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.

It’s a fucking disgrace OP, I work full time and had to use a food bank for the first time today, genuinely can’t afford food, feel like we’re living in the Victorian era, might as well have poor houses and debtors’ prisons, appalling situation that so many find ourselves in

I don't think BTL is really the problem, because at least those houses are available for rent.

The issue is the empty homes as mentioned above (I had no idea it was as many as 1/3 in London, that is utterly ridiculous) and people having second and holiday homes. I didn't put this on the "what are your top three things for a new government thread" but I would totally vote for a party who heavily taxed people on residential properties that were not occupied for residential use (unless the local council says they can't be and such properties should be few and far between). Then they would either rent them out properly, or sell them.

DH and I were talking about this just yesterday. I was saying we should try out a universal income (and high earners pay it back in tax). He was saying that we still have a Puritanical view that only the "deserving" poor should get anything, instead of thinking about the advantages of ensuring that everyone has an acceptable standard of living. And mentioned the workhouses, the Elizabethan poor laws etc.

And if there were a universal income, it/a proportion of it could be diverted from a feckless father to the mother to pay for the kids.

Those of you saying get a dehumidifier, what ones are you suggesting to get? I've had a look online and there are so many to choose from!

I’m still reading replies but only on mumsnet where plenty state their apparent 6 figure salaries, rural (always rural) large houses with high mortgages, designer clothes, cars and luxury holidays does someone tell a struggling poster that under £200 a month is a good ‘slush’ fund to cover everything else bar essential bills as a single parent.

I have a Blyss 12 ltr we got last year and its really good, makes such a difference. I also got a drying pod but sometimes I just use the dehumidifier and we use it in winter when people are showering. I have bad sinus issues and it helped that also. Much better than using the dryer, I hate ours and it's much more expensive to use.

@enchantedsquirrelwood I agree with those points too. I personally would also ban Airbnb of whole properties - here in Bath it's massively contributing to shortages of couple and family rentals.

I would allow rooms within a home- and I believe that was the original purpose - many places overseas have done this

Yes get one with a big capacity @UsernamenotavailableBob .
The cheap £50ish ones that collect 0.5 or 1 litres are not worth it at all. We had one of these initially and they are awful.

We spent a decent amount (£150-200ish) on a good one a few years ago and it has been a God send. It doesn’t add much to my electric bill but has meant my room that was prone to mould will (hopefully!) never again need treating and re-decorating.. so far, so good anyway and I’m 2+ years in.

We have one with a control panel that tells us the humidity of the room and it is very interesting and I can really see why I need jt (as in, the humidity will start at 90% and I’ll manage to get it down to 55% after a few hours).

Only in London.

Well, of course there will be variations within any region. I'm aware that much of Kent has lower rents than my part of Sussex, but even within Kent there are areas that are much more expensive.

I have ILs in Tunbridge Wells, and rents there are quite a bit higher than here. A letting agent told DNiece's friend that she'd be lucky to get a 2-bed for less than £1600.

Friends in Surrey were paying £1500 a month for a tiny house, until they bought recently. Their rent was one whole salary!

The birth rate is declining because young people can’t afford houses or kids and have decided to enjoy holidays, a better standard of living and good food and drink instead. If you take hope away from people they learn to adapt.

I rent a tiny house and sleep in the sitting room. The upside is the children have bedrooms and we can afford the rent on UC (I also work). But not having a bedroom where I can close the door and sleep, read, look out of a window, write, think or even cry if I need to is grim.
I don't recommend it unless there is absolutely no other choice.

Your rent price is actually insanity. I'm in South West Scotland and my mortgage is £260 a month for a large two bedroom flat in a town centre.
The fact that the rent price is "normal" is mind-blowing

Which county is that then?

I am speaking from experience when we were just starting out as a family (unplanned pregnancy) we rented a single room in a shared house because that's all we could afford. A mum using the lounge as a bedroom is absolutely fine with only one other person in the house. Yes a bedroom is preferable but it's not a terrible option.

Why is it offensive I worked and lived in less desirable circumstances or did you gloss over thst part?

Mental idea, everyone earns the same no matter how in demand their skills are and how much they study and pay to qualify. Good luck with that. Already enough brain drain with the PAYE tax system.

@DragonFly98 how decades ago was that? I didn't think most people lived in a shared house with DC? I don't think LL would even accept in today's generation. It's not suitable and I agree OP shouldn't have to she earns a good wage!

@Princessandthepea0 I'm pretty sure that's not how it works- you get allocated a certain amount and what you earn is on top -

Do you use tax free childcare for the wrap around care? Saves you 20% which all adds up.

Personally I would stop the gymnastics as well, I know it's harsh but 4yr olds don't need expensive clubs yet. I would save the costs for when he's older.

Would your work allow you to WFH more to save money on wrap around and on fuel?

High earners pay it back in tax was the quote. How does that work then? We already have such a shortage of high earners because they are all fucking off because excessive tax, cost of living, low comparative salaries. This is not an attractive country anymore to anyone. We already can’t fund the state due to these issues as the people who are left aren’t working (the majority). We are already borrowing to fund the state as it is.

@Meggie2008 how long have you had that place for a mortgage that low and is is on a fixed low rate still ? and the fact it is a mortgage is totally irrelevant to anyone paying rent - people can't just buy these days without hefty income and hefty savings for deposits- not everyone can just live anywhere either because of various committments - often parents or siblings etc

@Princessandthepea0 it's not an idea I agree with- but I do know it doesn't work the way you stated it. Google it if you are interested- I do know a few countries are considering it

@SUCkythings absolutely- it's why we only had 1