Anyone else feel fed up about finances and living situation?

[Benjaminbutton12]

I am 31 and live with my partner. We live in a small rented studio flat, which has our living room, kitchen and bedroom in one room, then a small bathroom tacked on.
The inside is nice enough but it’s far too small for two, a lot of our stuff is still in bags as we just don’t have the space. We moved here just after Christmas as it was with the same agency I had previously been with, and it was faster and cheaper than starting again.

We pay £800 per month including all bills and council tax, and I guess we’re being ripped off.

I know we need to move ASAP and just feel down. Most people our age now seem to own nice houses and all seem to have a ‘spare room’ they’ve offered us to stay in. We don’t even have anywhere for guests to sit. I shouldn’t care what people think but I do feel some pressure.
We’re in the North West.

I don’t drive, I commute by bike or public transport and that’s another issue I feel down about. Again, most acquaintances of our age or younger seem to have pretty decent cars now. I can’t afford driving lessons plus a deposit for a home. My partner doesn’t drive either.

I have a degree and a qualification in a ‘professional’ career. I believe it was the wrong career choice for me, teaching, my behaviour management skills were very poor. I look young for my age and don’t think I was taken seriously by the children.
I work in social care, a career which I really enjoy but I earn £9.30 an hour. My partner earns slightly less in kitchen work. I shouldn’t do but I feel embarrassed and that people will judge me for being degree and PGCE-qualified but then going on to be a carer. Some people have made comments, even though it’s a rewarding career, but I will never make a lot of money from it.

This month has been a struggle. We’re paid four weekly, due to the date I started I was paid for 3 weeks, and despite me stating that this was my main job I was put on BR tax code and therefore taxed too much. I came out with £930 net whereas it should have been almost £400 more.

I get paid again on Friday but it’s been a struggle.
Sorry for the long rant, not sure what it’s going to achieve. I just feel stressed and down a lot of the time, and like I ‘should’ be in a better position by my age.
I don’t see a solution other than ‘get a well-paid job’?

The one positive is that I hardly have any debt, but I feel like a failure otherwise.

Is there any opportunity to progress up the pay scale in your present job? If not, can you find a similar role with better prospects?

Or can you do an evening course to get better qualifications in the field you love? Ditto your dp.

Maybe analyse what you live about job and transfer though skills to a different field. You’re obviously a people person.

Regarding rent, look at Rightmove etc to see what the going rate is for your area. You may find somewhere bigger for the same rent.

Are you entitled to any benefits if you’re not earning much?

😬 That sounds like an awful lot for what you’re getting. I own now but the last place we rented was a three bed house with a garden for £825
Pcm in the south west. Is there nowhere cheaper?

That was only three years ago by the way to put it into context.

£800 including all bills and council tax sounds okay to me, especially with the current cost of utilities.

Start looking for jobs that pay more.
Perhaps consider a new area that's more affordable - might be housing schemes to get you on the property ladder
Check out your getting any benefits your entitled to.

Your qualified teacher- could you tutor?
Have you considered more specialised teaching? My son has an amazing dyslexia tutor, he has additional needs, in his case he cant cope with anyone shouting and needs a gentle and massive of encouragement touch.

The obvious answer is you have to earn more.

Is it possible to progress in the job you do now eg work up to be a manager? Second job? If you are a qualified teacher, can you do private tuition in the evenings? I know a few people who earn decent money doing that and there is definitely demand for it.

The ‘Team Leader’ salary advertised on Indeed for my company is £18.5k which seems very low for the role involved. I am able to earn more as a care worker as long as I put a lot of hours in, but still low.

We earn over the UC threshold apparently. My partner thinks it’s pointless to move from one rented property to another, and that we may as well wait to buy one. I see his point of view but also think that a larger rented property would be far better than what we have now.

I should get my tax refund this week as well as the correct pay and hopefully that will help me. I know I can do better than this hourly rate. Thanks for all the advice

I have done supply work previously but with the current role the hours don’t make it possible, but I am going to have to bite the bullet and look for better paid work.

You can get cheaper than that up North! I pay £425 for a 3 bed in the same area as you! Maybe consider moving to a cheaper area?

The problem is that both of you are in pretty much the lowest paid type of jobs around. You need to find a way to change that.

We are unfortunately, I have to just admit that and accept that if I want a better living standard we need to earn more.

Could you do supply teaching as well as care work eg do care shifts in the school holidays?

The obvious answer is to get back into teaching with a full-time contract. Is that possible?

Just looking now and Aldi offers £9.55 an hour, no disrespect at all to supermarket workers as it’s an essential role but it makes me baffled as to why carers are so poorly paid, given that we deal with medication and vulnerable clients.

Can you look into adult education? My friend struggled with children at first and ended up at a tertiary colleague for a couple of years which really improved her confidence. She’s now the head at a localprimary.

Could you go back and retrain? Would you be entitled to a student loan? If so, that and care work on top would mean you would earn about the same as now but would have a different qualification. What about a healthcare qualification - radiology, occupational therapy.

These are great ideas and I will look into them. It’s a shame, because apart from the constant hassling for overtime, I really enjoy my role and it would be sad to leave, but if I want a decent living situation this is what I need to do.

Where in the North West do you live? 800pcm a month does seem a lot even with utilities for a studio flat but it depends where you are I guess.

That being said, and echoing others, you are in roles that are notorious for being low paid. So whilst it may be able to pay slightly less for accommodation, the only real solution is to change careers.

Teaching does have some pretty transferable skills though. There are plenty of roles in training, admin, civil service (casework etc) you could look at which would give you a financial boost and some progression.

Greater Manchester, we live close to the city centre, under 2 miles but not in a desirable location.
I’ve done TA work, EFL etc but sadly not many of them pay over 20k PA. I will look at the other options

Have you had any help with budgeting? The 2 of you together should have over 1k left after paying for rent and bills. As neither of you drive, which is usually a significant cost, where is your money going? It might help you if you knew saving x amount for y years would be a deposit on your own property/pay for driving lessons and car etc.

You’re right my confidence has been knocked. I shouldn’t be getting towards the end of the month and having next to nothing in my account, and I’m constantly comparing myself to others, seeing their range rovers and new builds posted on Instagram.

You’re right about the car, I do survive fine without it, I shouldn’t feel embarrassed about not having a licence.

This month I earned £930 after tax. I had nothing much in savings, £400 is on rent and utilities, I had to pay £100 credit repayment, then after food etc it doesn’t leave much sadly, but next month should be better

@Benjaminbutton12

Greater Manchester, we live close to the city centre, under 2 miles but not in a desirable location. I’ve done TA work, EFL etc but sadly not many of them pay over 20k PA. I will look at the other options

That still seems very high. Pre Covid (so May have changed) you could rent a nice 2 bed in Salford quays for around £1000 or in The Northern qtr for not much more.