First Apartment Checklist: Buy Now, Buy Later, Skip
A printable first apartment checklist, room by room, with a column for what to skip buying yet. Move-in steps, safety basics and the few tools you'll use.
Plain-English guides for grown-up life
The grown-up stuff nobody taught you.
Money, home, health, work and the paperwork in between. We read what credentialed pros and trusted creators recommend, then boil it down to what to do this week.
Pick a part of life
- MoneyBudgets, credit, debt, taxes and saving without the jargon.
- Home lifeRenting, cleaning, fixing and running a place you live in.
- HealthDoctors, insurance, sleep and the basics of looking after yourself.
- WorkJobs, pay, benefits and getting through the working week.
- FoodCooking, groceries and kitchen basics on a normal budget.
- Life adminPaperwork, accounts, documents and deadlines, handled.
- RelationshipsRoommates, friends, family and dating, with less drama.
- ParentingThe early years, school, childcare and the money side of kids.
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How a guide gets made
Our full methodFind the people who know
Certified planners, clinicians, tradespeople, agencies and creators with a real track record.
Compare what they say
Where the experts agree, it goes in. Where they disagree, we say so and show both sides.
Boil it down
A quick version up top, the detail below, and a short list of things to do this week.
Say what we did not do
We research; we have not tested every product. When we have used something ourselves, we say so.
A note from the editors
Nobody hands you a manual when you sign your first lease. We are writing the one we wish we had.
Adulting Hacks is published by Extima, a small web agency in California. We research each guide against what credentialed professionals and experienced creators recommend, and we say plainly when we have not tested something ourselves. You will find their names and links in every guide.
Some product links earn us a commission. That helps keep the site free, and it never decides what we recommend. If something is sponsored, the card says so.