Batten down the hatches.....

belleandthebudget

Hi Ena, it sounds like you're making some great plans to bust the debt!

I've been a lodger before (about six months) and my advice would be to sit down with them on the first day/night and really talk through expectations. Do they have their own shelf in the fridge, do you share condiments, what should they do if they break/spill something, do they need to take out rubbish/clean and if so then what? If they break stuff do you have insurance or will they need to pay to replace it? Can they bring guests over? Is there a time after which you like it to be quiet? Can they touch the heating thermostat if they're cold/hot?

For me, as the lodger, one of the most stressful things was just not knowing where I stood. I lived with a woman and her teenage daughter while I was in my early twenties. They never made me feel comfortable around them and seemed a bit scatty. When I moved in they provided bedding and towels for the first weekend and then I washed and handed them back... when I left six months later they asked where the bedding I borrowed was. Same with rent, I was paying upfront every two weeks and when I left they said we'd have to work out how much I owed and I had to remind them that I'd been paying every two weeks from the first day I arrived. They didn't argue it but they seemed put out. It was this weird situation where it seemed like they needed a lodger and felt obligated to make me feel welcome but didn't really want to.

I have no idea what the ramble helps. I'm certainly not trying to put you off, I think it's a great idea! Maybe just something to learn from.

Also, if I had to go back to being a lodger I would LOVE to find a home with a pet. I wish my rental would let me have one.

Orange_Ena

belleandthebudget wrote: »

Hi Ena, it sounds like you're making some great plans to bust the debt!

I've been a lodger before (about six months) and my advice would be to sit down with them on the first day/night and really talk through expectations. Do they have their own shelf in the fridge, do you share condiments, what should they do if they break/spill something, do they need to take out rubbish/clean and if so then what? If they break stuff do you have insurance or will they need to pay to replace it? Can they bring guests over? Is there a time after which you like it to be quiet? Can they touch the heating thermostat if they're cold/hot?

For me, as the lodger, one of the most stressful things was just not knowing where I stood. I lived with a woman and her teenage daughter while I was in my early twenties. They never made me feel comfortable around them and seemed a bit scatty. When I moved in they provided bedding and towels for the first weekend and then I washed and handed them back... when I left six months later they asked where the bedding I borrowed was. Same with rent, I was paying upfront every two weeks and when I left they said we'd have to work out how much I owed and I had to remind them that I'd been paying every two weeks from the first day I arrived. They didn't argue it but they seemed put out. It was this weird situation where it seemed like they needed a lodger and felt obligated to make me feel welcome but didn't really want to.

I have no idea what the ramble helps. I'm certainly not trying to put you off, I think it's a great idea! Maybe just something to learn from.

Also, if I had to go back to being a lodger I would LOVE to find a home with a pet. I wish my rental would let me have one.

Ah thanks Belle, that's really helpful. There's definitely a lot to think about but I feel like I've got a bit of time to gather all the info and make this sort of checklist. Funnily enough my heating thermostat detaches from the wall so I can lock it away if they get a bit 'fiddly with the controls' :rotfl:

Oh gosh, they do sound like a nightmare......definitely better if we both know where we stand. It will be weird seeing as I've lived alone for years but I want the money and I'm determined to enjoy the experience. Plus, it won't be forever!

I feel encouraged that there are people not put off by pets. Cat haters will not be welcomed by me or the real master of the house :rotfl::p

Orange_Ena

I've had to relist the Shp0ck item seeing as the buyer was a nightmare! It shouldn't be that hard but I'm worn out with it. Ah well.....

Today
* £30.04 on fuel
* £4.33 on lunch and some much needed hair grips to stop my fringe flopping in my face when I'm working
* £2.15 on a drink in C0sta with my friend
* £23.50 on some groceries, and some on offer items and receipt scanned on checkoutsm@rt and one item scanned on Sh0pitize :j
* Youg0v survey
* 2 PA surveys
* 2 VO surveys
* 44SB earned
* £1.83 sweep into overpayments account

I've worked out that I've only got another £38 of DD's to go out this month and somehow, in the last 2 months, I've accumulated a surplus of £210. Just by having a separate bills account, then transferring money to my other account for spends and rainy day savings. I feel like I am getting somewhere now, and although the debt isn't going down as fast as I'd like, I am budgeting and tracking, building up rainy day savings and I haven't used my credit card to get me through the last 2 weeks of the month! Definitely progress :T:j

I've got the rest of the week off.........and relaaaaxxxxxx

catriona79

Orange_Ena wrote: »

Ah thanks Belle, that's really helpful. There's definitely a lot to think about but I feel like I've got a bit of time to gather all the info and make this sort of checklist. Funnily enough my heating thermostat detaches from the wall so I can lock it away if they get a bit 'fiddly with the controls' :rotfl:

Oh gosh, they do sound like a nightmare......definitely better if we both know where we stand. It will be weird seeing as I've lived alone for years but I want the money and I'm determined to enjoy the experience. Plus, it won't be forever!

I feel encouraged that there are people not put off by pets. Cat haters will not be welcomed by me or the real master of the house :rotfl::p

That's a really cool post by Belle. Good to have a perspective from the other side of the lodger/landlord relationship.
It would be best for you and your lodger if you were both happy with the terms of the arrangement, that's why if there are any non-negotiable house rules then it would make sense to work them out and put those to the future lodger. You can't think of everything, and a new situation isn't entirely predictable either, but we all know ourselves enough to predict some of the things.

When I was interviewing for L2, my L1 was sitting next to me and trivialising some of the house rules that I felt were important to me, and I didn't take control at the time. I do feel, in general, I allowed L1 too much input with that, in an effort to keep her happy, and need to re-calibrate the relationship now, and try to be slightly "above" the two Ls, as hard as it is to do.
So, to me it would be about sitting down with the candidate for L, and being honest about your expectations. For example, if you don't want them to have overnight guests, to say that upfront, or what input you expect from them with cleaning. I think that my L1 very much softened the importance of cleaning, and hence we ended up with L2 who hardly does any...

We all live and learn. Good luck

catriona79

Orange_Ena wrote: »

I've worked out that I've only got another £38 of DD's to go out this month and somehow, in the last 2 months, I've accumulated a surplus of £210. Just by having a separate bills account, then transferring money to my other account for spends and rainy day savings. I feel like I am getting somewhere now, and although the debt isn't going down as fast as I'd like, I am budgeting and tracking, building up rainy day savings and I haven't used my credit card to get me through the last 2 weeks of the month! Definitely progress :T:j

I've got the rest of the week off.........and relaaaaxxxxxx

Hello - have a lovely day off - it's mine too, today and tomorrow! Woo hoo!

Just wanted to say wow re: your budgeting success. That's a big surplus and no credit card spends, meaning more of your next month's salary is actually yours! That's really impressive. I might try your method of piggybacking.

How are you getting on with YNAB by the way? Do you find it helps to have separate accounts?
And when you get paid, do you just siphon the money off into the various accounts and leave yourself a discretionary sum, for food, petrol, clothes and entertainment? I calculated how much I'd need and thought about just getting the money out of the bank in cash at the start of the month and making it last, so if I overspend on food, there's no money for coffee out... Still trying to figure out what's best, so would love to hear what works for you.

Enjoy your time off

belleandthebudget

Orange_Ena wrote: »

Funnily enough my heating thermostat detaches from the wall so I can lock it away if they get a bit 'fiddly with the controls' :rotfl:

Hahaha! Excellllllent.

Orange_Ena

catriona79 wrote: »

That's a really cool post by Belle. Good to have a perspective from the other side of the lodger/landlord relationship.
It would be best for you and your lodger if you were both happy with the terms of the arrangement, that's why if there are any non-negotiable house rules then it would make sense to work them out and put those to the future lodger. You can't think of everything, and a new situation isn't entirely predictable either, but we all know ourselves enough to predict some of the things.

When I was interviewing for L2, my L1 was sitting next to me and trivialising some of the house rules that I felt were important to me, and I didn't take control at the time. I do feel, in general, I allowed L1 too much input with that, in an effort to keep her happy, and need to re-calibrate the relationship now, and try to be slightly "above" the two Ls, as hard as it is to do.
So, to me it would be about sitting down with the candidate for L, and being honest about your expectations. For example, if you don't want them to have overnight guests, to say that upfront, or what input you expect from them with cleaning. I think that my L1 very much softened the importance of cleaning, and hence we ended up with L2 who hardly does any...

We all live and learn. Good luck

Cheers Catriona. All fab advice As long as I get the major points agreed on, I think we'll just have to suck it and see. If it doesn't work out, then I can learn from it and on to the next lodger

Thanks again

Orange_Ena

catriona79 wrote: »

Hello - have a lovely day off - it's mine too, today and tomorrow! Woo hoo!

Just wanted to say wow re: your budgeting success. That's a big surplus and no credit card spends, meaning more of your next month's salary is actually yours! That's really impressive. I might try your method of piggybacking.

How are you getting on with YNAB by the way? Do you find it helps to have separate accounts?
And when you get paid, do you just siphon the money off into the various accounts and leave yourself a discretionary sum, for food, petrol, clothes and entertainment? I calculated how much I'd need and thought about just getting the money out of the bank in cash at the start of the month and making it last, so if I overspend on food, there's no money for coffee out... Still trying to figure out what's best, so would love to hear what works for you.

Enjoy your time off

Woo hoo to days off :j:T Hope you've enjoyed yours

I do love YNAB but I find its very easy to go wrong. I tend to enter a transaction or do a transfer, then keep going back to the budget to check it's not red :rotfl: As the months go on, I think it'll be second nature!

The separate account thing is really working for me. My wages go into FD and all my monthly direct debits go from there. I do carry the card but I don't know the pin number so I can't spend easily on it. On payday, I transfer £700 to my Nati0nwide account which is for everyday spending and I also have about 10 instant access savings accounts linked to it which are renamed (I love that facility) for stuff like fuel, my cat, line rental, overpayments, hair. They are a mixture of accounts that will be spent over the month and some that are longer term savings. For example, my line rental was paid in advance in September, so now I'm saving about £16 per month ready for next September. It's marvellous to be actually making this work for me.

The money left in FD covers all my monthly DD's plus a little surplus which is how I've built up that £200. If I need it though I can easily dip into that. I'm sort of trying to forget it's there for now and then I'm hoping to get it up to a full months wage and do that living on last months income thing. But then I might just withdraw it and throw it at debt

The YNAB figures for my FD account is spot on, but my Nati0nwide figures are out by less than a tenner. I don't know how it's gone a bit wrong :rotfl: But it doesn't bother me as I check my accounts daily so I know how much is left. One day it will match!

I don't really like having cash because I do seem to fritter it and I forget to track it on YNAB so I prefer to use my card mostly. I like having the transaction showing on my online banking too., makes it much easier for me.

It's all trial and error but for now, I'm sticking with this. Hope you get it cracked too

Orange_Ena

My last day of freedom tomorrow......going to have a lie in while I can. Anyone want to come and feet my cat for me? No? :rotfl::D

Wednesday
* £3 for cat litter from Wilk0 and receipt scanned on checkoutsm@rt
* VO survey
* PA survey
* 210SB earned
* £1.98 sweep into overpayments account
* £16.61 from TCB hit my account and transferred straight to my overpayments account :T

Today
* £15.07 on special cat food for my beautiful cat
* £19.31 on groceries, and a few special offer items and receipt scanned on checkoutsm@rt
* £6.75 in the farm shop on some veg and eggs
* Youg0v survey
* 2 PA surveys
* 192SB earned

My new radiators are installed and I'm very happy. They're sending the invoice........please let them forget :rotfl::D

I've arranged to get my doors done in a couple of weeks and I've had to put down an £80 deposit today. That was my radiator money but now my radiators are going on the CC, I can use the cash! It all makes sense to me

crazy_cat_lady

I'm just in the process now of trying to open a basic bank account to become my 'everyday spending' account. I thought that might keep me more accountable now that there may be some surplus each month... Sounds like it works well for you.