Preparedness for when

pineapple

I've had nightmare lodgers and I've had brilliant ones - including the one who used to pick me up at the station and walk the dog! In fact we only parted company when I found my then partner composing her a poem - his Stage 1 Smitten Phase. She had to go....:D
Then there was the African American trainee chef who blocked the plughole with afro hairs and somehow managed to smear toothpaste all over the bathroom, who would switch on the CH and phone his US girlfriend in the middle of the night. Plus he lived on takeaways and would leave the remnants in his bedroom infusing the house with the aroma of stale curry (he never opened a window). But it all got too much when he started roaming the streets of Ilkley saying 'A man has needs' and I felt I had to lock the bedroom door...
Finally the man with issues. He would run out the room when he heard me and together we did many a circuit of the house. I was driven to writing notes - ie 'See me after school' (he was a teacher). He made no moves to go after being given notice. I could have changed the locks of course. Instead I said he could no longer keep his beloved motorbike in the garage. Faced with the possibility of me moving it while he was out he left pronto.

[Deleted User]

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Re phonecalls - don't know if you've got a landline phone still? You need to make sure your bill is fully itemised and then you can instantly identify and separate out his phonecalls.

Personally, I'd keep the land-line locked, and insist the lodger use a mobile, for their calls.

If they use the land-line, you'll spend half your life, taking messages for them.

Also, if they're dishing out the land-line number, left, right and centre, you'll end up being plagued with cold calls.

moneyistooshorttomention

Pineapple - LOL at your comment re the poem and I would have felt I had to do the same in that position. It was blimmin' awkward enough when an ex of mine (at the point after which he had changed from boyfriend to friend status) started chatting to the girl I had lodging then and there seemed to be a degree of "interest" on his part. Fortunately, her due leaving date wasn't that long after that - as she was a good lodger in other respects. I think my assets just about "held the balance" against hers (a shared interest) for long enough to see the tenancy out.:rotfl:

I had a male lodger that, with no encouragement on my part, I felt had started developing "hopes";) and I took to securing my bedroom door - as he came from a different culture and I didn't know whether he was sufficiently au fait with our "hands off" signals to realise I was "blanking" his "signals" to me (and doubted it - as he certainly hadn't realised that in our culture men do housework too). By now - in light of recent events worldwide - I would only take in men from a similar (or more advanced) country to ours - ie a Western one.

....and then there was the one that I first realised hadn't been brought up with a full set of (middle class) manners and I started to find his lack of eating with mouth shut/not shutting loo door/etc obnoxious and then went on to realise he had some sort of mental health issue. Fortunately - his illogical thinking led him to hand his notice to me at one point and he wasn't allowed to change his mind when he "got logical" again and that was him gone.

On the other hand - the one who had been brought up to act in very similar way to myself became a friend and we went on holiday together.

EDIT; I'm now mentally counting male lodgers I had. I started by taking in female lodgers only (so as not to have any "complications" with them taking a personal interest in me). When I got to being a bit older and thought "Obviously not dollybird age any more and the looks are starting to go" I thought it would be safe to take men in. Out of 4 men - I had to give out "blanking" signals to 3 of them though..as in "I don't come included in the rent".

calicocat

Money....i meant My bf and I are maybe parting, then admittedly flew onto the lodger scenario post as posting quickly.

Pineapple..... :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: Not entirely sure whether to laugh or cry...or both.


I have hunted out quite a few text or call references, and all have come back with glowing reports....so i'm not too worried.

I think he will be fine if he decides here is ok for him, I have already told him I will hunt him down and kill him if he looses Asbo, and I think he is already scared of her. (joking, he says animals like him).

To be honest he seems like a really nice boy, from a nice family, and my only concerns are sorting out how often he expects Gf to be here, and me getting my sleep after work on his days off.


It has been very good for my kitchen....even at the thought of it. I have totally scrubbed everything and chucked the clutter out ( not that there is much now-a-days) , so I look very organised and efficient in case his ruddy parents move him up. :rotfl:


Lovely sunny day here, cant wait for it to be more like this most days so I can repair the garden.




Edit...about the land line. no-one has my number as I work nights , other than my Mum and 3 close friends. This just won't be a problem I don't think, he has a mobile, and his parents and Gf can have landline number if they agree not to phone during the day unless someone is close to death or is stuck somewhere in an emergency. I'm pretty confident he will be cool with this.


Thanks for all the input folks. Much appreciated.

GreyQueen

MTSTM, a woman with her own home is a woman likely to have admirers, as there's many a lad (and not-so-lad) who likes to get his feet under the table.

I can still hear J, a mature student of 28 with her own flat, rantng humourously at me as an 18 y.o. that she only had to smile at a man at a party and, before she knew it, he'd be trotting up the stairs with a smile and a holdall, aiming to move in with her.

You could watch the cogs go round in their heads; unattached female with own home = me living rent-free, plus she's not too bad-looking and can even cook.

moneyistooshorttomention

Not my own "attractions" so much then:rotfl:.

One of my fathers first comments when I (finally) managed to buy my starter home was to warn me to make sure that I didn't have a boyfriend move in in case it all broke up subsequently and he tried to nick some of my house equity:cool:.

My general response was along the lines of "But I'm a woman...I know some women set out to nick from men in the event a relationship breaks up. I'm the woman in this scenario and I don't do nicking". I subsequently realised that it aint just some women who do that...some men do too...:eek:

Well - I guess you could call it the negative side of equality for women:cool:.

Though I didn't believe him to start with - I came to realise it made sense to take that possibility into account - as I didn't fancy getting had up for murder if anyone had ever tried doing that to me:rotfl:

In the event - it wasn't a man that tried to use MY money to "back themselves up". It was someone I thought of as a friend:cool::( - who tried to use the fact of my being a home-owner by trying to con me into being a guarantor for a loan for her:eek:. Thankfully I was too cynical already by that point to agree.

GreyQueen

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Not my own "attractions" so much then:rotfl:.

I wouldn't presume to comment - even in my own salad days I wasn't one of the pretty people. J was a woman of middling good looks, with a nice nature, very good cooking skills and she had her own wee flat in an expensive city. In terms of good-looking younger men, she was attracting far more attention than the first three qualities could account for, and was savvy enough to see it for what it was.

There are men who glomm onto women of means, as there are women who gold-dig. Historically, most women haven't been independant property-owners and may not recognise the male gold-digger when encountering him.

I used to know an older lady who came from a moneyed South African background. Serious money. The women in her family were always married 'out of community of property'. Which meant that when they died, or if they divorced, their property reverted to their family of origin, not their spouse or own offspring.

At least they weren't going to be murdered for their money...........

Frugalsod

fuddle wrote: »

I found palm oil in the peanut butter and was horrified. Not in my house. I have to try harder to make our snacks from scratch.

I make my own now. Incredibly easy if you have a food processor. I buy ready salted peanuts in what ever sizes you prefer and then mix 400g at a time. I used 2 packets of the cheapest ready salted at 49p for 200g and so made 400g of peanut butter for 98p or 24.5p per 100g. Compare that to any other supermarket variety.

http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/shopping/findproducts.aspx?query=peanut%20butter

So not only much cheaper than some versions you can make it without additives.

fuddle

Thank you frugalsod.

Oh my. I have been looking at what sourdough starters can be made into. The possibilities are endless aren't they? To think I could comfortably eat my bakes is quite exciting but day 2 of the starter and it looks decidedly grey and smelly. I hope l and the rest of my family like the taste!

VJsmum

At the moment I make sourdough bread and sourdough pancakes. It helps use the starter up as I hate throwing anything away, even flour and water . I make a batch of pancakes in one go, freeze each in a layer of grease proof and then just take out one and toast it when I want it. They are more American style pancakes than French crepes and one is plenty, I eat it for breakfast with nut butter and banana. I am planning to make a sourdough pizza this week though.

I also make the nut butter, generally almond though I have made cashew. You do need a strong food processor for that though - I have a fairly big magimix.

Those who make almond milk, which I am just getting into, is thee any use for the leftover pulp? Apart from sweeties.