desperate girl seeking perfect house

Why don't they teach you how to live at school? Learning science and history and french was great and all that but none of it has helped me when looking at houses. I don't understand mortgages, or interest, and to be honest those lessons might have been worth listening in. I'm so tired of finding gorgeous perfect houses that I just can't afford or that are already under offer and getting a tiny bit excited before I realise they are off limits. I know the perfect house won't come along straight away but I want to know how to go about doing all the important things before buying one.

I need to go into the estate agents and get myself on the mailing lists and book some viewings just so I can see whats out there but my lack of social skills are definitely getting in the way. Maybe its time to remember that now I'm 20 I shouldn't be such a drama queen and I just need to get on with things in life instead of sitting and thinking about them.

Estate agents here I come.

House hunting

For a while now I have been constantly thinking about moving out of my parents home and into a home of my own. I would love to be able to take control of my own life, cook when and what I want to cook, wash up when I feel like doing the washing up and just generally having my own space together with my boyfriend. I have found myself going into shops like Tesco or Ikea and dreaming of buying my own kettle and toaster or owning my own saucepan set, it sounds so ridiculously sad but its true. People have even started giving me 'bottom drawer' items, a term i'd never really heard until a few weeks ago, but according to my Grandma its just items you store for when you move out. I am now the proud owner of my own tea towel and measuring spoons - how wild I am!

I have downloaded the Right Move app on to my phone and look at it every morning and night like a crazy lady searching for any house that may just be the one.

If only it wasn't so bloody expensive! I'm saving like crazy and have been for a couple of years now but with houses being so expensive I feel like I still have a long way to go. My boyfriend currently doesn't have any savings, so for now its all me and i'm trying to save every penny that I can. If anybody has any tips they would like to offer on moving house or saving money then please be my guest! Any advice is good advice when you are as desperate as I am!

#1

Cancelling a phone contract. A simple phone call for anyone else, a procedure I have been putting off doing for many weeks. The customer service number has been sitting in my coat pocket for an age and yet picking up the phone and ringing it made me feel like curling up under my covers in hibernation. Don't get me wrong i'm not a total loser but using the phone never has and never will be one of my strong points. How ever many times people say to me 'you'll never have to speak to them again', 'they don't know who you are', 'its just one quick phone call' I just get sweaty palms and leave it for another day.

But now I'm twenty and a twenty year old needs to man up and pick up the phone, and surprise surprise it was easy! I'm not saying every phone call will be panic free from now on but how much can one teeny phone call every now and then really hurt? The lady on the other end of the phone was helpful, chatty and put my mind at rest. And now from February I am contract free and have an extra £16 in my bank account every single month so I would say it was definitely worth it.

A small step for every other human, but a huge step in the right direction for me.

Life begins at 20

So yesterday I turned 20. Twenty years old. And I have never felt so unexcited for my birthday ever. I was filled with the snottiest cold I have had in years, feeling depressed about having to go back to work after almost 10 days off and in general just not ready to be twenty. I know I don't look twenty and probably never will, which I cant decide is a good or bad thing right now but I certainly don't feel twenty.

When people ask how old you are, 19 feels care-free, and makes it sound fine that you don't have a job that you love and want to do forever. 19 justifies the fact that you still don't do your own washing or even know how to do your own washing, or that you still feel naughty when you go to bed without brushing your teeth. 20 sounds to me like you know what your doing with your life and you should know how to look after yourself without asking your mum if your baby pink top goes in the wash with the 'darks or the whites'. 19 was easy and 20 feels a damn lot harder.

So while I'm sat here sipping out of my Dress up Boo the dog mug  (it comes with outfit stickers!) I have decided to make a promise to myself. This year will be the year where I grow up, learn how to do 'adult' things and find out what I want to do with the rest of my life.

And that starts right now with this here blog. A place where I can post about my everyday accomplishments no matter how big or small, or report back my failures of which I know there will be plenty.

I'm Megan, I'm twenty and I'm going to start growing up.