As you know, I love living in the city.  I love it.  But as you know from either experience or from watching “House Hunters” on HGTV, flats are much smaller in the city.  I remember when I first moved here and all the places I looked at were like 55 meters square.  That was like the size of the bedroom in the place I lived in previously.  Ok, so I’m exaggerating a little bit, but still.  To give you some comparison, when I was living outside of the city I was paying around 640 pounds for a one bedroom that was about 84 meters square.  It was a pretty nice place, I had room for all my furniture, it had a nice kitchen, a good-sized bedroom, and a big bathroom.  Oh, and parking was included in that price.  There was a lot outside where everyone who lived there could park.  So then I start looking downtown and I see that prices go up and sizes go down.  The place I’m living in now is about 55 meters square and I’m paying 960 quid per month, and that doesn’t even include parking!  That’s what it’s like in the city, though.  I have a pretty decent view from my living room, and I even have a little balcony I can go out on and and get some fresh air.  It’s actually a really nice location.  For the most part all the stuff I need is only a few blocks away.  I don’t really have to drive that much.  Compare that to living in the suburbs and you have to drive everywhere.

Living in a smaller place has forced me to make some changes.  I’ve had to become much more organized.  My closets are stuffed to the brim.  I keep some stuff under my desk.  I had to get some plastic bins to store a lot of my stuff in and I have them arranged in my closet so I can find what I need when I need it.  My place only has two closets; there’s a big one in my bedroom and then there’s one in the hallway when you first walk in.  It’s pretty tight but I make it work.

It’s worth it to me, though.  Most of my friends are here.  There’s always stuff to do.  It’s not boring and depressing like living in the suburbs (no offense to my friends who live in the suburbs!).  And there are some amazing restaurants, but that’s another topic for another post.