Do you have these 10 essentials that every responsible adult should keep near?
As you may know, navigating adulthood often includes surprises and unforeseen needs. This list will give you some of the essentials that you may not know you should have as a responsible adult.
Pulling from my experience as a thirty-something, I am writing to share the things that have been critical to organizing and managing my adult life.
This post is all about the necessary items that every single responsible adult must have.
While researching this topic, I realized that the way people define need is based on what they value. A quick Google search for adult essentials may reveal a blog post that recommends a quality pair of flats for presentation in a professional space. I’ve discovered recommendations for bedding as a need to sleep comfortably at night. I place no judgment on what others consider a need for adulting as I understand that all of what is included in the list below that I created are not needs that will impact your ability to function as a human being. However, I do assert that my experience has demonstrated how helpful many of these items are to keeping my home, maintaining important documents, and being able to respond to the whims of life.
All the products pictured are brands and products that I use or have used and loved!
1) A File Organizer!
The days of old have passed. No longer shall we beckon unto moms to provide our important documents. Your birth certificate, social, and IDs are documents that must be protected and filed away so they are ready to be presented at a moment’s notice. These documents are evidence of your identity citizenship and parentage. Take care to file them away in a place that is safe and secure.
Other important documents that I keep in my file organizer:
- Tax forms
- Mortgage documents
- Court filings
- Passport
- Etc.
I keep my important documents in a bright yellow paper folder stowed away in my home office file cabinet! I love these file cabinets (commissions earned) because they roll, have a lock, and have cute rounded corners. They are not super bulky and provide enough space for you to store your important documents. This is a perfect place to keep your important documents organized and at the ready.
{Related Post: 7 Critical Time Management Goals Guaranteed to Help You Master Adulting}
2) Car Emergency Kit!
I purchased my first car in October of 2022. I keep this kit in my car in case of emergency. If you drive long distances, or around your neighborhood the items that are in this kit could help you in a crisis. Thinking about the possible situations, I could find myself driving the icy streets of Detroit, I thought this car kit (commissions earned) provided me exactly what I needed for my to-and-fro journeys about my city and the occasional road trips to see family and friends.
Included in this car emergency kit:
- Jumper cables
- First aid kit
- Safety vest
- Flashlight
- Window breaker
- Sturdy metal tow rope
- and much more
3) Wallet!
I am embarrassed to admit this but, I have lived my life without a wallet for some time. So, I guess it would not be a necessity. However, if you need to stay organized and keep your wits about you when maneuvering from home, work, and the stores. Having a wallet that helps you organize your bank cards is critical. Keeping them all in one place decreases the amount of things that you need to keep up with.
When I turned twenty-something in New York I was broke and needed a wallet. A sister-friend who was more established blessed me with a tan Michael Kors wallet! I kept that wallet for years until I moved back to Detroit. I decided to get the black Michael Kors Jet Set Wallet (commissions earned) because it held all my cards, was chic, and was inexpensive. I love Michael Kors as a designer! This wallet has a place for everything, that way my cards, ID, and cash are neatly organized.
4) Phone Case!
This is for the people who no longer use bank cards and you keep everything on your phone. I am a hybrid girl who lives in the dark ages, intentionally, while keeping her big toe in the pond of modern society. Having your phone stolen or broken is the worst. It can prevent you from accessing so many critical functionalities of your life. As much as you can protect your phone! A sturdy protective phone case is a good place to start.
I drop my phone often and hard, so I opt for a durable Otterbox. Having an Otterbox is a must for me. Otherwise, my phone will end up cracked and out of commission!
I love the otter box commuter case.
5) First Aid Kit!
Bandaids are not enough. Whether you compose your kit or purchase one that is ready-made, you need to be able to handle more than a paper cut. I have experienced burns, deep cuts, stings, and splinters that require immediate attention and fortunately, I had the necessary items to manage the situation.
I curated my emergency kit with the products I love and have learned to use from the traditions of my family. I also purchased this emergency kit that I keep stowed away in my emergency bookbag.
- A&D
- Ortizone
- Alcohol
- Peroxide
- Tweezers
- Vaseline
- Bandages
- Cotton Balls
6) Toolbox!
On the lists that I researched, I found few mentions of a toolbox. If your Amazon furniture starts to wobble, or your door knob loosens, having a toolbox handy can help you fix a worsening problem immediately.
I love this toolbox because it includes numerous screwdriver heads, a hammer, and a range of the basic tools you will need for furniture assembly, and fixing odds and ends throughout your home.
7) Paper Shredder!
It’s safer to shred those documents with your important information instead of just discarding them with all your sensitive information. Shredding your important documents can protect you from identity theft, and condense the clutter of paper piles.
8) WD40!
A can of WD40 tucked away in your closet can be the salvation for your squeaky door hinge, the jammed kitchen drawer, or even your folding furniture that doesn’t want to cooperate. This is a staple that my mom kept handy and consistently found uses for as she managed our bustling home.
I remember using this lubricant on my apartment windows that were so tough to open and screeched loudly when lifted. I called my mom with this problem, and she immediately directed me to the good ‘ol WD-40. It worked like magic. As soon as I used it, the windows slid open easily and stopped screeching.
9) Ladder!
The light bulb goes out, there is a praying mantis perched on your ceiling, or you want to clean the grease blob forming in the upper corner in your kitchen. Regardless of the situation having some leverage to reach the high altitudes in your home gives you a safer option to get the job done. Standing on other surfaces not intended for lifting a person can pose a risk to your safety.
Having a step stool in my first apartment allowed me to place seasonings in a cabinet too high to reach. Don’t tempt yourself to contort and contrive ladders from what is available, set up your home for what you need to keep it well.
10) Water Bottle!
Do you neeeeeed a water bottle? No. Can a water bottle be immensely beneficial to your goings and comings to and fro? Absolutely. Keeping a water bottle handy keeps hydration within your reach. Have you ever been running about to accomplish errands and there is nowhere to grab water? If you don’t have a water bottle handy then you must spend your money and contribute to the plastic pollution around the world. Not to mention the money saved an empty water bottle is when traveling through an airport.
I am self admittedly a water bottle snob and the Hydro Flask has one of the best-quality water bottles on the market. I love my Hydro Flask (commissions earned). This bottle does not sweat and keeps your water cool.
This post was all about the essentials that every responsible adult should have.
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