Life advice needed.

Rambosmum

Have a look at 'frank buttle trust' they can and do provide children's beds and necessary white goods, e.g. fridge, cooker or washing machine - they will often only supply one of the required ones though.

Also look at 'turn2us' they have info on charitable organisations which may help.


As for the kitchen - look at ones one your street, housing providers tend to do them in a bulk lot and yours may be due, or it may not.

raven83

tea_lover wrote: »

How much of that stuff do you actually need, and how much do you just want? How can anyone truly need £700 worth of new carpets?

Oh you'll be surprised, carpet is very expensive, I recently carpeted by girls bedroom and it cost around £260 for an 11 by 11 room.

tea_lover

I really would be surprised if that's the cheapest they could find. I'm not disputing that carpet can cost that much, but there's no way that it needs to.

We've been in our house for four years and have only changed the flooring in one room so far (carpet and underlay in living room, cost under £200). The kitchen is so dated I keep thinking it must be fashionable again one day soon.

The family are in increasing debt, not working and with some questionable priorities (eg. getting infto further debt over Christmas). They would be better off looking at how to live within their means or increase their income, rather than keep adding to the list of things they 'need'.

j.e.j.

Don't forget that with carpets you've also got to pay a carpet fitter! Unless you're a dab hand at DIY I wouldn't recommend fitting it yourself.

Our first carpetted room only cost about £200 (without underlay) but it was literally a square piece of carpet which the carpet fitter just sprayed down with some carpet glue. It's still going strong 5 years later! The bedrooms were more expensive, as we decided to go for underlay too.

sulkisu wrote: »

This was a mutual exchange, so OP swapped homes with another tenant. OP would have viewed this house and was under no obligation to exchange - but with mutual exchanges, properties are exchanged as they are. OP's home could have been in a similar condition for all we know. Unlike a re-let, where one tenant moves out, the landlords sort out the property and then it is let to a new tenant - in which case previous tenants can be billed for damage etc.

Ah, OK. That would explain why the Housing Association have "washed their hands" of it then.

raven83

I myself do know what it is like to live in a house that needs lots doing to it, I have lived in my house over 5 years now and only now am I in the position to really get it how I want it. When I first moved in here corners had to cut and sacrifices had to made to make it livable.

I would say you're going to have to make the best of it and when you are in a better financial position then make the changes that need doing, in the meantime, look on freecycle or if you're on Facebook join any freecycling groups and see if anyone is giving away a cooker, even if it is just to tide you over until you can get a new one.

BigAunty

Go to the Debt Free wanabee board and the bods there will help you come up with a strategy to sort out your debts and stop them escalating.

MSE has a budget planner - download it, work through the site and learn where to slash your outgoings - cheapest tariffs for insurance, energy, telecoms, frugal recipes, cheapest groceries, etc.

Do a benefit entitlement check at the Turn2us online benefit website.

To carpet two rooms last year, I bought my underlay off ebay - thick quality low cost stuff, two offcuts from Carpet Rite for around £100 each, and a guy off Gumtree to fit them. Can't remember the total cost but was very much less than £700 in total, probably £400.

PlymouthMaid

Cheap carpet can be a false economy anyway as it may wear out very quickly whereas a better one could last at least 20 years with decent care. Obviously when really broke you have to go cheap or free (even better) but I think I would be more inclined to manage without for a while and buy slightly better carpets later at least for the living room. Buy the kids a large rug each for now. I remember having bare boards covered with newspaper for two years in our first house as we couldn't afford flooring.

pickledonionspaceraider

azeluk wrote: »

Hey every one I need some help, myself wife and 4 children moved in to a 3 bedroom council house a year ago.

The place was a disaster the previous tenant had truly neglected the place we have had to replace flooring, reskimmed walls/rebuild walls and redecorate all at our expense (this is due to it being a mutural exchange) and the housing association washed there hands at the whole deal.

Any who we have got the place to a liveable standard but there is still a lot to do our lounge needs new carpet and underlay so does our children's room this has been quoted at around £700 including fitting, we need a new cooker (ours has been bodge repaired so much now I'm surprised its still working). And the kitchen needs updating we also need new appliances and 3 of my children are sleeping on dilapidated beds so new ones are needed.

Thing is we can't afford it I was out of work for several months last year and any savings had to be used to survive then came Christmas and more debt, I'm really really pulling my hair out here.

Can anyone give me some advice on any where I can get help or support with this financial burden.

Many thanks

Tough love time -

I think you need to reign in your expectation as you cannot afford to live to the standard you would want to and start living in the REAL situation - for example - moving into a house that is in such a bad state after a period of unemployment = maybe not the best timing on the house move

It does need to be said, you have to live within your means

Christmas - Did you really get yourself into debt for presents when your children dont have decent beds to sleep in and a cooker on the blink? You do need to learn priorities - AND teach them to your children

Necessities come before luxuries

You need to split your list in to ''things you want'', and ''things you NEED'' - and start working on the 'things you need' list - but much more modestly than you expect to

Things you need:-

Cooker. - Look on freecycle or if this fails - buy a second hand one in good condition - budget £150

3 new single beds. You can buy a single divan bed complete with mattress round here for £60 each. Not the best brand name or anything, but they do the job. Another option might be to go second hand or look on freecycle

Things you want

Carpets x 2. Buy what you can afford - Cord carpet is cheapest and you can get a whole room done and fitted for less than £100 per room - forget the underlay you can't afford it. Do not go to carpet right or any other large outlet, go look in the local shops. I would get a carpet asap to seal in warmth and with kids, they are always sitting crawling on the floor. Someone above said a good carpet can last 20 years - not likely with four kids. Go cheap for now, until you are better off

Kitchen needs updating and new appliances - this needs to be put off WAY into the future. This is a luxury purchase - a new kitchen etc. Many people would struggle to afford this.

Decorating - slow it down - do one room as and when you can afford it - a plasterer could cost you £250 per room (going on local estimates from round here) Then you have got a good basis to get some wallpaper or paint up. Realise that many of us who work full time have lived in houses for years that are still not fully decorated - these things take a heck of a lot of time, patience, money and will power.

Have a think if anyone in your family or friends is a tradesman that could help with any of the jobs

You really need to join freecycle and ebay to see what is availible cheap and free in your local area

PlymouthMaid

Maybe not but my carpet has now been down for 22 years and I had two kids and a dog.

onomatopoeia99

I bought my cooker second hand on ebay when I moved into this house. £150, as new condition. Had to collect it from 40 miles away but I have a car. Still going strong 4.5 years later.

Carpets can be looked at in carpetright then sourced on line for massively less, same with underlay, then just contract a carpet fitter directly. However, they can't be classed as a priority if your cooker could die at any time.

Gumtree is a good source of cheap, useable s/h furniture like beds. Freecycle can also work if you are patient.

Too late now, but for next year set a £10 limit on Christmas gift value - you clearly have more important things to spend money on.