Is There Any Way Out Of This?

Twopints

lionelflare wrote:

We have now thought about getting a lodger but cannot decide whether it will be a good idea or not? can we just get someone in a do it all cash in hand? should we pay tax on the income? I think some reading up will have to be done before we even think of this route.

You can earn up to £4250 a year under the "Rent a Room" scheme tax-free. That's about £80 a week - and it's legal. See Inland Revenue leaflet IR87 for details: IR87 - Rent a Room

lionelflare

Thanks for the link to the rent a room thing ill be having a look at that asap.
The money saving has started well. Ive just phoned orange to check my mobile contract and found that ive just hit 12 months. ( I had to ring them as the missus has just had her phone stolen ) got off the phone with a nice contract matching 3 networks minutes for the same price and they gave me a load of text messages free and free insurance for 12 months. The insurance free is a bonus as i was paying for it and the rate she gets through mobile phones beggars belief!

ExiledWool

Had a similar problem a couple of years ago. Income seemed to outweigh outgoings but we always had no money and kept going over the overdraft. We went to see our bank and theyhekped us out. We set up a joint account for bill payments and the an account each for our spending money. We put an amount in each account each month and aren't allowed anymore. We've always money left at the end of each month.

Why not pay them a visit - it won't hurt and could benefit you in the long run.