Blogs: Richard's job log: 5

Richard currently works in a Birmingham law firm, after a contemporary history degree. He’s thinking about a paralegal career, but also has media ambitions.

When I first started this blog I stated that I was in the process of trying to become a ‘real person’ as well as getting a real job. As regular readers will know I am getting married in just under a year’s time and, as such, I am attempting to fast-track my way into adulthood. Part of this process has been trying to buy our first house.

To those of you reading this now who might be thinking of embarking on a similar quest of self-discovery and enrichment, I offer the following, rather sage advice. Do not, under any circumstances buy a house.

Buying a house is rubbish; it costs a fortune, takes over your entire life and leaves you feeling a little emptier inside each day. Renting, on the other hand, is the way forward. Even if you have to rent a broom cupboard from a murderer you will be much happier. I promise. Find a broom cupboard you like, pay a deposit and move in. Easy as that.

Admittedly the storage might not be great, and if there is more than one of you things might get a bit cramped, but the (relatively) pain free process of renting a property allows you to do other things with your time. Searching for a new job for instance, or having a meal, or talking to loved ones. One thing renting doesn’t do is leave you sighing endlessly into your mobile phone as valuable time ticks by and you’ve still not got a home.

The more astute amongst you might have noticed that I am currently a bit down on the process of house buying. When we embarked on the process of buying our new property friends and family who have purchased their own homes all said the same things - ‘Worst thing you’ll ever do’, ‘You’ll never want to move again’, ‘Leave the country now, it’ll destroy you’. I never thought it would be as bad as all that, they were just unlucky, that would not happen to us, it just couldn’t.

Well I was wrong; it is literally the most stressful thing I have ever done. My degree? By comparison it was a walk in the park; I would try another one tomorrow. Finding a job? I would rather trawl through a job search website looking at a never-ending procession of ‘wacky’ recruitment consultant vacancies until the end of time, rather than go through the process of buying another house; it would be a relative pleasure.

Hopefully by the time you read next month’s blog I will be a proud home-owner, I’ll probably have even bought a wine-rack by then, that seems like the sort of thing I should own.

I might also have a brand spanking new career to match. Hopefully next month I will have the time to try and find one.