Learning how to adult… kind of

Sat in Pret on a sunny Friday with a coconut latte reading the Metro a sudden realisation hit me- is this what it’s like to be an adult?! I had gotten up early (7AM!!!!) to get to a bank appointment on time, and had ventured into Pret for a quick latte and read of the paper before a job interview and then work later that night. For the first time I felt like an actual adult living in London- and I’m not really sure how I feel about it.

Admittedly I should have felt like an adult a while ago. I moved to London in September for university and have never looked back. I have had to learn how to (unsuccessfully) budget, cook, and do my own shopping, as well as take care of myself when I get home drunk after a night out. However there was something about being in university halls that never felt like I was completely away from the restrictions of home. I still had to walk through reception to get to my flat under the judgmental gaze of the security guard who was probably wondering where I had been and who I was with. I didn’t have to worry about paying bills as they came included in my rent, and I only needed to pay my rent in three lump sums rather than every month. There was a degree of adultness that came with moving to London and being on my own, but I still wasn’t fully there.

Everything changed at the beginning of June though. I was kicked out of halls (not that I was complaining about getting out of that hell hole) and moved into my very own house. Well- my rented house. With three of my uni BFF’s I moved away from central London and to Tooting. I was ready to move in and be independent and not have to feel judged when I stumbled in the door drunk. But what I wasn’t ready for was the bills. Actually having to keep track on how many plugs were turned on, or how long I took in the shower, or if I really needed the light on. All of these were things I had never paid attention to because I wasn’t the one paying for them. I now have to keep track on how much I spend on shopping or on a night out because if that money isn’t in my bank for rent every month I will have three very angry house mates on my hands. All of this budgeting and looking out for how much water and gas I use is draining.

Undoubtedly though I am still not a full adult. When I went for my bank appointment it was to open a student bank account with an arranged fee free overdraft. The interview I was going to was for a second job that I need to pay my rent. And my job that night was as a part time waitress at GBK. As I am writing this post I am sat across from one of my house mates in Starbucks where we have spent the past 4 hours applying for jobs and summer internships. We may look like adults as we delicately sip on our coffees and bash away at our keyboards, but the student still lives within us as we unapologetically discuss the sesh

we have planned for this very night. I may have taken the first steps into adulthood, but I am certainly not the whole way there yet.