Time to make a change....

TotallyInzane

Well done on starting the Daily spending record

I agree with Been, exercise is a great for topping up on the happy hormones - however I always struggle with the motivation to get out & do it in the 1st place!lol (esp. in the rain) :rotfl:

Hope you enjoy the bike ride - will check in later . . .

Skintfoodie

Yesterday's bike ride was a bit of a disaster, got absolutely soaked through and covered in mud... We took solace in a pub. Not a great idea. I drank too much, ate crisps and peanuts...

Sunday spend - somewhere around the £30 mark

Today is a new day, and has been a NSD. I resisted the call of the vending machine.

I've done my meal plan for the week - http://comedinewithrach.blogspot.com/2011/10/meal-planning-monday.html

I'm eating with my parents tonight before going back to the flat - dreading going back. Still haven't told my flatmate I want to move out. My tenancy is up at the end of December, it's such a bad time for her to get a new flatmate... I was going to stay till the end of March, I figure April is a better month for people wanting to move, but my family/friends all tell me to put me first though. Staying till March will cost me over £1000. I just feel like a bad person and like I'm letting her down.

She'll be annoyed with me, and will tell me I haven't given it enough of a chance. I probably haven't given it enough of a chance, but I just know it's not right for me. It's an area I hate, I don't like the flat, and I don't like living with her.

It was a bad choice.

Tomorrow I'm meeting a friend after work for a drink, it's my last week in this job, I start a new job next Monday, so I'm doing quite a lot of socialising and saying goodbye. I won't get another NSD until next week now.

ZTD

Skintfoodie wrote: »

Yesterday's bike ride was a bit of a disaster, got absolutely soaked through and covered in mud... We took solace in a pub. Not a great idea. I drank too much, ate crisps and peanuts...

Don't knock it... You exercised hard, and got 3 of your 5 a day, grapes (from the wine), potatoes (from the crisps) and peas (from the peanuts) :rotfl:

Skintfoodie wrote: »

Today is a new day, and has been a NSD. I resisted the call of the vending machine.

There you go - will-power.

Skintfoodie wrote: »

I'm eating with my parents tonight before going back to the flat - dreading going back. Still haven't told my flatmate I want to move out. My tenancy is up at the end of December, it's such a bad time for her to get a new flatmate... I was going to stay till the end of March, I figure April is a better month for people wanting to move, but my family/friends all tell me to put me first though. Staying till March will cost me over £1000. I just feel like a bad person and like I'm letting her down.

No, no, no - the more notice you give her, the more able she'll be to get a new flatmate in. People do move in December. Like you for example.

Skintfoodie wrote: »

She'll be annoyed with me, and will tell me I haven't given it enough of a chance. I probably haven't given it enough of a chance, but I just know it's not right for me. It's an area I hate, I don't like the flat, and I don't like living with her.

You have given it a chance, and it's not like it's only one solitary thing wrong with it. The area is not going to change overnight (barring a nuclear war), the flat is not going to improve overnight (barring a midnight raid by the Changing Rooms people), and if she hasn't grown on you (like a fungus) by now, she's not going to.

The fact that she would like a flatmate for her own (financial) purposes does not push onto you any obligation to be that flatmate.

Skintfoodie wrote: »

It was a bad choice.

So respect and honour your decision, and go with it.

Skintfoodie wrote: »

Tomorrow I'm meeting a friend after work for a drink, it's my last week in this job, I start a new job next Monday, so I'm doing quite a lot of socialising and saying goodbye. I won't get another NSD until next week now.

Congratulations on the new job. They're pretty hard to find these days.

Skintfoodie

Thanks for the words of wisdom ZTD... I'm being a wimp about telling her... I shall make it one of my goals for this weekend to tell her!

ZTD

Skintfoodie wrote: »

Thanks for the words of wisdom ZTD... I'm being a wimp about telling her... I shall make it one of my goals for this weekend to tell her!

Why the weekend? Wouldn't a week day be better?

Have you somewhere lined up to go?

Skintfoodie

I'm moving back to my parents - this will be the 4th time I've moved home over the years... I want to save to buy somewhere, I was going to move to a one bed rented flat/bedsit when my tenancy was up but everyone has said I have the option of going back home and can save to buy, it's the ideal time to do it.

ZTD

Skintfoodie wrote: »

I'm moving back to my parents - this will be the 4th time I've moved home over the years... I want to save to buy somewhere, I was going to move to a one bed rented flat/bedsit when my tenancy was up but everyone has said I have the option of going back home and can save to buy, it's the ideal time to do it.

Moving back with your parents is often ideal from a financial point of view, just be careful from a social/personal point of view. You have to get on with your parents *really* well to do it long-term, so just be aware of any frictions etc.

Make sure you clear your debts first, they're taken into consideration when you get a mortgage anyway, so they have to go. Also remember buying as opposed to renting ties you down work-wise, something to keep an eye out for.

Skintfoodie

I have a loan for my debt, although my overdraft needs paying. I can't over pay on it, so i'm stuck with it now, I just need to make sure I don't get in any more debt!!!

I get on with my parents really well, so I'm really lucky.

ZTD

Skintfoodie wrote: »

I have a loan for my debt, although my overdraft needs paying. I can't over pay on it, so i'm stuck with it now, I just need to make sure I don't get in any more debt!!!

I get on with my parents really well, so I'm really lucky.

Have you set a budget for yourself, so you know when you're overspending? Knowing that on date X, you will have saved Y is also a motivation.

Also, have you thought of saving up the money your parents "wrote off" and offer it back to them? That will show them (and you) that you've really changed, and you're in control now.

Beencounting

Hi Skintfoodie

You've been busy the last few days

I can't add anymore to ZTD's post, but just wanted to second the advice about giving your flatmate as much notice as possible. I've no personal experience of this, just know that if it were me, I'd want plenty of time to get things sorted.

That's great news about the job, and the fact that you get on so well with your parents .

Been