Hi guys
I'm posting here rather than the homes and gardens section because as a lone parent, I feel like my circumstances are different and advice in this section might be more relevant.
Anyway, I live in a council house with my 2 teenagers, dog and 3 cats. I've never been a particularly homely person and hate cleaning, so my house was never a show home. However, I've lived here for 3 years now and the walls are still bare plaster, some windows don't have curtains and the garden is so overgrown I've been threatened with eviction (don't have tools but paying someone to cut it down next week so hopefully that's not too much of an issue). I don't answer the door and hate visitors because 99% of the time I can't be bothered to clean up just for someone to come round and am too embarrassed of the mess.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not lazy, I'm a marine biologist and am currently only working part time so hardly have any money spare after the bills and travel. I work very hard and am always doing something in my spare time, either volunteering or working on a project from home. But I now want to move away, first from the area I live and then from the UK and I realise I'm going to need landlord references. I'm pretty certain that I won't get them as I don't take care of this house that I actually should be very grateful for, many people are not lucky enough to get a council house and what has the potential to be a nice one, at that.
Has anyone been in this position and how do you get yourself out of it? I can't even afford a tin of paint right now but I really want to have a nice place to live! How do I get into a routine of cleaning when I hate it so much? How do I make a dent on the state of the garden? Basically, how do I start being a good tenant (rent always paid on time by the way, if that counts for anything) and making a nice home?
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Really down about the state of my house and garden
22 replies
Scaryfeet · 22/06/2014 01:21
OP posts:
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