When nothing rings home enough to dig your heels in. You dont have to leave me to see what I mean.

I became engaged in a conversation with my ex-wife earlier, mainly about debt. Strange then, that I felt she'd been more honest with me about her own personal finances than she'd ever been with me before about anything. I wonder if she thought that admitting to me how difficult things were for her would make me feel better about my own situation.
I already know that living without at least dipping your toes into debt is a rare thing nowadays. I also know that many, many other people are in worse financial situations than myself. And who can forget the Christmas Cash-Fest that's getting ever closer.

I'm trying to be more pro-active about the possibility of financial implosion. Instead of sitting around wondering why I don't win the lottery (probably because I've never played it in my life), why a stranger doesn't knock on my door to hand over a handsome cheque or why my Bank Manager doesn't ring me up to announce he's writing off all my overdrafts and loans, I'm trying to do things to help myself.

If I advertise in another paper, that should bring in more work. The advert would be another expense, but it's definitely worth a trial run otherwise I'll never know and life's too short for too many "What ifs".
I have a car sat outside that's very rarely used. I could save on the cost of insurance, running, MOT and road tax by getting rid of it. Not only would I save a little bit by not having it, but the money from the sale would definitely come in useful over the next few weeks. Again, it's not without an initial outlay from me though, as the MOT is due and I have to get one of the tyres repaired.
This house is causing me the biggest headache. As things are, I simply can't afford to stay here as I am, unless my workload almost doubles. So instead of waiting for that to happen, I've decided to either get a lodger in or find somewhere else for me to stay and rent the whole place out. There's pro's and con's for both options.
To have somebody else living with me as a lodger....well, they'd have to meet certain criteria in order for me to not feel uncomfortable in my own place. That's not because I'm particularly picky, as I'm sure anybody else would feel the same. It's just how it is. Of course, there are brilliant people out there who would probably fit right in with my kind of living, although finding one has proven very difficult so far. But that's not to say it still couldn't happen.
Getting out of here and finding somewhere else to stay (on a temporary basis) would mean I could rent the whole place out. The Lettings Agency that I do work for have already said that they'll manage the property for me. Hopefully, the rent coming in would cover the mortgage payments and I'd also be free of the other bills that come hand in hand with owning your own place.
Whichever route I take, one thing's pretty much certain. Next year sometime, I want to be living closer to The Girl. So whether I take the renting out route and continue with it, or take the lodger route and sell up/rent out next year, it doesn't really change the fact that my heart isn't in this house anymore.