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Safety tips for women living alone in India
Living alone is really amazing. It teaches you to be self sufficient, independent and crafty. But as a woman you really have to keep your guards up against unwanted attention. Here's some of the tips that I have learned through my own and my friend's experiences that has made living alone a bit simpler.
1. Live in a gated society that has 24/7 security guards and restricted entry and
if there are no security guards, make sure there are CCTV cameras at the gate, in corridors, and on every floor.
2. Never provide your flat number when ordering for stuff that comes in one day or 15 mins. Always go down and collect your order.
3. If possible, then order stuff at your office instead of your place of residence. This is doubly helpful because there is always someone to collect your orders if you aren't present. Can't do the same when living at your place
4. Always keep someone in loop whenever you go somewhere.
5. Keep your main door locked even if you are going to the terrace, corridor or taking to your neighbours.
6. Never let any man know where you live unless you really really trust him. Take your time when trusting people.
7. If you are calling a handyman to repair your stuff then schedule it around a time when your friends are at your place
8. Keep a pair of men's shoes outside or if you don't have one then keep unisex sport shoes.
9. Never open the door unless you invited someone. Anyone else who comes can call your cell and if they don't have your cell then you don't need to see this person. And even then, check via peephole who's outside. No peephole? Get one installed.
10. Talk with your neighbours within the building and outside it.
11. Share your house keys with one trusted friend.
12. Remember some of your emergency contacts by heart. Don't depend on your phone to remember someone's contact info.
13. Give yourself a curfew time. Always be back home before that time. If you can't make it before that time then stay at your friend's place.
14. Do not use uber or rapido bikes, use cabs or autos no matter how expensive it is compared to the bikes.
15. Always keep your phone and other electronics charged. Have a power bank handy.
16. If your gut says not to do something, then don't do it. Us women have always sensed danger before anyone else. Don't try to be a good and polite girl. If it feels off then it is off. Trust you instincts. Always.
What tips do you follow? Let me know!
Cooking for One as a Woman: My Real Life Hacks for Living Alone
I used to buy groceries for a week. I would make a timetable for the entire week about every meal I would be cooking for each day. Every dish would have some common ingredients from the previous one so that there would be less hassle each time I cooked. I would meal prep by chopping up onion, tomato, broccoli and beetroot and precook some rice and dal. My system was perfect. Nothing would go wrong.
But one day I was too tired to cook after coming from office so I ended up ordering. The other day my friends invited me for dinner outside so I obviously had to go. One day I got my period. It just made more sense to order waffles & spaghetti and be done with it.
A week passed by. The potatoes had sprouted, my curd and milk were curdled, my chopped veggies had fungus growing on it and my coriander and spinach have shriveled up. So I decided to order fresh groceries again. But since I already had ordered food yesterday, it was okay to order it today as well. I will start cooking home made meals from tomorrow.
And the cycle continued.
I let go of perfectionism and started doing the following this instead. It took a lot of trials and errors but things were working out for me. Here's what I did :
1. Milk 🥛 : Instead of buying 1 litre tetra pack, I would buy 5 packs of 200ml ones instead. Both spoil 2 days after opening. But I could only finish the 200ml one in 2 days so that made more sense. Earlier I would sometimes buy 1 litre milk and then make paneer out of it after 2 days of using the milk.
2. Leafy Vegs 🥬: I started storing coriander and spinach in ziplock bags. Now they last a week or more without shrivelling up in 2 days
3. Meal prep 🥣 : Instead of chopping my veggies for the entire week, I would just chop them at night so they could be used anytime during the next day. Less veggies, less spoilage. Also switching from bowls with lids to airtight containers made a big difference.
4. Curd 🍶: I would order expensive but smaller quantity of curd so that I could finish it within 2 days
5. Oil 🍾: Even my oil used to get spoiled sometimes because I used to buy a pack and transfer it to an airtight container. Sometimes a drop or two of water would get inside the container because I was using a spoon to get the oil out of it. And water being denser than oil would be a perfect breeding ground for fungus. Now I just buy oil bottles directly. No transferring, no contamination, no fungus.
6. Measuring tools 🥄: I bought a set of measuring spoons and cups. Now I know exactly how much cup of rice needs to be cooked for person so that it lasts for 2 meals. It's oddly satisfying
7. But the major hack that helped me was to reduce my ordering. Every time I felt like ordering I would look at my bank balance, I would look at how much I already spent in ordering out and I would look inside my fridge. It would take me 30 mins to convince myself to not order out and cook instead, but the technique almost always worked. The guilt of spending unnecessarily always beat my craving for convenience.
So that’s what worked for me.
What about you? What are your life hacks for cooking when you live alone? Would love to hear them!