Somewhere cheap and rubbish or expensive and good?

jimjames

hungledink wrote: »

Thanks for your opinions so far. Seems most would recommend the cheap and rubbish option.

My overdraft is charge free, as a benefit of working for the bank I have the facility with. The rent I intend to cover is only around 5% of the overdraft so it isnt as though I will be rinsing it every month. Apart from the extra £100 rent everything else is budgeted for.

I dont see the point of having an overdraft if its not being used, and there is still plenty of scope to cover any emergencies.

So what you are saying is that you are spending £100 more each month than you are earning? Is your overdraft increasing each month?

if not then you just need to find a few items of spending to cut out to get back inside. Remember even small items add up so cutting out a £2.50 cup of coffee each day would come to £50 per month which is halfway to covering the rent difference.

I'm not sure about using the overdraft giving plenty of scope for emergencies. I might agree with that if you were saving money each month and deliberately running up the free overdraft to keep the money in a savings account instead but it doesn't sound like that is the case.

hungledink

Just for clarification, each month I will only need to use £100 of the overdraft.

When my wages are paid, the overdraft will clear, then by the end of the month, I will be £100 overdrawn again. The £100 is not a cumulative thing, I should only ever be £100 overdrawn at any point.

I suspect I will make some savings in the new flat as it is closer to work, so the figures I am working with are estimates.

westlondonbuyer

Profligate, financially illiterate, AND arrogant enough to disregard the sensible advice of others older and more experienced.

Of course you work in a bank. Of course. Explains everything, including the state of the economy.

hungledink

westlondonbuyer wrote: »

Profligate, financially illiterate, AND arrogant enough to disregard the sensible advice of others older and more experienced.

Of course you work in a bank. Of course. Explains everything, including the state of the economy.

Is it nice in your ivory tower, I guess you like to ride on a high horse aswell?

I was merely asking for opinions.

westlondonbuyer

hungledink wrote: »

Is it nice in your ivory tower, I guess you like to ride on a high horse aswell?

I was merely asking for opinions.

You seem to have already made up your mind, so why expect other people to spend their time responding to your post?

Oh, and it's wonderful in my ivory tower, actually. It's taken 20 years of financial sacrifice to reach this level of security though, and if you learned from the mistakes of those of us older and wiser, you could probably save yourself a few years and a few bob

DVardysShadow

hungledink wrote: »

Is it nice in your ivory tower, I guess you like to ride on a high horse aswell?

I was merely asking for opinions.

Well, don't complain too loudly when you get them

hungledink

Seems I was being financially illiterate. :embarasse

Had a moment of clarity before I moved and realised I I had severely screwed my finances. Fortunatley realised before I actually moved in.

Think I will pay more attention to other peoples responses in future.

Acc72

hungledink wrote: »

Seems most would recommend the cheap and rubbish option.

If you read the replies, they include "rent a room in a nice area".

This would be my favoured option - not only will the cost likely be less than the £450 option, but you will also share the bills so will have further savings.

westlondonbuyer

We've all been young and daft once; great that you avoided getting yourself into a pickle.

I second the advice about flatsharing; my sister has recently spent all of her payrise on renting a flat by herself. Now it's six months later, she's lonely and tired of having no spends, and moving back into a flatshare...

The_Palmist

hungledink wrote: »

My overdraft is charge free, as a benefit of working for the bank I have the facility with.

So you work in a bank, I would suggest you use the benefits of speaking to a financial advisor for free. I am sure a colleague will offer some free impartial advice.

I think people have been very polite to you in their replies.

I also think that even £450 every month is way beyond your means as it leaves you with nothing at the end of the month. You will overdrawn in winter when you leave the heating on for a little longer whether you on £450 or £550.

Also no matter how money savvy you are, the actual expenses are always a lot more.

Thinking about using overdraft or even including overdraft in your income is plain lame stupid. Live cheap, share a room, move back in with parents but sort yourself out.

I am speaking from experience.