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.

What on earth^^ made you think that bragging about your salary & mortgage was appropriate? Did you not read the OP??? JFC

Housing benefit and Jobseeker's Allowance no longer exist

@TwentyTwenty20 You don't need to plumb a tumble drier in, they don't require nor expel, water! You could plug it in, in your dining room if you wish! Your landlord cannot refuse to allow one and as I said before, they have broken the law by increasing your rent by more than 10%. Please please go onto the Shelter website and hop onto their Live Chat (or give them a call) they will help you

Hi OP,
Looking at your outgoings I would

-Apply for DHP from your council - one off payment for each financial year so they may have money left seeing as its only October...

-See if the amount that you repay for court costs loan can be reduced at all

If you don't already apply for tax free childcare for pre/after school club

If you can wfh can you have your son there and pop out to do drop off/pick up? - not ideal but would he sit on tablet for a bit? May not be feasible but I know that some people where I work do this

Report your ex again - I don't have experience of this but it makes me so angry on your behalf.

It's bloody crazy that someone working full time, earning a decent salary is struggling this much each month. Agree with pp that we should take to the streets. The cost of rent and utilities is staggering. I hope that some advice on this thread helps you. You're doing an amazing job supporting your son and your family member

She has already said that rents in her area have risen steeply (including her own) and people used to London prices are flocking to the area, and also that she has looked but nobody is willing to rent to her.

Apart from that, there was an article on BBC online recently alleging that every rental unit on the market gets an average of 25 people lining up to try to rent it.

Rents have gone up everywhere because of the rise in interest rates; landlords have passed on higher mortgage payment costs to their tenants.

She has recently seen her rent rise by £300 a month. That means £300 less to spend on everything else she needs per month. It's an enormous hole to fill.

@TwentyTwenty20

Have you considered reporting your ex to the Revenue Commissioners?

This is totally normal rent anywhere in the south right now

How many pairs of uniform does he have? Maybe get him a few more 'pre loved'. Try to stay positive I know it's hard but it will get better. Keep applying for cheaper houses (rent obviously).

Is it £160-200 on food cleaning products etc per month for the 2 of you? Could you cut it down? Buy unbranded etc

God op I'm feeling for you. The rent is the issue. I'm wondering if there is some way that getting a mortgage may be cheaper. Have you a girlfriend that you are close to that the pair of you could buy with?

There is no such law. Rent just has to be fair and reasonable. Ie the same amount as market rent. Is this unfair? Yes. Landlords definitely shouldn’t be able to put rents up by such an exorbitant amount. Some are greedy. But a lot are being squeezed as on costs increase. The increase in mortgage payments is just one cost element.

What was wrong with it? It illustrates that everyone, even people you would assume were fairly comfortable are finding things difficult ATM.

The poor are being demolished and the 'aspiring MC' are being squeezed to death.

do you have a washing line in the garden?
for two of you i dont see how you need a tumble drier and it would cost more anyway. off point i know.
can you apply to a charity for a housing association house?

Statice · Yesterday 23:49

TwentyTwenty20 · Yesterday 21:50

Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, lounge, small dining room, two bedrooms, small garden. My rent was £800, my landlord put it up by £300, I didn't move because nobody would rent to me, and the council told me I would probably be in a hotel or b&b for a 'significant period' if I got evicted.
Show quote history
Greedy landlord. Bet any increase in their mortgage wasn’t as much as £300 a month.

@Statice - Not a landlord but our mortgage has gone up by £600. So it is quite possible that landlords have to increase rent to pay the mortgage.

I'm sorry OP, it's really shit, and worse when you're on your own.

Some really clueless comments on here about rent costs and housing. The price of rent is horrendous and unfortunately there's not a lot we can do about it. Even if moving is possible it's also expensive. We live in a very similar house which would usually cost around 1k a month in my area (east of England). The only reason we are keeping our heads above water is because our rent hasn't gone up since we moved in 4 years ago and is still 750 a month. When the inevitable rise happens we are screwed.

Sorry no advice, but I feel for you

I’ve added it up and it’s £1140 for everything else so £2240 in total.

consider a logder

The £300 cost of living payment is coming soon so hopefully that will cover some of your heating this winter. I'm a lone parent too but my DS is older so I'm not paying childcare, when that ends hopefully you'll be a bit better off too.

New style Jobseeker's Allowance does, I claimed it this summer. It's still separate to Universal Credit.

I would start looking into side hustles or cheap/free courses that would improve your earning potential.

My friend earns a nice little amount making wax melts in the evening alongside her day job. She enjoys doing it and the extra money really comes in handy.

Can you think about anything that you could do for an hour or two each day from home? There's a topic on here somewhere about ideas for making extra cash. Things like surveys are mentioned, although I never had much luck with them, and online PA.

What skills and qualifications do you currently have? Could you offer tutoring in a particular subject or skill?

What about registering as a childminder and either doing it for a few hours alongside your current job or in addition to it? Babysitting for people in the evenings and weekends?

Just ideas. I know they might not all suit.

I got as far as reading to where posters were telling OP that she should move to a smaller property with her DC than a two up two down terrace and am in utter disbelief that anyone could be so idiotic and nasty!

But isnt using a tumble dryer expensive as well? My dh is always claiming its expensive to use (we have one). I try not to use it as much as possible, but it takes two days now for clothes to dry when hanging!

How will it get better? Rent and bills won't come down. I know this is negative but I don't understand how and when this situation will improve.

It's tight, very tight op. On your list there's £100 for fuel and £60/70 for gas/elec - is that a double count? Sadly though, you do have just about enough to scrape by. It will be a hard couple of years but there will be light at the end of the tunnel.

Your outgoings look as though you are living very sensibly. I think interest rates were so low for so long that people forgot about stretching their pennies and that was how most people lived before the mid 2000's.

My only suggestion would be a lodger, perhaps a weekly commuter? I can't see how you can work more without a corresponding increase in childcare.