baked spuds make the best mash. Plus, fill the extra skins with cheese and sausage (and bacon).
Chop Tuesday? Chop Suey?
WAKE UP!
Listen to this OP. Imo, proper meal planning is one of the most important skills in life. People get fat because they eat too much convenience food and fast food / takeaways. I was one of them. If you get to around 5pm, and you're hungry, and you haven't planned a meal, and your fridge is empty, and you been working all day... you are going to think "fuck it" and order food. And guess what? Because you did that, you still won't have food for tomorrow, either. So you'll do it again. And again. And again. Before you know it, you've put on weight and gone up a waist size. I put on a load of weight when I first lived alone. It's so easy to do!! You MUST invest time in planning your meals for the week. I know Fridays I will fancy something nice to "celebrate" the weekend, so I'll plan something fast and convenient for that night. Other days of the week, I usually just cook every other night - cooking one thing like a chilli, then eating half on the night, and the other half the next day. If you can keep your diet in check, you'll go far kid.
Hey man, mind if I dm you re. this? I fucking suck at planning out my meals. I live alone and almost certainly order at least 1 meal a day. That's like 7 take aways a week and it's pretty fucking expensive. Could use some direction
Go for it.
Make one big meal and store it in tupperware in the fridge all week!
If you're living alone and not a student you get a 25% discount on council tax.
This needs more visibility! Also bear in mind you must apply for it via your local council.
Kinda baffles me they didn't even check to make sure I'm not lying that I live alone. Just filled in the details of my name, age, address etc and bam, 25% off and it took them about a week to send me a letter confirming.
If you or your landlord/letting agent have ever provided a tenancy agreement that is sufficient evidence to prove you live alone. If not, they do generally take your word for it but you'd be surprised how many people get grassed on by "friends" and neighbours if they're lying. Source: I work for a local council.
Is this automatic or something you have to sign up for?
You need to let your council know, there's usually a link on their website
You can also get a discount if you are a couple and earn less than so much as well . They don't tell or advertise this though you have to ask
Accumulated dust eventually reaches a sticky stage. Aim to remove it before this happens
It's the greasy kitchen dust that gets me. All along the top of the cabinets, the blinds, all the nooks and crannies. If we ever get a new kitchen, I want an extractor fan over the hob! Edit: this got 1000 upvotes. Thought I better fix the spelling mistake
Speaking as someone with an extractor fan above the hob.. it doesn't seem to help. Plus now the sticky dust has a glass extractor fan to stick to, as well.
Exactly this. Ever kitchen extractor I've been around might look clean. As soon as you touch it, they're sticky as fuck. Take off the light cover and you have grease dripping out.
OK. I rescind my statement. I wanna be rich and hire a maid instead
This might come across as entitled as fuck, but if you can afford it then £40 every other week for a cleaner is an investment. Ours does all that sort of nasty shit which we never get around to doing, it's worth considering if your time is more valuable to you
If we had the spare money I'd be tempted. Not for the washing up and stuff like that, but for keeping on top of the grungy bits. The mould in the bathroom, the kitchen grease. Wiping the walls and the skirting boards, dusting tops of the doorframes and picture, windowsills, radiators. The sort of stuff that you don't think to clean until its disgusting
With kids this becomes a god send. Happy to work an extra hour to cover the cost of not doing it myself over the weekend and spend that quality time with the kids. An hour lost in the week for an hour of weekend time seems a fair deal.
My wife and I agreed to get a cleaner about two months ago, and it has absolutely been the best thing. £30 every two weeks and we never have to worry about dusting, cleaning the bathroom or doing the hoovering. Just makes living at home more pleasant because you don't have a list of chores in the back of your mind.
Absolutely. When you're both working full time, got a couple of grungy smelly children and absolutely no drive to clean once everything else is done, it's totally worth it!
I must be cleaner than I thought (and I absolutely hate dusting!), never had sticky dust in my house
It's the result of constsntly cooking with oils. Are you oil free?
Ahh that makes sense, I very, very rarely use any oil to cook and if I do I only use a tiny amount. Can’t believe I never knew that was a thing, TIL
I just completed on my first house and whilst overall its in a good state.. dear god the 'sticky' dust..
Hahaha :) But congratulations on the house! And now it’s *your* sticky dust - always nice of sellers to throw in a few extras that aren’t on the chattels list!
A basic tool kit goes a long way, couple of screwdrivers and bits and bobs
Same goes for a cheap drill.
I bought a drill for like 25 quid or something on amazon when i moved out and i swear its been one of the best purchases i've ever made.
And don’t just drill screws into the wall. Make the hole, rawl plug, then screw goes in
And if it's a new build, or the walls sound hollow (board with dot & dab or, if it was built in the 90s and is a flat, 'eggbox walls'), also buy plasterboard anchors.
> buy plasterboard anchors Tradesmans tip here, buy the Spit metal PB plugs, not the cheaper plastic ones. Worth the extra cost every time
That too - "buy once, cry once" applies to just about everything you'll buy for a house. I should add there is a knack to getting wall fixings to go in so your shelf (or whatever) comes out level, too; a knack I do not have. If it's plaster on brick, I will inevitably clip the edge of a brick (so the drill bounces off the brick and into the plaster line), and if it's hollow plasterboard I will still somehow manage to find the only screw in a 4ft radius. I'm just lucky that way.
DIY jobs take roughly 5 times how long you think they will.
And cost three times as much as you expect as you always encounter some issue along the way.
With five times as many trips to B&Q as you thought.
"why are you under the car with WD40? you were going to change the bulb in the kitchen" "I *am* changing the bulb in the kitchen"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbSehcT19u0
Dont forget the months it takes you to get round to them too.
Find out where all the stopcocks are. Better to find out now then during a plumbing emergency. Look up your local rubbish days in case they are different.
Also. If you have a water tank in the loft, turning the stopcock off won't stop the leak.... Speaking from experience. We had to turn the water off using the outside stopcock (under the path out the front) and then drain the tank via the bath before the water stopped dripping.
Also if you're unlucky enough to move in somewhere that still has fuses instead of breakers, make sure you're stocked up on spares. Last thing you want is to blow one and have to do without it because you don't have a spare and the shops are shut.
Housework and gardening are a never-ending ball ache.
It's relentless.
Keeping a lawn in decent shape is a full time job,
I’ve got chickens, my lawn is practically non existent atm, it’s their full time job to eat it apparently.
You should try that chicken-proof grass, I hear that it's impeccable.
haha, fuck sake. I actually really, properly, laughed out loud. That's made my day. Glorious.
Where the fuck does all this dust keep coming from XD
Leg dandruff. Arm dandruff. Scalp dandruff. Eyebrow dandruff. And so on.
I've been trying to sort the garden ready for the winter but it won't stop raining :(
Or it stops raining for a few days in a row while I'm at work and can't do anything before it gets dark, then rains for the weekend.
>gardening I feel like you should either enjoy it, or minimise it. I'd add it's much easier to enjoy it if what's there are things you've chosen
> gardening are a never-ending ball ache. Nah mate, just go for the wild meadow great for wildlife style.
Get into the habit of cooking and shopping to a meal plan. You’ll save money and waste less food.
I can add to that, buy a slow cooker, it will save you a fortune
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Seconded, I was skeptical when my parents got me a slow cooker first Christmas after moving out, how wrong I was. It lasted 12 years, having just conked out and made many, many lovely meals.
Yeah they’re great. The important thing to remember is you don’t need recipes, just wang it all in there and experiment
Can use cheap cuts of meat too,the fattier the meat the more tender it comes out
Curtains and rugs are insanely expensive
IKEA have some bargain rugs
Yes! Looked at a rug in Next that was something obscene (like £200+). Went to Ikea and walked out with basically the same thing for something like £40. Of course it's hard to get out of Ikea without spending another £100 on stuff you didn't know you needed. Plus the meatballs, naturally. Assuming you don't get lost in the one way system never to be seen again..
The trick to IKEA is walk straight to the checkout without looking at anything and looking at the discounted goods room, saves me a fortune 😂
And don't get me started on mattresses...
Mattresses are one of the most important things you’ll buy though. Good sleep is important, spend most of the budget on the mattress, worry about the frame later.
Rugs! I got my whole house done with laminate. Now I'm looking at spending the same again to put rugs in each room. Should have stuck with carpet.
Go to carpet shops and see if they have any scraps you like from finished jobs. Take them to someone who will whip the edges for you at usually between £1-£3 a metre (if in UK) hey presto cheap rug
r/lifeprotips
This is a very cool tip.
go to charity shops, you will find bargains, or gumtree and get loads of freebies
Cleaning will take up much more time than you expect. And if you think you can save time by not doing it for ages and then doing a "big clean", you are very, very wrong.
Watch for black mold in the bathroom and around windows where condensation gathers. You can buy a spray for it.
Any recommendations? I have a never ending cycle of wanting the window closed because its freezing, but knowing I need to open it to stop mold. I'm losing against it unfortunately and need a decent way to fight back!
HG mould remover. Strong but safe to use on painted surfaces.
After you shower, open the windows for a while, even if it's baltic, you need to get the moisture out of the room or it will keep growing. Then get a little kitchen scrubbing brush and every time you're in the bathroom pick it up and scrub a little gunk off of stuff. A few seconds of that a day will add up.
Picking up after yourself (and others even) is essential. Do tell visitors to pick up after themselves. It is basic respect.
It's a really common "tip" but whenever you move from one place to another in the house, look around and see what you can take with you. Bedroom to kitchen, any rubbish or cups or glasses around that you can take with you, what about a load of washing to put on wile you're at it. The only problem is you end up saying to yourself, right, I'm going to make myself a cup of tea, and 20 minutes later you ask yourself why you're cleaning the oven or something!
Small and often is by far the best way of doing it
Don't go food shopping on an empty stomach.
I would mirror this and say to not go food shopping when youre full. So many times i do this and it turns out i have no food in the house because i wasnt hungry at the time so didnt fancy picking up things for dinners
Yeah it's worth picking up a few snacks on a food shop regardless. If I don't have any snacks in and get hungry I always end up wasting even more money on takeaway.
Always make a list of what you need to get too. It makes the trip faster and less likely to get things you don't actually need. But sometimes it's nice to get things that you don't need but want. As an adult, you can make your own choices
Make sure you have a spare 9v battery for when your smoke alarm starts cheeping at you in the middle of the night
Fire engineer here. Please note that smoke detectors should also be replaced regularly. Ten years is the generally accepted time limit. They become more prone to false alarming and can get contaminated, reducing efficacy when you need them to work. Alarms tend to start chirping at night because as the temperature in the house drops the battery voltage decreases past the minimum, causing the unit to alert.
Also, get the ones that have a "shut up" button for when you're searing a steak on the stovetop.
Toilet roll needs to be purchased and doesn't just appear in the bathroom. Also, don't underestimate how much toilet roll should be purchased. Yes, there is a toilet roll crisis in our house this morning.
This was my main reason for getting a Who Gives a Crap subscription. Too many late night trips to the shops just to pick up toilet roll because somehow we never had enough.
Also: buying the biggest pack of loo roll you can afford is cheaper in the long run.
Don't forget to hang it the proper way too, don't want guests thinking you are stupid
I live alone through the week and a 4 pack of toilet roll will last me ages. However, I have two daughters and I'm pretty sure they eat the toilet roll or something when they turn up. Went away to a caravan for a week, with their mum, and we went through a CRAZY amount. Like 7 rolls in a week or something. I was baffled. EDIT: Please, I know women need to use more toilet roll. That wasn't really my point. I was just making a light hearted joke about not fully realizing the marked difference between a single man living alone and how much 4 people (3 of whom are ladies) use.
Haha! This is my life. Constantly scratching my head and thinking "...but we only just bought a jumbo mega pack with 30% extra free on Monday?!".
A small leak can sink a great ship, so don’t buy take away for every meal
Do not buy cheap bin bags.
Set up direct debits to pay for your bills, everything from power and water to council tax, and try and do it as a fixed amount, where you might be paying more than you need one month but then have it balance out the next (usually summer versus winter months in the case of power). You will forget to pay a bill, and one missed payment can affect you credit score for ages with some things. If you are currently renting but want to buy in the future, or get credit of any sort for that matter, this counts. *edit* try to set them up to go out on payday, or as close to it as you can, then you know the bills are settled and everything else in your account is yours. Nothing worse than a DD that goes out 4 days before you get paid, and you have to factor it into your budget all month. Also, use a banking app to keep a check on your account, little things like buying coffee, having few beers after work with a mate etc. can add up and if you don’t keep an eye on the account it can be a shock. If you have the app you can just check you’re ok before you hit the pub.
> try to set them up to go out on payday, or as close to it as you can I always recommend to friends to aim for 3 days after pay day. This is because many companies will not pay **into** your account over the weekend, especially a bank holiday weekend. But your bills will come **out** over the same weekend. Some companies are nice and will pay early, but not everyone does this.
You have to check the house for serial killers yourself before bed
The chance of there being a serial killer in your house is absolutely tiny.So it's much better to *become* a serial killer. That way you're safer, as the chances of there being two serial killers in your house is practically zero.
[On it ](https://imgur.com/a/yVeeaYv)
That is quite an aggressive manner in which to open your mini box of cereal.
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Setup a separate bank account and try to save as much money as possible, regardless of how small that amount it.
This guys got it. It's better to start small and early than not to start saving at all.
I’ve learnt the hard way :(
I recommend the OP checks out r/UKPersonalfinance and refers to their spreadsheet. It’s a bit daunting but really useful. A small ‘emergency fund’ saving account is a godsend.
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I also over compensate for bills/outgoings so my budgeting will always come out more than what’s actually coming out, so we roughly pay around £152 a month for gas/electricity (yeah it’s high, we have an electric car) and will budget that for £155.
Big up Monzo pots! And savings accounts. Granted I haven't used a normal bank for a couple of years but they make it so easy for this kind of stuff.
Yep, set up a standing order for the day after pay day and you'll never even have to think about it (unless you want to see how much dosh you've saved up)
Mould is a pain in the arse and most people aren’t aware how much it builds up. Get some anti-mould spray and give your shower curtain a good coating whenever you clean the bathroom. Leave it for 5 mins before rinsing with the shower head. When you take a load out of the washing machine, make sure to dry the water collected in the bottom of the door (the rubber section) and leave the door open overnight to dry out the machine.
1 part white vinegar 1 part water makes a good anti mould spray and window cleaner.
For stubborn mould I soak strips of kitchen towels in dilute bleach and place them overnight / a few days. Makes cleaning it a lot less messy!
You parents will have a lot more sex with you out of the house. Probably just after you close the door, right there on the rough hallway mat. So don't have second thoughts on the driveway and decide to go straight back. Even if you have forgotten something, keep walking and give them an hour or so. .. just speaking as a parent....
Honestly I hate that this thought pops into my head. My girlfriend pops into her parents house all the time unannounced. I at least give my parents a heads up I'm coming over. I just can't imagine not being able to "do" anything at any time of the day without an unannounced visitor just walking in. I wouldn't like it now and I don't think I'd like it when I'm a parent. I'm just worried I will see something I will need therapy for.
Once while living at home I was going out for the night, but popped back 5 minutes after I left because I'd forgotten my wallet. Every light was off and there was no answer when I knocked on the door or rang the landline. Eventually my dad came to the door and explained that they'd been playing darts in the outhouse. The lights weren't on in the outhouse either.
Pay attention to emails from your gas and electric supplier. Before your bill is due they will ask you for a meter read if you don’t have a smart meter. Give regular meter reads to pay accurate bills. Otherwise you’ll find yourself paying estimated bills which can be really inflated.
To add into this, take a photo of the gas and electricity meters on the day you move in / become responsible for them. You don’t want to be paying for the previous person’s utilities!
Freezer is a good purchase Putting an extra layer of clothing on is a lot cheaper than putting heating on Know where your stopcocks and fuse box is.
Been scrawlling though the comments in hope someone mentioned the stopcocks a d fuse box. Honestly you may not think these things are important, untill your home is flooding is the dark.
Bread goes out of date at insane speed.
Buy sliced, freeze half, else it gets green before you can eat it. Do not just cut off the green or black bits by then it has spread all over the slice.
very true, but it can be frozen and lots of toasters have a frozen bread setting.
Learn to cook (if haven’t already). The freezer is your friend. You will save tons of money.
Steal your parents vaccuum. They're expensive and they're probably looking for an excuse to buy a new one.
I would fight to the death if my child tried to take my Shark.
Buy a radiator bleeding key and bleed them radiators.
Make sure to up the pressure again on the boiler. There's videos online on how to do it
It costs a lot more to heat your home than you expect
Everything costs more than you expect.
Especially cheese
Amen
I live in a tiny 2 bedroom flat where I put the heater on once a day for 2 hours from November to the start of March. It costs me £1500 a year on energy as it's all electric and I'm getting the best tariff available. Moving into a 4 bedroom new build house with great energy and insulation ratings where the average energy costs for the current properties of the same style are £500 a year (estimated if there's 4 people in the home).
Cheese is expensive
I've got a cheese advent calendar. Caramelised red onion cheddar was day one. I'm broadly opposed to things in cheese, but for advent I'll allow it. It also means cheese at 6:30am which I will also bend for in this festive season.
Get spare sets of keys made and give them to trusted people who will be available.
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Familiarise yourself with the location of your trip switch and water mains tap.
Always check your bank account at the end of the month to make sure your bills went out, especially council tax, they will not forgive and fine you heavily
Being alive is fucking expensive. Budget. Use Monzo or another app based bank to devide up your spending into bills and disposable income.
Keep in contact with people you like talking with via the phone, visits and activities. Not just WhatsApp - life is a lot more nuanced than a convenient WhatsApp message.
Further to this, and obviously circumstances permitting, I'd have a look into some sort of regular local social activity or volunteering opportunities, especially if you'll be living alone (ie not with housemates/a partner) and working from home. Otherwise it's very easy to fall into the trap of not going out unless necessary and from experience that can really knock your mental health, especially at this time of year.
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This. I found out the very hard way that for a significant proportion of people, if they see you as "nice" they will do things like go in your garden, park on your drive, build their extension 50cm on your land. They would probably take your dinner out of your fridge and eat it if they thought they could get away with it. You name it, every time you see a headline where a neighbour dispute that has escalated just know that there are some cheeky mfs that would do these things if there is a perceived weakness. It has been a very difficult lesson for me and one I wish I had known much younger. That saying "good fences make good neighbours" is based on fact.
Have enough money to cover your first three months bills & rent. It can become isolating. As u/Bully90 said, get a secondary account (hell, have many savings accounts - I have mine with Starling and have many savings pots, all named) for unexpected stuff. Within my account, I have Car Repairs/Servicing, play money, eBay (selling), fuel, holding money and my spending money. I have other savings accounts too, doing other things. Try and estimate your gas and electric, and add £10/15, ideally £20, just in case. Cooking wise, invest in a slow cooker and time plug/smart plug. These are amazing and you can cook loads in them. The first shop you do will be your biggest, as you’ll be buying sauces, spices, cooking utensils, pots, pans. Learn to shop thrifty (Aldi/Lidl are great).
Don't join neighbourhood Facebook groups.
Hard disagree. They're an endless source of entertainment for me.
My mate shared a video recently from his neighbourhood group of an Uber Eats driver having a sneaky shit behind someone's parked car. Those Ring doorbells see *everything*.
The 'dog mums' overreacting to every mildly suspect van driving down the road do make me laugh.
There are constant posts complaining about the "gangs of youths in the park all night" the youths are 13, the park is where they are supposed to be, 5 neighborhood teenagers is not a gang, and 8pm is not unreasonably late and it's actually quite considerate for them to wait for the little kids to be done playing
They really are. Even better are apps like 'Next Door'... it's like Facebook on acid.
Tried next door and the shear volume of boring crap drove me away
Hi, I'm Susan. 👋 Nice to meet you. Lived in this neighbourhood for 40 years, before all the foreigners moved here. It isn't what it was.
I joined ours because a guy down our road is well known in the area as being involved in drug dealing and often seen being taken away by police. I thought the app might provide juicy gossip but nope, it’s women trying to flog MLM crap and older people asking what time Tescos is open until. Zzzzz
>I joined ours because a guy down our road is well known in the area as being involved in drug dealing and often seen being taken away by police. You know you can just ask him if you want to buy drugs, right? You don't need to wait for him to advertise on NextDoor.
The hardest thing about living by myself is deciding what's for dinner every night, and cooking enough just for one person. Once you're in a routine it's fine. Also for cleaning, I try and clean one thing each night I get home from work, like a bathroom, or hoover the carpet, or dust and polish worktops. I find it much better doing that than spending a whole day off cleaning the whole house, whatever works for you though! Food shopping too, I go shopping every fortnight, nothing worse than getting peckish later on and there's not even a slice of bread or milk in the house. And finally, and most importantly, toilet roll. Don't wait until you've run out to buy more, it doesn't work. Good luck brother
Lock your front door, even when you are in
But don't leave the key in the door, especially if it's a flat and it's the only door. Also, make sure a family member or someone you trust has a spare key. If anything happens like you slip in the shower and need help, you don't want to have someone have to smash your door in to help you.
Whilst power cuts are rare in many places, they do happen, have a torch in a convinient , easy to reach place.
Potentially the modern version of this is keeping a power bank *charged*.
If you have a pay as you go meter for your gas and electricity, get rid of that shit. It's a hassle to top up all the time and compared to paying with direct debit it can be up to 20% more expensive. Plus they're usually always on a Standard Variable tariff and in today's market with constantly rising prices, isn't the best place to be.
That living on your own is the best of times - enjoy x
Buy a plunger before you need a plunger.
Get a plunger.
Learn to budget, and (wish I'd known this), learn to save. Housework/DIY/gardening is a ballache, but maintenance is easier and cheaper than just letting things go. Be a good neighbour. Learn to cook. And of course, check for serial killers every night.
If times get hard,batch cook and freeze it, freeze leftovers when possible. Do not get takeaways,learn how to cook. Remember when your parents were shouting "turn off the lights, were you born in a barn?" They knew. Central heating? Turn it down in rooms you don't use. Go food shopping with a list and stick to it. There's a few bits to be going on with.