Madnessa's Debt Diary & Change Life by Xmas Challenge

Timmne

Have you or your OH thought about getting a no experience required job such as bar staff? We were a bit tight last year so I went and got a p/t job at the local 4* hotel working behind the bar. I was doing 7pm-5am some Friday/Saturday nights and when you're being paid £5.60 per hour this can bring in another £360 (after tax!) per month - if your OH did this he could do as many/little hours as he wanted and it's a great motivator. Don't worry about the hours being stinkers either - if you work 'til 5am you only need to sleep in 'til midday and then you've got (almost) a whole day ahead of you.

Your OH really shouldn't be working for agencies as his main income - it's more of a top-up really (my girlfriend did this work alongside her normal job a couple of years ago) so he should go and get a job as above and use the agency as a bit extra. There's no reason why he shouldn't be bringing in £1k per month after tax doing this kind of work.

Hope this helps although it may be a bit convoluted (sp)!

Timmne

alex30 wrote: »

Let's discuss it in detail:

http://www.muppet-trolls-are-really-getting-on-my-nerves.info

Reported - don't click on this waster's link!

Madnessa

[QUOTE=_Hope_this_helps_although_it_may_be_a_bit_convoluted_(sp)![/QUOTE]

Not at all. Glad of any help we can get. I used to do bar work but OH hates it as he thinks pubs are filled with pervs! I am about to apply for a weekend job in a shop though and if i can't find any shop job I will have to put my foot down and get to work in a bar / hotel.

The main problem with OH is that his English is not so good. We are both from Belgium but I was brought up in England and have done all the GCSE and 'A Level stuff so nobody could ever tell I'm not native. He has quite bad English and finds it hard applying for jobs without my help.

If I could get another £300-£350 in every month though that would be great!

I will start searching over the weekend.

Madnessa

Thanks Timmne - I had a look at it and it's about bunching all your debts together. My situations is not that desperate!

Timmne

Madnessa wrote: »

Not at all. Glad of any help we can get. I used to do bar work but OH hates it as he thinks pubs are filled with pervs! I am about to apply for a weekend job in a shop though and if i can't find any shop job I will have to put my foot down and get to work in a bar / hotel.

The main problem with OH is that his English is not so good. We are both from Belgium but I was brought up in England and have done all the GCSE and 'A Level stuff so nobody could ever tell I'm not native. He has quite bad English and finds it hard applying for jobs without my help.

If I could get another £300-£350 in every month though that would be great!

I will start searching over the weekend.

Regarding the perv thing I wouldn't worry about it - in a 4* hotel you won't get any - if one does come in you can get them thrown out by the hotel manager, they won't have any weirdos in their hotel!

I loved it - although you do get talked down to sometimes. If you can subtly be rude back to them you'll be onto a winner

Being an accountant I welcomed the idea of being able to talk to customers without having to talk tax!

shamu95

HI- i am also living in York! The one thing that has jumped out at me is your council tax- i pay less that you and my house is worth over £200000 could you get that checked?
Gym membership do try and cancel- im locked into my contract but it is only £12 a month which i can transfer to another person. I was given the advice to say you are pregnant or something like that to get out of it? Sometimes you can freeze it for a couple of months which would help in the meantime.
Can i also say that most of the city centre gyms are £30-£40 per month so still a saving if you could swap.
Glad you like the city. Hey probably walk by you in the street one day.

Madnessa

I'm not totally sure about the Council tax as I know it is Band B and will be just under £100 for two of us. I have no idea how you are managing to pay less in a house worth that much Shamu. Our flat is only worth about £130,000.

Though I have to say I have never understood how they figure out the bandings.

Our last flat that we were renting was much worse. When we asked the estate agents the band they clearly said: "B... maybe C but I think B". We nearly fainted when we got our first bill. Turned out to be E:eek:

That came to £165 per month and they immediately demanded a paymement for the first three month in one go. They gave us about one and a half months to find the money for that! No chance so we had to pay by CC. So this bill of under £100 should be a little less shocking I hope.

shamu95

Have no idea why i pay less- but i am certainly not going to complain. my dad said he thought i paid too little. I also pay less than him and he has a house worth £160k in selby. But at least i know i do not want a rebanding evaluation!!!
Anyway im rambling.
You sound as though you've already made huge inroads and i hope that you continue to do so.

lynzpower

Madnessa wrote: »

I'm not totally sure about the Council tax as I know it is Band B and will be just under £100 for two of us. I have no idea how you are managing to pay less in a house worth that much Shamu. Our flat is only worth about £130,000.

Though I have to say I have never understood how they figure out the bandings.

Our last flat that we were renting was much worse. When we asked the estate agents the band they clearly said: "B... maybe C but I think B". We nearly fainted when we got our first bill. Turned out to be E:eek:

That came to £165 per month and they immediately demanded a paymement for the first three month in one go. They gave us about one and a half months to find the money for that! No chance so we had to pay by CC. So this bill of under £100 should be a little less shocking I hope.

have you checked on the council tax banding reclaim ? theres a lot of info there but you COULD be due a rebate

RAS

Hi

Lots of good advice re York. Used to live there myself. Lovely city but the tourists get a bit much sometimes. You may find an old book on snickleways, great pedestrian routes that bypass the crowds.

Since you are driving to and from work, keep your eyes open for Pick You Own (PYO) or bulk purchase offers at the farms on route as the year progresses. You can do a lot with the 25Kg bag of potatoes that cost £4-5.

Work wise, is there anyway of improving OH's English? You mention that you do not get out a lot. My guess is that means that OH only speaks English whem he is working, so it is not improving as fast as it might. it also means that he is more dependant on you for company. Try to find something that he enjoys and join a group for English speakers, cycling, sport, music? Once he is with a group of people talking about his special interest, his competence and confidence will increase.

Also check out how much the weekly train fare is to Leeds (there is an express bus as well)? There are hordes of agencies here, some of which are not exactly strict re employment checks which suggests that they can find work for people whose English is not good. It would probably only be SMP, but it could net him £600 per month after fares.

The other thing is to get all the information on buses round York, so that he can use them to get to work. And if he does not like evening bar work, could he try restaurant and cafe work over the summer. In my experience, quite a lot of staff are non-native speakers.