by
driving to work and back.
(dchurch bah, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 15:11, 2 replies)

Do you work at the other end of the country?
Or drive a ferrari?
(Nanny Pat vote for me, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 15:14, closed)

1200 miles per month.
Roughly 8 quid a day.
So about 150 quid, assuming I can go the shortest distance, which I haven't been able to do due to a road collapsing (well, looks more like the moon than a road, so have had to increase my journey by about 2 miles per day - I rounded this up, so guessed at about 200 quid, which isn't far out, plus I have to drive to pick up my kids (as, of course, it would be too much to ask that this driving be shared between my ex and I). That probably adds an extra 50 quid a month.
(dchurch bah, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 15:20, closed)

Has
anyone seen the price of pertrol recently, loads of people pay £200 a month. If I drove to work it would cost me about that, so i get the train, which is about £15 less a week
(bROKEN aRROW PUA HVI Master, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 15:50, closed)

I would
get the train too.

Sadly, getting the train requires a 10 mile bus journey (in the direction AWAY from where I work), to catch another bus at the bus station to the railway station, then a 2 mile walk at the other end.

It works out about the same financially.
(dchurch bah, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 17:09, closed)

That's not too bad,
It used to be 240-250 for me. I know others who drive even further!
( Blind Meach Cautiously optimistic, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 15:23, closed)

That's what I thought
The job I was in before was double that.

I thought I was doing well by getting a slight pay rise to go to a job closer to home.
(dchurch bah, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 15:27, closed)

A guy I went to college with lives just outside of Sedgefield
and drives to Scarborough each day. 75 miles each way. He very soon bought a dual-fuel car and saved a fair packet.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 15:29, closed)

There's
no way on Earth I could afford to buy a new (or nearly new) car like that.
I struggled to get my car through it's last MOT with the help of a mechanic friend, desperatly crossing my fingers that I could squeeze another year out of the old bird.
(dchurch bah, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 15:32, closed)

It wasn't new
It was an Exchange & Mart job or eBay or some such. Bit of a Sally Gunnell.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 15:59, closed)

A
Hybryd would surely cost more than I could sell mine for - which would be around 500 quid, if I cleaned it up a little.
(dchurch bah, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 17:10, closed)

Sounds like it's worth more than mine
6 months' tax and a full tank doubles the value. It's in for it's MOT this week, I'm dreading it.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 17:55, closed)

what about petrol for driving other places instead of work?
shops, visiting friends and family etc?

I bet £900pcm for rent gets you a pretty swanky place. If you were that bothered about being skint, you'd find somewhere a damn sight cheaper. That would also save you a load on the council tax.

You're not just fiscally worse off on benefits, your quality of life goes down the pan.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 15:22, closed)

I'll take
that bet.

It's certainly not swanky. There's no double glazing, the carpet is threadbare, and there's no garden. At all. The kitchen and bathroom are Lime Green and straight from the 60's - which is when they were both installed. We can't take too long a shower as the water comes through into the living room, the landlords plumber mate, of course can find nothing wrong.

I have looked about, and for around 800 quid I could get a 2 bed terraced place. Of course, that would mean my two children sharing, which very soon (within the next 2 years) would become illegal - due to their ages travelling only in one direction; so by law, very soon I would need to find a 3 bed place, and I'd be looking at around 900 quid again, plus I'd have the crap of the upheaval that goes with moving, twice.

I could of course, move to Wales where I believe propertly prices and associated rents are a lot cheaper, but I think the extra in travel to work and back would negate any saving.

Indeed, I do also drive to pick up my kids. That would add about 50 quid to the (g)estimated 200 quid a month.
(dchurch bah, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 15:26, closed)

Nah, I'm not buying it.
Someone who took the banks on and won does not pay £900 pcm to live in a shabby house with no double glazing and knackered plumbing.

Unless you've found a gold seam under the kitchen floor that is.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 16:06, closed)

I can
provide photographic evidence if it pleases.

If I didn't want knackered plumbing and no double glazing, I'd be paying a shed load more than 900 quid a month.

All taking on the banks did for me, was get my own money back - in total about 2.5k - around 5 years ago now.

Not really enough to live the rock-star lifestyle on, I'm sure you will agree.
(dchurch bah, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 16:52, closed)

Yet you've never
taken the landlord to account over this? His neglect to repair the leaky shower sounds like a breach of Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 Section 11.(1)(b) and arguably Section 10. My mate Ray did the same with his landlord when he had a leaky roof. After threatening the landlord with a formal letter and quoting a bit of legislation adding that he can withhold the rent to pay for it himself if they don't get a move on, they had a roofer round in 24 hours.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 17:46, closed)

Where do you live?

(Nanny Pat vote for me, Thu 3 Jun 2010, 0:31, closed)

I'm not buying it either.
This is the guy that doesn't have a bank account, and when asked about the lack of interest that the contents of his safe receives, said that he does such things as buys houses, guitars, items of value such as art etc for cash, then sells them later at a profit.

So, you can afford to buy and sell houses for cash, have a safe in your bedroom that always has thousands of pounds cash inside it, but you rent a shit tip house?

I detect the heady stench of bullshit. Either you've made up your current situation in a bizarre display of poverty tourism, or you've lied about your cash-filled safe, your vast income and pretty much your whole lifestyle.

All anyone who's curious about this peculiar state of affairs needs to do is peruse your profile and answers.
(dozers, do fuck off ur a nob m8, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 20:05, closed)

Not always.
Sometimes, if I've saved and/or sold something, then there will be a fair chunk of dosh in there.

...and I rarely sell things. The things I have bought were for investment, not quick profit.

Houses here are expensive, this is the best deal I could get.

I nearly had to go for a 4 bed place in the next village along - that would have meant just under 1500 quid a month.

I'm not claiming poverty, I'm merely answering the question, which was; Would I be better off not working - I think there's benefit to both. Not working would mean my outgoings would more than halve, and dental treatment etc... would be free.

Admittedly, at the start of the year when I had massive toothache, I did also have a massive tax bill to pay as well, rendering me unable to pay the 200 quid to get my teeth fixed, so I may have stretched the truth inadvertently by not putting that bit in.
(dchurch bah, Thu 3 Jun 2010, 7:48, closed)

So where do you live then?
Sounds like pretty steep house prices.
Even steeper than London in fact.....
(Nanny Pat vote for me, Thu 3 Jun 2010, 12:55, closed)

why would it be illegal?
I thought room sharing by family members was perfectly legal?
( ascorbate, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 18:11, closed)

Er, it's not illegal
For two or four or even twenty kids to share a room, whatever age and sex they are. All it means is if you were on housing benefit you'd get a higher rate for an extra bedroom requirement.

Interestingly the threshold for this is much lower than the threshold at which the council will admit you are overcrowded. The threshold for overcrowding has not changed since 1935, and counts living rooms and kitchens as well as bedrooms.

But even if you are considered to be legally overcrowded, there's not a lot they will do about it. They're not going to put you in jail for living in a small house, FGS.
(Marmite Omelette ...but I feel better having screamed, don't you?, Wed 2 Jun 2010, 22:27, closed)

I
was under the impression that a male and female could not sleep in the same room after the age of 12.
(dchurch bah, Thu 3 Jun 2010, 7:45, closed)

that's what I thought
I am pretty sure that I shared a room with my brother and sisters when I was over 12 - sometimes we still do share rooms when visiting family!
( ascorbate, Thu 3 Jun 2010, 9:35, closed)