How to get a life?

[Xztop]

AIBU to think it can be hard?!

I'm a single parent to dd who is 14. I'm skint! I pay the the mortgage and bills and then have about £100 left per month. I literally have no life! I do nothing. I see my friends about 3 time a year as they don't live nearby. I do have a boyfriend but he's just moved to the otherwise of the country for work so I only see him every 2 weeks.
I have no interests, no hobbies, all I do is work, walk my dogs and scroll on my phone! I'm sick of it but don't know how to change it? Any suggestions welcome! Help!

Join your local area’s Facebook page and you’ll likely find countless events pop up. Book clubs, people wanting to dog walk with others, local exercise classes in the village hall, craft nights etc. Hopefully something will interest you. Get yourself out there, good luck 😊

I second getting off your phone (my big challenge right now)

If you dog walk see if there’s a local ramblers / walking group - they are often really really social

If you are a transition town there will be lots around that.

Apart from Parish councils if there are parks or any kind of loose heritage site which will have friends of committees, and also schools governors.

Things like Salsa classes where you have to partner up, people I know have also made friends at choirs, book groups, WI (now jazzed up), meditation / Buddhist centres, local conservation volunteering (local park or whatever), park run, having an allotment (long list so apply now if you might be up for it), Am dram. Volunteering for things like CBA obviously works too but you probably don’t need more work. Things that don’t work are things where you don’t naturally chat much like gym and yoga.

I’d focus on things you are genuinely at least a bit interested in, as it takes time to make friends. You also want long running groups, so I don’t think time limited evenings courses are much use.

Good luck!

Do you have meet up? There's several social, walking/hiking and dogging groups on there who post events and are great for meeting new people - everything from mountain hikes, cinema nights, wine tasting or social danders

dog walking groups! (wish there was an edit button)

Can you travel?

It can be hard yes. Any local walking groups nearby? A lady in my community posted on our Facebook town page a few months ago asking if anyone wanted to join a ladies walking group if she set one up. It’s been amazing, I’ve met so many local ladies in the last 3 months. We go on 3 walks a week, 2 evenings and one Saturday morning. Often going for a drink afterwards. We now have a comedy night outing, sorting out a meal, all kind of plans for winter. If nothing local why not start one. It costs nothing, one lady just drinks fizzy water in the pub if we go, that costs nothing. We have a Facebook page and a whats app group, so very easy to set up.

We have a dog walking club in our area and everyday people post and ask what time people are going out walking. It’s a chance to meet up with people but at your own convenience and at the time you choose maybe have a look on fb and see if you have one

@FerryPink No, there were two vacancies and I applied.

Ahh perfect that's the way I'd want to do it too. I'm so glad it worked out

I mix my hobbies with social groups. I knit and natter at the library. Joined a sewing group at my WI. I found another craft group in town and several years on do some occasional teaching. I find a common interest promotes nice friendships.

https://www.rebelbadgestore.com/about?gclid=Cj0KCQjw84anBhCtARIsAISI-xdbzSH88mv2PeVa2_mszJRKq338uWOX31krcWy3hJFiPacVgvFOayUaAsLIEALw_wcB

The Rebel Badge Book would be great for anyone feeling lost about their sense of self and wanting to explore. It's like Brownie badges for grown ups and most can be done on a very limited budget.

It's called Meet-ups. It's brilliant

Would you consider outdoor swimming?
I wasn’t sure about it but have now joined a group and love it. So friendly and easy to make friends: https://thebluetits.co/
its free and great for your mental health😁
you can find your local group easily x

Allotment? You won't have time for anything else if you get one 😁

Wow, thank you so much for all the responses!! I'll definitely look into them. I think my first step is to join the gym and look at some volunteering in connections with animals.
Again, thank you all so much :)

My brother uses MeetUp quite a lot to do lots of different things. You can see if there is anything in your local area on there.

I messaged him about the sort of things he does and tomorrow night he is going to a “let’s predict the premiership football results” for the up coming session. Definitely not something I would find interesting but it’s something to do.