MSE News: Minimum wage up by 12p per hour from October

Rosemary7391

tahrey wrote: »

Re-he-heeaalllly ... want to break that down for us and show us exactly how? £125 a week, or thereabouts, aka £540 pcm ... that literally wouldn't cover all of my monthly unavoidables (housing, energy, water, council tax, low-end phone connection, etc), for a sub-50sqm flat, in a faded-glory suburb of Birmingham... BEFORE we get to things like food, entertainment (including Sky/cable if you have it), transport and other discretionary or unexpected spends. It'd be alright if I could find ten quid or so to shed from somewhere - probably cut one of the insurance policies? - but I'd still be starving, bored, and immobile. In the latter case that means I wouldn't any longer be able to get to work anyway, unless it was within walking distance (or a ride of an already-owned bicycle ... until it's inevitably stolen).

So, what's your strategy for working through that sticky issue of part time minimum wage providing negative disposable income?

Oddly, it sounds like 40 hours a week would ALMOST match my current take-home pay, but that is of course without considering tax, national insurance, pension contributions, student loan repayments...

I suppose the solution would be either to stop being nobby no-mates singleton (a liiiittle difficult when you're a/ no longer a student, b/ not in a financial position to really go out and play the scene, c/ they find out you're only doing it as an homage to "Spaced"), or to take on a lodger, which really doesn't sit well with either the limited overall floor space or the fact that the "guest bedroom" is actually a home office/study with a single bed crammed along one side of it, and there's literally nowhere else (not in the "main" bedroom, not in the lounge, not in the kitchen or bathroom or minimalist submarine-style corridors) to set up a replacement. Nor the idea that I moved out of my parents' place for a bit of god damned privacy after being stuck there for almost eight solid years after graduating. It's not really possible to downgrade the accomodation costs (I am actually mortgaging; there probably isn't anywhere in the whole of the city that can be rented for the same monthly cost that isn't a bedsit), and I'm already doing my best to minimise the other monthlies.

My rent is £50 a week, and I live in a shared house. Yes, I'm a student at the moment, but my costs won't go through the roof just because I stop being a student! I plan to lodge when I graduate, for about a year until I can get a PhD. Here's a breakdown of my essential costs:

Musical Instrument Insurance: £47/year
Contents Insurance: £52/year
Gas/Electric: £24/Month
Water: £9/Month
Landline/Broadband: £10/Month
Mobile: £32/Month (Dropping to £11/month once I've paid for the phone!)
Food/Entertainment: £30/Week

Those come to just under £50 a week, and my rent is about £50, so that adds up to £100. I expect my rent to go up slightly when I stop being a student and move south to be nearer my friends, but the rest wouldn't change dramatically - in fact, I'd likely lose some of the bills if I lodged and got bills included in the rent! I'm not saying it's ideal, or even possible in some places particularly if you've got used to having more, but if you never had it in the first place, you just live accordingly. It is possible, just maybe not as nice as it could be. But the best things in life are free!

Former_MSE_Zorica

Hi everyone,

Minimum wage goes up today. Will it help you?

vekma

MSE_Zorica wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Minimum wage goes up today. Will it help you?

yes off to buy a Ferrari