To go and live in a cheap room for a month or two

[Ripsinead]

With my partner who I currently live with (providing he agrees)
We currently live in the city centre (this is very convenient for us as non drivers due to work locations).
Paying £1050 per month including all bills and council tax, however this is for a studio flat. I pay a bit more due to our incomes, so I pay closer to £600.
I also have to pay £55 to student finance each month (this is due to a period I was working abroad) £110 CC debt, and honestly it's killing me.
Our flat is lovely but absolutely tiny.
I've just changed jobs and gone from weekly to monthly pay which is also killing me atm. I only have around £600 n savings.
Our tenancy is due to end on the 1st September. Part of me is very tempted to go and live in a flatshare for a month or two, where rent will be more like £350 each including all bills. I have seen some where you can just rent on a month to month basis without having to sign a tenancy which will be ideal.
We'd also get the deposit back from our current place.
I'm not saving and I'm anxious about paying next month's rent. I just want a month or two to save up a few hundred, then we can look for a more affordable property. Does this sound like a good idea? We're in Manchester.
Obviously he has to agree too.

I'd rather cut back on non essentials, or get extra hours/another job than share. It would be a last resort for me.

That's really not the case, 1.5 hours?! You can get to the city centre very easily by bus, train, tram, or even walking from loads of places. The tram is 25 mins from didsbury and the train is 10 mins, bus maybe 45 mins in term time, but cheap. Somewhere like Stretford or Withington would be even quicker are and on the tram line. Or Stockport on the train line is about 30 mins. Likewise with parts of North Manchester. I think it's crazy to live in the city centre on that wage, id explore other areas before going to a flat share.

Just to check, your joint income will be £3,200 a month in Sep and your total bills are £1,100 (housing) + £165 (debts) + £400 (average for food + essentials for 2 people) = £1,665. No travel costs. So if you have £1,535 left each month, why can’t you save some of it?

Sorry I just saw you meant travelling between Rochdale and didsbury. Either way if you work in Rochdale I'd look at one beds in north Manchester. I wouldn't move from the city centre to didsbury anyway as it's the most expensive part of Manchester outside the city centre ..?

Depends how old and sociable you are too I suppose, I flat shared in my 20s to save money but once I got my own place there was no going back.

Can you get a better job or take on more hours.

I think getting a room in a shared house for a while is a good way to save but like other people have said you probably need to do it for bit longer than 2 months. As long as there's room for your stuff I'd go for it

Yes, we will have more money late Sept onwards, it's just for the next 2 months.
My issue is just atm.
I have taken on more hours, but I won't be paid until very end of August.
I have maybe exaggerated with the distance, however whilst buses are cheap, trams and trains are not.
Thank you for the replies, I am going to talk to him and consider it still.

It costs £6.70 I think for a day's tram travel depending on zones, if you travel during peak hours. Depending on where you are you might have use a tram and a bus, and bikes aren't allowed onboard trams here.

I don't see why you wouldn't try it. If it's awful you can look for a flat. It might be absolutely fine

I would do it for 6 months to a year. Get on track financially, save and then find your own place. It might suck but just think of the end goal 😊

I’d do it, you’re living in just a room right now anyway. You never know as well you may find one with an en-suite!

It definitely sounds sensible, or looking for something cheaper out of the city centre. Stockport is getting pricier, but has some good housing options and it's ten minutes on the train to Piccadilly (close to Didsbury too but not Didsbury prices!)

Just over £1000 a month for rent & all bits is pretty reasonable. About what I’m paying for my 2 bed house, mortgage included. Might be worth cutting out unnecessary spending as between you you should have £600 a month after bills. If not, what’s the cause?

it does sound like your being very sensible & in the long term you’ll be happier for it. Or the alternative is you move out of the city centre which will be considerably cheaper even when you factor in travel costs.

This. And you pay into a pension that way too.

I'm confused, your take home 2800 so how is 1050 unaffordable for rent? It's about a 3rd of your income.

You don't have car expenses, no mention of kids.

Bills, groceries, phone contracts for a couple probably cost 600pm max.

Where is your 1200pm actually going?

Go for it. A work colleague of mine has a room in a shared house, all bills included. It's giving them breathing space until they can save towards renting their own place or maybe a house deposit. They share the kitchen and bathroom but they are quite happy there . The house they're in has 4 double rooms , mostly occupied by couples . Have a look at spare room and see what's out there:)

surely you earn more than 1800 as a supply teacher. My friend earns more than that as a supply ta. (Just over £100 per day)

Even with the 160 debt & student finance that's still a grand left over after all debts and bills etc.

Just saying this as moving into a cheaper room won't suddenly help you budget or manage your income so potentially reviewing that first might help.

Very good idea, and maybe for a bit longer. As you say, it's not forever and it will give you a chance to get more secure.

Given your wages, both on about 19k? I think the idea is really sensible but I'd give it six months. Clear the debt.

In that time look for a decent place and employment options. Can you look for a full time teaching job? What does DP do?

This.
so I lived in a house share, I had the biggest room, so big that I had my own sofa area too, I paid £450 for everything, it was brilliant (gone up to £600 since I moved out, they kept the price the same for me bless them), I was lonely however with a second person in there, it’s really small. Sharing one room with someone with nowhere to escape might end up being difficult on your relationship. However, finance wise it was brilliant, with 2 of you it would be incredible! I lived there until I had enough to part buy a 2 bed flat. I was there 4 years in the end! Just depends on if you both could seriously stomach eachother in one room every single day.

However, with your finances, they sound good! I’m on £1100 most months (p/t, have a child now), and £600ish of mine goes on bills per month. My partner takes the rest of the bills on. But half/just over goes on bills and I have a car and child to pay for and I seem to make it last (granted, trains and buses do cost a lot!!). if your partner doesn’t want to house share, maybe look at why you’re struggling with half your wages left. I will admit I have barely any of my own luxuries but I manage to take my child out often and we manage to have the odd UK holiday, money is tight but we manage to pay everything and are not in debt. Yours and your partners salary sound very similar so could he pay more if you’re already paying more? Etc.

This is the kind of thing that makes older people roll their eyes. Of course you live in a houseshare while renting as a young person with no dependents. No point spending more on housing costs than you need to at your stage of life, if you have DC there will be years of high expenses so best to save as much as you can now while you can so you can buy a house before having DC.

That’s so incredibly rude.

For one, you don’t know how old the OP is.

Secondly, the cost of housing has increased so much now. The average house is now what, 8 times the average salary and it’s impossible to get onto the property ladder. “Older people” had the benefit of buying houses 4x the average salary (if that!) plus you could take a 100% mortgage or even put the deposit on a credit card.

It’s not great that two working individuals should have to house share but that’s the reality of the housing market now.

My daughter is older than you and lives in a lovely house share in Manchester. All four rooms are ensuite so they just share the kitchen and living room. Her room is a good size and all bills are included.

This is the kind of thing that makes older people roll their eyes.

Are you sure you want to start the eye rolling generation game?

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/Eccles.html

Eccles could be a very good option for flats and studios. There is the tram into Manchester which is fairly quick and cheap (22 mins to Piccadilly Gardens). There are also many busses and the train to Victoria.
It’s much quicker to get into the city from the Salford suburbs than it is to get from the more well known options e.g. Didsbury.