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Original poster

Cost of living in London.. please help me save.

38 replies

bumbleandbumble · 04/03/2015 18:21

I wrote a thread a while ago, but my circumstances have changed. My husband earns 26K and I earn 30K. Our childcare costs are £300 per week (have a 3 and 4 year old.)
We are living with family so have a lower rent, but that is soon to end. How on earth will we survive. I can't find a place to rent for less than £1,500. With bills and oyster and food....there is just not enough money!

Can anyone suggest how I can save? We are drowning! And I thought going back to work would help but we are no better off.

OP posts:
LaurieFairyCake · 04/03/2015 18:25

Have you already saved a lot from having low rent?

If your income is £4000 a month and your spending £1200 on childcare where else is your money going?

LaurieFairyCake · 04/03/2015 18:29

You might also get some housing benefit. Are you looking for 1 or 2 beds?

Original poster
bumbleandbumble · 04/03/2015 20:58

would we get housing benefit? I don't think so. 2 beds, we have two children!

We have debt. And our income is not quite 4,000...my husbands is an estimate, he is self employed and brings home roughly 1,600 per month. Council tax £350, Gas/electric £90 per week, since put on the meter.

We cant save a penny, thats the point. All goes out, with low rent so what will happen when rent increases?

OP posts:
LittleBearPad · 04/03/2015 21:01

How is your council tax so high? For a two bed flat, zone 2, we pay £110 a month.

MsAspreyDiamonds · 04/03/2015 21:05

Where do you live in relation to your workplace? Do you work in central London? This means you could be flexible with where you live. There's the never ending dilemma of the shorter commutes plus higher rent versus the lower rent but longer commute.

I used to live in zone 4 with a 30 minute overground journey into Charing Cross. Have a look at south London, it might be a bit cheaper as it's not connected to the underground network.

Do you qualify for working tax credit?
Get all your expenditures down on a spreadsheet and see which areas you can cut back on. So utilities, groceries , phones etc. If you can swap or cancel anything to make a
saving then do.

MsAspreyDiamonds · 04/03/2015 21:07

How much rent are you currently paying and why is your council tax bill so high?

LaurieFairyCake · 04/03/2015 22:29

Your gas and electric is £360 a month Shock

Is your council tax so high because you're in arrears?

Where has the debt come from?

If your dh's is £1600 a month self employed, your £30k is about 2000 a month too?

Is there a reason you have to leave your cheaper rental? Can you get them to evict you so that you can get help when your homeless?

fluffapuss · 04/03/2015 23:12

Hello Bumble

I expect alot of families live in London on alot less wages than your family

Why not 2 bed property ? Your children are young, bunk beds

Change utilities provider - see www.moneysavingexpert.com
Turn things off when not in use eg tv, other electrical appliances, energy saving light bulbs

Council tax seems very high !

Save, pay off the debt

If you pay the debt, then you can look at 3 bedroom again ?

Would you consider a 1 hour train commute to work ? everything is much cheaper further out of London

Simple things like packed lunch, not buying daily Costa coffee all add up to help savings

Good luck

fluffapuss · 04/03/2015 23:26

£360 a month for gas & electric is far too high !
That is approx £30 a day !
What do you have in your house that is eating the electric ?
Do you live in a huge house ?

NotGoingOut17 · 04/03/2015 23:45

I agree that £360 is far too high but it's not £30 a day fluffapuss - in fact it's nowhere near that much, more like £12 a day. But that is still way too high OP. For context we pay about (in 1st year so not fully got an average yet) about £110-120 ish for a 3 bed semi although there are only 2 of us (not in London) - and that is still too high in my opinion, that is with DP putting on the heating when he is in the house alone in the middle of the day, I ideally would like to get it around to about £100 a month.

chanie44 · 05/03/2015 19:18

Apply for childcare vouchers if available.

Check if you are getting the 15 hours nursery for your children.

Ask for flexible working. I work 4 long days so we have one less day of childcare to pay for.

Try and find a new route to work. I realised I work on the edge of zone 1, so my travel ticket goes to zone 2 and I walk the rest of the way. Others at work get boris bikes or busses in zone 1.

Bring a packed lunch to work to keep those sorts of expenses to a minimum.

Original poster
bumbleandbumble · 05/03/2015 20:25

Its a 5 bed house. We inherited it, sort of...we share it with family and in exchange for low rent we have to cover all bills and repairs.

the council tax is high and we are behind and paying debt...same for gas/electric, they are forcing us to pay £17 a week towards debt.

Kids are getting 15 hours free, and my husband already works weekends and takes monday off. For 4 days a week we pay £300 a week in childcare.

This is my point I cannot save as every penny that comes in goes out.

OP posts:
Original poster
bumbleandbumble · 05/03/2015 20:27

I agree 2 bed flat...that is what I meant. Someone asked one or two bed and I said two. But we cannot afford that.

OP posts:
LaurieFairyCake · 05/03/2015 21:52

Have you had large repairs?

If not are you really sure you're getting a good deal living in this house as it sounds like it would be cheaper renting a 2 bed?

Post a list of all your outgoings in case we can shave or offer suggestions for cuts Smile

I'm sure you're doing this already but wrote every single thing down you spend - you need to know where your money is going because 56k is not a small amount and you really should be able to afford rent on it Confused

PatriciaHolm · 05/03/2015 22:14

rightmove has hundreds of 2 bed flats to rent in London for under 1.5k a month. Of course they aren't going to be palatial, or as central as you would probably like, but they are there. Oyster cards for 2 people for zones 1-7 would be £450. If you are bringing in say 3.5k a month, that would leave you with 1.5k for other bills etc - fine, surely?

Though you may have big payments to pay back the debt of course.

fuzzyduck1 · 05/03/2015 22:48

"Its a 5 bed house. We inherited it, sort of...we share it with family and in exchange for low rent we have to cover all bills and repairs."

so let me get this straight you share the house with family but pay rent, all bills and repairs to property????????

Seems a bit unfair to me, are they just freeloading on you. Where did the debt come from on the council tax and other bills? your not trying to pick up the pieces of someone else's bad money management?

If you are the ones who ran up the bills then sorry but you'll just have to pull in your belts until the dept has been cleared.

If not why are you taking responsibility for them?

And Why are you paying rent if the house is inherited?????????????

Maybe it's time to sell up split the proceeds and start from scratch.

LittleBearPad · 05/03/2015 23:24

A two bed flat would seem to be a lot cheaper then the current set up. Even with debts your energy bills are ridiculously high.

And fuzzy's right if you inherited the house why are you paying rent.

Original poster
bumbleandbumble · 06/03/2015 22:56

its a complicated story, re:the house

its owned by my husbands foreign family. we renovated the house and paid all bills in exchange for no rent for 3 years. that 3 year period has ended and now they are asking us to pay rent.

they dont live with us.

My salary is approx 2,000 per month (I have a commission element, so it varies slightly)
1,040 per month on childcare
160 for oyster
450 on food for family
90 on debt
40 phone and tv
60 dog (sick and needs meds)

it doesnt leave much left.

my husband brings in 1,500 per month
350 council tax
360 gas and electric
230 oyster
250 rent
40 phone
200 debt

it doesn't leave much left...so how on earth could we afford 1,500 in rent of a small two bed?

OP posts:
PhoebeMcPeePee · 06/03/2015 23:03

Unfortunately your at the point most people accept that living in London is beyond their means so up sticks & move out. Ok so your travel costs will increase possibly even double but get a 2 (or even 3) bed for under £1k and your utility bills/council tax bills will probably halve too.

PhoebeMcPeePee · 06/03/2015 23:04

*you're not your

PhoebeMcPeePee · 06/03/2015 23:06

Is there any way DH could drop to pt? His salary & travel barely covers the cost of childcare and with a lower joint income you might get some sort of help plus your dc wouldn't need ft childcare. Worked for us when we moved out of London Smile

RandomMess · 06/03/2015 23:08

Well you may get partial housing benefit and partial housing benefit when renting a 2 bed flat. You may be able to negotiate your debt repayments if the current is considered unaffordable.

PatriciaHolm · 06/03/2015 23:12

Well, your council tax and energy bills should drop considerably in a much smaller place for a start. And you might have to look a bit further out at places around the £1k mark.

Or move out of London altogether.

LaurieFairyCake · 06/03/2015 23:16
  1. renegotiate/stop paying debt that isn't recoverable - so pay council tax
  1. That will then free up 900. Hopefully you will get some housing benefit
  1. Child tax credits?
  1. Your Oyster cards are really high - that's 400 a month? Are you not currently close to work? Definitely move closer if possible.
peacoat · 07/03/2015 15:09

Surely in a 2 bed flat you will spend less on gas and electricity? I admit there's only 1 of me but I spend around £50 a month on both, and I have the heater on for about 12 hours a day. Plus I think I'm overpaying my gas.

Plus CT should drop as well.

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