Top 10 Things You Should Know by the Time You Are 20
By Editorial Staff
Contributed by Cindi Pearce, Catalogs.com Top 10 Guru
You would think that a 20-year-old pretty much knows everything that he or she needs to know since, well, they’ve been around for two decades, which certainly seems long enough to get some knowledge under your belt.
The fact is, many 20-year-olds have been cosseted for far too long by well-meaning parents and when it comes time to strike out on their own they are clueless. Here are the top 10 things that you should know how to do before you are 20:
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10. Cook
It’s either that, starve or end up throwing away your precious money on fast food that’s going to make you fat and pimply. You might find that you even enjoy it. Hey, you could turn out to be the next Emeril.
9. Say NO
How to say no … to credit card offers; to persistent men or women who want more from you than you’re willing to give and who may leave you with a bun in the oven, debt or all the above plus a broken heart. Say no to albatross friends who are toxic and suck you dry. Say no to pushy, aggressive dates. Set your boundaries and keep them. Don’t let anyone or anything destroy your self-esteem or your self-confidence.
8. Take care of clothing
Every good man or woman has to know how to sew and iron. Figure it out. It isn’t rocket science.
7. The real basics
Learn to write a check and know where to place a stamp on an envelope. Truly, there are 20-year-olds who are clueless about these basics that any moron should know, but somehow they don’t. Save yourself some embarrassment and figure out how to do these things.
6. Banking
Do you know how to balance a checkbook? If you don’t you may be headed for debtor’s prison in the future.
5. Get up
This is an alarm clock. Do you know how to set an alarm clock and get out of bed when it rings and get yourself to class or to work in a timely fashion without your mother poking you with a cattle prod?
4. Laundry
No, your mother doesn’t live here. You have to do your own laundry and, yes, that includes folding it and maybe even putting it away.
3. Change a flat
No, your father isn’t at your beck and call. You must do this yourself or get yourself a membership to Triple A and call them.
2. Earn money
This means getting a job, showing up for the job, keeping the job and doing it well or at least well enough that you don’t get booted.
1. Get out of a jam
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Every twenty-year-old should know how to get out of a jam without calling his parents. Call your own bail bondsmen and save your parents some grief. Don’t use your parents as your get out of jail card or your I am so broke card or my heart is broken for the 17th time so I am going to call mom at 2 a.m. and bawl and dramatize for an hour card, inconsiderately disregarding the fact that mom is old and tired and has to be at work by seven. She needs her beauty rest. You don’t.