Turning 30 & moving into my first home has been a headf*ck and a half (in a good way!). Here are 10 things I’ve realised since moving home…
Since turning 30 and moving out of my childhood home/into my first place – oh how life has changed. My life has changed (in a good way!) in more ways than I ever thought possible. I’m also not a very good adult, but it seems I’ve had to entirely grow up since getting the house. Here are some things I’ve realised.
Aldi Is My Best Friend
Man, I bloody love ALDI now. The only time we ever shop elsewhere is if I want to get some extra nice bread in (like Focaccia bread). And don’t get me wrong, Tesco is still cheap, but it just doesn’t beat ALDI’s prices.
I Also Love Wine Now
Who knew?!
Gousto Is the Bomb
I’m still trying to work out if Gousto is worth the price – considering it only covers dinners. But I’ve honestly tried to sit down and work out if it would be cheaper to buy all the ingredients individually. It’s not! Also, it’s got us becoming a lot more creative with our cooking. I love that it sends the exact amounts of what you need to make something. So nothing gets left at the back of the fridge out of date. I like to think I’m pretty good at meal planning but I’m really not. I used to forever buy lots of food and not stick to my meal plan. I’d end up with lots of wasted food so this is a massive bonus in my eyes.
All I Want to Buy Is Home Accessories
All. The. Damn. Time. I haven’t bought new clothes for so long because lol, where’s the space for it? And I genuinely would much prefer to spend that money on doing up the house. Especially on things like bold wallpaper and funky wall art.
Google Spreadsheets Has Been a Godsend
As always, creating a budget on Google Spreadsheets has been super helpful..
…As Has Different Money Pots on Monzo
And I’m really damn excited to open a joint Monzo account to help split the bills. It’s sad how excited I am about it, haha.
Never Go to IKEA on a Weekend
We’ve made this mistake twice now. This is because we had to get what we needed there and then and it was CRAZY. But I’m also fully up for taking an evening trip to IKEA after work and having some food there too. Because quite frankly that just sounds like my idea of heaven (if it really is as quiet as people say it is).
I Kind of Have a Partner Now
I get that we’re two separate people. But like, our money is pretty much combined between us now. And pretty much most decisions either of us makes like weekend plans or spending cash, we have to think about the other person. And it’s nice! It’s nice to have a partnership with my best friend. And think about, y’know, is it worth going out drinking this weekend when I haven’t had a day off with my boyfriend in so long? Or that that money could go towards something for the house and give us a chill night in instead? It’s weird but lovely.
But I Still Crave My Own Space
Which is great because the house is big enough that we’ve got our own little areas that we love. I haven’t yet had a full day in the house to just relax in on my own which is weird, and I’m excited to just spend a day doing nothing and just enjoying the house. It’s also weird because even though we see more of each other now, we actually have to make a genuine effort to spend time together and not just, y’know, eating dinner then doing our own thing but in each other’s company. We’re pretty good at finding that balance so far and we’ve also made sure to actually put time aside to have proper date nights still.
It’s Not as Scary as I Thought It Would Be
In fact, it’s pretty bloody lovely! I’ve lived at home for 30 years more or less and I think being scared about leaving wasn’t just to do with leaving my childhood home but being more independent then I’d ever been and starting a new chapter of my life. I still feel a bit emotional to think this is probably it – even if things don’t work out between my boyfriend and I, I’m at the stage now where I’m more than likely to just move into a new place alone as opposed to coming home.
So in a way I’ve also let go of being under my Dad’s wing a bit too. But apart from that, everything has mostly been smooth sailing (apart from the giant tantrum/breakdown I had when trying to set up the internet). My boyfriend, my family and his family have all been so helpful with the move and by keeping an eye on my trusty old Google Docs, even sorting out all the new bills hasn’t been that hard. My boyfriend and I actually argue barely at all since moving, even though I thought we’d probably end up annoying each other a lot during the stress of it all, and I’ve found myself actually becoming more understanding and patient of our relationship.
I’ve always been a pretty understanding person in relationships anyway, but now I don’t even sweat the small stuff at all (unless I’m PMSing and throwing tantrums at not getting a McDonalds which genuinely happened the other day). Who cares if my boyfriend forgets I wanted to go out one day and agrees to work overtime? Or if he forgets to pick a bottle of wine up on the way home (lol). We’ve got years and years ahead of us to have fun days out, evenings in drinking wine and making this house a home together. He’s been an absolute star with this entire change and I’m so grateful for the big stuff that the little stuff doesn’t even bother me anymore.
Read more: My Experience of Moving into My First Home
In Conclusion
I may have gotten a little personal there. I love writing posts like this, knowing that in the future I can read back and capture all these exciting feelings again.
Is there anything that surprised you when you finally moved out or in with someone? Or when you found yourself moving into your first home? Let me know!
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