After leaving home and/ or uni comes the flat sharing set up, which goes either of two ways:
A.) Smooth as you like...
You live with people you studied with, your fella and a couple of randoms or you throw yourself into a totally new circle of people courtesy of Gumtree.
B.) Unbelievably wrong...
Recession hits, you have to work three bar jobs at a time to pay rent for the mouldy sh*t hole you've wound up in with flatmates who drive you insane.
The next natural progression for many is to live alone. To bask in the glory of NOT SHARING, to prove that being a strong and independent person is something you're fully capable of.
But here's a heads up before you go making any big decisions on renting or buying solo. These are the eight things you only truly know when you live by yourself...
1. Your entire place becomes an extension of your bedroom. Think less slummy more effortlessly styled interiors - with clothes hanging/folded in every vicinity.
2. You think you're Carrie Bradshaw... But actually the vibe is more Jane Graham in The L-Shaped Room (minus the misery and pregnancy.)
3. You're late paying ALL your bills. In fact, opening post becomes a total chore.
4. You become massively sound conscious. Your neighbour's weird hoovering/ washing/ social habits bug you beyond belief. (The guy who lives below me is definitely some Sweeney Tod-esque psycho. Those noises are human killing contraptions and I know it.)
5. You don't get lonely, because you don't let yourself. *Really*
6. You're now an M&S dine for one kind of gal. A screw-top bottle of vino has all the right intentions but never lasts beyond one evening. And, randomly, you always have milk, cereal and chickpeas in the back of the cupboard.
7. You dip in and out of student barely-there-don't-care mentality and hostess with the mostest. Your thing for reed diffusers and scented candles is getting out of hand.
8. You will NEVER... Follow a weekly budget, vote in your local government election or do your recycling bit.
This article was originally published on MyDaily.co.uk