What you wish you learned before leaving home?

Some of you may have heard me say before that I teach clerical skills to adults with some sort of disability (those on the level to be competitively employed are in my dept). Well recently I'm noticing more and more that some people have no 'life skills.' As in they have no clue what it costs to live (I have one person, a single man, who insists he can not live on $30,000/year), budgeting/banking, etc. So I've recently been tasked to create a curriculum for what we call 'Work Adjustment Training,' including some of what I'm calling 'life skills training.'

Since I've been thinking on that I got to thinking about what I didn't know when I moved out of my parent's that I wish I had known. Like how to defrost frozen pipes.

So is there anything you wish you'd known when you moved out? Like anything from cooking, to making simple home repairs, etc? Or something you wished you knew before you made a decision/mistake/etc.? I'm interested to see what all might really be helpful to cover in the training somehow. My defrosting pipe story is definitely something I'm keeping in mind for it!

lol well it would have been nice if my father would have taken some time to show me basic stuff on cars but i had to learn it on my own and from friends.

anytime you would ask my dad if he wanted help, he said if you want to help go back in the house.

my father hated kids

I am guilty of that.

I believe I can live easily on less than 10,000$ a year. And well... I have been, but not easily. Like, I don't understand what I will do with all that money when I make a normal wage for someone with a PhD. What do you do? Bathe in it? My sister laughs at me, because of course you really don't have much extra after all the bills and student loan repayment and putting a little aside for savings. I have no idea how much anything costs, but I know that and I'm doing pretty well. My parents didn't teach me crap as far as everyday stuff. They hired someone to do everything. Mow the lawn? Call someone. (We never had frozen pipes because our house was heated with hot water)
Anyway, I have to call people and ask them all kinds of stuff. Like when I trip a circuit breaker, I had no idea what to do. When I first moved in, I didn't understand how you pay bills (I get it now) or how you get a credit card or how to open a bank account or do taxes or... anything.

Here is my one suggestion: Have each student pick the one thing from a list you make that they know how to do, and have them present it themselves. Bill it as an exercise in public speaking, and this just "happens" to be the topic. Otherwise people kinda resent it like you're talking down at them.

well i didnt move out my mom kicked me out at the age of 15 b/c she had a drug problem but she is slowly getting better any way i moved in with my gma at age 16 and moved out on my own a year later we didnt get along under the same roof, lol and one thing i wish either my mom or my gma taught me was how to cook!!!! i cant even make eggs right plus i dont like it i have been livin on my own for almost 3 years and i think out of a total of that i cooked like 4 times, lol

Originally Posted by theimp98

lol well it would have been nice if my father would have taken some time to show me basic stuff on cars but i had to learn it on my own and from friends.

anytime you would ask my dad if he wanted help, he said if you want to help go back in the house.

my father hated kids

Click to expand...

Now that is one thing I know I am not qualified to teach anything about! Though I can say don't drive you car without oil and things like that!

Please teach them how to properly cook a ham- long story....! Don't let them think it's all done on the outside, all nice and gorgeous- then cut into it and find it's completely frozen on the inside- teach them to thaw out meat!!!!

Oh, and how to properly take care of their teeth, and wear sunscreen to prevent medical problems

How to properly write a resume- it's hard if you've never done it before

How to sew (just the basics at least )

Teach them to PYF with each paycheck (pay yourself first)

Teach them how to change a lightbulb, change the filters on their vents, what temperature to set their thermastats on to save money on their utility bills

How to politely & effectively turn down soliciters, jehovah's witnesses, telemarketers..

How to pick out ripe fruits and vegetables...good meat & cheese- you know, sometimes when you are first learning to grocery shop on your own, you don't know what to look for...

How to use portions to make things last longer- like - quarter size of conditioner, dime size of shampoo....and so on

How to say NO to department store credit cards! and to check all apr & interest rates on any kind of card they may apply for in the future, how to write a check

Teach them to pay their bills a few days early each month so they won't have late fees

It's not a bad idea for them to attend some of the "Do -It-Yourself" classes at the local hardware stores like Home Depot- they teach you how to fix things on your own, they're really helpfull!