Tips for maintaining friendships whilst paying off debts

Newlifer

My friend rents there and for less than her London home she now has sea views it's fabulous. There are loads of active meet up group so easy to meet new people. It's a v Al fresco place. Lots of bbqs on the beach and coffee shops with outdoor seating. One day huh I hope you make it there.

I'm moving from a farm into a village. Will be quite a culture shock but I'm looking forward to having people around me. Just hope my immediate neighbours are friendly.

Gaia such good advice re keeping busy and planning stuff in ahead of weekends. Gives a bit of structure plus something to look forward to. I've arranged to go walking every Saturday with a friend. We have a rota for who brings the flask of coffee! Costs virtually nothing.

Have any of you thought of going on short camping trips to explore parts of the country? Again costs v little but can be v sociable. I'm a bit of a fair weather camper but I find it fun when going with a friend. I bought all my kit in November in the sales.

Gaia2014

Used to love camping until I got bitten by mosquitos in Scotland. I like the udea of staying in a yurt (not sure if that's the correct spelling). Not very MSE I know

To be honest I have a cat, so it's quite difficult to get away for extended periods. I also have no car. Hopefully there will be more opportunities when debt free next year.

Brighton sounds very appealing at the moment 😊.

Newlifer

Well it's gearing up to be a bright and sunny day. Am determined to make some decent progress with sorting the divorce paperwork today. Find it exhausting out of all proportion to the task. Need to get out for a walk too.

I hope you all can make today a good one and that the sunshine lifts our spirits. ��

JasX

Gaia2014 wrote: »

I also have no car.

tbh you don't really need one in London, I was dithering over ditching my last one but when the engine finally went pop a few years back I worked out I was using it barely twice a month and one of those trips was often wholly unnecessary (usually to an out of town retail park place to buy one thing I needed and four things I didn't in the process, these days the occasional 'actually needed' item gets ordered ahead of time online)

Didn't replace it and never looked back... particularly in early summer when the MOT, insurance, tax etc were often due all around the same time :j

JasX

Oh incidentallly Gaia if you are london based I've found at least one 'irl' focus group / survey outfit that has been a good way to turn the occasional bit of spare time into cash. I have less time to do them these days but for a while I was happily nabbing the odd £50 here and there for hopping intoi central london to 'test drive' a website, waffle about a videogame, record a video diary about something (got a free webcam out of that one too)

Also provided another excuse to get out the house

Meatloaf1981

I can't be doing with cities, personally. I like the rolling countryside of sleepy Dorset. Suits me down to the ground!

Newlifer

I'm interest to hear from another rural soul meatloaf1981 so how do you go about maintaining a social life whilst trying to save money/living on s tight budget?

Gaia2014

Evening all. I hope you've had a good day.

Newlifer - I hope the paperwork wasn't too tedious. I imagine it must have been quite difficult too. I hope you managed to get out for a walk and are being kind to yourself.

JasX - focus groups sound interesting. I'd love to get paid to be a mystery shopper or test cake or something. Now that would be a perfect way to spend a weekend. Getting paid to shop and eat cake. Very MSE . I hear a lot of people doing competitions aswell. I guess you have to be in it to win it as they say. I haven't got the patience.

You're right. You don't need a car in London. Public transport fantastic most of the time. Never usually far from a bus stop/tube stop or station and of course most things (shops, post office) are accessible by foot. Great exercise too... Obviously for longer trips to visit family etc... a car would be helpful. But, again not essential in this neck of the woods! Cars are a very expensive luxury I cannot afford for the time being.

Meatloaf1981. Dorset sounds lovely. Anywhere near Lulworth Cove? If so, beautiful part of England. I'm envious . I love the West Country having spent my formative years in Wiltshire and Somerset... definitely somewhere to go when I've got some spare cash (hopefully next year) :j.

So many lovely places to visit in the UK. Who needs to go abroad? Not me anyway.

:beer:

red12341234

Newlifer- divorce paperwork is painful, hope you did something nice to balance it. Hope your move to a village brings people rather than cows for a view. I live rural but on edge of heaving small town so have the best of both worlds. How long have you lived where you are.

gaia and meatloaf-all thistalk of seaside and country is making me think of holidays, and jas myster shopping sounds a great idea in the city.

Busy day, two steps forward one step back, so onwards and upwards today.

PollyWollyDoodle

Hope you don't mind me adding two penn'orth - I have been through your experience, and I remember weekends when I could go from Friday evening to Monday morning without speaking to anyone other than a checkout operator. I learned to plan my weekends, as said above, so there was at least one coffee/cinema trip/walk etc, I wasn't paying off debt at that time so my options were perhaps a bit wider.

The other thing I'd suggest and I'm sure it's probably already been suggested to you, is that volunteering is a brilliant way to get to know people in your area, spend some time out of the house without it costing much and to generally feel good. There's something for everyone whether it's conservation work, befriending elderly people, cleaning out at the cat sanctuary - there's almost always something that needs helpers and where you'll meet people with similar interests. A lot of it can be done at weekends, too. I wish you all good luck with your journeys - you really will come out the other side stronger and more self-reliant.