Move in is the next few weeks. I’ve lived on my “own” (roommate I never interacted with) for a couple months my last semester of college, but that was a temporary setup whereas I’m hopefully moving out for good this time.
Bear in mind that the place has window/wall A/C and electric heating.
Things I’m already considering:
- Drain guard
- Bidet
- Cold brew coffee maker
- Rice cooker
- Space heater? I’d like to keep the temp largely down during the winter to save money while warming up the part of the place I’m in
- Key for washer/dryer
Things I already have:
- Most furniture
- Air fryer
- Seltzer water thingy
- Meal prep containers
General advice is also welcome!
sex swing
Hello Volcel Police? I would like to narc on someone. I have never snitched before, is there paperwork or a fax number? Yes I’ll hold.
The VOLCEL POLICE are on the scene! PLEASE KEEP YOUR VITAL ESSENCES TO YOURSELVES AT ALL TIMES.
نحن شرطة VolCel.بناءا على تعليمات الهيئة لترويج لألعاب الفيديو و النهي عن الجنس نرجوا الإبتعاد عن أي أفكار جنسية و الحفاظ على حيواناتكم المنويَّة حتى يوم الحساب. اتقوا الله، إنك لا تراه لكنه يراك.
Space heater? I’d like to keep the temp largely down during the winter to save money while warming up the part of the place I’m in
I fell for this meme but it neglects to account for the fact that furniture & flooring has thermal mass and gets cold as shit when it isn’t being heated. It also takes a very very long time to heat up (again because of the thermal mass). Just turning on the heater so the apartment & all its furniture was always a comfortable temp without me wearing a toque & fingerless gloves & slippers & always being covered in blankets & drinking hot water was probably the greatest possible improvement to my happiness & comfort for the money spent.
Rice cooker
Hell yeah, get a nice one like a Zojirushi if possible
Cold brew coffee maker
Loose-leaf tea equipment is very cheap if you’re into that and are looking for a more moderate caffeine hit
seltzer water thingy
Airstream is an israeli company btw
Hmm that’s a good note on the space heater.
The coffee maker I’m looking at is only like $30 and I’ll make that back in the money I save not buying premade concentrate pretty quick
I actually have a Drinkmate which isn’t connected to Israel afaik! I think the canisters are still Sodastream but I’m working on finding a local homebrew shop that will refill them for cheap compared to swapping them out at target or something
Go to a second hand store or a yard sale or the like. Pick of some cheap pieces of art that look nice to you. Don’t worry about tacky or classy, just whatever you vibe with. My wall is filled with an eclectic assortment of random pieces and if it’s all random, it goes well together.
Also an electric kettle is really useful, but if you’re fresh from college you might already have one.
Electric kettles are great. I use mine for pour over coffee (hot and iced), and even random shit where I need really hot water and don’t want to wait for it.
So strange to hear that an electric kettle is not a standard item…
In the UK you’ll find them in every household because tea. Back when TV was the main entertainment source, some of the power grids biggest spikes were in BBC TV advert breaks, when everyone would go flick the electric kettle on to make a tea for the next part of the show.
We don’t drink tea as often as you all do, and I think a lot of us who do use the microwave to heat their water lmao.
I only got one since I got into Japanese-style pour over coffee, but they’re definitely great.
Instant pot > rice cooker. It cooks rice and does a ton of other things, totally worth splashing a little extra cash for.
Houseplants are great, pothos are easy care and can be hung in wall mounted pots. Also consider a window bird feeder if that’s an option where you live so you can see the wildlife.
Baskets for fruit and fridge trays for veggies can help keep things organized and help you remember stuff before it goes bad.
Coasters are always nice.
On the maintenance front, try to have stuff that you can use to avoid a maintenance call, snakes for drains, a channel lock for loose plumbing fittings, sink and toilet plungers if not already present are inexpensive options. Check your heaters and window seals for dust and mold respectively when you move in because they’re commonly missed cleaning steps (also under the fridge and stove, ew).
Edit: sneaking in a couple more things - glass pint jars are great for food storage and as water glasses and for small-batch pickled veggies if that’s your thing. I like throwing in some chopped bok choy and cherry peppers to top stir fries and salads.
Shelf liners are great and can make cleaning up when moving out easier.
Full disclosure we have an instant pot but I’ve had horrible experiences cooking rice with it. A big benefit of the rice cooker is that it’s very hard to fuck up when using it, especially the nicer ones with the sensors. Plus the instant pot might stay with my mom anyway
That’s odd, for short grain rice I can just throw in two cups of rice and two cups of water, do 4 minutes high pressure and 10 minutes pressure release and be good to go.
Sweet rice is a little bit more of a pain in the butt and if you do it regularly a rice cooker might work better, but I’ve been successful pre-soaking and then steaming using the trivet.
The thing I like about my instant pot is that I can do just about anything - soups, beans, yogurt, sous vide, overnight oats. It’s pretty versatile.
I have an instant pot and a little cheapy old rice cooker. it rocks, because you can use the instant pot to focus on your main attraction, but have your rice and maybe some dumplings or broccoli on the steam tray of your rice cooker. I am not a kitchen gadget guy, but those two are the heroes of so many dishes.
Clean everywhere you can think, you’d have no idea how much grime is hiding on walls and inside cabinets from past people. Some reusable rags, hot water and a little dish soap in a spray bottle works in 95% of cases.
Get some plants and paintings, and use warm lighting from windows and lamps over ceiling lights.
If you don’t have pots and pans already, get stainless steel. They’re more versatile than nonstick and you don’t have to worry about carcinogens. Tremontina is a good brand. Also get some knives and a good knife sharpener, and multiple cutting boards to separate meats and veg.
Try to thrift pretty much everything. The only thing I’m iffy on is the aforementioned cookware.
Watch that feng shui guy on YouTube. He’s got good analysis on furniture placement and home decor.
get stainless steel
Personal preference but I strongly disagree. Stainless steel is basically my least favorite thing to cook with. I love my cast iron which I use for basically everything I can, and I like enamel for the things that sucks for.
Ime stuff sticks to stainless steel so bad. Though I suppose it depends on what you cook often.
Stainless steel has to be seasoned much like cast iron, so as long as I’ve oiled it well and cooked with it often, I haven’t had many stickiness issues. Cast iron has its place in my kitchen, but it’s so heavy I can’t flip the pans, and takes so long to heat up it’s relegated to slow cooking.
Try to thrift pretty much everything. The only thing I’m iffy on is the aforementioned cookware.
Why’s that? I’ve always heard it’s one of the best things to thrift because it’s so durable that previous use doesn’t matter as much. Or is that only with cast iron?
