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

[bumbleandbumble]

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.

Forgot to say - my electricity is on a meter. I pay around £20 a month.

Childcare: Are there any cheaper options? Look into whether or not you would be eligible for childcare vouchers or the childcare element of working tax credits.

Oyster/travel: Where do you both work in relation to where you live? Is there any way of saving a few quid by walking say, 20-30 minutes of the journey instead of using public transport?

Food budget: Can be scaled way back. What is your nearest supermarket? Do you have a Lidl or an Aldi close by?

Debt: Could you contact the people you owe money to and discuss a lower paying payment plan? As long as they're getting some money every month, companies can be fairly flexible with regards to amounts.

Phone and TV: You don't need a fancy TV package. Scrap it if you have one. I don't even have a TV licence in my house. We either watch DVD's or hook my laptop up to the television and watch things online. Saves me nearly £150 every year. Is it possible to switch to a cheap sim only mobile contract any time soon? My contract was finally up back in November. I went from paying them £36.00 a month to £10.00 a month because I wasn't at all bothered about getting a slightly newer/shinier iPhone.

Gas and electric: This is very high. Shop around for cheaper providers and speak to everybody in the house about switching things off and not keeping the heating on too much.

Have a look and see if you are entitled to any tax credits.

cant move. cannot afford to. husbands job is travelling all over zone 1-6. I am pretty close to work, 30 min door to door.

how do you negotiate debt??

I am pretty sure we dont qualify for housing benefit..i wish we did.

How have the CT and utility debts arisen? Are they your responsibility or were thry the responsibility of the house owners but you're paying to get a low rent?

If the latter then I'd move out. If your own arrears then you need to phone them up and arrange longer to pay.

You food costs are way to high £300 a month is more than enough for you family size.

What will happen about the house you are living in when you move out? Do you own a share? If not then presumably you won't still have to pay the council tax or bills there any more? That would save you 400-500 towards rent. Plus DH's 250. So you need to find about 750 to rent a 1500 place? Are you getting child benefit, tax credits etc? Is your 4yo going to school in September? Can you shave a little off food and phone bills?

why don't you get lodgers in you've got 2 spare rooms that could bring you in £550 per room.
Put a shed up in the garden and turn that into a bedroom and rent that out as well.

There you go £1500 extra a month simples

the extra rooms are unfinished. we ran out of money to keep pouring into a house that isnt ours.

what can I do about the gas/electric. it is our debt...how can you change suppliers when we owe so much to british gas. yes we are on meters. but 20£ a week on electric and 60 or so on gas...its crazy and we dont even have the heat on during the weekdays, it comes on at 5pm

Move into the other rooms and give up yours if they've just got no carpets or something.

It's London, people will rent anything at 500 quid a month.

Hello Bumble

60k & you are struggling !

You have an asset a 5 bedroom house !

Advertise "no frills room unfurnished. central London x price including bills, reference & deposit required for employed only - 6 month rolling contract"

Rent all the spare rooms out

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If you dont want to rent out the rooms

Ask your family if you can stop paying rent so that you can save up to move out to somewhere smaller & cheaper, agree a time frame

Decrease amount spent on food

Cut out all luxuries

Ask if you can renegotiate all your debt to a lower monthly amount

fluffapuss I don't know where you're based but 60k in London doesn't get you very far. When I had my first that was our annual income, we are debt free but if we'd had to shell out £1k in childcare we would have been struggling. Totally agree with all youe suggestions though,particularly the renting out of rooms, that would be a massive help.

It does not really matter where this person lives

This person asked for help

They have bills that need to be paid

They have debt that needs to be paid

They are living beyond their means, the numbers do not stack up !

As stated earlier, alot of families manage on alot less money & I expect that they budget carefully " and cut their cloth accordingly"

With all respect fluffapuss, it does actually matter where someone lives. We pay £1225 for a two bed house in London yet if we move to an area in the Midlands we're looking at, it's £500 mortgage (for a three bed). That's a big difference.