Living alone for the first time

PlutoinCapricorn

There are portable mini ovens and double hobs that save electricity when cooking for one, and portable washing machines.

kerri_gt

A little habit I try to keep to is when I get up and move from room to room, check if there is anything that I can pick up and put away from one room to another, that jumper on the back of the dining chair when I go upstairs for example, that bit of rechcling in the bathroom when I'm going downstairs, that odd glass etc. just helps make tidying feel less of a chore.

Blue_Doggy

I've lived alone for a long time, and a couple of things I'd like to say are,

1. I agree with everyone who says if you're cooking stuff like Bolognaise, or casseroles, make loads, divide it up into portions-for-one and freeze them.

2. Don't stop buying yellow sticker stuff as long as it's freezable; if it's not freezable or otherwise storable, it's expensive compost.

3. Sitting about in uber-casual clothes is fine for a short time, but can destroy the morale if done regularly. I've found it useful to think along the lines of "if someone whose opinion I care about could see me now, what would they think?"

4. Likewise, sitting on the sofa eating choccy biccies is great, but the distance from mouth to hips is short.

5. Keep up a decent social life.

onomatopoeia99

Blue_Doggy wrote: »

5. Keep up a decent social life.

This is the difficult one, which I have mostly failed at.

Blue_Doggy

This is the difficult one, which I have mostly failed at.

I was always very shy, and found social life difficult so I sympathise.

When I was working, I got the human contact element from that, but when I retired, I quickly realised that it would be very easy to become a hermit and see no-one, so I made it my rule that the default answer to any invitation would be "yes!".

Because of this, and thanks to some lovely colleagues from my last job, I have a better social life than I've ever had - nothing razzle-dazzle, but good for me.

Good luck, onomatopoeia99, for some of us social life is a muscle which has to be positively exercised.

jk0

Hmm. Maybe it's different for us men.

I tried to keep in touch with old workmates, but once you're out of the workplace, no-one seems to want to know.

Social life? What social life?

Blue_Doggy

jk0 wrote: »

Hmm. Maybe it's different for us men.

I tried to keep in touch with old workmates, but once you're out of the workplace, no-one seems to want to know.

Social life? What social life?

That's tough - I very quickly lost touch with everyone from the employer I worked for for 20 years, but the one I was with for 10 years was a friendlier outfit altogether, and that's the basis of my current social life.

Have you considered organisations such as the Men's Sheds Association http://www.menssheds.org.uk/ or the U3A http://www.u3a.org.uk/?

If there's a charity which interests you, or a museum or similar, maybe volunteering? Even if all you get from it is a person to talk to and share a cuppa with a couple of days a week it's a start.

Good luck .

wishus

You could always join http://www.meetup.com/ and see what's going on in your area and meet new people.

chocgirl_2

On the cooking front - agree on making a big bolognese/chilli etc and freezing in portions, and also buying say packs of chicken thighs and freezing them separately or in bags of two.

Halogen cookers are also great for saving energy - they warm up in considerably less time than a standard oven and cook some food quicker. Their size means that they are ideal for 1/2 people. I know someone who lives on their own who hasn't used their standard oven for about 3 years because of their halogen!!

But having said that I also agree on not buying anything unless you absolutely need it - it will take a while to work out your bills and stuff reliably!

redglass_2

I find soups, stews and casseroles are more user-friendly for the single person than baking or anything that's usually cut into portions. You can have as much or as little as you want, reheat and/or freeze. As others have already said, batch cooking makes a lot of sense. Roasts are just too much faff for one person and I never do them, but I do put lamb chops or oxtail in the slow-cooker - yum.
Slow cookers are great - you come home to something hot and already cooked but a lot cheaper than buying instant meals. If you haven't got one, they often turn up in charity shops.


Get as many bills put on DD as possible - then there's no risk of forgetting them.
Don't shop when hungry! All sorts of crap can find its way into the basket.