sharing space

except for a few years, all through this life i've shared space because i like the company (most of the time... i treasure my solitude but there is plenty of solitude to be found and created even when sharing space with someone) and most times the person paid rent which was less, sometimes substantially less than half the living expenses... sharing space to share expenses has helped too, but i never needed the money so i always chose the person based on who they are rather than whether they could afford it and almost every time i chose someone who needed financial help for one reason or another because they were just stepping out into life and paying their way on their own for the first time... and lately i am moving into that phase of life where the concept of final retirement is become real and i must accept that the actual not-working retirement i might have had if i did not retire a few times already or choose to support so many other people will not happen without a landfall (winning lottery ticket, anyone?) and it is something i must take more seriously... i'd like to have at least six figures put away by the time i retire (the original goal of seven figures will not likely be reached again) and that will require some lean living for a decade or so...

currently i live lean about 50% of the time and i live extravagantly about 20% of the time with moderate spending in between... when i am alone it is a lot easier to live lean... but ideally finding a roommate who can actually pay half of living expenses would be an important aspect of the modest retirement goal i am sort of setting as i ponder this tonight... finding compatible roommates is not easy for me... i could buy a big king sized bed and share it cuz ideally finding a bed companion would be sweet... dreams... i will not live with a smoker or anyone who accepts cigarette smoke into the living space... i will not live with a slob... back when first returned to florida i had a few pages through the window entrance that explained a the surface but i am not sure i ever actually drew hard core lines about what would not be wanted in a roommate... i suppose i should... from a friend (or intimate relationship) i will accept a bit more, but a co-habiting roommate must be compatible and a few non-compromise requirements exist, no tobacco just being one... i'll ponder it more as the lease rolls around next year because this might be the year jackson moves out...

not that i want her to... she is most of what i want in a roommate except she doesn't pay half the bills, but i'd rather her stay than go which is why i don't ponder too seriously at the moment... her new relationship is going better than any has before though, which is what prompted the retirement and financial and roommate thoughts...

life changes...