At younger ages people can't wait to grow up ( I was no exception.) You can't wait to be 13 so you're officially a teenager and then 16 because you finally get to drive on your own and then 18 because you get to be considered an adult. But being an adult is hard. You're thrown into this world of responsibilities that you aren't used to and you have to adjust fast because the real world is about to smack you in the face. Your parents don't do everything for you anymore because it's time you learn on your own and learn to take responsibility for things that you might not have thought about when you were younger.
I would say my first take on being an adult was when I bought my car at 21. My mom bought my first car when I was 16 but I decided that it was time for a new one and it wasn't my moms place to buy it for me. I know some kids help with buying their first car but it might have been a car where payments weren't required and they still took care of your gas & maintenance. I was fortunate to get a decent monthly car payment but for someone who wasn't used to paying bills or saving money I really had to adjust to that. I love my car and will mostly likely drive it until it stops running but I knew I wanted an SUV and hello, have you seen gas prices? I drive a Honda pilot and that thing sucks gas, which was another adjustment. I had a job so it was my place to pay for my gas from now on. There were times my mom helped me out (and still does) because that's just the type of person she is but she wanted me to learn to be conservative with my gas and watch what I did. Let's not forget maintenance either. If I plan to keep this car for a long time I need to take care of it. Oil changes, new tires, unexpected fixes. Sometimes I catch myself dreaming about a newer pilot or a new car in general and then I remember how much I hate car payments. Just one more year and the soccer mom car will be paid off!
Next up in the land of adulthood..bill. Lets take a second and talk about those dreadful pieces of mail. Just the word makes me cringe. I've mentioned before that Michael is really good at saving money, I on the other hand am not. So when I entered the world of paying my own bills it was a wake up call. When Michael and I moved from his apartment to our house we went from paying $50ish a month in electricity to our highest electric bill being almost $300. Yep, I almost fainted when I opened that bill. We learned that we really needed to conserve on energy, we didn't run the heat very much and pretty much refused to use the air conditioning when it got hot. Lucky for us being in the mountains it cools down at night so we would stick a fan in the window to pull it cooler air which was cheaper and worked just fine for us. We went without cable because it wasn't a necessity, luckily we got an awesome deal through my mom and Dish network so we do have it now but know it's something we could live without. We really learned to conserve on things like wear warmer clothes so we don't run the heat as much or run a fan compared to full blown air conditioning.
So many other factors lead into being an adult.....rent, buying your own groceries, making your own decisions etc. Maybe you had an easy transition into being an adult and maybe you didn't. I think both are acceptable and for some it isn't always easy...believe me I still struggle with it while Michael excels at it. But just because you're in an adulthood stage doesn't mean you should stop enjoying life. Save money and go on adventures, splurge on a night out every now and then. Adulthood may take on more responsibility but in some aspects it makes life that much more fun. Becoming an adult brought me to Asheville, and an awesome job that I love and even though I may not have summer breaks and bank accounts full of money I'm still happy and that's what is important in my book.