Because you’re a cosmopolitan student in the big, swanky city of Boston, you want only the best for your nightly entertainment (that is, when you’re not doing keg stands or guzzling warm Old Milwaukee out of brightly colored plastic cups). Felt is currently one of the big hot spots in the city. Join your fellow college students (and the occasional celebrity – hello, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck!) on four levels for drinking, pool-playing, and dancing. Looking your best is a MUST, so break out your new credit card (or simply dip into your bank account, if you’re one of the Wealthy Kids) and shop and primp to the max before setting foot inside.

Even though, when you become a mortgage-paying adult, you will bang your head repeatedly against the wall remembering what an idiot you were, you will shop here because you’re caught up in labels due to the fact that all of your school mates look like they stepped out of Vogue so it must be how college students are supposed to dress, right? And so you’ll buy a Prada bag but every month you’ll bring your laundry home because you can’t scrounge enough quarters together for the washing machine. I speak from experience.

Quite possibly the first liquor store where you will make your first legal purchase, Blanchard’s will become your go-to place living in A/B. This landmark store might just be the top supplier of kegs in the nation. We should do a study. With plenty of parking for everyone else’s cars (you’ve gotten there either by foot or the T), Blanchards has a great selection of booze and beer and even a fantastic deli.

Because you’re “on your own” now that you have your own apartment, you’ll most likely forego the gym at your school and join the Allston branch of the Boston Sports Clubs. Since, you know, you’re so independent like that. And because Mom and Dad are footing the bill. You can also kill two birds with one stone: since every other A/B college student resident belongs there, too, BSC is the best pick up joint in town.

Finally: as a Brookline resident, you no longer have to buy your food at the corner convenience store or CVS. Walk in and join the rest of civilization as they shop for tasty, healthy food products at Trader Joe’s.

Sure, you still trek into Boston for the nightlife, but now that you feel so darn at home in Brookline, you also enjoy frequenting local spots like Matt Murphy’s. Enjoy live music (like jazz – how grown up!), hearty food, and a nice dark atmosphere at this traditional Irish pub and you’ll quickly become a regular.

If you don’t have one already, you’ll need a car. Or, if you do have one, it’s about to die/has died/is embarrassing to drive and you’d like a new one. Yes, a brand-spanking new one. Because your motto is “used cars are just someone else’s problem”. And “I like shiny things and need leather seats”.

Since you have no savings to speak of, most likely you’ll lease. Which means visiting your local car dealership. Which means signing an agreement that you have no real understanding of but, hey! You’ve got a new car.

Your Brookline days eased you into buying your food at a market. But now you can shop at a SUPERmarket! You’ve got a car, a normal-sized kitchen, and are actually responsible for paying your own rent. Which means you’re no longer eating out for every single meal and need to have a stocked pantry. Shaw’s will pull you in with its cheery colors, big, wide, organized aisles, and TV screens while you wait in line to check out.

Though it’s on the outskirts of Cambridge, this mall will be your shopping destination because at this stage of the game, you no longer have the patience to drive and park in downtown Boston to get your shopping fix. You’ll love the three floors of great shopping, but you’ll avoid the high school student-filled food court because – hey! You only eat out half as much as you used to and you’re certainly not going to waste it on a slice of Papa Gino’s pizza.

$150 a week on groceries won’t cut it when you have a mortgage to pay. And while you once swore that you’d never set food inside a Market Basket, when you realize you’ll save $50 a week by shopping there, it happens. Dreary, with narrow aisles and bins piled high with canned goods, your initial annoyance and confusion will temper down to acceptance.

During your long commute to and from work, you are bound to hear the commerical for the Nines on the radio at least twice. So it’s no surprise that it’s your go-to destination for after work drinks and even on date night with your honey. Affordable (every penny counts with a Massachusetts mortgage) and dependable, the beers are cold and the food is – well, not leftover meat loaf. With tons of locations, the drive back home is never far, so you’ll be back with plenty of time to catch some of the Sox game and go to bed early enough so you can mow your big suburban lawn in the morning before it rains.