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 is absolutely appalling. We paid £1600 in rent for a 1 bedroomed flat and had to move out as it was being increased to £1800. We actually found it was cheaper to buy so we took the plunge and we now have a mortgage of £1200. However, we barely get to save as everything is just going up in price. It's ridiculous.

Not sure how the housing system works, but can you apply for Housing Benefit and Job Seeker's Allowance?

Not sure if you have time but could you do a couple of things online to make money e.g. doing surveys etc. Some of them pay from £10-£50 in vouchers which could be helpful.

Are you able to find any cheaper properties on the private rental market - it may be worth moving over to that if you can.

It sounds like you are doing your absolute best, and your kid is very lucky to have a mum like you ❤️

I’m sorry to hear about your struggle @TwentyTwenty20 I don’t have any ideas on how you can cope but really feel for you

i was late onto property market 20 years ago for 3 bedroom semi and places in my northern town for 1 bedroom flat or even house shares are double if not more than what I am paying

The LHA rate is less than £600 here but rent have risen in some places by over 40%.

Sorry it's so impossible for you.

Your high rent is the main issue. I live in the London commuter belt and that rent cost and competition to move doesn't shock me in the slightest.

Do you know if your landlord has multiple properties? If so, it might be worth emailing them and saying you're looking to downsize could they let you have first dibs on anything that comes up. You never know in a random stroke of luck they might have another tenant who's looking to upsize from a smaller property.

Not sure if you already claim it/can claim it but are you eligible for tax free childcare? If so, it can reduce your childcare bill by 20% I believe.

initially I worked in a bar 2-3 evenings a week to build up my savings. I then changed main jobs to a related field but more specialised (think going from admin to marketing type role). This took me to £35k. I paid off the debt in 2020 then set my mind to saving. Then I leveraged the new skills to move to a consultancy in 2021, initially on £45k but they have been quite generous with progression. And I met my partner, which mean we were able to pool savings to get the mortgage end of last year.

My kitchen is tiny and I would have to have it plummed in and remove cupboards or drawers.

It's £395 where I am

There is a real shortage of reasonably priced rentals, even up north. You can have cheaper rent but are likely to end up in a rough area or with a long, expensive journey to work, meaning you have to budget for a reliable car. In my immediate vicinity in a small northern university town, there are 3 houses gone up for rent in the past year or so, all 3 bed semis. Two of them for around 1300pcm. Rented by post grad couple (cheaper than student lets) and well paid professional. The 3rd is smaller and went up for 700pcm. There was a steady stream of viewers for a good 3 days.

A lot of people I know in various parts of the country who rent had to bid for their rental property. It means the advertised rate isn't what is actually being paid for a lot of properties.

Do you know/are friends with any other single parents in a similar situation who is struggling? could you help each other out with childcare? I would possibly see if someone in a similar situation wanted to rent a place together so two single mums and their two kids that way you have help with bills, better support when it comes to childcare, you get company and so does your son. I know that wouldn't be for everyone but even if it was just short term if could help.

I don't understand why we aren't taking to the streets. Is that really simplistic thinking? It is like we just sit back and take it. I feel like I'm always just waiting for someone else to do something.

That's amazing!!! Well done.

Phone bill and internet are ones that jump out at me to save. I pay £8 a month with giff gaff and our internet is £15 a month fibre. It's not loads but hope it helps. No contract with Giff Gaff either.

there are people caught in no man’s land who can’t just “retrain in IT” for a myriad of structural and circumstantial reasons.

Not to mention that IT hiring is like a rollercoaster since end of 2019. There was huge overhiring during lockdown as companies scrambled to make their IT infrastructure suitable for WFH, then that overcorrected (painfully, for those who were "first in, last out"), and is now recorrecting back up a little in junior roles as Brexit has stopped most competition from EU nationals for those.

A glut of new IT trainees would saturate the market for junior staff and cancel out the benefit for the retrainees. And with the job market so volatile in that sector, I wouldn't risk spending money and time retraining for it right now.

Your water bill seems high Make sure you do a proper reading, it could drop £10. You could stop flushing loo after just a wee, you'd be surprised how much you save

@TwentyTwenty20 do you get council tax support? I noticed that your council tax bill is high for a 2 bed property. I'm band D and on UC and get a significant amount paid. I changed over from the old housing benefit and tax credits system to UC and it still gets deducted from my CT bill. It's worth contacting your council and applying if you don't receive it.

I think it's because it doesn't affect most people. There are huge amounts of people ( you only have to read some threads on MN) who are landlords themselves so are benefitting from rising rents, millions who own their own homes, many owning outright. Many won't care enough about those struggling to protest or to vote accordingly, hence why the housing situation has spiraled so out of control already.

Do you have a shed or garage? A tumble drier (as long as there’s power) can go outside.

I don't, no.

No one will be getting council tax support with earnings of £2100 a month ! Nothing except the single occupancy discount anyway.

Could you dob your arseholr ex in to the hmrc?

It's a contract I took out before my rent went up by £300. 14 month left.

I am not totally convinced that buying and using a tumble dryer would actually work out cheaper than occasionally having to put the heating on for an hour (you'd be looking at something like £0.70 to £1.70 a cycle), and certainly there'd be a big upfront cost which it sounds like you might be best off avoiding.

Already have, twice. They don't do anything.