From care-free spender to debt-free saver

craididlyaig

So, I've had another money saving disaster, and I'm not sure of the best way to go about it.

My housemate has told me that he is thinking of moving out and getting a place on his own. That's fine, I don't really mind and I understand if he wants to live on his own, we are in our 30s and he is earning decent money. Trouble is, I can't afford this place on my own. I really would rather not live with people I don't know and I don't know anyone else who is looking. So it looks like I'll have to get a smaller place on my own.

To be honest, I've always kind of wanted to live by myself, it'll be nice having a little flat on my own, but it'll definitely be more expensive. He's told me that it won't be until at least after Christmas so there is a bit of time, but the most pressing concern here is going to be the actual cost of moving itself. By the time it all happens, the two payday loans should be paid off so my monthly costs should be at least doable but I'm going to need money for a deposit, moving van etc etc.

I'll have the cash from my bonus coming in, but that won't be enough at all.

The question really here is, should I be putting any extra money aside for moving expenses etc before I overpay on credit cards or should I pay off the credit cards and avoid the interest and then use the cards if I need extra whilst moving?

One thing is certain though, I'm going to have to be extra careful with my money over the next few months, they are going to be super difficult.

LittleMissDetermined

Wow, what would do if I were you..? I think if my job were secure I would be paying minimum payments until I had a bond/deposit for a smaller place and then get back to the over payments.

There may be others with better advice as **"touch wood" I've never been in your situation myself.

My logic is that if you have enough to make the move in emergency fund then you're not stuck over paying where you are...

Hope that kinda helps?!

LMD x

craididlyaig

LittleMissDetermined wrote: »

Wow, what would do if I were you..? I think if my job were secure I would be paying minimum payments until I had a bond/deposit for a smaller place and then get back to the over payments.

There may be others with better advice as **"touch wood" I've never been in your situation myself.

My logic is that if you have enough to make the move in emergency fund then you're not stuck over paying where you are...

Hope that kinda helps?!

LMD x

I think that probably makes sense... my job is definitely secure, no worries there, but I think I might have to take a saturday job somewhere to make up the short fall once I have moved else I'll be stuck just making the minimum payments forever and I'll just end up paying way more than I have to.

I'll sleep on it all, might be easier in the morning.

craididlyaig

So, dearest internets, today was a no spend day, which is very good as I'm going to need a lot of those.

So here are my concerns. First up, I'm going to need a lot of money for the move. I'm guessing the first months rent, plus around the same again for a deposit. Then there's probably a hundred or two for agency fees and then another hundred or so for hiring a moving can. Probably some more for boxes and bubble wrap and all that stuff for moving with. This is going to end up being at least £1000 I should imagine. I'll hopefully get my half of the security deposit back from this place, so that's £325, but that'll come after all this needs to be paid.

Secondly, once I'm in the place there is a lot of things I'll need to buy. My place here is unfurnished, and around half the furniture, kitchen stuff etc is mine but some of it is not. Mostly little things like saucepans and bins, but also the television is not mine. I won't need one straight away, but I would like one eventually...

Thirdly, the issue of affording living alone month to month. Right now, my rent and most of the household bills comes to £400. Looking at the rent on even studio flats in my area, I'm looking at at least £450 on rent alone. My portion of the rent here is £275 so that'll be a monthly increase of £175, assuming everything else stays around the same. Which I imagine it won't. Council tax for example, I'm pretty sure you only get a 25% reduction for being on your own?

So, once the payday loans are out of the way I'll have an extra £100 roughly per month, and considering I can live on around £25 a week it seems for food etc there is another £150 or so left in my salary each month that I can use for this. So this is just about possible I guess, although it will be very tough until loan number two is paid off freeing up enough money to give me some breathing room.

In all honesty, I've wanted to live by myself for some time, and there is a part of me that is quite excited. I am very concerned though that I won't be able to overpay at the rate I was hoping, and that I won't get the excitement of snowballing at quite the same level as I wanted to.

I am also very concerned about the initial expense of it all. My bonus and overtime will get me started on this, and every other spare penny will be going towards this but I'm almost certain I am going to have to end up using some of my credit cards before this is all settled. Not only will this increase my monthly payments, this will likely be incredibly demotivating.

I know that the most sensible thing to do would be to find some kind of house share at least in the short term, but firstly I have my cat who is non negotiable and makes this difficult to do. And secondly, I just don't want to. I've done the living with strangers thing before, I don't like it and I feel I'm too old and too antisocial to live with a houseful of randoms any more.

On a positive note, I do rather like the thought of a little place for me and my cat where I can wander around singing without feeling self conscious and arrange the furniture any way I like. In the longer term, I can afford to do it on my salary and it is the way I want to live. Just have to get these loans paid off and I'll have enough money to do it comfortably. Just have to close my eyes tight for the next 19 months and the worst will be over and I'll be where I want to be. I am a little worried I'll end up collecting more and more cats if there is no one there to stop me, but on the plus side I'll have lots of cats so really I'm a winner.

27 days until payday, although this is less exciting now the money is earmarked for scary things.

patman99

For moving boxes try Freegle or freecycle. When my son moved, we collected all the boxes that Aldi used for fuit and veg as they are a uniform size and strong enough to stack 10 high when full.

Same goes for furniture and cooking stuff. the free sites are quite good if you don't mind stuff that might be scratched or have a small dent. After all, it is still useable and will get you through until you have saved enough to buy new.

Don't forget survey sites. It is easy to make £25 a month from Vivatic and they pay in cash.

craididlyaig

Thanks for the advise, I will check all those places out. I haven't looked at survey sites to be fair, assuming they would take so many hours to complete enough that I might as well just go to work. I will be trying to get a second job after Christmas I think, but I will have a look at that site.

Today, spent £4 on some stuff for heartburn and some chocolate biscuits, leaving me £17.40 in the budget for the week. 26 days until payday...

Orange_Ena

Sorry to hear about your housing woes.

I know you don't want to live with strangers and you've got your lovely cat to think about, but could you stay in your current place for a few more months but be in control of who moves in? Yeah you'd have to maybe buy a few bits and bobs but that wouldn't cost as much as moving and it's less upheaval for your cat. I'm not sure how your tenancy works and whether you get a say?

It's not ideal I'm sure and obviously feel free to ignore me

I'm desperate to leave my job but I can't, or feel like I can't while my debt is hanging over me. I need to wait until I'm in a better position before getting what I want. It depends what you want more? Your own place, or to be debt free sooner?

Wish you luck anyway

SeduLOUs

If you genuinely can't get together the funds needed for the move without resorting back to the CC, then it might be time to do some research now to get a 0% interest purchases card.

I know, I know. Getting a new CC is not ideal at all, but if you are needing to resort to a bit of lending for an unavoidable scenario, then it's better for it to be at 0% than to cost you anything in interest. You just have to be careful that you only spend what you need and don't get carried away!

Hopefully you'll get a 24m or more one, and you'll have plenty of time to pay it off again without it costing you anything in interest (and if you can't clear it because your other debts are a priority, then jut balance transfer it somewhere else at the end of the term). Try the MSE eligibility checker for what options might be open to you.

craididlyaig

Hey guys, thank you for the advice. To cover both of them, I have considered getting someone else to move in here and I'm pretty sure my landlord would be fine with it but I'm still not convinced i'm comfortable living with a stranger. I know it's about priorities, but I think in this case I might have to prioritise feeling comfortable in my own home. I'm still going to be slogging on with this debt diary, and I realise it's going to extend things a bit but I think if I take a saturday job for a year or two that will make up for the added time.

I will also try this elegability checker. 0% would be good, and I will talk about my purchases on here to make sure I'm not getting anything I don't need!

Today was not a NSD however. I overslept in epic fashion and didn't have time to eat anything before work (in fact I was half an hour late) and I ended up buying some snacks at work to get me through to lunch time. £1.21 spent here, leaving £16.90 in the budget for the week. 25 days until payday!

Seriously though, thank you for the advise everyone. I will take all of it into consideration.

SeduLOUs

You are forgiven in my eyes. It's not like you're buying a swanky new car. It's a completely unforeseen event, and even with debts to tackle I wouldn't be happy to live with a stranger either unless things were substantially more dire than they are. If you do choose to go down this route, make sure they are properly named on the tenancy agreement so they can't just up and leave you without a proverbial paddle - this could be a potential cost as you might find yourself paying new tenancy fees or possibly signing up to a new fixed term. I don't know your landlord, just giving food for thought.

I think you have a sensible head on now, so under the circumstances a little bit of extra borrowing won't be the end of the world, especially if you can do it without causing yourself any more 'cost', and it might actually improve your situation generally by allowing you to be more in control of your bills/TV package/broadband etc etc as you become the sole decision maker, and there's no-one else around wasting food or overspending on unneccesary household goods then expecting a 50% contribution.