Loan for rental desposit?

Fay_elizabeth

Hi all,

I am in need of a bit of advice. Me & my partner have been working 5 jobs between us for 2 years to save up enough money to move to London from Norwich. We graduated from art school in 2009 and have been working unfulfilling part-time jobs since. Once in London I plan to divide my time between working part time in a pub (I have this lined up) and building my illustration work. He is planning to begin assisting professional photographers, which brings in a fair wage.

He has saved £3000 all together wiping away his £1500 overdraft debt and I have saved £2000 and reduced my £3000 overdraft to £1000.

Collectively we have £1500 credit and £3500 overdraft available.

Flats in London within our price range all require a deposit of around £1500 alone plus a months rent in advance, which means we would need at least £2500 to secure a place.

Basically I'm worried we won't have enough money to live on, or cushion us if our incomes are low to begin with. What would be the best option, getting a credit card, getting a loan, or finding another card with an overdraft?

Any replies would be really helpful - I'm panicking a bit.

zppp

OK. There are a few things here to consider.

By taking out a loan for a deposit, how will you be able to afford the monthly rental payments subsequently plus the monthly loan amount?
I suggest you may want to look to do an income and expenditure on your projected income, and see what deficit/surplus you have left over each month. This will give you an idea if this is feasable or not.

bramble1

Would you not be better saving some more instead of getting more credit ?

Fay_elizabeth

bramble1 wrote: »

Would you not be better saving some more instead of getting more credit ?

I feel like I've put my life on hold for two years, I need to go do something worthwhile soon or I may go insane. Plus, our land lady is selling our home as we have to move out anyway, I don't want to move into another house around here and carry on doing the same thing for another six months, it seems like a good chance to get out.

TUS

Fay_elizabeth wrote: »

I feel like I've put my life on hold for two years, I need to go do something worthwhile soon or I may go insane. Plus, our land lady is selling our home as we have to move out anyway, I don't want to move into another house around here and carry on doing the same thing for another six months, it seems like a good chance to get out.

Seeing how well you've done to reduce your debts, I'd seriously consider sticking it out for another 6 months. What is 6 months in the grand scheme of things? Think long term.

I've been there and done that. I moved from Somerset to London when I was 18 with minimal savings and JUST about scraped by. That was purely down to getting lucky with a particular employment opportunity. In hindsight I took a silly gamble.

My advice is to suck it, get a short term tenancy for 6 months somewhere as cheap as possible. Live frugally for 6 months and save EVERY penny. Move to London feeling a lot more secure about it which will enable you to enjoy the experience more.

Fay_elizabeth

TUS wrote: »

Seeing how well you've done to reduce your debts, I'd seriously consider sticking it out for another 6 months. What is 6 months in the grand scheme of things? Think long term.

I've been there and done that. I moved from Somerset to London when I was 18 with minimal savings and JUST about scraped by. That was purely down to getting lucky with a particular employment opportunity. In hindsight I took a silly gamble.

My advice is to suck it, get a short term tenancy for 6 months somewhere as cheap as possible. Live frugally for 6 months and save EVERY penny. Move to London feeling a lot more secure about it which will enable you to enjoy the experience more.

Thank you for the advice, What you're suggesting does make sense. My partner works for the john lewis partnership and we were quite tempted to stay until April when he gets a quite a large bonus. Maybe 6 months extra won't kill me...

Tixy

That does sounds sensible Fay - and it doesn't have to be a wasted 6months - can you start trying to build your illustration work now? could you not do this part time around your current job and get your name known a bit?

Will your landlady allow you to live in your current place until she finds a buyer? it could take a while for her to sell it? and you could perhaps do a short term month by month rental agreement to suit you all?

Do either of you have parents or even friends you could stay with/rent from for a few months to tie you over (I know it won't be great not having your own place but could work out really cheap and if you know its for a finite time period might be bearable?)

TUS

I would try and turn it into a mini "challenge" between you and your partner. How much can you save over the next 6 months .... or how little can you spend? Make it fun! Hard work with rewards at the end of it :-)

I used to dread budgeting and cutting outgoings, but now I actually enjoy seeing where I cut back. Even if its silly little amounts when doing the shopping. How sad is it that I got excited that my partner said she prefers Asda Smartprice Hot Chocolate over Cadbury's and I am therefore saving £4 a month!? :-p

Fay_elizabeth

Tixy wrote: »

That does sounds sensible Fay - and it doesn't have to be a wasted 6months - can you start trying to build your illustration work now? could you not do this part time around your current job and get your name known a bit?

Don't worry, I have been doing this but at the moment I work 55 hours a week and at the end of the day/night I'm usually too knackered to move. I do get the occassional day off though! If you're interested at all I've been working on a website for myself at fehillustration.com. (cheeky plug.)

Tixy wrote: »

Will your landlady allow you to live in your current place until she finds a buyer? it could take a while for her to sell it? and you could perhaps do a short term month by month rental agreement to suit you all?

Basically its a little more complicated than I made out, me and my partner actually live in the pub I work in, upstairs. The pub is being sold by Greene King, and we have been told we have until around March until we have to move out, so I might be able to arrange something.

[Deleted User]

Just a thought OP wont you get a deposit refund on your existing home?

Fay_elizabeth

Nope, we didn't pay a damage deposit as we rent from my boss, she's trusting.