In my last post, I was trying my best to endure my living situation. It was not to be, however. Two weeks after my last post, I moved out.
Yeah, it all happened pretty quickly. I was prepared to try to ride out the winter there even though I was miserable. Two events triggered my decision to leave; one linked to each roommate. That was it. I was done. I packed up my stuff and got the hell out.
Thanks to all of you who commented on my last post. Ms. Afro Penny and Maria asked me to think about whether enduring my living situation was worth it, and to prioritize my mental health. I did reflect on those words.
I’m now lounging in my own small 1-BR apartment. I considered a renting a studio, but after living in a small bedroom for the last 7 years of my life, that option felt suffocating. I LOVE my new place. The apartment isn’t super swanky or anything, but I think it’s cute. More importantly, it’s clean, quiet, bug-free, and safe.
It is not cheap, but moving to any place was going to be more expensive than what I was paying while living with multiple roommates. I moved to a new town where rent is a bit less expensive, and I got 2 months free rent because the rental market is no longer competitive because of COVID.
This will set me back financially. My savings rate will lower by quite a bit due to the higher rent, and I have been spending money like water over the past couple of months to furnish the place. For me, it’s worth it.
My mental health has boosted. I feel so much better. I love having my own space and having total control over it. I have space to improve my mental and physical health.
Time Flies
I’ve not blogged for a long while. Frankly, with COVID and the elections going full swing for the past couple of months, plus my soul-sucking job, I have not felt energized to post. I haven’t checked on my retirement savings, because it hasn’t been a priority for me. I got an email from “debtor” who reminded me to get back on the keyboard. Thanks for the nudge. 😉
Michelle, congrats on reaching your retirement saving goals for the year. Afro Penny, thanks for keeping it real and sharing the ups and downs of working multiple jobs to pay off debt. It’s a smart move to build up an emergency fund before anything else. You’ll be back to chopping at that debt in no time. My Early Retirement Journey, boy do I understand the stress of a soul-sucking job. I hope the communication channels you’ve set up, help you to work through your grief and challenges. Losing a family member is always so hard. I lost a relative to COVID not long ago. It’s a hard road, but one you can walk.
Happy Holidays
Now that the elections are over (except for Senate seats in GA), I can start to free up some mental space. I’m hoping things slow down at work over the holidays. But it will be my luck to get someone over my team who has something to prove and wants to make us work at full speed, while other groups get to kick back a little. Sigh.
I hope you’re all able to make the best of a not ideal holiday season this year.
.
Double Debt Single Woman 
I’m glad you got your own place. With job stress you need to have your own place to mentally recharge, not have more stress. The money bleed should end once you’re settled. I am soooo glad the election is over. Love the hopeful feeling.
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Thanks, Kim. Same here! 🙂
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CONGRATULATIONS! CONGRATULATIONS! CONGRATULATIONS!
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Thank you!
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I will say when the post notification flashed on my screen the preview said, “In my last post…” and I momentarily panicked because you hadn’t posted so long and I thought you meant this would be your last post. Wooosa for that note being the case.
Seriously, congratulations. I am so excited you have your own space. It is more than more than deserved and I am so glad it will give you both the space, energy, and control to feel like you can make the choices necessary to prioritize your physical and mental health.
P.S. Thanks for the luv.
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Lol. Didn’t mean to give you a heart attack with that first line! 😄. Thank you.
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Oh, so happy to hear from you again DDSW!
You are so strong, and although I’ve said this before; an inspiration like I’ve never known.
I am HAPPY! for you!
Peace in One’s Home is priceless ❤
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Thank you!! 🙂
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I’m very happy to hear you have your own place, the privacy and peace of mind are extremely important. Some things are worth some extra cost,, like not sharing a kitchen or another housemate’s visitor who ignores the Covid guidelines.Thank you for keeping us posted on things and I wish you very good luck in your new place.
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Thanks, Paul! Stay safe out there yourself.
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Good for you. Don’t be in a rush to furnish! It will all come, and you will have a cozy little home. So happy you reached this goal!
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Thank you, Isabella. 🙂
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Way to go!! I am so proud of you for putting yourself first!
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Thanks, Michelle. It’s been harder than I thought to back off the savings and spend more. I still need to find a save/spend point that I’m satisfied with.
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I’m so happy to see an update from you! Congrats on the new place 🙂 I’m sure it’ll give you some much needed peace. Please keep us updated!
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Thank you, Avery. 🙂
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FINALLY, after ALL these years you have your own place! I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS DAY! I AM SO VERY HAPPY FOR YOU!
So good to hear from you! I’m honestly SO happy and relieved that you have your own place now. You’ve pushed yourself so hard for so many years, I believe it was high time you prioritized your health. Like you say, it’s its own boost to your mental health to have a place of your own, and yes, I’m sure it’ll be so much easier to implement whatever changes are needed to further take care of your health. Diet, sleep habits, whatever. Good call on getting the one bedroom instead of a studio. Yes!
And yeah, everytime I have moved, I’ve spent money like crazy for quite a while afterwards.
How is the commute now that you’re in a new town?
And I’m sorry to hear about the relative you lost. 😦
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🙂 Thanks, Maria. You’re just as excited as I am!! My employer has us all working from home because of the pandemic. That’s why I can move further away.
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Lol, probably not as excited as you are, but pretty darn excited! 😀 You kind of feel like an old friend (that I’ve never met, hehe) to me. I’ve honestly been worried for years about your health and stress levels . I’ve thought so many times “DDSW could probably cope so much better with the job stress if she had a place of her own where she could relax and re-charge!”. Hope that isn’t creepy. :p Of course, I hope the over-the-top jobb stress will be a thing of the past one day soon too.
When the pandemic ends do you think you’ll still be able to work from home? Or can you handle the commute at that point? Or maybe you’ll be ready to jump ship by then, or perhaps move again (though I’d personally be loath to give up that cute apartment)? I’m just nosy. 🙂
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Awww. Thank you! 😊
When the pandemic ends, we will have to go back to the office. They’ve been telling us this the whole time. I’ll have to move back when that happens, sometime next year. Yeah, I’ll miss my apartment but I need to keep my job.
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You’re welcome! And thank you for sharing your story with us! 😊 You’ve been an inspiration to so many, me included!
Yeah, another move maybe isn’t ideal, but I can only imagine, soooooo worth it to have your own place right now! You can only take so much, it was high time you got out of there! At least you can work from home for a good while longer (and get a break from some of the office drama, sigh), enjoy the two months of no rent, lower rent in this other town etc. I SO hope you’ll be able to have your own place when you have to move again! 🙂
Again, I do believe it’ll be a lot easier for you to deal with your job now that you have your own place. Though of course I believe you when you say it’s soul-sucking. Hopefully you won’t have to keep it for too long.
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Thanks for reading! I will enjoy the time I have. 🙂
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Good for you! You’ve worked hard to put debt behind you so you can live your life the way you want to. I’m very happy for you!
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Thank you, TT!
And you as well! Congrats. 🙂
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So so so glad to hear from you. I was beginning to get worried and contemplated attempting to contact you but didn’t want to seem like a crazy stalker fan. I am so glad that you pulled the trigger and got your own space! You’ve been wanting this for so long! I’m still chipping away at our debt, slowly and steadily but have a fair amount of Christmas shopping done so WIN! My biggest concern was a second wave of Covid and having Christmas for my 4 year old. She would never understand Santa not showing up.
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Hey, StubbornMama!
Thank you! Yes, I love my little apartment. 🙂
Well, I’m glad you got your shopping mostly done. Dr. Fauci has recently announced that Santa is immune from COVID and will be making the rounds this year! 🙂
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Yay!!! So glad for you that you moved out — your health is not worth it!! Apologies for not commenting sooner on this — I usually read a lot of folks’ blogs on my phone and then I can’t remember my password for the account I use to comment, and ugh, it’s just a mess. So your savings rate takes a hit. Who gives a crap?! You are out of debt, you have your head on straight, you have a great work ethic (I would have quit your job by now, I know for sure.) Isn’t it nice having your own place??
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Hey Terri! No worries. It’s not easy to keep up with so many blogs. I read a lot of blogs, but don’t make time to comment nearly as much as I’d like. Sigh.
Thank you! Yes, I do love having my own place! 🙂
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I read this post a while ago on my phone, so much more difficult to comment on that device. But wanted to stop by today to say thanks for the call-out, sorry we are commiserating partners. And sorry for your loss!
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Thank you.
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So many people feel trapped, but carry-on because doing the unknown is scary.
It sounds like you made a good decision 🙂
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It was the right decision for my health. My bank account may disagree… 👀 Thanks.
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