living costs

lkmc01

Hi

I currently live in Rotherham, South Yorkshire with my 5 year old and my partner. Our annual household income including tax credits and child benefits after deductions is £18,000 (£15000 job, £2000 tax credits, £1000 child benefit). We are renting in a nice area living in a 3 bed detacted house with garage. I have just finished my MSc, my partner works full time and my son attends a good school.

I went to a job interview in Tilbury, Essex on Thursday. The job would be 37 hours a week Monday to Friday and would pay at least 20 grand a year pre-tax. We would need a second car and to pay about £7,000 a year childcare costs (the majority through the school holiday time).

We have family in Rotherham who have helped with childcare through my time studying. We would have no family if I were offered the job and moved. We would not be eligable for childcare tax credits and our tax credits money would reduce from £2000 a year (originally included in the £18000) to £500 a year. My partner could move jobs and be paid a similiar amount of £15000 a year post deductions.

So now we have a comfortable standard of living on total household income of £18000 after deductions a year including running one car.
If I was offered the job we would have a total household income of £31500 a year post deductions but having to run two cars and pay £7000 of childcare costs.

Due to the higher costs of living etc do you think we would be financally ok if I was offered the job and therefore moved? Do you think our standard of living would be of a similiar level?

Sorry if if 'how long is a piece of string' type question.

Hammyman

Essex is an overcrowded hole. If you think commuting traffic is bad in Rotherham/South Yorks, you've seen nothing until you get to the South East. People down there think nothing of a 2hr each way commute.

Your £20k per year pre-tax is about £15k after. Assuming your partner gets instant employment, you would be £12k better off. That £12k has to pay £7k for the childcare and around £2k to run a second car leaving you £3k to cover the difference in rent. Believe me, rents are a fair whack more. £850 a month typically gets you an ex-LA / 1950's local authority style 3 bed house. For a house typical of the posher outer areas of Rotherham, you'd be paying over £1000pcm in the Tilbury area.

In short, the current standard of living would be nigh on impossible in Essex within reasonable distance of Tilbury purely down to the cost of property, running an extra car and getting no help for childcare and you'd spend so much time commuting, you'd wonder if it was worth it.

Both my brothers moved to the South East. One was a qualified solicitor working in London, the other a manager in Brent council who lived in Stevenage as it was the closes he could get to London and still afford to buy a small 2 bed house. Both moved back up north, both took a 50% hit in wages and both have a better standard of living, the youngest brother (not the solicitor one) able to afford a 6 bed detached house he could only dream of owning down there.

Other things such as food, gas, electric etc are comparable so no point including working it out to that level.

Oldernotwiser

Would this be a good career move for you because sometimes you need to take a longer view than just the immediate financial one.

steve1980

Since when did Tilbury become posh!

If I were you, I'd stay in Rotherham. Tilbury is a pit and by the sounds of it you are already trying to talk yourself out of it.

lkmc01

well the job would be my first graduate job as I finsihed my MSc at the end of January this year. I have been told my job would be at least 20 grand pre tax.

alwaysskint96

I wouldnt move to Tilbury. its hardly a remotely decent part of Essex

lkmc01

so where is that is as local as possible

teabelly

The new job pays nowhere near enough to make the move worth it. What happens if you moved and hated the job or the area or both? I'd stay put and find a graduate level position closer to where you are now. Any salary increase would be eaten up in extra commuting costs, car costs, rent and childcare. It also assumes those costs will remain static and that your partner finds a job. It may be the case that it would be better if your partner didn't work if you moved and did all the childcare as 7k is a fair old whack. It would also save on transport costs but the costs of living down there will still be higher so your lifestyle will still be worse than staying put I reckon.

lkmc01

cals done so far are

http://flic.kr/p/9jn5FR

lkmc01

The closest graduate job I have found was Manchester and I did not get an interview. I have found 12 jobs recently that are possible. Some possible jobs want me to travel into the center of london for a tenner a day which 'they say' are expenses for food and travel!!!!

lkmc01

and all is speculation as I have had no offer of employment yet. Will find out on Tuesday