General questions about your life situation

[Emily_G]

1. What is your home environment/living situation? Do you live alone? How much rent do you pay?

I live with my husband and my two dogs. Our house mortage is about $850 a month.

2. We all have expenses and from my experience SA makes it sooo hard to work, how do you guys (and girls) support yourselves? What kind of job do you have and how do you find it? Anyone on money from centrelink? How much do you get if you are?

Thankfully, my husband works very hard to provide for his family. I currently cannot find a job.

3. Do you do your own grocery shopping? How do you manage it?

I do all the shopping.

4. What kind of diet do you have? Do you eat a lot of takeaway and 'drive-thru' meals?

Um...not the healthiest, lol. I usually make some sort of chicken, veggies, and rolls for dinner. I eat too many sweets, that is my weakness.

5. Do you take/get much exercise? Even if it's just a run by yourself or a few push ups and sit-ups. Do you play any sport? Would you if you felt ok about it?

I love to walk, whether its taking my dogs out for a walk or using my treadmill and watching TV.

6. Have you made ANY improvements? If so how long did they last?

Well I'll answer this from my biggest struggle: stuttering. Which the answer would be, no. No improvements, a daily struggle to accept myself and my speech.

 

[obita]

It's interesting here everyone's situations. Here's my answers:

1. What is your home environment/living situation? Do you live alone? How much rent do you pay?

I’m 28 and still live with my parents – rentfree luckily.

2. We all have expenses and from my experience SA makes it sooo hard to work, how do you guys (and girls) support yourselves? What kind of job do you have and how do you find it? Anyone on money from centrelink? How much do you get if you are?

I’m waiting to graduate at the end of this semester. I did have a job before I started my degree so I have lived off my remaining savings and am trying to find a suitable job.

3. Do you do your own grocery shopping? How do you manage it?

Parents do it. I could do it myself if I wanted to, most of the time, though.

4. What kind of diet do you have? Do you eat a lot of takeaway and 'drive-thru' meals?

I eat ok. I do enjoy potato chips every second day and a cake once a week. Tend not to eat alot of takeaway because I don’t like it much and it costs.

5. Do you take/get much exercise? Even if it's just a run by yourself or a few push ups and sit-ups. Do you play any sport? Would you if you felt ok about it?

I used to go to the gym occasionally but not so much now. I’m not very co-ordinated so most sports are out. However I do intend to start exercising again very soon.

6. Have you made ANY improvements? If so how long did they last?

I’d say my anxiety is mild but I go through ups and downs. I keep trying to meet new people and will continue. If I manage to land a little job, I’ll consider that a major improvement. Just need to keep trying...

 

[Blake B.]

1. What is your home environment/living situation? Do you live alone? How much rent do you pay?

I live with two roommates in a three bedroom house with an unfinished basement. I pay $475 CAD a month, and utilities generally come out to around 125-150 a month.

2. We all have expenses and from my experience SA makes it sooo hard to work, how do you guys (and girls) support yourselves? What kind of job do you have and how do you find it?

I get a few kickbacks from the parents every now and then but the vast majority of my rent and walking-around money comes from working part time as a bartender at a steakhouse. I work in the dining room section where people don't actually sit at the bar, the drinks are made specifically for the tables and the only interaction I have with the customers is through the servers, which is really nice. I have established a rapport with the company, having worked there non-consecutively for 4 years, and I'm on good terms with almost everyone who works there. That is probably the clincher right there. The last job I worked at had me moving from job site to job site running phone cable, and each new job site required me to meet new people, and work with different contractors, which is probably the most stressful thing for me. At the place I work at, I stand in the same place and make the same drinks for the same people, day in and day out.

3. Do you do your own grocery shopping? How do you manage it?

I tackle it with a plan in mind to get in and get out quickly. Browsing around isn't really my thing, and the self-checkout is the place to be. I also used to go to the 24 hour grocery place a lot, since there generally aren't nearly as many people awake and active in the wee hours of the morning, although the ones that are are more likely to be sketchy.

4. What kind of diet do you have? Do you eat a lot of takeaway and 'drive-thru' meals?

I used to, and I found that it didn't really help with my depression or anxiety because I felt terrible about the choices I was making in terms of diet, and I was worried that the crappy food I was eating was contributing to my depression. Since I spend almost all of my free time at home anyway, I figured that I had enough time and 0 excuses to start cooking real meals (Plus I used to work as a short order cook so I had the basic skills needed for cooking down).

5. Do you take/get much exercise? Even if it's just a run by yourself or a few push ups and sit-ups. Do you play any sport? Would you if you felt ok about it?

The closest I come to a sport is mountain biking, which is very therapeutic for me if I'm on a nice trail or just cruising. Unfortunately, sports where I live aren't really much of an option, since the region is covered in snow for more than half of the year.

6. Have you made ANY improvements? If so how long did they last?

To be painfully honest, I feel like it's getting worse, which I know isn't constructive thinking in any way. Every now and then I feel like I've made a breakthrough, but it's only a band-aid on what amounts to irreparable damage to the relationships that I've cultivated and the positive self-image I used to have when I was a brash teenager.