Seven Things I Do Not Miss About Apartment Life

Its the first weekend of the month.  Wanna know how I can tell?  Moving trucks.  Everywhere.  Lots of neighbors leaving my 'hood.  Today is extra special too! 

Not one, but both of my brothers are moving out of my parents house.  One for the first time and one has just been an extended summer stay.  That will leave 0 children in my parents house.  I am very curious to see what that is going to be like.  Anyways I am in Tucson to help them move and offer my services as a general expert on moving.  I have moved more times than I want to mention and once it was twice in the period of 5 days.  I am very glad to not be moving this time, and happy to help my baby brothers! 

I own my house now, but lived in apartments for many years.  My brothers aren't renting an apartment but they are renting a house.  For two college aged boys, this is pretty awesome.  I mean, obviously my brothers are going to be awesome, duh.  In honor of this monumental occasion, I have put together today's post!

Seven Things I Do Not Miss About Apartment Life:

• Stairs.  Upstairs apartments were always cheaper so I lived on the second floor all but one time.  I do not miss stairs one bit.  Shared staircases that you can hear your neighbors clunking up and down on.  Moving your furniture up and down staircases with corners.  I almost bought a three story condo.  So glad that didn't actually happen!  
• The Trash Parade.  I hated hauling my garbage around.  Out of your apartment, lock you door, traipse out to the dumpster, toss your bag in.  Hopefully you didn't accidentally fling your keys in  like I did once.  Its not fun to try and get them back...  Also I didn't like seeing other people's trash.  Yes we all create waste but no I do not want to see yours.  I was unlucky in my apartments too that none of them recycled, which reduces my trash by 75% at my house.  Recycling Rules!
• Neighbor Proximity.  I was always the over cautious neighbor who was afraid that my neighbors could hear any and everything I was doing.  I walked softly, I always checked the time before doing anything noisy and even closed my doors super quietly.  Unfortunately I am one in a million.  I lived above a fussy baby, several smokers, party animals, cat people, loud Farsi speaking folks, drummers and even snoring people.  Yep. Thin walls I do not miss you.
• Paying the MAN.  I hated rent because it was always just paid to "them"  It did me nothing.  Also it constantly grew at the end of each lease.  Now I pay my mortgage which is basically an investment in my future( and cheaper than our rent was in a smaller apartment).  Damn the man!
• Grocery Shopping.  Groceries are a part of life.  Hauling them across the complex, up your stairs and into your apartment shouldn't have to be.  Forget it when you buy more than a couple bags worth, multiple trips back and forth used to suck the life out of me.  
• No customization.  In most apartments you are not allowed any freedom to customize.  No paint, no holes in the walls, no changing knobs on cabinets, no FUN! You can probably guess that I have painted every wall, surface, trim, and door in my place.
• Maintenance.  This may not make sense to most people but I hated having an issue and waiting for the MAN's minions to come fix it.  I much prefer handling my own issues.  Yes I have to pay for the broken things and whatnot, but I also get the satisfaction of fixing a lot of things myself! I also take better care of everything because it is MINE.

I hope all of you have the chance to buy a home and ditch the MAN!  It was the greatest thing I have ever done(most days).  In the meantime, do you have any fun apartment/dorm stories? I wanna hear them!