Solo & Settled

Living alone is freedom, and it also means nobody else tests the smoke alarm, notices if you don’t come home, or shares the rent and the internet bill. Most first-apartment advice stops at what to buy. The things that actually keep you safe and steady on your own usually go unplanned.

Solo & Settled is a 30-day setup plan for living on your own. In 30 pages, it walks you from a before-you-unpack photo walkthrough and a lease read-through, to tested smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, a check-in buddy with a plan for a missed check-in, a budget for one, a freezer system for cooking for one, and five weekly anchors that keep quiet weeks from drifting.

Every safety, renting, money and food rule comes from sources such as the U.S. Fire Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Ready.gov, the NAIC, the CFPB, HUD, the FDA and USDA, and each is listed with the date it was checked. It’s practical and calm, with no scare tactics, and it’s clear about what it isn’t: not legal advice, with pointers to tenant resources and legal aid.

Who it’s for

US adults living alone for the first time, or again: in a first apartment, after a breakup or a loss, after a move, or after the kids leave home. Written especially for renters; homeowners can use everything except the lease and renters insurance pages.

What’s inside

• Move in right: a ten-minute photo walkthrough that helps protect your deposit, eight lease clauses to highlight, and renters insurance in plain words.
• A safe home: where smoke and CO alarms go and when to replace them, what to do when a CO alarm sounds, extinguisher basics, two ways out, and a go-kit for one.
• Your safety net: a check-in buddy, a missed-check-in ladder, and how to put emergency info on an iPhone or Android lock screen.
• Money and meals for one: the 30% rent check, a three-bucket solo budget, a cost audit, automatic savings, and the cook-once, eat-four-times rule with food-safety times.
• Five printable worksheets and a one-page card: Move-In Checklist & Photo Log, Home Safety Checklist, Contacts & Check-In Plan, Solo Budget and Weekly Anchor Planner, plus a Quick-Reference Card.

Good to know

• Format: 30-page PDF, US Letter, US edition.
• Delivery: digital download after purchase. Nothing is shipped.
• Printing: print the worksheets as often as your own household needs.
• General information only. Not legal, financial, insurance or medical advice; tenant laws vary by state and city. In an emergency, call 911.