By Fabiola Büchele
The night is still young, the game plan has worked out and it’s time to pop the question. Yours or mine? But what if you live on a barge under construction, a motel room or in your grandparent’s house?
Do you really want your art of seduction to turn into a disaster when your conquest finds out that your pad doesn’t hold up to their expectations?
Laura lives in a barge…
Living cheap means compromising. If you can sacrifice having no bathroom, limited private space and being surrounded by construction site clutter, you’ll be in for a unique living experience. A barge with the above qualities brings your monthly bill to about 240 quid a month.
But forget bringing someone back to rock the boat.
KU film student Laura Kervyn who currently lives on the Thames next to some of Kingston’s most expensive pads, says: “It’s great because you meet a lot of people when living there.” But the thought of bringing someone back just makes Laura laugh.
“What would happen if I brought someone here? Nothing. That’s the problem.” The 24-year-old does point out the most positive thing about her unique living quarters: she has survived.
“It’s a good experience to know that you are able to live like that. We always worry if we will make enough money to make a living.
“Now I know I can live very basic. This means I can put what I like doing before earning lots of money.”
Andrew lives in a Travelodge…
Not having a place to stay at the start of term meant having to dig deep into the wallet for 21-year-old journalism student Andrew Murphy. Without finding a flat, he and his friend became roommates in a Travelodge at £50 a night. If only Andrew had the family room to himself, his possible overnight guests wouldn’t need persuasion before agreeing to spend the night in more than just his company. “You can’t just spring this on them on the way back. It needs to be a part of the conversation before it gets to the yours-or-mine-stage,” Andrew says. At least he can tempt them with crispy white sheets, as one perk of living at Kingston upon Thames Central is a freshly made bed every day. But now, it’s time to move as the bill is becoming too big, even if the boys live off Pot Noodles.
Lewis lives with an elderly couple…
If your housemates are a retired couple and their doll collection, your living situation might be a tad awkward. For 20-year-old second year KU student Lewis Booton, the above scenario means “socialising has gone out the window”. He hasn’t yet got around to asking his host grandparents whether they would be all right with having a strange face at the breakfast table one morning.
“If it’s late at night, yeah I would bring someone back with me after a night out. But maybe they’d have to join the doll collection,”
Lewis laughs. However, he is hesitant to open any door that doesn’t lead to his own room.
The fact that he is woken by “rhythmical bumping noises” around 9am every morning doesn’t make his living arrangement any more pleasant. Lewis is currently on the hunt for rooms rather than casual encounters.
Some living conditions just aren’t worth the £320 he pays every month. Even if the utility bills are included