Move in with friend or stay living alone?

misscomickat

For the last 2 years I have lived in my own flat. I pay £370 rent a month, which includes heating and hot water bills. Council tax comes to about £60 a month.

I love my flat, apart from the following things:
-The cost. It's an expensive rent for the area where I live.
-Bath and no shower
-No washing machine (it broke and I can't afford a new one)
-No garden (there is a communal one but I don't really feel comfortable using it)
-I have to store my scooter outside
-No oven
-My cat can't go outside (although she does climb out of the skylight and go on the flat roof)
-No phone line or internet. BT want £150 to put a line in. (as a result, I spend too much time at work on the internet!)
-I occasionally get lonely.

But it is a lovely place and I have got very used to the luxury of living alone.

A friend has invited me to move in with her and I need to let her know asap if I want to. I just can't decide!

The pluses:
Her flat is closer to the city centre
The rent is £250 a month (but does not include any bills)
Nice garden so cat can go outside and we can have BBQs etc
Garage where I can keep scooter
She says I can have the big bedroom
It has a shower, oven, washing machine and wireless internet
I get on with my friend and I think we could have a laugh especially in winter when it's vile and miserable and usually I stay at home alone watching DVDs!

The minuses:
The girl who currently lives in the big bedroom has lots of rats and it STINKS. Would I be able to get rid of that smell?
No central heating and I suspect it would be freezing in the winter
Could I get used to sharing again?
Have to pay for bills: electric, gas, internet, phone
The expense of moving (I don't have a car and even though it's only a few miles away, I'm sure it would be extortionate to move)
If my friend moves out, I have to cover the extra rent or find a new housemate


I'm just not sure whether saving a bit of money would be worth it. I'm worried that I am destined to live alone for the rest of my life and have become intolerant. Help! I need to tell her so if I don't want to move in, she can find someone else.

Sorry for the long thread! I am just after some advice as I've been mulling it over and still can't decide.

lynzpower

it sounds like the only thing you have going for your flat is that you live in it with your cat. your cat cant get much out of it ( shared garden) and nor do you.

You dont have an oven, or internet, or a phone line.

Id say that the bills on top of what the rent is at your mates place would be about 100 a month, if not less.

getting rid of rats smell isnt hard at all- odnt let that put you off.

Personally id give it a try. If its not what you want then you can move out, and preferably into a flat which has a garden/phone line/ oven/ washing machine etc.

Libra1975

It depends what premium you put on living by yourself, I loved living by myself and therefore swallowed the extra cost. I don't think this is a question of living by yourself or not it sounds like a question of whether you want to live in habitable surroundings or not, why on earth don't you have a oven and there is no point having any sort of garden if you are afraid to use it!
It sounds like there a lot of plus points to moving in with your friend (and hiring a car for a day isn't very expensive about £40).
If you sat down with her beforehand and sorted out whose chores were whose and discuss what bad habits you both have that might annoy the other and how to overcome that then maybe you won't have to be intolerant

Melissa177

Is the oven/washing machine yours or the LLs?

If it's the LLs, s/he should be responsible for replacing it, surely?

Also, I under what circumstances are BT wanting to charge 150 for a phone line? Unless there isn't on there already, it usually costs nothing to turn the exchange back on.

misscomickat

Melissa177 wrote: »

Is the oven/washing machine yours or the LLs?

If it's the LLs, s/he should be responsible for replacing it, surely?

Also, I under what circumstances are BT wanting to charge 150 for a phone line? Unless there isn't on there already, it usually costs nothing to turn the exchange back on.

My flat came as unfurnished, although the previous tenant had left behind a cooker (the hob works but not the oven or grill) and a washing machine.

There is a BT box in my flat but I have spoken to BT several times and been quoted £150 as an engineer would have to come round to connect it, apparently.

olly300

misscomickat wrote: »

There is a BT box in my flat but I have spoken to BT several times and been quoted £150 as an engineer would have to come round to connect it, apparently.

You may be lucky I was.

BT said they were going to charge me £125 but when the Openreach engineer came round he discovered the BT line was working and I was charged nothing. I to put in a formal complaint if they charged me anything as the previous occupants were on BT but BT twice told me they had no records to show the property had ever had a BT line.

misscomickat

olly300 wrote: »

You may be lucky I was.

BT said they were going to charge me £125 but when the Openreach engineer came round he discovered the BT line was working and I was charged nothing. I to put in a formal complaint if they charged me anything as the previous occupants were on BT but BT twice told me they had no records to show the property had ever had a BT line.

I can't afford to take that risk. The lack of phone line is not a huge problem for me, I have got used to it. But it would be nice to have internet.

lynzpower

out of interest where do you live /

misscomickat

lynzpower wrote: »

out of interest where do you live /

Wolverhampton.

lynzpower

well is it possible you could move to a better flat for the same money?

misscomickat

lynzpower wrote: »

well is it possible you could move to a better flat for the same money?

It's unlikely. Not a better flat living alone anyway. There are cheaper places than mine but they are generally either bedsits/studios or in rubbish areas.