new council tenants, need help to get funding for new carpets, furnishings etc

DaisyFlower

Given that you would have been getting JSA at the couple rate, CB and CTC for two children yet living with a relative have you not put anything aside at all for when you moved out? Do you have nothing from your previous homes?

Rather than moan that the state wont buy you carpets, make use of all the ideas that you have been given. Sign up with agencies or do a cv drop - there are jobs out there if you are not fussy.

wuckfit

jamespir wrote: »

try some places like bright house you can pay weekley for the stuff and theres no credit checks

you really ARE an idiot. :eek:

yeah you pay weekly, but at an extortionate rate of interest. typically 29.9% APR. that means that in some cases it will be higher.

an example using 29.9% :

a samsung tv, ticket price £1654.74
weekly amount over 156 weeks (3 years) £15.27 total cost £2382.12. nearly 1.5 times the ticket price.
If you take the optional service cover at an additional 8.22 per week, that takes the total cost of buying the tv to £3664.44 which is 2.2 times the ticket price.

saving up the £15.27 every week in a jar would allow the purchase of the tv in 110 weeks, or 2 years and 6 weeks, saving nearly £730
More if you shop around and find it cheaper elsewhere. :money:

Wee_Willy_Harris

jamespir wrote: »

try some places like bright house you can pay weekley for the stuff and theres no credit checks

DO NOT USE COMPANIES LIKE BRIGHTHOUSE..... EVER!!!

For what they charge for a bottom of the range fridge, you could furnish your entire house with good quality second hand items.

We live in a disposable world which follows fashion trends. People will throw a good quality suite out after only a few years because it doesn't match the new colour scheme inspired by this months trend. Take full advantage of that, then replace these items as and when needed/affordable.

bestpud

Just found this, OP:

http://www.co-operative.coop/corporate/Press/Press-releases/n/The-Co-operative-Electrical-and-Credit-Unions-tackle-financial-exclusion/

If you are going to use credit, please be sensible and avoid the sharks.

Katiesmummy - you can open a savings account with them and there is no credit checks. They ask what outstanding debts you have when you apply for a loan but I don't think they carry out credit checks - there is nothing about my loan on my credit files and it was quite a large one.

They like people to build some history with them so they can see you are sensible and so only offer minimal loans to new people.

If you save a while, then take a small loan and repay it to plan, which still putting saving a little regularly, they are happier to offer larger loans if you need them.

katiesmummy

wuckfit wrote: »

you really ARE an idiot. :eek:

yeah you pay weekly, but at an extortionate rate of interest. typically 29.9% APR. that means that in some cases it will be higher.

an example using 29.9% :

a samsung tv, ticket price £1654.74
weekly amount over 156 weeks (3 years) £15.27 total cost £2382.12. nearly 1.5 times the ticket price.
If you take the optional service cover at an additional 8.22 per week, that takes the total cost of buying the tv to £3664.44 which is 2.2 times the ticket price.

saving up the £15.27 every week in a jar would allow the purchase of the tv in 110 weeks, or 2 years and 6 weeks, saving nearly £730
More if you shop around and find it cheaper elsewhere. :money:

And they don't actually tell you that the optional service cover is exactly that- optional. They don't even mention the figure when you sign up. :eek:

I threw a total hissy fit at them when they tried to charge me £8 on top of the weekly payment price they told me and they removed the cover after sternly telling me that if the tv broke it would be my problem.

They also came out to my house the day after I was discharged after having an emergency c-section and tried to barge their way in- I had to physically go to the bank with them to withdraw the money to pay them to make them go away. I was 3 days late with my payment :mad:

katiesmummy

bestpud wrote: »

Just found this, OP:

http://www.co-operative.coop/corporate/Press/Press-releases/n/The-Co-operative-Electrical-and-Credit-Unions-tackle-financial-exclusion/

If you are going to use credit, please be sensible and avoid the sharks.

Katiesmummy - you can open a savings account with them and there is no credit checks. They ask what outstanding debts you have when you apply for a loan but I don't think they carry out credit checks - there is nothing about my loan on my credit files and it was quite a large one.

They like people to build some history with them so they can see you are sensible and so only offer minimal loans to new people.

If you save a while, then take a small loan and repay it to plan, which still putting saving a little regularly, they are happier to offer larger loans if you need them.

Thanks Bestpud- I will pop into the Credit Union when I next go to town- very useful to know its there if I needed it!

wuckfit

katiesmummy wrote: »

And they don't actually tell you that the optional service cover is exactly that- optional. They don't even mention the figure when you sign up. :eek:

I threw a total hissy fit at them when they tried to charge me £8 on top of the weekly payment price they told me and they removed the cover after sternly telling me that if the tv broke it would be my problem.

They also came out to my house the day after I was discharged after having an emergency c-section and tried to barge their way in- I had to physically go to the bank with them to withdraw the money to pay them to make them go away. I was 3 days late with my payment :mad:

I hadn't heard about their bullying tactics, the APR was enough to have me at least a 10 foot bargepole away and actively discouraging people from using them. Always good to have more than one reason not to recommend them, though

iceicebaby

I bought my own home 13 years ago and had not a lot of anything when I moved in. Its was only about 2 years ago that I have got the house as I want it. I made do with no carpets, second hand stuff etc for years.

Its what you do I'm afraid

katiesmummy

wuckfit wrote: »

I hadn't heard about their bullying tactics, the APR was enough to have me at least a 10 foot bargepole away and actively discouraging people from using them. Always good to have more than one reason not to recommend them, though

Oh they are big bullies- when I went into refuge I called them and explained the situation. I asked if I could give the tv back as I really couldn't afford to pay any longer- they wanted the address of the refuge (which I couldn't give, only the PO box), accused me of lying to try and get out of the contract, then said if I wanted to give it back to them I would have to pay to get out of the contract (can't recall the exact details of why but it was something to do with being less than halfway through the contract).

First thing I did after I got off the phone to them was get my friend to go to my flat and collect the telly to put in his house for safekeeping as I would have still been liable to pay even if the ex had smashed it to smithereens :eek:

Moral of the story? Never ever ever go to Bright House as I am still paying them over £65 a month now (almost finished!) and am stuck with a huge monstrosity of an lcd tv that I didn't want in the first place!

Maybe the moral should actually be not to let partners persuade you to get credit agreements for things they want!

RAS

leelaurantheboys wrote: »

Hi, Im a 31 yo male, my partner is 26 we have two young boys, 3 in september and 15 months old. We were offered a council property recently, but have zero funds available to furnish the property, it is entirely bare internally, no carpets, furnishings etc. Were unable to apply for a budgeting loan due to my partners previous outstanding debt, we applied for a crisis loan for £600 to carpet the property, we have since been turned down for this.
According to the social fund it isnt classed as a health and safety risk having a house without carpets, when you bare in mind the ages of our children nearly 3 yo and 15 months old, the first thing that comes to my mind is the health and safety of our two sons, crawling around on the bare floorboards to start with, never mind the nails and various screws sticking out through the floodboards. :eek:

Any help and assistance would be appreciated as we were due to move in monday just gone (02/08/2010), thankyou for your help.

leelaurantheboys

Unscrew the screws, lift or knock in the nails and give the floors a good wash. Contrary to your imaginings the majority of people start out in their first house like this.

Join www.freegle.co.uk or freecycle - like e-bay but you get it all for nothing.

See if you can get a referral for your local branch of the FRN http://www.frn.org.uk/

And check out furniture auctions

Do not under any ciurcumstances go to any of the HP providers like brightside.

Then put the word out.

We started with one bed, two carpets/large rugs, a desk, a bean bag and a book case from his folks who had down-sized.

The cooker and hoover were both over twenty years old and fiunctioning, from friends. His boss had trouble getting rid of a seating unit and ask help getting it in the car to take it to the tip. We acquired it instead.

It was three years before the downstairs was carpetted, and upstairs was the large rugs until we moved out.