Moving out of home? Top 5 things you need to know

Are you leaping from living at home to moving out into a place of your own? Well done! It's a significant life change that can feel exciting one moment and very overwhelming the next. To help you out with this major life transition, we've put together some moving tips.

Creating a budget is the first step. A budget with income and expenses will help you determine what you can spend month to month, week to week and day to day.

From there, work out how much being in your own home will cost. Ongoing costs will include:

- Rent
- Utility bills
- Groceries
- Transport
- Internet
- Phone bills

Now it's time to calculate your one-off costs like your moving fees, rental bond and rent in advance (this is usually four weeks). Are you getting a place by yourself? If so, you must add connection fees for utilities (gas and electricity) and the Internet. It would help if you also investigated other costs like contents insurance and parking permits.

While living solo has advantages (pizza cartons can be left where they landed, you can be as quiet or noisy as you like, and nobody can tell you off for not cleaning the bathroom), it can also be costly and lonely. Sharing your new house can be cheaper than renting by yourself. But remember to set out clear responsibilities for your flatmates at the start.

Financial agreements in a share house must be airtight. While you may be friendly with your housemate/s, this can quickly go sour if they don't contribute to the budget. One way to manage this is to put everyone's names on the lease and the bills.

Once you've sorted out how much rent you'll pay, it's time to determine how other costs will be divided. Getting a cleaner in once a fortnight to deep clean? Make sure your housemates can help you pay for it. Sharing food, cleaning products, toilet paper and fresh veggie boxes? Figure out how much these cost a month and divide these expenses evenly.

The less stuff you've got to move into your new house, the easier and cheaper it will be. You'll pay between $75 and $300 an hour using professional movers. But if you've roped in your friends and family for help, the fewer trips they do, the more brownie points you'll earn!

Moving from your parent's home into your own is a great time to sort out your "stuff". Take some time over the weekend to declutter your belongings into:

- What to store at your parent's
- What you can sell or donate
- What can be recycled
- What items need to be taken to the tip or booked in for Hard Rubbish collection

Now you don't have to go full-on "Marie Kondo", where you hug each item closely and ask if you feel joy, but trust us, decluttering your stuff can make the moving process much smoother!

Are you moving into a share house? Hopefully, you'll only need to furnish your room. Think of a bed, chair, desk, lamp and if there's no wardrobe, a clothes rack or two. You'll also need bed linen, doona, blankets, and bath towels. Want to make your house feel like home? Before you hang artwork or decorative lights, check the rules with the real estate agent.

Are you living by yourself? Starting from scratch and paying rent alone, you must keep expenses down. Choose second-hand items like couches, bed frames, washing machines and fridges instead of new ones.