Life lessons are cool. They’re very important, and good to keep in the back of your mind (or up on your fridge). But sometimes you need some really practical tips. Don’t worry. We’re here to help you adult.
Life(style)
- Learn your body type and dress for it.
- Same goes for colors. Just because it’s a pretty color, doesn’t mean it looks good on you.
- Ladies: have your bra size determined for different brands and do this on the reg. Your bra size will change with age and weight shifts.
- Don’t throw away the clothes and shoes you no longer want. Donate. This goes for items like bedsheets, too. Items that can’t be given away, will be recycled by most charities.
Love & Relationships
- Ladies: if you’re on antibiotics, use extra contraception. Not all types of antibiotics cancel out birth control, but you’d rather be safe than sorry.
- If you’re at this point in your relationship and dealing with meddling in-laws and parents: compromise on the wedding so you can have the marriage. Keep your endgame in mind.
- If they only call you after 23:00 o’clock, don’t ever pick up.
Money & Career
- Tip 15%.
- Put at least 10% of your monthly salary in a savings account. Treat this as a bill, not as an “I’ll do this if I have money left at the end of month”-thing.
- Taxes. File them, pay them. If you get slapped with a fine, you can usually object to it. Yes, they’re slow in responding, we know. Ha ha. Take their deadlines seriously though. These fines hurt.
- Speaking of taxes: check for deductibles. This differs per country of course, but it can save you some serious cash.
- Credit cards are the devil. Don’t spend what you don’t have.
- Adapt your resume for each job you apply to. Yes, this means you will have a dozen versions of the same CV.
- Had a good run at work? An actual run, not a couple weeks. Talk to your manager about your salary/investing in extra schooling/whatever else you want more flexibility in.
- While we’re on the subject: schedule regular feedback sessions with your direct manager. It’ll show goodwill plus you’ll know what’s expected of you in order to get ahead.
Well, that’s all I got (for now). Hope that helps. Do share your own practical tips and adulting lifehacks in the comments 🙂