to think a 40K salary is not enough???

[slippytoes]

I've been offered a permanent full time job earning 40K, which at first sight looks great but....

I just realised this will stop all child tax credits!!! Then we wont have nearly enough to rent a 1 bed (let alone a 2 bed flat) in our current area.

We live in zone 2 (very expensive!) and moving is not an option since DD goes to school in the area and is well settled in... I dont want her to lose her friends and change schools!

Also, because the new job is full time I will need childcare, which also means extra costs! I was thinking of getting an au pair but we just cant afford it!

I am a single parent. I really want this job, it's a great opportunity. 40K is a decent salary!!! AIBU? How do people make it in London? Should I ask my new employer to pay me less? And how can I make this work? :(

OP, tell me to do one if you like, but genuinely, you need to just stop for a couple of days and think about this. It's Friday night, you have the whole weekend to think through your options. I get the impression from your posts that taking 48 hours to make a decision would be at least ten times longer than you've ever taken to make any decision in your life before. Stop spinning, OK? Just sit with it for a while.

Commuting is expensive!

And someone on £25,000 in a rural area is not paying tax and subsidising someone earning £40,000 in an expensive area.

That someone on £25,000 in a rural area is entitled to the same top up benefits as someone earning £25,000 in London.

It just fantastically STUPID to assert that only very high earners should live in London.

Move further out. Honestly can't expect benefits because you choose to live in London.

DM me if you'd like suggestions for affordable areas in SE London

Thanks all, I'm going to follow WilsonFrickett advice and leave it for now - it's Friday night, I need to make dinner, put little one to bed and try to relax. Then in the next days I will think well about all the possible solutions.

You've been of incredible help.

I've lived in NW London my whole life. My patents had to move out from what is now Zone 2 for exactly this reason. DH and I could only have afforded to live further in before we has DCs but chose to buy further out so we could get a house rather than a flat.

Commuting by tube has benefits - as others have said if you are completely out of town and your train line isn't running you might struggle. If you have 2 or 3 other tube / overground lines only a bus ride away from home, there are always options.

The job sounds good, worth making some changes for.

If you are north west and moving out would take you to Kilburn so still pricey, have you considered Cricklewood? Not on the tube but easy bus ride to Willesden Green and Kilburn for tube/overground and also First CapItal Connect stops at Cricklewood station I think.

Have a glassful wine too and take a moment to celebrate being offered the job! Well done you and enjoy your weekend.

Perhaps you can't have it all......

What about clapham? Less than 10 mins to Waterloo. We have friends who rent a 3 bed there for 1400.

According to some research Metro did a while back, the cheapest place to live (considering distance versus cost of Travelcard) is Petts Wood. It's quite nice and the schools are good. It's on a London Bridge line.

You can apply for an 'in year' school place.

The only thing I'd worry about is that the kind of job you are describing is prone to redundancy in a recession.

I understand that its difficult as a lone parent, but it sounds as if your ex partner is around, and you're getting quite a lot of maintenance from him - you say that the extra £1000 you've included in your income figures is based on maintenance and CB, you must be getting £900+ in maintenance?

I think £3500 a month minus £1500/£1700 a month rent is doable. Your ex will be taking DD to school so that will help with chilcare and I'm assuming commuting costs will be low. How much are you living on at the moment?