10 Things You Should Know By Adulthood
I know each person has a different definition of adulthood. But if you’re out on your own, there are some things that you really should know.
1. Income tax returns are not a gift from the government. They are a refund of money that you already made and overpaid to the government in taxes.
2. It is not okay to flush feminine hygiene products down toilets, they need to be disposed of in a waste can as to not clog or damage pipes.
3. You need to RSVP. If you do not RSVP to an event, you’re being rude. Hosts need to know if you’re coming or not. And the crazy thing is, it’s incredibly simple to RSVP. (PS: Make sure you RSVP to the right person!)
4. Nothing worth having comes easily, you have to work for the things that are the most valuable.
5. Parents aren’t perfect. They didn’t do everything right when raising you, but chances are they did their best.
6. Turn signals and seat belts are standard on cars for a reason… you should use them.
7. Coupons are cool, they help you save money to do what you want with later.
8. Know how to cook at least one or two meals that you can eat off of real dishes that you also know how to wash by hand. Bonus points if dishwashers don’t scare you.
9. Just because you don’t agree with another person’s opinion, does not mean that the other person is wrong. Everyone is allowed to have their own opinions about things, it doesn’t mean that you have to agree and it doesn’t mean that you can’t be friends.
10. Have a basic understanding of how insurance and credit work.
Hi Rachel! As someone who will be graduating in two years, this really hits home…I’ve got the cooking, cleaning, and driving down but I should probably work on the financials a little. Thanks for sharing your wisdom! I enjoyed reading your blog. 🙂
Xoxo,
Taylor
http://tayloryates.wordpress.com
You’re heads and tails ahead of what many of my peers were in college!
I love all of these! Especially # 1!
It drives me crazy when people don’t RSVP. It’s really, incredibly simple. Just freaking do it. Geez louise.
That’s a major pet peeve of mine! Coincidentally a girl who RSVPed herself (+ uninvited guest) as yes to our wedding, then just didn’t show up is Facebooking about how expensive planning a wedding is. I’m trying not to say anything snarky about how much of our money she wasted.
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These are great! I wanted to tell you my favorites, but honestly, they’re all fabulous. The only things I would add is, others’ opinions are just that…opinions. They do not define you, nor determine your self worth. And, while you can’t control others, you control your reaction to others. Choose wisely. Stopping by from the Not a Mom Blogger group on FB. Cheers!
Kelly
http://www.alovelylifeindeed.com
Great list! I really think that things like this, especially in regards to finances, should be taught in school. I figured it all out on my own, with plenty of overdraft fees, unpaid bills, ramen noodles every day, and cancellation notices in the beginning. My husband is clueless about a lot of this. His parents certainly didn’t teach him, or his siblings who are now learning that life as an adult isn’t as easy and cool as we thought it was during childhood. I might start thinking about creating finance crash courses for my blog. Thanks for the idea!
Great idea! I agree the every day financials should be taught in school, the most anyone ever said was my math teach who said, “Never lease a car.” No pros, no cons. Guess what? I drive a lease.
I think financial crash courses would be a great blog offering! I’ve learned a ton from personal finance bloggers!
The RSVP thing annoys me like no other. I had a housewarming party two years ago and I had at least 10 people not reply in any fashion. When I followed up they were like “Oh well I couldn’t go, I thought you knew that.”
Now on the tampons I will say I did NOT know that until only a few years ago. Growing up no one ever told me otherwise, whether parentals or in school when they had the whole talk. I mentioned it to a few friends and they were oblivious as well.
My parents made sure I knew, but a friend of mine only found out when she learned about the septic tank in the house she bought. It scares me that guests might be flushing those things into my 85+ year old drain pipes!
We got a rather large refund this year and we decided we need to rethink how many deductions we’re taking at work because obviously we’d rather have the money on a month to month basis. On the other hand, sometimes I think it’s good because if you can learn to live on less income, and then get the large refund check, you can put that towards something fun rather than worry about accidentally squandering the money during the year. Just something I’ve been thinking about!
My point was just it’s important as an adult to understand that a tax refund is money that you actually earned, and there are definitely different strategies when it comes to refund sizes I wrote a little more about that in a previous post (here: http://www.probablyrachel.com/certainty-taxes/).
Love your list!! <3 Would you ever want to do a guest post on my blog? 🙂
Thanks and absolutely! I just emailed you.