Cost of living. I'm having a meltdown tonight.

[TwentyTwenty20]

I put my heating on for an hour or so this morning because I forgot to dry my son's school uniform, and my landlord won't let me install a tumble dryer. It cost me an extra £2. I didn't put my heating on until January last year. We lived under the duvet until then. I got my son changed under the covers. I used to just get in the bath and stay there in the evening to keep warm. I'm a lone parent, I take home £2100 a month and get £140 UC, £96 child benefit. My rent is £1000 a month. Council tax £150 with SP discount. Electric, gas, petrol, car insurance, Internet, school uniform, food, life insurance, water bills, £130 on before and after school clubs so I can work, then there's failed MOT which I had to put on a credit card which I'm paying off, tv license, phone bill etc. Then there's life and scraping by so my son can continue his gymnastics hes been doing since he was 2. Council is awful and you can't apply for any of the cost of living stuff unless they have 'identified you'. I've done income and expenditure with a professional and they've said I've pretty much cut back as far as I can. They fine tooth combed my bank statements. How is the amount I make not enough? I have applied for 6 cheaper houses in the last month and none will rent to me. I'm 400 and something on the list for council housing. 10 years ago I was on 18k a year and comfortable and saving.

Will this ever get better? That's a genuine question because I can do all the cutting back I can but if I keep getting knocked back for cheaper housing and higher paid jobs I just don't know how I will go on. It is no life and I don't enjoy getting out of bed in the morning anymore.

@saffy2 I partly agree- I partly don't. Stuff like gas and electric and council are national rates and council tax really depends where you are- my friend 'up north' is paying similar on a similar house to us in Bath . Rent however- huge differences!!

I politely disagree, simply because I live in SE. You can rent a 4 bed for £1500. £1000 seems toppy for a place to accommodate 1 adult, one child. We are 63 miles from London. OP really needs to move asap.

You can’t compare the north, in pretty much everything including gas and elec costs/council tax costs and petrol costs etc. everything is more expensive down here

While I agree with you on rent, many other bills are either the same or even more in the north. Rates are the same but it's colder for a start in the north and more people are off mains gas. Council tax is sometimes even higher, as its comparatively cheap in London Boroughs. I've also spent time all over the country and many times have seen cheaper petrol in the south.

Almost £200 of your income goes on debt repayment and some on childcare and car expenses. When will the debt be repaid? Is the car essential? Is there cheaper wraparound care like a friend with children at the same school? If you add up all your outgoings your income does cover it but doesn't leave loads spare. This unfortunately is down to you just having the one income even though it is quite a good one, rents going through the roof, your lack of family support. It will get better as your child gets older and doesn't need childcare and when the council tax arrears, court costs and credit card have gone.

Your best way of getting out of this hole long term is to buy your own place but that either means cutting down to spending virtually nothing or getting another income from somewhere. Also moving to a cheaper area. Apart from this vulnerable family member who seems to be draining you as well do you have other support near you?

You can’t compare the north, in pretty much everything including gas and elec costs/council tax costs and petrol costs etc. everything is more expensive down here

The average rent for an average two bedroom terrace in my very average area in the northern city I live in is £1k PCM. Not everything up here is cheaper than in the south.

And if anyone thinks I'm lying, it's just as bad here in south west.

Here's 2 typical small 2 bed houses, 1 in Bath and one in Chippenham, 12 miles away - which is cheaper but still not cheap

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/139956650#/?channel=RES_LET

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/140545061#/?channel=RES_LET

I'm not in the UK as I said before in this thread, but I'm absolutely shocked at the rental prices for horrible shitboxes on this thread! I lived in places like that thirty years ago when I was a student in Belfast, then in London in the 90s, but they were cheap! I wouldn't really expect someone living in somewhere like Luton to have to pay that kind of cash for a crappy 2 bed terrace. Thank fuck I emigrated, you guys are getting ripped off for sub standard accommodation.

I am so sorry, I know this feeling and it sucks. We used to have £10 a week leftover without any life insurance etc and no car either. Really hard times. Its many years later now and I had to live frugally for some time and move locations to get much cheaper rent. It is hard with kids to move, but now I wish I had done so sooner. Your rent is significant, but I know that it's tough to find alternatives at the moment. We moved to one of the cheapest places in the country and we are so much better off financially because of it.

Forgot to add his dad earns over 40k a year but works for his friend and declares 16k a year so I get a whopping £7 a week from him

Does his dad not take any interest have any concern for his child’s development? What kind of man chooses not to provide even basic financial support for his own son? If he can’t be a decent human being and offer a proper amount of money I’d be threatening to disclose his income fiddling to the authorities.

Are you sure you are getting the single person discount on your council tax? I thought it was 50% which would make your council tax £300 per month which seems really high.

Mines private rent. Not council

And this is exactly why we need far more good quality social housing, if the OP was paying even £650 , she could manage far better - it's all very well doing a lot more shared ownership but it still takes a good few thousand to be in that position and on 1 income many fail the affordability controls too - especially with current mortgage rates

It's the other reason many people 'rush' into often unsuitable relationships- often to help prop up finances

Single person's Counci Tax discount is only 25% (not 50%)

Landlord*

A dehumidifier would help the clothes dry quicker and would prevent any damp problems from it. Dry air feels warmer as well, you don't need the heating as high and it would help with heating costs.

It's in the first post that she gets SP council tax reduction

Taking a slightly different tack, when did you last get a raise at work? If it’s been a while you could be due one? Women are notoriously bad for asking for more salary and men are often quite happy to do it!

Also my energy company got in touch recently and said they’re reducing my DD as energy costs are going down, has that been reflected in what you’re paying?

I think the blunt truth here is £1000 a month rent is extortionate!

the average rent (excluding London) is £1278 a month, so OP is paying £278 less than average.

Where I am a 3 bed 1930s -1950s semi is £1400/1500 and Im nowhere near London or the Home Counties

OP how can your landlord refuse to allow you a tumble drier?

You rent the place so surely its up to you which appliances you ring with you?

I agree.
I am a professional in a career I needed a PhD to get into.
I take home £2550 a month, so not much more than OP. It doesn't go far .

I agree OP. Some posters would have you think you were well off but the reality is very different. As you say all it takes is an unexpected bill and you are screwed.

I am sure some people on here don't actually engage their brains before they post.

Very cheap fibre broadband, under contract myself and paying much more but would be interested in the provider!
My SIM only deal is less though, with Lebara (they are Vodafone). In the right internet place at the right time by accident and got a promotional offer at £4.95 a month for their present under £10 month package.Unlimited UK calls and texts. Some international minutes, 3 gigs of data. Can't remember the time limit but expected price hike hasn't happened in over a year. More than enough for me as mostly use phone data for sat nav. WiFi for everything else.
You sound extremely resourceful OP, and much better at budgeting than me in everything else on your list.
I can't see how you could work more hours. Unless it's more passive eg selling, which you already do, or fits in with other things you already do. Babysitting?
The food bank idea stands out.
It's crap. Hang on in there. Take joy from the brilliant job and example you are setting your 4 year old, and the time you enjoy with them.

@Sparky555 single person discount is 25%.

Neither you nor I know what has happened. Ongoing investigations can take months sometimes even years.

The IR won't prosecute unless it's worth their while because of court costs so they give the Tax dodger 'enough rope to hang themselves'.

https://www.fawcetts.co.uk/self-employed-plumber-jailed-for-tax-evasion-494/#:~:text=A%20man%20has%20been%20jailed,March%20at%20Wolverhampton%20Crown%20Court.

Massive rents and house prices are simply about supply and demand. For better or worse the population of the UK has been growing very quickly (in terms of historical growth %) the last twenty years. And the Tories for one reason or another (and again regardless of where you stand on the issue) have done pretty much nothing to cut overall net migration, despite Brexit.

From 21-22, 89,000 people arrived from the Ukraine and 76,000 people arrived from Hong Kong alone. Anyway, rather than building the necessary homes to deal with a national population that has been growing by circa 500k+ every year, the Tories have sat on their hands and not increased the amount of housing been built.