Eiii! The Real World Waits! (not MTV version)

Every now and then it hits me... very very soon I will be graduated and completely responsible for myself. I'll have to have my own health insurance, my own dental insurance, pay my own rent, etc. I'm 21, soon to be 22, and yet my parents have always paid my rent and helped me with my bills, if not paid all of them. I mean, I don't even own my car or pay insurance on it. I have a feeling that if I wasn't leaving the states these things would be transferred over to me. It feels like a lot of sudden responsibility. I know my parents would still help out if I got stuck, but once I'm done with school I should be able to support myself. I just have no idea how!

How do people suddenly go from mommy money into completely surviving on their own? It isn't like there is an intermediate step for me. I never even had government money. I never see my rent money, it's sent in a direct check in 6 month blocks to my landlords. I barely manage anything of importance. My idea of managing finances is to watch my online account drop steadily from the first of the month until I get another transfer at the beginning of the next month. I guess the closest I've ever come to managing on my own was in Sweden. I had to figure out exchange rates, compensate for the fact I wasn't getting enough money to even meet the minimum immigration requirements, work, AND pay my own rent... but all out of mommy money. And if I got stuck, I could write to her and say 'mommy... I'm having problems.'

I had to do that at the beginning of this year. I couldn't stay in budget, just couldn't. I finally calculated out how much electricity, gas, and internet were, then realized I wasn't getting enough money just for food each day. I wonder if I'll have to consider that next year. My budget for next year gives me 2000 for food, bus passes, shampoo, etc. That's roughly 65 SEK a day for food. It doesn't quite seem like so much when I break it down like that. I guess the thing to remember is that I won't be paying for each meal separately. A bag of pasta is good for several meals and is quite cheap. Rice is almost the same. Falukorv doesn't cost much. I'll just have to stick to the cheap food and maybe see if I can afford some nice veggies in there somewhere.

I'm going to have so much stuff to worry about on my own! I'll have to actually plan ahead and think! The future is scary, but perhaps it is welcoming too? It is the next big adventure... a very delayed entry into adulthood. (Perhaps that's one of the reasons I liked Sweden so much, I was able and perhaps forced, to make my own decisions and survive on my own... mostly.)