When I moved into my flat in Gloucester town centre I did tell my parents I would be staying for at least a year, maybe two, but fast forward to now (only 10 months on) I am actually moving again, oops. But it is for good reason.
If you have read my earlier posts you will know that I am now only 2 years away from my 30th. I am therefore more determined to make further steps towards my future goals of being a homeowner, something that will be a huge help (that I’m currently struggling to do) is being able to save money.
Some people may think that moving into a house share/ becoming a lodger after living independently for the majority of the last decade is a step backwards but I know that I am moving for the right reasons and it is the best move for me at the moment.
I decided to move out of my current flat as I found a place on the Spare room app that will enable me to save a fair amount of money every month which I plan to put into a help to buy ISA and hopefully be a home owner -or at least not far off being one- by the time I hit the big 3 0. The property I will shortly be moving to also includes a study, a LOT of storage and a landlord who has a blog, a YouTube channel and works from home which means I have someone to help me achieve some of my other goals as well. Bonus.
Financial stress is one of the biggies for me so being able to save money and therefore feel more financially stable is a massive change in the right direction for me – one which I’ve not felt close to achieving for a while now. I’m hoping this will also improve my mental health further as well as the other positive changes I have been enacting recently. This move also means that my future plans are looking more and more possible and so my future looks brighter which has a HUGE impact on my mood, anxiety and stress levels. Making these bigger improvements also seems to have made the smaller things which happen each day have a bigger impact too which is great, doing only small things is great for a bit but then I start spiralling again, having these big changes (positive changes) in action as well means that I have a clearer focus rather than my mind feeling so foggy most of the time.
As I am moving I decided to use my previous posts about moving tips and take my own advice so I can get it all done smoothly as possible rather than stressing and then thinking about ways I could have done things better. If you haven’t read my post on moving tips here is the link.
My first step was to pay the deposit as my new landlord said that although I’m not moving into the property until the end of the month once I had paid the deposit I could get the keys and start moving my things in which has been sooooo helpful, it has basically meant I’ve had most of a month to sort through my stuff and decide what is going with me and what is going into storage and actually moving things in rather than having to do it all in one day, this has been a HUGE reduction in my stress count especially as I’ve not been able to take time off work this time.
The place I am moving to includes everything I need as it is fully furnished and the ‘rent’ also includes council tax, water, gas, electric, internet, TV licence, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Now TV so I haven’t had to worry about setting things up in the new place or looking on price comparison sites to find the best deals, I have only had to sort out the various cancellations.
New bedroom- bed and bedside table 
New bedroom- chest of drawers, boxes and flower canvas 
New bedroom- wardrobe, mirror, mantlepiece 
New bedroom- funky lights 
Attic study- shelves 
Attic study- all of the shelving
I have noticed one mistake I’ve made in my excited rush of packing so far which may confuse things in the long run but has no impact on me at the moment… I haven’t been labelling my boxes :/ All that I have packed has been sorted whether it’s going to the house or into storage and anything that is even slightly fragile has been wrapped in bubble wrap but I’ve been mixing boxes as I’ve just been seeing what things fit together nicer to fit more things in rather than packing room by room or labelling/colour coding which may cause havoc when I unpack it into my own house once I get one but hey ho, that won’t be for a while so will just have to be a future me problem-sorry.
Packing my things 
Packing my things 
Packing my things
I have already been to the new house and hoovered, dusted, cleaned out my cupboards, cleaned the fridge and freezer and got everything ready to use. I have taken over all my DVD’s and the books I need access to and put them on the shelves in the attic study, set up my desk and microphone, put some of my ornaments out, set up my jewellery and a few other bits on top of my chest of drawers, and put some of my clothes and shoes in the wardrobe.
My new bedroom 
My new bedroom 
The door to my new study 
My new study 
My new study 
My new study 
My new study 
My new fouton 
My new desk 
My new desk
I have sorted a storage room to house all the furniture I haven’t sold and everything I don’t need in the short term. I have also booked a van for the actual moving day as not all of my things will fit in cars, I’m hoping we will get it all moved to either the new house or the store room within a couple of trips. My boyfriend has agreed to be my van driver for the day and a few of my friends have said they will help me on the day too (a few have helped me take some things over already rather than me having to move it all via trips on the bus) so I’ve been lucky again to have some help with the move.
I have a to do list of what I need to do in the last few days before the move(meter readings, cancelling the last few contracts, changing my address on my driving licence, at the bank and everywhere else, cleaning my current flat and doing my exit checks, setting up my forwarding address etc) so all that is really left is just to move. I am currently on a countdown and trying not to get too overwhelmed with all the boxes piling up in my current flat. Once the move is done I have already decided to either go out for dinner or order a takeaway in the evening and then spend the Sunday checking my current flat, unpacking at my new house and adding all my homey touches ^_^
The next stage (once I’ve got everything sorted, it’s all unpacked and I’ve given everything its new place) will be planning some kind of house warming (with permission from my landlord/housemate obviously). There are a few charity events going on soon, it’s summer so hopefully BBQ weather will be returning and there are loads of gorgeous garden products in my Partylite catalogue so I will hopefully be able to sort out a garden party of some kind- exciting!!!
Until next time, TTFN
Have you ever used an app like Spare room to find housing? Are you living in a house share/lodging? How is it going? Have you ever used an app like Spare room to find housing? Let me know in the comments.
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