Right, my sister already made a thread, so I’m assuming you people already know that the two of us have moved away from home to study (Psychology for me, and nooo Jing is not planning to become a psychologistblargh =P). The first few weeks were a single trail of mishaps, I swear! The washing machine had a strange bendable pipe that led nowhere, so I didn’t dare to use it; the frying pan started making strange noises first time I used it; the TV would only give me one station; the walls are concrete so I couldn’t put anything on them until I got special things and a special drill; I need an electrician to put up my lamps; the iron didn’t work… Not to mention that I lost my keys and had to spend the night at a friend’s place since there is no master key. =P
Since I think it’d be an utter waste of space to make a thread just to announce that OMG Jing is living on her own, the point of this whole thing is: does anyone have any moving-away-from-home stories you feel like sharing? Or tips for things like taking care of an apartment (remember to water your plants at least once a month or they will probably die? cough >_>) or saving money (I’m one of the poor students now, after all) or… recipes! This especially goes out to the Americans - I expect you to prove my prejudices about you people not even knowing how to boil potatoes wrong. =P
Aww… sorry to hear all that happened. But the first week is always a “learning” experience in a way; you learn about all the problems with the house! I’m certain things will be better from now on.
I’m not moved out, but I have a tip for new college and university students: DON’T SPEND YOUR STUDENT LOAN ON VIDEO GAMES!
Chef Boyardee, Ramen, instant macaroni and cheese, and the like are the friends of every male college student. That is, of course, until they get a girl to cook for them and/or learn how to cook themselves (which in many cases is probably brought about by the desire to cook for said girl).
Well, i’ve never really lived on my own considering that I live in the barracks, but while I cannot offer advice for that, I -can- offer a recipe or two. Check it out:
1 box Mac N Cheese
1 Jar Spaghetti sauce
1 package pepperoni slices (optional)
When boiling the water for the Mac N Cheese, throw in the pepperoni slices to get them cooked and the flavor into the water. Continue normal Mac preperation. When it’s all done, mix it together with however much Spaghetti sauce you like. Behold, you have created: PIZZA MAC!
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 2 (9-inch) cake pans with shortening and set aside.
Cream together the shortening and the sugar. Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Slowly alternate adding the egg yolks and milk with the dry ingredients and mix until well combined. Add the vanilla and mix well.
Pour into the prepared pans, about 550 grams of batter for each cake. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a rack.
While I was away for the studies… I had the absolute BEST roomates… They were so awesome… that they wouldn’t clean the friggin appartment !!! Arrggggrggggggghhhhj !!! >_< I was stuck doing it all !! They let the sink pile up all week… they head home for the weekend… guess who was stuck cleaning… Yep… little 'ol me ;.;
I lived on food prepared before I moved away… when that was gone, I had oodles of Mac n Cheese (Yay) and the like. I would’ve been better off alone, that way I’d have less mess to clean up ;.;
So I can say living alone has its advantages… it you must share the place with someone, I really hope they help out in keeping the place nice and tidy at all times.
Oh HECK yeah. I absolutely <i>adore</i> living on my own, and the apartment is gorgeous. So is the area I live in, which means it’s almost exclusively populated by families with small to medium sized children. =P AUGH! I hate children. It’s a nice city, too. Fifth largest community in Sweden, but that’s counting quite a bit of ground around the actual city. Bigger than the town we used to live in, anyway, which doesn’t take much. Shoppiiing!
I have a two room (+ kitchen, bathroom and “storage room” + a large storage in a separate building) apartment all to myself. <3
And Charle, searching for recipes online is cheating. =P
Curry’s are good. Beef’s my favorite. Put it in a saucepan at a 10, not sure what it is for gas. Keep adding it slowly, about 6 pieces at a time, while stirring until it’s all browned, add 1 finely chopped onion and 2 crushed garlic, 3 desert spoons of curry powder, 1 heaped teaspoon of cumin, 1 level teaspoon of coriander, 1 quarter teaspoon of ground ginger and mix it in, then add in two desert spoons of flour per 3 pounds of meat. Once this is mixed, add in boiled water slowly until the meat is covered while stirring. Once that’s done, dissolve a stock cube dissolved in boiled water, a bayleaf, 2 dessert spoons of chutney, 2-3 of tomato puree.
Cook slowly for 2 hours, add 1 desert spoon of sultanas, 1 of coconut, cook for 3 quarters of an hour more, serve with rice, and peaches is something my family like, and you’ve got enough for about a week, week and a half if your able to reheat it.
Yeah, but the spices last a loooong time before you throw them out. I don’t think we’ve ever actually had to, and we don’t make it that regularly. And if you want, you can always get curry sauces for after the water, excepting the sultanas and coconut.
Oh well, at least you’re cooking anyway.
I am from the US, and no, I don’t know how to boil my potatoes, but thats because I prefer them baked.
Having said that I will give these pieces of advice:
1- Alarm clocks are not as effective as loud family members at waking you up, so remember to sleep responsibly.
2- Though many things can be cleaned up later, things that can rot need to be cared for ASAP
3- Don’t think that you have to give everyone your new phone number, if you honestly don’t want some people calling, this is the perfect chance to ‘forget’ to tell them and not have to deal with them as much.
4- College is your friend, learn to treat it well, and it will find money to give you
As for my story, I fought tooth and nail to scrape together enough money to live in the dorms here at Southern Illinois University. My parents house is only two miles from campus. I love them a whole lot more from two miles away.
Mmmyeah, definately don’t go around giving your phone number out to random people. Especially if they’re creepy. >>; (My new favorite excuse is that I don’t know my own number. Hehe.)
One thing I’ve learned is don’t buy more than you need, especially when it comes to food that can spoil. I don’t know how many times we’ve had to dump spoiled milk cuz we didn’t drink it all fast enough. >.< And I don’t know HOW many things were going bad at my dad’s house when I left…
Anyway, congrats and good luck with your new life (of FREEDOM!!!).
Spices are your friends, get to know their intricacies. Almost every good dish is made by them being used properly. Don’t eat too many ready-made meals, they are barely food at all even if they are cheap.
Pasta will be one of your main foodstuffs, since they’re packed with carbohydrates, and go with almost anything, they are the most efficient meals for you to have, plus most pasta is cheap. Some shapes of pasta will be more expensive than others, don’t even consider buying anything more than the cheapest one unless you’re cooking for a boyfriend or something similar. Mac and cheese is always good, but don’t have too much of it, you can make some wonderful things with very little ingredients when it comes to pasta. Try experimenting, I find it much more fun.
French toast is great and cheap: Cut rather thick slices of stale bread, rounded with a cake-cutter. Put into a deep platter a batter composed of 1 cup of milk, seasoned with a pinch of salt, and 1 egg, well beaten. Dip each piece of bread into the batter until saturated; drain carefully, and fry in hot butter or drippings or in deep fat. Drain, and dust with powdered sugar.
Soup is also something you want to buy a large amount of, it’s quick, warming and filling for a couple of hours depending on which type of soup you get.
Make sure you also never run out of milk, cheese and eggs and seasoning.
Congratulations Jing, moving out is a nice big step. I haven’t been out on my won where I’ve had to wrry about much. The most i’ve been out on my own was living in the barracks and that is no sweat. All necessitiies are taken care of and I just have to keep the place clean. Althouhg I have learned that a microwave and non-ccoking foods are you best friends. They save a lot of time. Mac n’ cheee is fine too since ti requires little attention and time.
This depends on your eating habits, but a lot of people set out intending to cook twice a day and then can’t keep it up. If you have a tendency towards snacking then make an effort to pick up healthy snacks.
That being said, despite the difficulties, I envy Jing. I can’t wait to move in with my boyfriend.
My mom moved out and into her boyfriend’s place over 4 months ago.