Make sure you learn how to do basic household skills, including those traditionally assigned to different genders. Good things to know how to do:

• cook at least basic food
• clean a toilet
• change miscellaneous household filters (<--I didn't know how many things in my house have filters that need to be changed or cleaned!)
• paint a wall/fence if you have an opportunity to (it's such a pain in the ass to prep a surface for painting.)
• do laundry(!very important!)
• hang things on the wall (like, with nails/wall anchors, levels to make them straight, measuring).
• Change a tire and a car headlight

And more importantly, be willing to learn things throughout your life. I called my mom the first month of college to walk me through doing laundry. I taught my roommate to clean a toilet. I changed a tire for the first time last month. Don't assume you can't do a thing just because you've never learned to do it! There's never any shame in not knowing how to do something, only in not being willing to learn.

&#x200B;

Also: Don't be afraid of talking to people and making phone calls. Even today, sometimes nothing is so effective for sorting out an issue with an insurance company, credit card company, etc, as just making the dang call. Perhaps all the more so because phone calls are less used--if you are calling, they know you mean business! (Always be polite to the people who answer the phone. I've been that person, and I remember fondly the people who I could tell were furious but were also clear that they knew I was not responsible for their problem.