To think my life is too precarious

[Happyhappyveggie]

This is a financial post- I have 2 dcs and rent in the south of England. I have a ‘good’ job but our basic outgoings- rent, bills etc are 2k a month and my income covers that. But it doesn’t cover food & living and my DPs salary covers that and he doesn’t earn as much. Our main outgoing is ridiculously expensive rent to be honest. If one of us lost our job, we would be screwed.
Aibu to think our life is very precarious?
I don’t sleep some nights worrying about it- we struggle now and it’s mostly to do with the bloody rent which is £1200 a month.
The solution is obviously to move- we couldn’t buy a house here hence the renting etc. I lie awake thinking about how we could feasibly move but my whole life is here.
WWYD? AIBU?

I’m a lone parent working part time and relying on benefits....I’d say my life is a lot more precarious.

@Gohackyourself
But the mortgage company can’t suddenly decide to sell your house from under you, which has happened to numerous people I know in rented accommodation. Renting is so much less secure than a mortgage, anyone who thinks differently is on another planet.

Renting is obviously less secure than owning, because you can take mortgage holidays, you can downsize and release any equity, rent also tends to be much higher than a mortgage would cost on the same property, very few folks rent out to just cover the mortgage payments. They also make a profit over and above it.

You then get the added stress of beinf forced to move if your landlord decides not to renew or sell. Your mortgage Can also be renewed to reduce your monthly payments the longer you are there and the more you pay off. It’s a decreasing debt, not an escalating one like rent, in twenty years your rent will be an awful lot higher, your mortgage an awful lot lower.

I think the poster was saying your home is at risk if you don’t pay your mortgage, which is true, but there is more leeway, so both precarious, but renting more so.

Op, you can downsize. I live in the south east, so you are living in a decent property. You could go much further down that ladder if you chose and not necessarily to a shitty area, just a much smaller property.

Bloody hell - £800 on bills and that doesn't include your rent?!

We pay less than that for all our bills combined, including running two cars and mortgage payments. I'm so glad I live in a cheap part of the country!

Yes I understand of course.i was talking in the context if someone had high mortgage and long term unemployment added to other debts- they could loose their home.

Of course with renting all manor of things can happen from the landlords end- I purely meant from the perspective the op wrote in precarious if one partner can’t work long term and pay mortgage, the original statement they made.

Bloody fat fingers.

YANBU.

We are in similar position. I earn a tiny salary, DH is main earner. We rent because we have no deposit because we are trying to pay off debt we previously got into when it took me 2 years to find a suitable part time role after having DS1. By the time our rent and bills are paid we don't have much change from £1800, then there's food and fuel in the car and all that stuff. 3am panic attacks about finances are not uncommon for me. DH works for tiny start-up company in a relatively new industry, I work an administrative role in an industry renowned for sudden downturns; either one of us losing our jobs honestly feels like a real issue at times. Changing jobs or moving areas isn't an option; we already live in the cheapest area locally. We shop at Lidl, I look all our meals from scratch, I shop around for cheaper deals on our household bills, we run one car.

I'm a big believer in taking positive steps to change things that don't work for you, but when you've taken all the steps you can it's hard to see a way out. But knowing you're not alone in it does help.

Yes it is precarious but at least you’ve got two incomes coming in. It’s unlikely that you’d both lose your jobs. I’m single with a mortgage that is over 40% of my after tax pay. Without my job I’m completely screwed. Not surprisingly I’m considering moving to a cheaper suburb but need to decide if it’s worth doing once moving costs / stamp duty is taken into account.

Sorry, OP, I would rather save towards a home than own a car. Could you not move somewhere where you wouldn't need to use a car?

My car cost £75 and insurance and tax comes to less than £40 a month.

My car cost £75

No zeroes left off the end of that?

We unfortunately need both our cars because DP commutes 2 hours a day back & for to work. I work compressed hours so need my car to pick dc’s up from school & fit my hours in. Both cars are owned outright though. I have life insurance because I have nothing else to give my kids should anything happen to me because of renting. We genuinely couldn’t find a cheaper place to live down here- we are already crammed into a small 2 bed. It’s easy to say move north but I don’t know a single person in the north and we would be starting again.

Your bills sound pretty big to me, but it's impossible to say without a breakdown.

Especially the "loan repayment". If that's £20 a month on interest free for some sofas 4 years ago after moving into an unfurnished house to save costs, that's one thing.
Quite another if it's £400 because you chose an unnecessarily expensive car!

I think that £800 a month on bills is a lot.

Btw - I know you said cars owned outright! I'm just giving examples that "loan repayments" is a bit vague and makes it impossible to say whether £800 on bills is normal or not!

Not 'on a different planet' - just different circumstances to you?
Yes mortgage will be better in some situations, renting in others.

It depends what security means to the individual. For some having money in diversified savings, no debt and the ability to move quickly eg for job opportunities is greater financial security than all your savings in an (arguably overpriced) house and a large debt.

Yes a landlord can sell up and move you on, but you can also choose to move on yourself for jobs/ school catchment/ problem neighbours/ change in circumstances. If plenty of rental options and healthy savings to afford a move, some people gain more from flexibility to move on their terms than they lose through the possibility of an enforced move.

I have friends who are really suffering renting, but others who benefit from it and are making a sensible choice to not get a mortgage now.

more from flexibility to move on their terms than they lose through the possibility of an enforced move

That’s not really true. You just rent out your home and rent elsewhere if you need to move suddenly, then sell at your leisure.

I have a reasonable salary and manageable outgoings (maybe not if there are boiler disasters) but still get these pangs of precariousness, especially since I'm LP and there's no back up.

It's the human condition isn't it?
Survival. All of us are a few steps away from disaster.

But saying that, I really don't understand the living in London thing when you are mid to low salary. The cost of living is so astronomical that the stress of precariousness must be constantly there. I don't like to encourage people up north though because I don't want the same thing to happen here 😬

In answer to WWYD:

As you own both cars outright, you have more flexibility to change them than if on finance.
I'd check with a fine tooth comb whether I really needed two cars.
When you look at everything - is public transport not an option? If it's possible and cheaper just not as convenient, you could alternate who gets the car on which day.

Is it also a possibility to sell them and spend the same money on something with better fuel economy / lower insurance?

You say your take home is 2K and your husband less. He's doing a 2 hour commute every day, in the SE (think you said SE?) for less than 2K take home - and incurring all those car costs. Have you fully investigated changing job?

Mobiles - are you on the cheapest?
Given that you have mobiles, are they inclusive contracts of data - and if so, do you really need home phone and broadband?

Are you definitely on best deal for utilities AND careful with how you use them?

All the food and living covered by your husband... have you really budgeted this well?

MoneySavingExpert website is great for getting people to really look at your budget!

Back to the subject... OP, I live in a lovely market town up north with good schools. You can rent a decent sized 3 bed here from between £400 - £600.

Getting rid of a car you own to rely on public transport is a daft move unless you live right in the middle of a city and only need to commute around that city.

I drive about 20 mins to work. If I had to use public transport it would be impossible to drop children at nursery as no public transport goes to it, then get myself to work in time on the bus that goes though another town before getting near my work.

My dh can use the train, but would still need to get to the station, and once you factor in parking it's not cost effective.

The only things that will really change things is either one or both changing jobs or relocating. Often the choices we have aren't great or without consequences but they do exist.

If your DH got a local less well paid job you could potentially lose a car and you could climb upwards in your career and earn more? We relocated away from SE because we could never earn enough to improve our lifestyle- the in laws didn't want to help with the DC so what was there to stay for?

Rent is about a third of the cost here, owning also about a third. You could probably buy a 3 bed here in an area with good schools for £150k - less desirable area £110k, still cheaper areas than that.

Reasonable amount of local jobs, hour commute to huge city by train. All secondary schools are good!

If you rent you can only choose what company supplies your gas / electric you cannot legally change meters.
So if you are Pre payment you are stuck in Pre payment. Homeowners don’t tell me I’m wrong. I’m just a stupid renter Bla bla I’m not. Google.

I’m in the same position. And don’t forget housing benefit does not pay 100% of rent anymore. When h was unemployed we had to find £205 from the other benefits.

My rent is 1200 for ex council massonette in dodgy part of London. We looked to move out but it will risk my sons education and I’m not prepared to do that.

@OwlinaTree it would be a daft move for you

It might not be for the OP, once they do the maths on what it's costing them.

Is £800 a lot on bills?
Council tax, 2 car insurances, 2 Road taxes for cars, water, elec & gas, Internet/phone at home, 2 mobiles, a loan payment, life insurance, tv licence- isn’t that all quite normal?

Mine is -

Council Tax £80
Car Insurance £15
Water £30
Electric/Gas £50 for both
Internet/Phone £24
Mobile £10
T.V License £7

So roughly £217.

But I have Car tax, National trust, Pet Insurance - £40 altogether.

But I have no loan or life insurance.

totempole how did you get a tv licence for £7? I thought the annual total is £147 for everyone which is £12.25 a month

I live in the north east in a very cheap area, in the cheapest council tax band and my council tax is £125. Water £50. You have very cheap bills, I'm jealous!

I would move. It’s easy to get caught up in the mindset of ‘this is where I was born/where my parents live/where the kids go to school etc but honestly, it’s very normal these days for people to move around for work, housing etc You will quickly make new friendships and the children will settle.

Why Insist on remaining in an expensive area where you’re lying awake worrying about whether you can make the rental payment?