did you live alone first?

[Amelia Bedelia]

Did you live on your own before you got married or did you go directly from mom & dad to spouse?
If you had to do it over would you do it differently?

[*Christi*]

I went directly from my mom's house to Josh's apartment.  I wish I would have lived on my own first, learned some life lessons before getting married.

[Raecheal]

I'm not married. But I have lived on my own for five years now.

[Envelope]

I lived alone.  First in an apartment, and later to a house!!

Am sooooooooooooooo glad I did that!!

I may reply a bit more later when I have time...

sharon

[terp]

I'm not married, but I live alone and am thankful for that.  Accountability to ones' self is a challenge.

[Jennie-lynnie]

Both my husband and I went straight from our parents homes to living together. It hasn't been easy adjusting, but we've managed. I don't regret doing it that way. It's just a lot of learning and adjusting that's all.

[randerzforya]

My hubby and I both went from our parents houses to living together, and that was the only way we could have done it. It's too expensive for young couples to live out here, muchless single people. He was making enough to probably scrape by at the time, but there was no way I could have afforded it. We adjusted to life just fine, both of our parents taught us about finances well, and we both were good with responsibility. So I'm glad we did it that way.

[littlegal]

Went straight from my parents house to being married.  Sometimes i wish i had lived on my own a little first.  I wouldn't have been able to afford it though.  I guess i could have stayed in a dorm at college. 
either way, i think we both adjusted just fine to the way it was done.  He didn't live on his own first either, but he had stayed at a college dorm some.

[angelofthe_lordz]

I lived with my parents before we got married. I really couldn't afford to live on my own b/c I had so many bills and my parents were in no hurry to get rid of me. I'm actually glad I didn't because I've learned so much from my parents that really benefit me now in keeping my own house. Although i lived @ home I was very independent and i still am which gets on my hubby's nerves. Oh well. Sorry honey.

[Envelope]

I was 25 when I got my first apartment by myself.  I had already been out once, but had moved home for 6 months to "regroup" so to speak.

I lived upstairs from a NOISY guy!!  I remember STOMPING out of my apt at 2 AM to go stay with dad, because the guy below me kept having wild parties!!  ughhhh

I finally told the landlord I'd had ENOUGH, when she told me about this cute little house......and if I'd wait 30 days they'd let me have it...........And the little house was PERFECT!!  It was CUTE!!  they put all new carpet and linoleum in it for me....built me a new front porch, painted it, and roofed it.  I bought the house about a year later.

The little house is right across the street from me..............that little house is what led me to my husband!!  It was right across the street and he came and asked me to dinner and I asked him to church.......and the rest is HISTORY as they say!!!

I LOVED living out on my own.  I was incredibly independent.....The only thing I didn't like, was one morning I was leaving for work, and looked out and someone had stolen my TIRE right off my car!!!  They still had the car jacked up, and just left it!! 

sharon

[Heather]

i had to pick other. i have lived off and on with my parents for about 3-4 years. right now i am back with them due to some other circumstances. matt is living with his mom, but will be moving into our apartment next week. he'll have a month to live alone until we get married.

[LarryTheCucumber]

I moved out when I was 19, and it was the right move for me to make


.....not sure that I'd recommend many 19 year olds to move 2500 miles away across the ocean though 

its definitely had its challenges, but I'm glad I did it the way I did.

[nicolejoy]

I wanted to move out, but it was never practical, it wouldn't have worked!! I kinda wish there were a few things that I'd done differently so that it MIGHT have worked - but ah well!! We did ok

[alohilani]

I live alone, and I'm not married.. I think it's a good thing to be on your own before marriage - it's a great learning experience!

[Arctic Rose]

I went straight from my parents house to being married. I haven't regretted once. It was a little bit of an adjustment, but we did just fine. We actually did alot better when we moved to Alaska away from Oregon and both set of Parents.

[JoleneHeather]

I lived on my own and LOVED it, infact I wish I would have done if for a few more years before getting married.  I liked having to only worry about me.  Plus I learned some valuable lessons. 

[Scott]

I lived on my own for several years and loved it.

[Elfin]

I went from my parents' house to moving in w/ Nick in our tiny 280sq foot apartment.  Ahhh...I'll always have fond memories of that little dinky thing. lol


I don't think I could ever be happy living ~alone~ alone...  When I lived w/ my parents, I hated when they'd go away and I'd be home alone for a weekend or whatever...  Nick just went to Men's Conference last week, and I hated being alone while he was gone there for 3 days (I went to stay w/ my mom last Friday night - lol).  I just like being around people.

But if I'd had the option of having a roommate of sorts, I probably wouldn't have minded that before marriage.  *shrugs*  But I got married a couple years into college...all-in-all I was pretty young, but it was just the right time for Nick and I to get married.  We'd been friends for 4 years and dating seroiusly for 2 years...it was just...time. lol  And I really haven't regretted it at all.

Like I said, I don't think I'd enjoy living completely by myself...I'd have to have a roommate.  As it was, after I moved out of my parents' house, I moved in with my best friend.   So, I don't regret it in the least.

[alohilani]

You lived in a 280 sq. ft. apartment?!?!?

Whoa. I'm just ONE person living in 1000 sq. ft... And sometimes I think it's small!

[RandyWayne]

280 sqr feet???

We live in a 600 sqr foot house right now and are moving into something that is between 2400 and 3600 in less than a year.  THAT will finally give us enough space.  Personally, if heating/cooling such a large place wasn't so expensive, I wouldn't mind a 10,000+ home!
Like a converted theater/school/grocery store/church........

[Chseeads]

She's an Elf, remember.....Elves live in holes in trees......  280 square feet is a pretty big pad.

[M‡¢ĦÆŁ Ҝ]

I lived on my own for a few years*.  I'm glad I did, it taught me to me independent and how to manage a house and finances.  Learning to pay my own bills would not have been a good thing to learn after getting married.

*The first year or so was with roommates.  After that, it was just me.

[Amelia Bedelia]

Those of you that mentioned lessons learned... other than financial responsibilities what are some of the things you learned?  Those of you living alone, what are some of the things you're learning or hoping to learn?
Those of you that didn't live alone and kinda wish you had, what are some of the things you think you would have learned or would have wanted to learn?

thanks!

[LarryTheCucumber]

-housekeeping   (no comments, sippintea!!!!)
-time management
-resourcefulness
-budgeting
-cockroach killing


thats just a few off the top of my head---overall, just a general self-reliance that I think would be hard to learn without being on one's own.

[SippinTea]

 

I'm trying, I'm trying, I'm really, really trying...