Welcome to Gaia! ::

Yikes! Glad you got out of there. I'm going to be strapped financially when I move back to the UK in the fall and look for a place to live, however I don't think I could live in that kind of situation. That would be too stressful.

Yea renting can be tough, my friend's family got jerked around for a couple months as well. They were "promised" two different places that twice fell through. Glad you guys got it sorted though and our pleased with your purchase.

@JK: The rental thing wasn't that bad for us except that the neighborhood was horrible. xD;
Our landlord was super easy-going and we had to chase him down to give him the rent, instead of the other way around. We just got tired of basically wasting our money when we knew we could get a house. xD;
It was the real estate agent who was helping us get the house that was horrible. xP
She wouldn't tell us anything and she'd wait 'til the last minute to let us know when we had to do stuff. Also, she recommended this lady for our loan who didn't know what she was doing and caused our closing day to be pushed back by a month. It was ridiculous. xP

@Kitsune: Hey! It's been a while! =D
Thanks and thanks! ^ - ^
How've things been going with you?

I had a great landlord in my last residence in the UK (though he did remember the rent, but that's okay I was on top of that as well). It's a really nice thing to find. Being your own landlord is probably nice too. I don't see home ownership really in my future, pretty much prioritizing the education I want over everything else. Maybe if I find a great job right as I finish my doctorate but I won't hold my breath. Hard to be positive about finances in the economy as it is currently. =/

Where were you sent for a loan recommendation with someone who didn't know what they were doing?

Well glad that's over for you. Had similar loan issues in terms of a student loan, the issues were with my university not wanting to process the paperwork though, rather than with FASFA actually being willing to payout the loan, which was frustrating because I need to get all this done for my visa. Finally got it sorted.

So watcha up to these days now that you have a new house and internet?

I feel you on the language thing, I keep meaning to get back into my Ancient Greek studies, but seems like everything else just keeps getting in the way. I want to stay on that so I have the motivation to learn Latin eventually, not use my weak Greek as a crutch to put that off as well. Both would be pretty useful for the period I want to work in (I'm studying Early Modern English Lit, and preferably will be able to find a lecturing/research position at a university somewhere after I finish my doctorate in a few years).

I go absolutely nuts sitting around the house, which I did a lot of for months. I came home at Christmas thinking I'd start my PhD in February, then March, then April, then maybe May, it wasn't until about the end of March that I realized I'd just have to start in Fall. So I wasted about 5 months in which I could have been working and saving up money for this programme. Ah well, working now and it's been really good thus far. Got an old job back that I loved as well as found a new job that's been wonderful. Actually starting to get attached to CA again, but still looking forward to going back to the UK soon. smile

Congrats on the pregnancy, did you just find out? Have you guys been trying to have a baby or is this a surprise? Do you want to stay home during your pregnancy? I mean once you have the kid it might be more economical to stay home than pay for child care. A girl I met a bridal shower had just went on maternity leave but wasn't planning to go back to work because she made less in a year than what childcare would cost. However she enjoyed working up until she got close and needed to be on leave. Sitting around the house alone all day gets hard.