Girlfriend finished uni, and now 'job seeking'...

dmg24

Get rid of your car, or get a much cheaper one. A car is a luxury, not a necessity.

kelloggs36

Did she work whilst at university? If so, did she pay national insurance contributions? She may still qualify for JSA (conts based) which would increase your household weekly income by £55 or so.

Unfortunately you can only make the decision as to whether you can afford to maintain the relationship long distance or take the plunge and become a proper couple who rely upon eachother in the time of need.

Horace

Warwickshire isnt that far from London - National Express, Megabus and trains service the route so jobhunting shouldnt really be a problem. Bicester (junction 9) is one hour drive from South London (Kennington), so junction 15 on M40 (Warwick is about half an hour on top of that - I have driven along it often enough to know.

Perhaps its best if your girlfriend stays in London and looks around there for a job? Not wanting to be rude but you have already said that you cannot support her when you earn £20K a year when there are people out there on managing on a lot less - i think you should make it clear to your girlfriend that you don't want her to move in with you especially as it would impact on your i.e. you would lose your 25% council tax allowance and your living costs would go up.

Koptor

dmg24 wrote: »

Get rid of your car, or get a much cheaper one. A car is a luxury, not a necessity.

Did you read my post earlier? Trying and failing to get rid of it, if you can find me a buyer then go for it. The dealers aren't interested in it as I'm not buying another one off them, and when they tried to offer me a cheaper one it ended up working out exactly the same as what I'm paying now. Avoid Allen Ford in Coventry!

kelloggs36 wrote: »

Did she work whilst at university? If so, did she pay national insurance contributions? She may still qualify for JSA (conts based) which would increase your household weekly income by £55 or so.

Unfortunately you can only make the decision as to whether you can afford to maintain the relationship long distance or take the plunge and become a proper couple who rely upon eachother in the time of need.

No she didn't work whilst there, unfortunately. Hopefully will be able to sort something out, at the moment she's up and down between her parents house and here, so will just have to hope she finds a job soon.

Koptor

Horace wrote: »

Warwickshire isnt that far from London - National Express, Megabus and trains service the route so jobhunting shouldnt really be a problem. Bicester (junction 9) is one hour drive from South London (Kennington), so junction 15 on M40 (Warwick is about half an hour on top of that - I have driven along it often enough to know.

Perhaps its best if your girlfriend stays in London and looks around there for a job? Not wanting to be rude but you have already said that you cannot support her when you earn £20K a year when there are people out there on managing on a lot less - i think you should make it clear to your girlfriend that you don't want her to move in with you especially as it would impact on your i.e. you would lose your 25% council tax allowance and your living costs would go up.

Yeah, it's approx 1hr 40 drive from mine to her parents. Although its a bit tight at the moment, if the car went then things would be a lot more comfortable and it'd probably work out fine. Suppose then it's just a (hopefully) short term thing.

Oldernotwiser

Not that it makes a lot of difference but why is your TV licence so high?

Koptor

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Not that it makes a lot of difference but why is your TV licence so high?

Changed from quarterly payments to monthly payments to make it a bit easier to manage, and apparently by paying monthly you have to work up 6 months in advance by paying double for the first 6 months. Sounds like a fiddle to me, but what can you do.

buffykins

Will she be able to claim JSA whilst at her parents then? Or won't their incomes be taken into that equation?

Oh and I learnt the partner JSA thing the hard way a few years ago. My very EX boyfriend still made me pay half the rent and bills out of my savings ... charmer!

Oldernotwiser

buffykins wrote: »

Will she be able to claim JSA whilst at her parents then? Or won't their incomes be taken into that equation?

!

No, adults aren't assessed on parental income.

buffykins

Genius! No wonder everyone ends up moving back home after uni. ty x