I have my final music exam on Friday, so I'm trying to study as much as possible. This is study as much as possible while also working in the supermarket, working in a friend's shop, fulfilling art commissions and doing the chores, and looking for an appartment.

I'm moving out soon. I've been living in a room in my Dad's house for the past two or three years, and it's not a practical arrangement for several reasons I won't go into here. This means I need to find an apartment, and enough money to pay the rent. My hours in the supermarket are part-time and were taken to fit around study so I could survive while at college, but now I've nearly finished. Currently I'm doing odds and ends of occassional work (<sarcasm> this is going to make my tax form so much fun to fill in...</sarcasm> ) doing everything from painting portraits to minding people's shops. Anything I can do that is within my skills, moral and pays me money.

This is making studying for my exams hard as I'm out and about at irregular hours. The good thing is I now have enough money saved up for the deposit on a flat and some furniture.

I have, for the past year, been slowly accumulating the stuff necessary for independent living - towels, cutlery, bedding, kitchenware, that sort of thing. This is useful because it avoids the rush to buy all this when I'm moving, and it also means I can buy things when I spot them going at bargain prices rather than having to buy things at one moment when they may not be on sale.

My shopping is done very carefully. First of all I write a lit of what I need, then I go out with my notebook and write down the prices of each item, rate it with a star system as to how nice it is, go around several shops comparing prices, go on the internet and do the same. Finally I buy the items I have deliberated upon to be best value for money. I have noticed that just taking a list of stuff into town and buying the things on the list always results in a dramatic overspend. And I never buy something I can make myself.

One of these days I will post here my "Rules of Shopping" - the rules I have set myself to get the best out of my money and stretch it as far as possible. That will be on a less busy day, after my exams. Shopping on impulse is a very bad thing, and something I, as an impulsive person, have to actively work to avoid. If I bought what I saw, I'd be broke, and yet at the supermarket I see so many people who say "I only came in to buy a couple of things" - and often they've got over £100 of shopping lined up.

Advertisement works to make people impulse buy. Shops are laid out to try and get people to impulse buy. All those colours and pictures of delicious food, all those ever-full looking shelves, they are designed to get people to impulse buy. I know this. Therefore I can resist this... most of the time Anyway, I said I'd write about my method for shopping at a later date.

I have found some nice appartments, and now I just need to get a job so I can afford them before the summer ends and the students come back into town looking for flats. I'm looking to rent long-term. I am looking to find a place to live, not a place to stay. I like my area, and have grown very fond of the people here, and even though it would be cheaper to move out of the area, I can't bear the thought of leaving. This place is far from perfect, and I miss Bristol, but this place is now home, and I'm not ready to leave this place yet.

I am only going to go as far as one of the three nearest towns/cities. I want to stay near the river. I want to stay where I can see the hills. Whichever apartment I pick, a very important criteria for me is that I can see to the hills from a window. That may sound ridiculous, but a long time ago being able to see the hills saved me from a very unpleasant fate. I would like to keep that comfort.

In the meanwhile, expect to hear less from me. I will update eventually. I'm just exceedingly busy at the moment.