Deaf guy who has made a possibly bad financial decision

Wh4t

As a deaf guy, I get approx £200 in DLA per month. No other income.

I decided to buy a car, spending £1k in car, £2k in insurance. This was in response to commuting approx 1.5 hours per day, 5 times a week which has been reduced to approx 45 minutes + better stability + less stress.

I have 2 debit cards, one ~£500, another ~£300.

I will need to save up about £1.5k before Christmas for insurance renewal as well as paying up £1k for uni fees (to be paid on sept).

So, in sept I will have gotten 7*200 = £1400 which pays for uni fees, £400 left over. Money remaining: £1200 which will be increased by £400-£600 to £1700-£1900 before Christmas.

Sounds good? Not really, I have to pay petrol as well as maintenance. I estimate that petrol from now to November will cost around £200-£300. Still affordable as I can easily go into overdraft (£2k limit) temporarily. I don't know how much maintenance would cost me. The car is quite old but reliable and the parts for it are plenty.

However, this money is also for anything else. Ever since I bought a car and insurance, I hadn't had a midday lunch ever since. I wasn't able to afford luxuries e.g. better quality pen/paper. I'm worried that I might go into debt quite quickly seeing how tight ship I'm running at moment.

To be honest, I'm at loss what to do right now.

Note: Before anyone tells me that this wasn't what DLA was intended for. I wouldn't have needed to pay for a car if I wasn't deaf. Deafness is part of the reason why I bought a car.

~Beanie~

You can't afford to run a car on an income of £200 per month. What about the MOT? Road Tax? New tyres etc? The insurance of £2000 equals almost £170 per month!!

Where do you commute to, Uni? I don't know why being deaf means that you can't use public transport but you definitely can't afford a car. Sell it and catch the bus.

forgotmyname

Sell the car. Im not sure why being deaf is even mentioned. If your deaf can you not use public transport?

I presume quite a few of the students at the local college will be gutted to know they can no longer use the bus or train anymore.

Even if we take your top estimate of £300 for fuel that going to be less than 2500 miles.

Is a car really worth it?

To me the car was a WANT item not a NEED item.

Wh4t

~Beanie~ wrote: »

You can't afford to run a car on an income of £200 per month. What about the MOT? Road Tax? New tyres etc? The insurance of £2000 equals almost £170 per month!!

Where do you commute to, Uni? I don't know why being deaf means that you can't use public transport but you definitely can't afford a car. Sell it and catch the bus.

I mentioned deafness because that's why I'm getting my DLA and also why public transport commute is more stressful than usual.

Have you ever had someone speak to you out of nowhere and they get frustrated that you can't even reply them? What about these announcers on trains that sometimes announce something important that you missed out because they didn't display it on screen and only to be told 'tough' because it's too expensive hire someone typing up on these screens (it's all automated nowadays).

forgotmyname wrote: »

Sell the car. Im not sure why being deaf is even mentioned. If your deaf can you not use public transport?

I presume quite a few of the students at the local college will be gutted to know they can no longer use the bus or train anymore.

Even if we take your top estimate of £300 for fuel that going to be less than 2500 miles.

Is a car really worth it?

To me the car was a WANT item not a NEED item.

See the above for why my deafness was mentioned. The car is a mix of need and want item.

I breezed through college using public transport fine. The only difference between my old commute to college and new commute to university is my experience described above is pretty much non-existent when commuting to college as it's on quieter and more reliable rail line and the stations I used are also quieter and has better displays.

Gers

How come you gave no other income?

DLA is not means tested but should open you up to all sorts of other benefits. How do you pay rent / mortgage, council tax / utilities etc?

Wh4t

Gers wrote: »

How come you gave no other income?

DLA is not means tested but should open you up to all sorts of other benefits. How do you pay rent / mortgage, council tax / utilities etc?

I don't live alone.

EarthBoy

I have every sympathy with your being deaf, but it isn't an excuse not to use public transport. You might just as well say that you shouldn't drive if you're deaf because you can't hear other cars coming up behind you etc.

Plenty of deaf people use public transport with no problem at all. It might be stressful, but you can learn to manage stress.

You can do all the calculations you like but it won't increase your income and you simply can't afford a car. To put it bluntly, you have no realistic alternative but to start using the bus and train. The sooner you accept that, the happier you'll be.

Wh4t

I see your point. Is it better to cancel the insurance and sell the car right now? I'm with one of cheaper insurance company which has expensive cancellation fee. I think it could be cheaper to hold out till insurance runs out.

Also, suspension of car insurance during university holidays would allow me to commute well into towards the end of academic year in 2016 without paying a penny. Not sure if car insurance company will agree this.

Archi_Bald

Is the constant worrying about money not a lot more stressful than using public transport? Get rid of that car as soon as you can, before it creates some unexpected costs for you.

SurfKing

Wh4t wrote: »

As a deaf guy, I get approx £200 in DLA per month. No other income.

I decided to buy a car, spending £1k in car, £2k in insurance. This was in response to commuting approx 1.5 hours per day, 5 times a week which has been reduced to approx 45 minutes + better stability + less stress.

I have 2 debit cards, one ~£500, another ~£300.

I will need to save up about £1.5k before Christmas for insurance renewal as well as paying up £1k for uni fees (to be paid on sept).

So, in sept I will have gotten 7*200 = £1400 which pays for uni fees, £400 left over. Money remaining: £1200 which will be increased by £400-£600 to £1700-£1900 before Christmas.

Sounds good? Not really, I have to pay petrol as well as maintenance. I estimate that petrol from now to November will cost around £200-£300. Still affordable as I can easily go into overdraft (£2k limit) temporarily. I don't know how much maintenance would cost me. The car is quite old but reliable and the parts for it are plenty.

However, this money is also for anything else. Ever since I bought a car and insurance, I hadn't had a midday lunch ever since. I wasn't able to afford luxuries e.g. better quality pen/paper. I'm worried that I might go into debt quite quickly seeing how tight ship I'm running at moment.

To be honest, I'm at loss what to do right now.

Note: Before anyone tells me that this wasn't what DLA was intended for. I wouldn't have needed to pay for a car if I wasn't deaf. Deafness is part of the reason why I bought a car.

Hey Wh4t. I can appreciate how disabling certain public transport services can be for people with your impairment, so buying the car seems like a reasonable way to ease a significant stress point in your life. Having said that, it seems the car might be a bit out of your financial reach right now unless you want it to eat up all of your income (and maybe then some).

I'm interested to know why you only have DLA to rely on - you mention you're at uni, have you fully explored your student loan options?

Armorica

You can't afford a car.

To help with public transport; you can usually tell when there are important announcements because other passengers look grumpy and roll their eyes. There are a wealth of smartphone apps you could use - if you have a smartphone - that include station departures and information on cancellations. Find one you like and that'll help fill the information gap.