Half on my monthly income goes just on rent. Unsustainable?

[UnsustainableMum]

Single mum. We live in the south east. 3 bed as two children of different sexes. Half of my monthly income now goes on rent at £1600 per month. The rents just keep rising along with every thing else. Surely rents can’t rise anymore?!

And therein lies your answer….…..but 300quid here….500 quid there….30 quid somewhere else…..it all adds up….if you change your mindset and look for cheaper options in every part of your life then you will start to feel the benefit of having some meaningful extra money……but only you can make these life changes …..if you can’t be arsed then fine but your life will continue as it is…..this whole thread is around your excuses as to why you can’t change anything….the saying goes…..’a long journey starts with a single step’

Exactly @Cat1504 look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves.

Excluding people who don't have enough to cover basic essentials and those who have so much money they can endlessly spend without running out of money, the biggest contributor to how financially comfortable the middle majority are is how they manage their money, not how much they have.

Two people could have the same income and similar requirements in terms of household size and over time, one could build up thousands in savings and the other could be thousands in debt with little noticeable difference in lifestyle just by differences in whether they shop around, earn interest or pay it or slightly different purchasing choices such as changing things like cars and mobiles less often and choosing slightly cheaper but still perfectly decent choices.

It’s not just renters. Mortgages are equally high esp in southeast. But apparently we’re all rich because we own a 600k house … despite having had to take abc pay huge monthly mortgages

housing costs in general whether mortgaged or renting are awful - you used to be able to have an ok family one with one average earner using 3 x salary as mortgage. Now you need 2 decent earners and many multiples more.

But I have not asked to change anything. I simply was stating half my income was rent and that seems wild.

Someone asked my expenses and I stated them. I see myself as pretty careful in most aspects of life. I never buy tea or coffe out. I do not eat out or get takeaways. I use a cashback app that gives me money back on all my online food shops. I sell everything on vinted even if it’s just £1.

The amount of money it would cost to replace my car at this point for something that may not be reliable does not seem a sensible idea to me. I have friends whose cars are constantly in the garage costing them £100s even £1000s. My cars reliable. Safe. I’ve only ever been the owner so I know it’s entire history no hidden secrets. I will likely use this car until it becomes unreliable.

To add I own the car outright. Yes I drive a lot for work/ kids lives etc but those are my costs for a year. Other than the yearly service and mot.

id much rather pay £300 extra for the sheer reliability and one less thing to feel stress about when I’m doing everything myself! I just looked and my insurance will be £200 cheaper this year so not bad at all :)

You choose to live in a three bedroom house - an expensive one if your council tax is an indication - so it’s not wild, it’s just because of two things - your landlord is running a business not a charity and you don’t earn enough to pay less than half of your income on your rent. Why don’t you do something constructive to change this e.g put your name on a social housing list?

Yes rents are obscene

yiu will manage because people do but you are basically buying a house for someone else which really sucks

the person with the mortgage is saving - investing . In 20 years time they have an asset to live in or sell. The renter is still renting. It’s not the bloody same at all

I have and I am so low down in priority I imagine it will be like 10 years if I am lucky. I hope I’ll be earning significantly more by then regardless.

A 3 bed house is hardly a mansion. The third room I’m not sure you can even call a bedroom 🫣

I’ve explained multiple times that actually even renting a 2 bed here is not much different to what I’m now paying. My rents actually not been increased compared to the going rate here. I should be paying around £1900 to £2000 if I was to move!

I honestly believe it’s a false economy buying new things on the cheap. I will always research extensively before I buy anything. It hasn’t failed me yet. I have a home full of very good quality furniture. I can’t see myself having to replace anything for years. I don’t do trends I buy classic and what I like.

I actually lived in a home with a family member when I was at university to save costs. And paid her good rent. She was always struggling each month. But I’d watch her throw money way on yet another cheap piece of tat that a few months later to a year would be relegated to the bin. I could never understand the logic. Over the years it would cost far more. She would do the same with these cheap old cars that were constantly breaking down and then being scrapped as they weren’t worth the few hundred quid she’d pay. Her bargains (as she would describe them) were not bargains. To top it off you spend hours of your life constantly buying and replacing. Also terrible environmentally.

Do you live in a cheaper area of the country for car insurance. It’s not just your car make and model that affects the price? My car is parked on a road too.

All 4 cars mentioned are in different areas of Essex. One in a city centre. And all of them are road parked.

After reading all your posts op I’m not sure what you want from posting.

You’re left with £1600/month to live on.

Honestlh try being left with £600 for everything when yo bring home less than £2k and your rent is £1200 (and you were lucky to get that because everyone wants guarantors/ 3.5xearnings etc.)

You’re comfortable. And any suggestions anyone makes, you shoot down.

I think this is because women were the first sort of quantitative easing, because the more women there are in work, the more tax raised and thus GDP shoots up.

Now because of a sharp decline in birth rates as a result of women going to work, we let in hundreds of thousands of migrants (both legal and illegal) with a net take of 2.5 million migrants pre-lockdown. It's only going to get worse because the government will continue to print it's way out of debt which will debase the currency so money is ever-more worthless, lots of people pulling welfare, ie PIP. Boomers who won't accept cuts to their pensions and social care, endless public sector strikes etc This is just the beginning I'm afraid.

I didn’t ask for suggestions hence not shooting them down. It was a discussion about the crazy high rents and how unsustainable it feels

Our opinions may differ and that is ok. Personally I do not think £1600 a month cover all bills, food and raise 2 kids goes that far these days. Once it did. As a single person and no kids it would be very different!

OP, it’s always been expensive to live in a one adult Woking household, Please don’t be under the impression being single with no kids and living alone is some sort of nirvana. A one bedroom flat here in my bit of the north west costs £1K a month to rent. Lots of us single people without kids aren’t entitled to benefits. So to some degree it’s swings and roundabouts,

Single with no kids and OPs income is easier than otherwise - you have a smaller place and less mouths and clothes

yes OP housing is mad - house prices and rents have risen so much since the council house sell off

But OP’s income includes universal credit.

If you can move further north. That rent is awful to my ears being from the midlands

It goes way way further than having £600 for everything. Try keeping the lights on, the clothes clean, the house warm, the council tax baylif from the door, car on the road and feeding and clothing 3 people on £600.

I consider you’re incredibly lucky and don’t have anything to moan about

UC is currently being used to line landlord's pockets and subsidise employers so they don't have to pay an actual living wage.

If Reeves wants to plug the black hole, perhaps we could stop this redistribution of wealth from the tax paying workers to landlords and bosses.

In recognition of the fact that it would otherwise be impossible

Genuinely sorry you are in that situation. Are you disabled and unable to work?! It must be hard.

It's not a lot really is it to keep 3 people fed, warm, clothed and have a little fun.

I have 2k left after bills. I have nothing left to save at the end of each month. I like the odd shein basket and we eat well but we don't have many holidays, just UK and occasional weekends away.

That is fair. It feels like mortgages and rent are all set up to be affordable for two adult households but as a single person it’s really hard.