How to move out of home in 6 easy steps

With more and more young adults opting to stay at home with their parents, flying the coop can seem increasingly daunting and stressful the longer you delay it.

Get insights on how to move out of home with this six-step guide to help make the transition from your family home to independent, fancy-free living as smooth as possible. Read on and find tips for moving out of home for the first time. 

Step 1: Find the right spot

Whether you’re planning on buying, renting, or living in a shared house, you will have to decide on the location that best suits your needs, budget, and lifestyle when you move out of home.

Ask family and friends if they have any areas to recommend. For example, some of the best places for young professionals to live include Richmond in VIC, Paddington in NSW and New Farm in QLD.

Once you have a few suburbs in mind, continue your research online. Perhaps check out some suburb reviews on Homely to see what the locals have to say about that specific area.

Online research is all well and good, but there’s only so much you can take away from photos. Be sure to attend a few open houses to see what properties are in your price range and, at the same time, get a feel of the neighbourhood you’re interested in.

Once you find a potential place to call home, be sure to check its proximity to your workplace, university, family, supermarkets, and public transport, as nobody enjoys a long, arduous commute every day.

Step 2: Set a budget

Living independently can be very expensive, so planning your budget before moving out of home is essential. A budget will help establish whether you can afford it and, perhaps more importantly, ensure you won’t be subsisting on two-minute noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

When working on your budget, consider the cost of rent, utilities (electricity, gas, and water), groceries, clothing, TV and Internet, transport, parking permits (if required), furniture, and appliances. Don’t forget to factor in certain ‘hidden’ expenses like the security bond (typically four weeks’ rent), utility connection fees, and home and contents insurance.

To determine if your move will be sustainable in the long term, we recommend calculating your estimated monthly income and planning a monthly spend covering food, bills, rent, transport, and other essentials.

Step 3. Set up house rules

If you’re moving in with a friend, partner, or flatmate, communication is the key to living in a happy and comfortable household.

The best way to avoid conflict in a shared environment is to set ground rules early on. Good topics to discuss with your new roomies include having guests stay over, house parties, labelling food, shower time limits, loud music, pets, leaving dishes in the sink, and smoking.

When raising concerns with your housemates, always respect each other’s opinions and listen to their feedback. It’s important that you feel like you can be honest and open with the people you live with. At the end of the day, if you’re uncomfortable in a certain living situation, there are always other options.

Step 4: Nail the chores

With moving out of home comes adventure, freedom, and newfound independence, but with independent living comes great responsibility.

To avoid being overwhelmed by housework, try making a schedule of chores for the first few weeks. This will help you get into a routine of doing the laundry, grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking, and putting the bins out. It can be worthwhile to draw up a cleaning roster if you live in a shared house to ensure everyone is chipping in equally.

Before your grocery shop, it’s wise to plan out your meals for the coming week, so you a) buy what you need, b) don’t overspend, and c) don’t blow the budget on takeaway meals. If you’re moving in with housemates, it can be fun to take turns cooking dinner or arranging a weekly group dinner to catch up, bond, and voice any concerns.

Step 5: Seek help

If you’re having financial or emotional trouble once you’ve moved out, don’t be afraid or too proud to seek help and advice from others.

If you’re moving out for the first time, doing a trial run can be a good idea before going the whole nine yards. You could have a crack housesitting for a friend or let your parents put their feet up and run the family household for a month or so.

Remember, your parents have been through the same transition when they were young. They may be able to help you out with a loan or offer valuable advice about how to best go about managing your household chores and bills.

Once you’re settled in, if you have any pressing questions about your new neighbourhood (e.g., the best places to eat out or if there is a 24-hour pharmacy), online forums are a great way to get valuable insights and opinions from experienced locals.

Also, remember several community organisations can be a great source of advice in times of stress and hardship. Such as:

• Lifeline Australia

• Home Ground Services

• Relationships Australia

Step 6: Stay in touch

Having looked after you all your life, your parents or guardians will likely miss you when you move out and vice versa. So be sure to visit, text, call, email, and Skype your folks regularly, and try not to run back home to use their Wi-Fi and laundry too much.

Ready for the big move?

Now that you have all these steps to moving out of home, it’s time to make this big transition happen! You don’t have to do everything on your own. If you need extra hands for your move, hire removalists to transport your items to your new home. This will take away the additional stress that comes with moving, as you have people to help with packing and delivering items to your new place.

Enjoy this new phase, and happy house hunting!