In the interim between starting work and getting paid, how do I afford to live?

[lyingawakepanicking]

NOT ASKING FOR MONEY.

First full time job after uni. Various circumstances (very complex family and my own mental health) have meant I’ve not been able to work during studies. Student loan only just covers rent.

I have some saved back money I was given two years ago when a relative died. That’s enough to pay a deposit and one month’s rent.

However my job involves relocating 200 miles (to live much closer to family, which will be huge benefit to me). The flat I’ve looked at is unfurnished. My family have said they have some basic furniture I can have, including a washing machine, but no white goods etc.

I can’t afford a furnished flat unfortunately.

So I’ll have to somehow try and get bits of furniture from somewhere … plus I’ll have to pay transport to work, and buy food, and basics like cleaning stuff, and I’m assuming utility bills and broadband/mobile phone

Once the first month has passed it should be OK I think but I won’t get paid for 6 weeks after I move potentially and I don’t know what I do for that six weeks for money! Panicking a bit, I can live without a sofa etc but worried about where the hell I get a fridge from, and how I pay the bus fare to work.

Family have said to ask my employer about a relocation package (which was mentioned a while ago but hasn’t been brought up since) and ask uni about discretionary funding (which I’ve applied for). I don’t think I’m entitled to any benefits at all, because I have got a job, it’s just the waiting for my first salary.

Is it wrong to ask my employer about relocation packages again? They’re a huge company, it was mentioned at interview for the first role I tried with them but not the second one.

Can you ask the employer for an advance on wages?

And ask on fb groups about stuff like fridges. People will sometimes be getting new ones/replacing working ones and give the old one away

Could you live with family for 6 weeks and then move in?

Can you put any essentials on a 0% credit card and pay it off when you have a regular salary?

Credit card or overdraft

Get on Freecycle in the area, and use a credit card minimally.

No, I’d be slightly too far away for travel into work and I think we’d drive each other crazy. As much as that would be the ideal solution if they’d have me, I just know that they won’t. Although hopefully I can scrounge as many weekend meals as possible!!!

I’ll look on gumtree etc re fridges and that yeah.

I’ll try to phone my recruitment officer again tomorrow too, trying to get an answer is hellish (promising…) but I need to know if they can support somehow yes.

My credit score is a bit crap due to defaulting on a credit card 5 years ago (pre Covid), I had to move home to my mum’s with zero financial support and had to care for her, not entitled to any benefits or student loans so couldn’t pay it off. I’m still on monthly payments for that. So I’m not sure I can even get a credit card, and I’m pretty much maxed out on my student overdraft already.

Some companies use online platforms to let you access a portion of your wages in advance, once you’ve started work. It can mean some people end up in a cycle of having to access their wages every month, but in your case if they did offer this it might help you. So if they say no to the relocation package, I would ask if they offer that. The platform I’ve heard of before is called Wagestream.

I think it would be helpful for you if you could work out how much you will need to live frugally on until you would get paid.

Look on things like Olio/too good to go for food. Have a look in the local area for a community fridge or cafe (we have a community cafe that uses up supermarket free food to cook meals for people in the area who struggle on a pay what you can afford basis, and they operate a food bank type of thing that you don't need a referral for)

Local free Facebook pages are great for picking up household stuff, and as PP said, a credit card will be useful. You should be able to use it minimally and live as cheaply as possible for a couple of months.

When do you start the job? Is there any possibility of getting some casual work before then that you get paid weekly/very quickly for? Any family members who can do you a food parcel?

Do you have anything you could sell on eBay/vinted/FB? That could bring in enough for bus fare. Then - as suggested above - I’d look at olio/tgtg or larders for food to get you through. Could you do any cash in hand evening or weekend work in the short term to help?

I had this a few years ago, took a job in a pub on a Saturday for weekly pay.

It’s not ideal but it’s possible to live without a fridge for a while. Living very frugally off porridge, pasta, baked beans, canned soup etc. that don’t need refrigeration.
Plus Olio for extras.
Travel to work is a tricky one. Does your employer offer a loan for a travel card? Worth investigating.

Would a house share be an option rather than moving into a flat? Might be more affordable and you’d have access to a furnished kitchen/washing machine.

Contract says I’m not allowed to take up any additional work including agency, bank, etc or other any other contracts as long as I’m employed by them so I’m guessing I can’t do any additional jobs, had thought about that (e.g. doing NHS bank work) but realistically by the time that I’d got bank shifts organised I’d be getting paid I guess. If I can do it though will try to get a job in a pub or something.

Will ask about food banks etc yes. I vaguely remember being told l’ll get my lunch given to me at work so as long as I fill up on that and have a fairly OK breakfast I should get away without an evening meal.

Start job end of May all being well.

Furniture isn't an issue, you can always camp indoors with the few bits friends and family can give you.

Hand wash for the first month except sheets & towels can go to a launderette.

Food & transport - overdraft, credit card. Do you have a bike?

Fridge - facebook, gumtree, council refurb project. or even ask your parents for one of those mini drinks fridges - about £40 - to keep milk & spread in.

I managed without a fridge but I got my first flat in January so just used an outside window sill. It won't work in May. 🙂

Many companies will give you advance on your first wages.

I needed to get an advance for my season ticket which I then paid back over a year.

Concentrate on the basics and let everything else go.

Charity shops will be your friend for furniture and basic stuff like pots and pans. Ask family if you can borrow items for a couple of months like a clothes airer or air fryer. Ignore cleaning items for a month, you just need wash liquid and a sponge which family might give you, they might even supply a basic food package such as tea, sugar, cereal, milk, bread and eggs.

Ask work for an advance for your travel. Can you get a monthly ticket?

And congratulations on your new job and home!

Absolutely ask again about the relocation package, and the season ticket loan.

Beware that in the first week in a new job there are likely to be unexpected expenses like people asking you to go out for lunch h/drinks but not necessarily shouting your bill, so you will need a bit of ready money.

Olio/free cycle is a good shout for household basics.

Many companies will loan you money for a travel card and you pay it back monthly. Some give advances on wages.

Join the local give things for free Facebook group. Ours often has furniture and white goods. Go to the food bank or olio or too good to go.

Might a room in a shared house be cheaper and better for now as it will be furnished and cheaper to rent?

The first month or so is really hard but you can do it! Congratulations!

You've got im until the end of May, work in a pub or something until then.

You can get unfurnished places that will have white goods so perhaps keep looking.

Ask your family if you can stay with them until your first pay comes in, you'll just have to suck up a commute that takes longer for a bit.

Loads of furniture charity shops, fb market place, free cycle websites etc.

And yes, ask them about the relocation package that was discussed at 1st interview

Can't you find a lodger room or house share? Most people can't afford their own place when starting out. It's a luxury you can save for and get after a few years.

If you're out of work are you claiming universal credit? It's not a lot but it should tide you over until you get paid.

Sue Ryder and British Heart Foundation both do furniture charity shops, and will deliver. Sue Ryder near us does fridges and washing machines. I got a bed and new mattress from BHF when I separated from partner and moved into a flat with nothing, and the bed is still going strong a decade later (I did upgrade the mattress when I could afford to!). I also got some retro 60s drawers really cheap a few months later at Sue Ryder, which I upcycled over time and now look really cool!

Check gumtree as well, but the problem with gumtree though is usually that you have to be able to get it to your place - if you have a decent size car you may be ok, but if you have no car or a citron C1 that might be trickier!

You don't need to fully furnish straightaway. A mattress, an open clothes rail and something to sit on in the evening to eat etc, may have to do you for now. A camping chair or a floor cushion may have to do for the evenings in the very short term, as long as you are saving for an exit strategy. It's quite fun to build a home from scratch and plan it during that time - it's an exciting new future!

You probably already have some kitchen bits and soft furnishings from uni? If not, charity shop for the former. For the latter, charity shop bedroom curtains if the flat does not have them are the priority so that you can sleep, and everything else can wait. In my first flat, I actually made to with a thick dark grey £3 primark scarf stuck across the top of a window frame and tied up in the middle with a ribbon during the day for about 18 months. It looked quite shabby chic and did a surprisingly good job of keeping the light out!

The reality is that for the next month, you may have to be ok with putting some stuff on a 0% credit card and committing to paying it off over the next few months once the money starts coming in. This is OK as long as you commit to having a plan and don't get into having to pay the interest, but keep it to a minimum. You don't have to buy everything now.

Don’t worry about furniture, all you need is a bed. I know it’s not great but it’s that time of life. I remember borrowing a hideous sofa from my friends Mum when DH and I rented our first house together. I gave away a sofa on FB last year, nothing wrong with it at all but I wanted a reclining sofa so swapped out. Young couple were delighted as had gone without one for two months.

On FB do not get involved with PayPal at all there are a lot of scams.

I lived in house shares till my late twenties, it saved me a lot of money plus those women became good friends. I’m in touch with one every week and we have known each other for 35 years.

My desire to have a much better life financially than my childhood was the driver for this it meant a few more years of frugal shared living but long term was a very sound decision.