GF isnsists i can do it!

mark5

Can your girlfriend afford to pay a minimum of £400 per month towards the bills ?, you dont take home enough to be able to carry her.

On the plus side you would probably really enjoy the freedom of your own place, i bought my 1st place at 23 and wish I had done it sooner, I got on much better with my parents after I moved out aswell.

Svenena

Personal questions and you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but how old are you, and how long have you been with your girlfriend?

Regarding 'benefits' (Local Housing Allowance), people on low incomes qualify - it depends on your age and where you live, but round where I am, your girlfriend would easily qualify on the salary you mentioned she's on. If you were to live together, you would be less likely to qualify, as you would only qualify to share a room and therefore be assumed to have half the costs, making it more affordable. You should check your local council website for more info, and the Shelter website also has some useful stuff.

Anadinolin

Svenena wrote: »

Personal questions and you don't have to answer if you don't want to, but how old are you, and how long have you been with your girlfriend?

Regarding 'benefits' (Local Housing Allowance), people on low incomes qualify - it depends on your age and where you live, but round where I am, your girlfriend would easily qualify on the salary you mentioned she's on. If you were to live together, you would be less likely to qualify, as you would only qualify to share a room and therefore be assumed to have half the costs, making it more affordable. You should check your local council website for more info, and the Shelter website also has some useful stuff.

we are both 22 years old, iv been with her for 15 months today infact :T - probably part of the reason why she wants me to be able to afford it on my own...bailout seems to come to mind >.< but i understand her concern.

BitterAndTwisted

Please don't forget that should your g/f lose her job while you are living together you will be expected to support her so her claim for JSA or whatever would be severely limited if not non-existent. At your current salary it doesn't look to me like you could afford to rent somewhere on your own, never mind take care of the two of you. I would advise you both to get saving like mad, not be spending money on expensive holidays! Even after all the initial costs of getting into a flat or house-share it's sensible to have at least three month's worth of rent/bills/etcetera squirreled away should something unexpected happen, so you've both got quite a way to go before it's even remotely possible. Please don't be persuaded or bullied into doing this before you've got a decent nest-egg or the consequences for both of you could be dire.

Catblue

You bring home £900 per month and pay between £535 and £685 purely on car-related expenses? That's car loan, insurance and petrol. And you haven't factored in money for repairs and maintenance to the car.

At the higher figure, you are paying more than 75% of your disposable income on your car. That is utterly staggering. You must really love that car.

Of course, if you got a one bed flat within walking distance of work you could get rid of the car entirely and put the £535/£685 towards the rent and living expenses. Chances are you could cover them completely (if your girlfriend can contribute too) without further money having to come from you.

And if you need your car whilst you are at work, then work absolutely needs to be paying for that or be giving you a pay rise to cover having to use your own car. No way you can pay for it out of £900 per month.

Anadinolin

Catblue wrote: »

You bring home £900 per month and pay between £535 and £685 purely on car-related expenses? That's car loan, insurance and petrol. And you haven't factored in money for repairs and maintenance to the car.

At the higher figure, you are paying more than 75% of your disposable income on your car. That is utterly staggering. You must really love that car.

Of course, if you got a one bed flat within walking distance of work you could get rid of the car entirely and put the £535/£685 towards the rent and living expenses. Chances are you could cover them completely (if your girlfriend can contribute too) without further money having to come from you.

And if you need your car whilst you are at work, then work absolutely needs to be paying for that or be giving you a pay rise to cover having to use your own car. No way you can pay for it out of £900 per month.

work dosent seem to class traveling to and from the office as business use, but when im transporting equipment or visiting customers they give me 40p a mile i cheekily add an extra 3-4 miles here and there :whistle:

im not sure i can get rid of the car-loan, i was forced to re-loan once because my grande punto's gearbox went up the spout and couldnt afford it anymore. you are very right about the costs comming down and then being put into rent/bills when i do move closer. anywhere between braintree and great dunmow or bishops stortford would be great for me

heretolearn_2

A cheaper alternative is to get a room in a shared house. You should get a double room for about £300 per month plus share of the bills in most places. You might only be sharing with one or two other people, depending on what you find. It's not the same as your own place but lots of young people start out that way, and if you get on with your sharers it can be fun.

Mouseman

I can't get my head round this mate. 6 months, 30,000 miles. That's 5000 miles a month. Assuming you drive EVERY day, that's 167 miles each and every day! 50 to and from work, fair enough. GF lives near work. So do you go: home->work->home->GF->home? EVERY day? It just seems HUGE!

More to the point, at your upper limit, HALF your take home pay is going on petrol? I'm genuinely scared.

MOVE IN TOGETHER - the money you save on petrol will practically pay your rent !!!!!!!

On a more sensible note, have you actually got receipts in front of you totalling these huge amounts for petrol? If so, you need to find out why you're spending that much. Is the car in good nick? Tires inflated properly? Has it got a roof rack you can take off? DO you have a heavy right foot? (I know I did at 17-21 years old!). Do you carry really heavy equipment round all day, like you're a stonemasons and you have heavy stone plus tools in the car all day?

I live with my GF and with a rent of £495 we pay about £800 for rent, gas, electric, water, council tax, internet, contents insurance. Everyone will be different but there's a ballpark figure to work from. If you can get rent for £500ish a month, you'll be able to live for under £1000 a month assuming your new place doesn't leak heat!

Mankysteve

I would go do a statmentr of affairs have a look at the debt section. It'll let you see what you've actually got.

Emmzi

tell g/f the cost of the flat + food etc will be about £800 a month

you need a deposit + one months rent up front. Call that £2000 inc some contingency money.

So, if you both save your half (£400 a month each) you should have the deposit etc in 3 months time and can start looking then.

If she is serious she'll find the cash.

If she's a too bad with money to live with, it won't happen.