Going to be unable to afford rent

welsh_bristolian

gazfocus wrote: »

Those amounts come to £830pcm, so about £10k a year so what about the other £3k?

To be honest, £250/month for food, drink, cleaning products can be improved on. Does this include meals out, etc?

You are likely to be able to get a reduction in the council tax due to your partner being unemployed.

The amounts I quoted are rough and before tax. I was working out how much I need to earn and forget to remove tax.

BigAunty

welsh_bristolian wrote: »

The gas is a guess, based on my previous house, I wouldn't be billed for another 2 months.

you should be able to identify your consumption and costs in the meantime, plus identify how to reduce consumption of energy. i'm sure the members here (or on the utility board) will give you info on the easiests way to do this.

my gas/electricity costs for a 2 bed property is about £90 a month (used to be £75 but I'm home a lot more).

custardy

welsh_bristolian wrote: »

Sorry, didn't expect so many replies, it will increase by roughly 6k as I'll have to start paying rent.

Again, I am looking for other jobs and houses, but nothing as come up yet.

I live with my partner, who is also looking for work (she is currently unemployed).

I'm currently spending out £250 for food, drink, cleaning stuff, £50 for water, £120 for council tax, £40 for elec, £80 for gas, £90 for internet and mobiles (can't get out of these without paying hundreds of cancellation fees), £200 for loan debt.

I can reduce food, but not enough that I'll be able to afford rent.

Sorry, the amounts were before tax.

As I said I spoke to the council and they said the total amount of all benefits is a few hundred a year.

easily cut by a large amount
I saw a post in the old style board of a family of 5,with pets spending £500 a month and looking to cut back.
you are 2 adults and spending half that.
If you have a flashy phone,sell it and get a cheaper handset or use one of the old ones we all seems to have in a drawer.
contact your internet supplier and see if they would allow you drop a package for example.
even if it means dropping a new contract.
however if things are that tight.you need to cut the biggest cost of housing or as said find another income.

welsh_bristolian

custardy wrote: »

easily cut by a large amount
I saw a post in the old style board of a family of 5,with pets spending £500 a month and looking to cut back.
you are 2 adults and spending half that.
If you have a flashy phone,sell it and get a cheaper handset or use one of the old ones we all seems to have in a drawer.
contact your internet supplier and see if they would allow you drop a package for example.
even if it means dropping a new contract.
however if things are that tight.you need to cut the biggest cost of housing or as said find another income.

Actually, my job is mobile and web programmer, so I need the expensive phones, and to cancel the contract would cost about £500 which I don't have. (Also, whether the phone is new or not wouldn't effect how much it costs to use).

GDB2222

welsh_bristolian wrote: »

No, obviously that is the water company's bill.

I know that, I'm looking for other housing. I also know I need more money coming in, I can not find anything at the moment. (Well, I can, but I'd have to quit my current ones and then I'd be worse off).

My point is that £50/month for a water bill sounds much too high. I pay well under that for a house with 5 people in. Are you using exceptionally large amounts of water? Or is there an error, somewhere, eg you have a flat but are being billed for the whole building?

welsh_bristolian

GDB2222 wrote: »

My point is that £50/month for a water bill sounds much too high. I pay well under that for a house with 5 people in. Are you using exceptionally large amounts of water?

I'm not metered, in my last house which was also not metered it was £80/month.

pinkteapot

OP may be on water rates rather than a meter, which are often expensive. I used to rent a 2-bed flat that was on rates and had to pay £40 a month!! Now in a house, using more water but on a meter and pay £21 a month.

Unfortunately the flat couldn't have a meter installed. May be the same at OP's property but worth investigating.

OP - the advice above re going to the Debt-Free Wannabe board and posting an SOA is good. People over there will have loads of suggestions to help you cut back.

At the point where you have to start paying rent, is that after your intial AST contract? If so, are there any cheaper properties you could move to?

GDB2222

IIRC, I pay £3 or so per 1000 litres of water, including sewerage etc. So, it sounds like you are being billed for 15,000 litres a month water consumption.

Mr_Terrific

welsh_bristolian wrote: »

£40 for elec, £80 for gas

Your electricity and gas bills seem incredibly high. I wasn't paying close to that for either gas or electricity when I was living in a 3 bedroom house, let alone now that I'm in a one bedroom flat.

welsh_bristolian

pinkteapot wrote: »

OP may be on water rates rather than a meter, which are often expensive. I used to rent a 2-bed flat that was on rates and had to pay £40 a month!! Now in a house, using more water but on a meter and pay £21 a month.

Unfortunately the flat couldn't have a meter installed. May be the same at OP's property but worth investigating.

OP - the advice above re going to the Debt-Free Wannabe board and posting an SOA is good. People over there will have loads of suggestions to help you cut back.

At the point where you have to start paying rent, is that after your intial AST contract? If so, are there any cheaper properties you could move to?

Yes I will, currently no other places, by that time hopefully so.