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7 ways you definitely know you're an adult now

You mightn’t feel it, but you definitely are. Sorry.

THERE COMES A time in everyone’s life where they wake up one fine morning to a horrific truth.

A huge, shocking realisation.

Somehow, without even being aware of how it happened, you became an adult. And that’s… terrifying.

But the good news is – you’re handling it. Mostly. As best you can. And for that we salute you.

If you’re still not sure whether you’re actually an adult yet, we’ve rounded up seven ways you can tell.

Brace yourself.

1. Getting yourself up in the morning

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Remember those days when you never had to set an alarm clock because someone would come in and shout at you repeatedly until you got up?

Now, you have to remember to set your own alarm clock, to snooze it five times by yourself, and then drag your own self out of bed.

So unfair. 

And if you accidentally turn off your alarm instead of snoozing it and sleep in, well… may God have mercy on your soul. Because no-one’s going to write a note to your boss for you.

2. Ironing your own clothes

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In theory, you could sidestep this bastion of adulthood quite easily by just buying clothes that don’t wrinkle, but chances are at some point you’re going to have to pull out the ironing board and swipe the iron over some item of clothing you want to wear, and at that very moment you’ll hear, echoing through your brain,  ’You’re an adult now… now… now…’.

And a little part of you will die inside.

3. Going food shopping

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Remember when you were little and you went supermarket shopping with your mam or dad and you just thought it was the best thing ever? There was so much choice. So many delicious, sugary options.

They could buy whatever they wanted but inevitably would stick to a boring shopping list that had no fun things on it – like all the sweets you could ever eat or every biscuit in the shop.

And you couldn’t understand why they did that. Nor could you understand why they weren’t excited at the opportunity.

Now you can. Grocery shopping is the third circle of hell.

Welcome to adulthood.

4. Having a budget – and sticking to it

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If there was ever a word to strike terror into your heart, surely ‘budget’ is right up there?

Back in the day you had no conception of the word, and wasn’t life all the sweeter?

Now you have to make choices between paying some bills or having a little fun.

That’s not fun. That’s not fun at all. 

5. Exercising… for your health

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When you were little you would just leg it around for the sake of it – often because you were running away from whatever trouble you were probably in.

Now, you have to make a concerted effort to haul yourself to the gym – for your health. Because your health is something you think about now. And talk about. And worry over.

You might even take the odd vitamin tablet. Don’t get too carried away though.

6. Paying bills yourself

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Once upon a time, when you were very, very young, you thought the sound of the post hitting the mat was the most exciting sound in the world. No one wrote to you – and your folks got letters all the time. 

How cool was that?

Now you’ve entered adulthood the sound of post hitting the mat is the sound of dread – every single time. You understand your parents now, in ways you never thought you would.

You might even feel for them, on occasion. Just don’t let them know.

7. Making your own bed in the morning

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Now, this might be the ultimate sign of being an adult – voluntarily making your own bed.

Who would have thought back in day, amidst the battleground that was your teenage years, that one day you would realise that it is actually nicer to get into a made up bed rather than throwing yourself on top of a bundled up tangled mess of covers, like your parents always told you.

If only your mam could see you now – there’d be a whole lot of ‘I told you so…’

But there is an upside…

It’s not all doom, gloom and chores being an adult. Not at all – there are many perks. You get to make the major decisions now – like what to eat, and when to go to bed. Y’know, the important stuff.

And the best part? Now you’re an adult you get to look upon the youth of today with disdain, claiming that’s not how things were done ‘in your day’. And that almost makes up for it.

Almost.

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Being an adult is all about making choices – some of them smarter than others. So when it comes to your bank account it makes sense to choose one that does more for you. Switching to Ulster Bank’s current account gives you unlimited transactions for just €4 a month, emergency cash from an Ulster Bank ATM if you lose your bank card,  and you can pay your contacts directly with the Mobile Banking app – all you need is their mobile number. Sorted. Find out more about switching to an Ulster Bank Current Account.


Important information

General Current Account: Additional charges may apply, e.g. ATM usage abroad. Please see our brochure ‘A Guide to Personal Accounts Fees and Interest’ at ulsterbank.ieOver 18s and Republic of Ireland residents only.

If you maintain a minimum cleared balance of €3,000 or more in your Ulster Bank Current Account during the fee period or are aged 60 or over you will not pay the monthly maintenance fee of €4. Terms and conditions apply. Annual Government Stamp Duty applies to debit card. ATM means Automated Teller Machine.

Emergency Cash: You can withdraw up to €60, and up to €300 if you are registered for online and telephone banking. You must have €25 in your Ulster Bank current account and money available to make a withdrawal. Contact 1800 245 399 to get Emergency Cash. Calls may be recorded.

Pay Your Contacts: You must be registered for Anytime Banking, have an Ulster Bank personal account & ROI mobile number. Payments must be made within daily withdrawal limit. App available for selected smart phones. Data charges may apply. See ulsterbank.ie for more details.

Ulster Bank Ireland Limited is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

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24 Comments
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    Mute Mogh Roith
    Favourite Mogh Roith
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:04 AM

    Needs to be read by every gobdaw who says “what can government do, there is a war on” when discussing cost of living crisis.

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    Mute Gerard Carthy
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:26 AM

    @Mogh Roith: Yes if oil was intrinsically more expensive their turnover would be up but not profits. Price is speculation and profiteering on markets.
    Ditto grain. 2022 will be the second largest grain production year on record, and demand is falling somewhat. We’re quite likely to have to much grain this year.

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    Mute Lee King Buckett
    Favourite Lee King Buckett
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:52 AM

    @Mogh Roith: You have to split it out though, there is bugger all the Irish government can do about BP profits – they’re a UK based company and only the UK can do anything on that front.

    There is, however, something the Irish government can do about domestic utility providers by introducing caps or linking any increase in prices to the size of profits being made.

    Be aware though, that it needs to be done right – the UK have run a system of energy price caps for years now and the entire system there is now in turmoil with bankruptcies and now, in October, projected doubling of consumer costs.

    The caps won’t work unless there is a strong legislative framework to deal with price rise requests.

    Ireland does not do string regulation very well unfortunately.

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    Mute Jerriko17
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:10 AM

    Absolutely scandalous that the fossil fuel industry and also utilities including our own Bord Gais are posting huge profits at a time when us the user are faced with huge fuel bills…. Time to hit these guys with huge windfall taxes and start trying to switching to renewables. And not a dickie bird about this scandal from our politicians across most parties but when there’s a mention about a miniscule carbon tax, or someone questions turf cuting, they’re up in arms!!!! Maybe there’d be no need for carbon taxes if we had the cahones to take on the fossil fuel industry, bankers, multinationals… Etc etc etc.

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    Mute thesaltyurchin
    Favourite thesaltyurchin
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 10:31 AM

    @Jerriko17: Is it ‘scandalous’ though? It’s been happening forever

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    Mute Michael Nolan
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 10:55 AM

    @Jerriko17: they have finally found a way to have a war without effecting profits what a world

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    Mute Jerriko17
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 3:07 PM

    @thesaltyurchin: No problem with companies making reasonable profits but this is a two fingers up to the rest of us trying to cope with the damage the fossil fuel industries has, and continues to cause. I’d call that scandalous!!! But those profits are probably funding part of our pensions so who wants to rock that boat!!! More than ever we need people with ethics and principles in politics but sadly they are very scarce.

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    Mute Shaun Gallagher
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:07 AM

    Read a few headlines to yesterday saying “relief for drivers as fuel goes under €2 a litre” so in other words its going to be always around that price now

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    Mute JedBartlett
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:12 AM

    @Shaun Gallagher: Yep, people are slowly being conditioned to be grateful that petrol or diesel is approx €2 per liter.

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    Mute Colm Coughlan
    Favourite Colm Coughlan
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:36 AM

    @Shaun Gallagher: Was always going to happen, get used to €2.13 being considered high and then soon as it hits €2 or lower we think we are getting a good price.

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    Mute Dave Barrett
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:03 AM

    Disgusting! When countries are struggling with living costs.

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    Mute FiannaFáilness FineGaelness
    Favourite FiannaFáilness FineGaelness
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:08 AM

    All of the big companies are making record breaking profits. Yet we’re in a global cost of living crisis. It’s not costs that are pushing prices up, it’s greed, profit hunting to the detriment of their consumers.

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    Mute Derek Lyster
    Favourite Derek Lyster
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:27 AM

    @FiannaFáilness FineGaelness: they need to recover the losses they had during covid aswell as build up profits as more and more people move away from oil. We have found the new normal price so profits can be maintained as consumption goes down.

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    Mute FiannaFáilness FineGaelness
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 1:24 PM

    @Derek Lyster: BP supposedly (creative accounting comes into play always) made a loss of $5.7b in 2020. That was completely made back in 2021 when they recorded a profit of $12.85b for the year. In the half year to date for 2022 they have made $14.7b in profit. 1st quarter was $6.2b and 2nd quarter $8.5b. So yeah the only losses they experienced were in 2020 and they’ve already covered those losses and remain in profit.

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    Mute OConnelj
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:51 AM

    Why has my standing charge and unit cost of electricity increased while my provider claims that it is suppling 100% renewable energy? So are they lying or just price gouging?

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    Mute Billy McNamara
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 10:29 AM

    @OConnelj: I’d hazard a guess. Price gouging.

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    Mute Geoff Bateman
    Favourite Geoff Bateman
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:13 AM

    Was this all part of the Covid Plan???

    79
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    Mute JusticeForJoe
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:33 AM

    @Geoff Bateman: Yep. Wait til they activate all the chips they put into the jabs too. When they turn them on, people will stop complaining and agree to let AIB close their cash branches

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    Mute Peter
    Favourite Peter
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:19 AM

    Well thank god they are ok and made a little profit was very concerned for them that they wouldnt. Those executives need to have the massive bonus and options pack or they could be forced to mingle with the ordinary people.

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    Mute David Corrigan
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:30 AM

    @Peter: The holiday homes on Long Island have to be paid for and maintained!!!

    49
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    Mute thesaltyurchin
    Favourite thesaltyurchin
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 10:32 AM

    @David Corrigan: Even if they’re never lived in.

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    Mute Peter
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 11:05 AM

    @David Corrigan: you left out the pair of Lear jets just so they have a spare and of course the 10 high end sports cars they never use as they get driven around in the rolls.

    10
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    Mute Dr. Emmett Lathrop Brown
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:13 AM

    No worries, our Government is “considering” a Windfall tax…

    53
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    Mute Watchful Axe
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 3:25 PM

    @Dr. Emmett Lathrop Brown: Worldwide newspaper journalists need to get the full list of the big decision-makers on all these companies/international davos type clubs printed onto a deck of cards like the US did with their terrorist list. Send a deck to every journalist in the world.. Dig into every aspect of their lives and make their lives a living hell, 24 hr paparazzi; pay off bank workers; hire private investigators; door stop everything connected to them. The top 0.001% of the world’s powerful need the legs cut from under them, they’re making c you next tuesday out of the rest of us at this stage.

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    Mute Tony Mc Grath
    Favourite Tony Mc Grath
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 12:34 PM

    Where are the figures for the Irish Companies and service providers here. It woul be interesting to see the profits of companies such as Electric Ireland etc. We’re all aware that there is no proper regulation in this country i.e whatever rise in prices they ask for, they get, without many questions being asked. Remember the farce of the Banks regulation.

    17
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    Mute François Pignon
    Favourite François Pignon
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:09 AM

    That’s gas!

    17
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    Mute MickN
    Favourite MickN
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 2:59 PM

    The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, as designed.. We are getting mugged and we should be electing people to challenge this but we don’t we choose pain, why?

    17
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    Mute thesaltyurchin
    Favourite thesaltyurchin
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 9:09 AM

    Money is a bore, nearly everything else is more interesting.

    12
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    Mute Dean
    Favourite Dean
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 1:37 PM

    There was me thinking inflation wasn’t caused by corporate profits

    8
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    Mute james comiskey
    Favourite james comiskey
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 4:44 PM

    It says in the article they lost over 20bn in Q1. But I guess most people were happy enough to just get annoyed with the headline.

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    Mute JC O'Connachain
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 7:04 PM

    Greed is a knife and the scars run deep

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    Mute J Mac
    Favourite J Mac
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    Aug 2nd 2022, 10:29 PM

    They are curbing inflation by crippling us all

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