We spend years living with our parents, siblings and other family members.
If you moved away for college or university, you may have spent years of quality time with friends and roommates. But once we dip back into our mid-twenties and early thirties, it can be challenging deciding who we’re going to live with. Live with your parents and save a couple bucks, continue the college tradition of rooming up with your closest home-town friends, maybe even moving in with your significant other if you’re not too terrified. But how often do we seriously consider living alone? Totally alone, save the company of an adorable French bulldog and a cluster of beta-fish.
If you can afford to do it, living alone can be a great living experience for you and those around you. Though the idea of being in an apartment all by yourself, dropping hundreds more on rent than you’re used to may sound crazy, there are some serious upsides to a 1-bedroom 1-bath.
1. You don’t have to worry about any roommate woes
Ever get stuck rooming with someone you don’t necessarily know? I.e. a friend of a friend or Craigslist roommate? They didn’t seem so bad at first but they ate all your take-out one time, unplugged your alarm clock another, until they eventually became the spitting image of Chandler’s crazy roommate Eddie from FRIENDS? One incredible thing about living alone is never having to worry about who you’re going to rent the space with if your nice, sweet, good roommate wants to move closer to work.
2. You’ll be able to self-discover
When you live with roommates, it’s super easy to come home and immediately start bouncing ideas off of them. Should you quit your job? Ask out that cute new assistant at work? Dye your hair millennial pink? When you live alone, you don’t have a chorus of people chiming in with their opinions. Instead, you’ll learn to be introspective and really listen to what you want and need. Soon, you’ll be able to trust your instincts better and develop a better sense of self-trust.
3. You’ll grow emotionally stronger
Since your best-friends, siblings and significant others aren’t on-call to listen to you when panic-strikes, you’ll learn how to deal with life’s biggest problems by yourself. It won’t be all sunshine and self-love, but learning how to grieve and problem solve on your own is going to be a majorly important life-skill that’ll pay off in the future.
4. Freedom
You literally can do what you want, whenever you want. That means a lot of classically walking around naked, eating ice-cream for breakfast, watching eight hours of Stranger Things with absolutely no one to judge you.
5. A sense of personal pride
No one’s splitting the rent or the responsibilities. That means all the household chores, meals and maintenance is up to you and your landlord. While that may seem super daunting, it can also lead to great personal reward. You don’t have to have things 100% handled all the time, but knowing that you are functioning – and dare we say, thriving – on your own is a huge source of personal pride and confidence.
6. You’ll appreciate people more
When living with friends or family, it can be easy to get anti-social or not as willing to participate in social events. Because you’re living alone, you’ll be able to enjoy your time solo while also understanding just how valuable human connection is to your life.
7. It’s easier to relax, unwind and be creative
It seems that we’re always plugged in or logged on when it comes to society these days. We’re constantly sending work emails, liking Instagram pictures, or sending out tweets. We spend the majority of our days connecting with people whether online or in the real world. Time alone can allow you to unwind from your day, giving you the necessary mental rest in order to recharge and connect with your body and mind. We’re not saying you should live alone forever, but if you’ve never given the 1-bedroom lifestyle a shot, you should consider giving it a go – at least once.