To not understand how other people manage whilst renting?

[mrscostello000]

We have rented for years, never could save enough whilst renting for any form of deposit.
Have had to move 9 times in the 11 years of renting due to rent going up / landlord selling / re letting to friends and family which is hard enough but how do people afford this crazy private rent??
In Surrey where we are, we are paying £1150 for a 2 bedroomed house ( 2 children so share a room and will be for foreseeable future which is not ideal as 1 boy / 1 girl and eldest is approaching 5 )
My husband earns £2300 a month so too much to claim anything and I'm a stay at home parent caring for my baby and pre schooler. How do people do it when bills / food takes up a good £800 a month which leaves us about with £400 a month for everything including petrol for the pre school run 2 miles each way 5 times a week so a good £200 a month goes in the car to get us around and we are then left with hardly anything.
Is everyone in the same boat or am I missing something?

Op the council said no to free transport because your ds is only in pre school not because of the distance.

20 miles really isn't far. It's less than half an hour in a car.

I'm not unsympathetic, I rent and will do for life unless I win the lottery. That's despite being a single parent so clearly much more able to get free stuff
I've put myself on the waiting list with my local council but even where I am (small welsh town) I'm looking at about 10 years wait then an offer of a horrible house in a seriously deprived area.

Also, you're car insurance costs are far too high. Shop around and make sure you're no paying for optional extras such as breakdown cover, legal cover, key cover etc. My XDH had an accident in my old car and wrote it off, I still paid less than £300 the next year. You do have to do a lot of shoping around be very aware of every little bit of small print but it is worth it.

I know you we aware of how expensive your phone contracts are. (Where on earth forced you to take a 4 year contract I don't know, and if you worked in the industry then you know that there are many cheaper options available which still include free handsets for much shorter contracts, so I'm sure you've beaten yourself up enough about that one)

I never agree with the people who so breezily suggest 'just move' as it really isn't that simple but in your case I do think you should consider it. Not any distance away but it would definitely be worth looking for somewhere with better access to schools. You may not save money on rent but all that petrol cost vs 2 miles through muddy fields business would be solved.

Renting sucks balls a lot of the time so I totally understand your need got let off some steam but in all honesty, you're in a much better position than a lot of us so whilst it's not ideal it really could be worse.

Hi again,
No that was a question for when he reached school age not pre school
As I said my hubby's contract for the next 5 years is central London so by moving further out and reducing rent we would be spending extra in travel for him to get to work and for me to see anyone.
I'm not asking for a magic solution, there really isn't one but it's nice to know others are having to do the same and can see where I'm coming from.
I have found an Icandy pram for £210 on eBay so whilst that's expensive I think it would last for reception year so that's a year and a half so much less than petrol would be for all that time as well as every trip into town too.

Well on a practical level (and not much help to you)
Why on earth is that your closest school?
They need to build another one.
Do you live in a village? :)

Ah sorry not our closest there is a Catholic one about a mile away but it's over subcribed with Catholics
I did ask if I could apply anyway and they said it would be a waste of an application as we wouldn't get in

School bus pass/fare only starts at primary school age not nursery class/pre-school age.
I used to walk 20 mins to school, then turn around and walk almost an hour to dd's nursery, then a 30 minute bus ride to Uni. I did this twice a day, 5 days a week. I was chatting to another student who on hearing my journey said she didn't realise I had such a long commute. I had never thought of it as a commute, it's just what I did! You'd be surprised how quickly young children learn to walk/skip/run quite long distances.
Are you near any parent/toddler groups they are usually much cheaper than soft play. My first 3 children only ever went to the park, it was all we could afford to do, that and a weekly visit to storytime at the library.
My youngest 2 were lucky in that we lived in a surestart area when they were little and they could do messy play/baby gym/rhyme time etc. all day long at no cost.
If you want to save money you'll just have to cut back on some of the non essential stuff or move to a cheaper area. That might sound harsh but years ago soft play didn't exist and our children were none the worse for it, in fact because we went to the park most days of the year they were positively healthier!

What a shame mrs - you should have put the closest school as your first choice.
You would have been turned down,therefore been offered the place now offered which would have attracted free school transport.

Stop sending money you haven't got. You don't need an icandy pram. You need something big for a heavy child like a baby jogger elite /nipper 360. Not a designer looking thing.

Who said not to apply to local school. Offers haven't got out yet and you may still be able to add it as your first choice. If first choice is oversubscribed and next nearest school is over 2 miles you'll get free transport. School admissions advice available on primary board

What do you need a fancy pram for?

You need a nipper 360.

Bloody not always. SHe could have been offered somewhere else further away.

I don't mean move area. Just have a look within your village for somewhere more practical.

As I said, you won't save rent but there must be somewhere where your only options aren't either a ton of petrol or an hour and a half through muddy fields.

You do at least have options and at worse, it's only four or five years until they are both at school and childcare becomes more affordable. (If you do go back to work sooner, think long term rather than short term. Childcare is an investment in your career).

You do have options though, choices re work, location, transport etc, it's just some are less attractive than others. Be grateful you have choices at least!

And it won't be forever. The cost of housing in some areas is scandalous, I agree with this.

But, I forgot to say, you don't need to spend £210 on an eBay pram! With this comment and the price you are paying for phones and to run a car, it seems as though you are disconnected from reality a bit. There are much cheaper options, and I wonder if that could apply to your housing costs too?

You have debts. You live in debt. And you are looking at buying a £210 pram?

Yes expat, it's indicative of an issue isn't it?

Plus in the OP you say your two bedrooms aren't ideal as you have two DC, but the eldest is only 5. You have £1200 a month after housing costs for bills and food, it's really not that bad, IMO.

I think after a duel income and no kids, it's very hard to adjust to one salary and DC. I think you could make considerable savings in pretty much area but it's realising you have to!

I think some do have it easier if they live in a cheaper area with a decent salary so that ends don't just meet but there's some fun money left over.

I'm not talking mega, mega bucks but £2.5k after tax per month will get you a decent living in a lot of areas.

It all seems to boil down to the area. Proximity of schools, work et, whether there's something in the area to get a pt job, bar work, supermarket etc if needed. Such a lot of variables . For some it works brilliantly and others struggle.

Hard. Very.

My 2nd hand icandy pram was £60 and included the carrycot and rain cover.

We manage on a much lower income than you, and also have to pay some childcare. We do get some tax credits though (not for childcare) have you double checked that you don't qualify?

We live in a relatively cheap area compared to you. We saved like mad before we got married so we could buy a house (at 22) and now our mortgage is just £350 a month with 10 years left to go (was a 20 year term).

I worked part time rather than giving up work.

We never had any debt, we always saved up before buying anything.

Our car insurance is paid annually and costs less than two months of yours.

My husband has a work mobile and mine is a tenner a month

Not helpful, I know - but you asked how others managed so I wanted to demonstrate that some do.

Also, should your husband not be putting the mobile and some of the car expenses through as work costs? I don't know much about how it works, but does that benefit him tax wise? Seems odd to be considering them as household expenses when you say he needs them for work.

You can ask the mobile phone company to reduce the cost of your contract before it ends, DH has just done it.

And do try cycling. I have my 2yo on a front bike seat and take her to nursery and then I go to work. I read a statistic that if you cycle every day, it only rains enough to get you absolutely soaked 5 times a year. In my experience that is probably right (I'm in SE too). On those days you could drive anyway. DD and I just get wet, she likes it!

I called the council prior to my application and was told that my choice 1 school was under the limit for free transport.
If that is 2 miles they've either got it wrong or it's measured in such a way it's under 2 miles although I can't see how.
The Icandy comment was because I have 2 children, one of 2 and one of 4 1/2 nearly so a nipper won't fit th both in side by side ( we had this last year and sold as he no longer fit ) the phil and teds had the same problem after I got one from a friend to borrow that the top seat is too narrow for my son.
The icandys look wider that's why I thoight even though £200 is an outlay in the long run it may save money although thinking about it logically come September next year with a kid in year 1 and a daughter at pre school 9-12 I'm not sure how that would work.
We will have to stop the fancy days out well I say fancy I mean soft play swimming and any lunches for the children that aren't packed lunches and I will have to check with the council about the transport and if it's a no then maybe another option would be driving the car to the school leaving it there and walking home, walking to school the next day and driving the car back so it wasn't every day although not sure if that's allowed with insurance in case it was stolen or something?

There is a lot of advice on here about most of your issues...I'm just going to mention the pram! I have a very tall 3 year old. I found the icandy apple was the biggest type of icandy, and had it from when he was a newborn. However, he looked much too big for it by the time he was 2. I replaced it with a Baby Jogger City Mini from gumtree for £70. It's low to the ground for him to hop in and out without any help and the seat and legroom is fine for him. The Elite version has even more space, but is a bit pricier. You can get a buggy board made by Baby Jogger too so they could take it in turns to walk/ride in pram.

Well I wouldn't rely on anything the council tell you over the phone!!!!

Apply for transport, ask for their route if they say your ds doesn't qualify. Apply for council tax & housing benefit you may get a few £ per week.

Another comment on the iCandy - I have one and I occasionally take it on rough paths but it is in no way an all terrain buggy. I had it for my baby from new born; it has done well so far as my only pram but as an earlier poster said they are not big so I wouldn't recommend buying for a toddler.

I think you have had a hard time on here - renting is hard. Renting at the price you are paying sounds tough.

Ipsea have lots of info regarding school transport, although it is mainly focused on children with additional needs:

www.ipsea.org.uk/what-you-need-to-know/home-to-school-college-transport

This applies to every child:
"Section 444 (5) of the Education Act 1996 defines walking distance as two miles for under-eights and three miles for those of eight and above. This is measured by the nearest available route which the child (accompanied if necessary) may walk with reasonable safety."