s Adulting even a word? Yes -- adulting is a simple word meant to behave maturely and act like an adult. What behaving maturely or acting like an adult looks like in your life or what you think it should look is subjective.
Adulthood and the very concept of adulting is too subjective -- based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.
Categorizing auditing to a sole period in your life is tricky. The terms most associated with successfully completing tasks, that have been culturally associated with being grown-up. For example, doing your own laundry, going to work, exercising consistently, subscribing to a magazine, or cooking a meal from scratch.
The word itself has found place on social media, as the hashtag floats around aesthetics shots and memes. You may have seen your college best friend move out of their parents out into their own apartment and get so excited over their first kitchen pan purchase -- #Adulting. Or you may have received your first student loan bill in the mail after thinking college debt was a social construct for the past few years -- #Adulting.
Regardless of aesthetic or meme, adulting is subjective as it belongs to an individual's identity. Don’t let your growing pains be so strongly associated with expectations and assume that once you hit a certain age, adulting has to become your whole brand. Put aside your personal biases and opinions, because navigating any new phase of your life is scary, as is becoming an adult.
Growth and maturity are gifts you are sure to receive at your 18th birthday -- tips and tricks are relevant regardless of age. Continue reading to learn more about what we found on Reddit when it comes to advice you may need -- whenever you’re ready for it -- as the best fortunes are learned and earned over time.
Banking
First thing first: finance. When it comes to adulthood -- regardless of when that is for you -- financial stability is key. You can start by having a debit card, but eventually you’ll want a savings account with a higher interest rate to continually earn some extra bills on the money you already have. This becomes really nice when you get your first “adult” job, from an analyst to a consultant staying organized year-round with a portfolio of dates will make tax month a little less daunting.
Cooking
It's time to put easy mac and ramen to rest -- unless you are using them as ingredients part of larger dishes. Whenever you start feeling really excited about your kitchen appliances, you know you’ve hit a pivotal point in your life. Air fryers have quite literally revolutionized cuisine. Not only are they great substitutes to grease, they are fast and easy too -- and they bake! Trade in your bulky toaster oven for a trendy air fryer to prep up those brussels sprouts and crispy chicken wings to make you feel more “adult.”
Health/Wellness
When it comes to your health you may think you have everything figured out, as you frequented your college gym five out of the seven days a week. While a balanced diet and exercise never fade, the pressures of medical insurance may be new to you. The most common and easiest way to get health insurance is to hope it comes with your job offer -- it’s cheaper, and HR really guides you in getting it all set up. Your next bet is heading to healthcare.gov to go through a marketplace of options set up by the government to show you your options for insurance in one place.
Budgeting
If you waited this long to think of creating a formal budget you definitely need to continue reading. Regardless of how much you’re making or what your goals are, you need a budget to monitor transactions, track automatic payments, and see where you’re at basically. By looking at some paid and free budgeting software you always feel like you're in control of your one life with a few clicks. Excel is a great software if you are looking for something straightforward, where all your metrics are broken down by cell with a few equations to estimate monthly sending and so forth. You have to create it yourself, but something about google drive is irreplaceable and having that backup is a real sign of maturity.
Meal prep/Tupperware
As you take on this phase in your life, time becomes important. With auditing comes the true test of time management that you may have been cruising through for the past couple of years. In this new chapter there is no dining hall, or guardian to support your hunger at all times of the day. Eating out and ramen are options, but are they the best ones? No. So look to some easy solutions. Invest in a great Tupperware set. Pick a day to do your weekly/bi-weekly grocery shopping. Pick four to six meal receipts you love. Hit that air fryer or instant pot and get rolling!
Splurge & Save
It’s all about balance, and you can’t have financial balance without first budgeting. So make sure you understand that before you’re looking to cash out on Cartier and save for your home’s down payment. The advice here is simple: to splurge you need to save, and to both of those things you need to budget. Whether you find a hobby in maintaining stocks and investments, in addition to work salary, find what’s best for you and structure it so you too can one day open up your budget excel sheet to show a savings balance of $100,000.
Mental health
Any transition in life causes a little bit of anxiety and stress. The key is to be honest with yourself, and learn to get in touch with your emotions instead of suppressing them. The true sign of maturity is to become emotionally stable, and that’s only possible if you make the move to look for help. Therapy is not for everyone, but don’t knock it until you try it. As this Reddit user explains, the best part of therapy other than paying someone to listen to you talk for an hour, is that you learn different worldviews and ways to take your everyday stressors. No one is saying therapy is your golden ticket into an adult life that is perfect, but it’s important to understand whatever is keeping you from becoming the best version of yourself.
Cleaning
First things first, this is neither a tip nor trick solely exclusive for adulthood. A clean environment is the key to inner peace. I mean just look at those pans! What can be argued is an adult feeling is getting really excited about scrubbing grease off of a fry pan you would rather throw out. The sign of maturity -- among everything -- is a simple routine to complete your chores. This is no longer your jail cell walled dorm room where a pile of laundry is the norm. Life as an adult is busy, so figure out what’s best for you, and let your favorite cleaner scent fill the air. #Pine-Sol.
Social life
Welcome! Your adult job may take you to a new town, and this time your move isn’t destined to be like college. In fact, it’s completely different. Everyone at your workplace is likely going to be at different stages in their lives, and like college where it was expected to befriend those in the nearest proximity, that’s not necessarily the case in your adult life. Definitely put yourself out there, go to complaint socials, and read the room in the breakroom to see if you can thrive. If none of those go as planned, look at some of the suggestions above like finding your social life outside of work, like joining a charity. Some may call it old fashioned work-life balance.
Who are you and what do you want?
As Lesley Gore said, “It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to.” Now, if you want to cry at your party or eat an all cake -- do both unapologetically. There is no perfect handbook to adulthood. While it's responsible to get on some hard realities of adult-life like dealing with finances, don’t lose yourself in the process.
