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I have to move out, but how?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
I'm a 22 year old single male and I live at home with my parents, I'v never lived on my own because I can't really afford to but the present situation at home is forcing me to think about finding my own place and I'm quite worried about the costs.
I work 39 hours per week and earn approx £750 per month after stoppages, most of the suitable properties I'v seen for rent in my area are going for around £450 to £550 per month so if I was to rent one of the said properties I'd have a maximum of £300 for essentials including council tax which I'm guessing will be about £100 a month, and costs me £80 per month to travel to work so that leaves me with £120 per month or £30 per week for necessities such as food, gas/electric, mobile top-ups, cleaning products, personal care, clothes, haircuts, one-off expenses etc....etc.
I really will be working a soul-destroying pysically demanding repetative job just to keep a roof over my head which is a depressing prospect to say the least.
Would I be better off if I just put my name down for a council house or housing association property and "lost" my job and got on the dole instead?
Most of my little brothers friends are on the dole, they seem to be doing alright, they get housing benifit of up to £110 per week, pay no council tax and pick up JSA of about 45 quid per week which amounts to £155 per week.
Why get up at 5am five days per week and work my guts out to keep a roof over my head when I can do it for free?
Any input is appreciated!
I work 39 hours per week and earn approx £750 per month after stoppages, most of the suitable properties I'v seen for rent in my area are going for around £450 to £550 per month so if I was to rent one of the said properties I'd have a maximum of £300 for essentials including council tax which I'm guessing will be about £100 a month, and costs me £80 per month to travel to work so that leaves me with £120 per month or £30 per week for necessities such as food, gas/electric, mobile top-ups, cleaning products, personal care, clothes, haircuts, one-off expenses etc....etc.
I really will be working a soul-destroying pysically demanding repetative job just to keep a roof over my head which is a depressing prospect to say the least.
Would I be better off if I just put my name down for a council house or housing association property and "lost" my job and got on the dole instead?
Most of my little brothers friends are on the dole, they seem to be doing alright, they get housing benifit of up to £110 per week, pay no council tax and pick up JSA of about 45 quid per week which amounts to £155 per week.
Why get up at 5am five days per week and work my guts out to keep a roof over my head when I can do it for free?
Any input is appreciated!
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Comments
I think the idea of trying to get a council flat is maybe not the best idea, personally I would want to choose where I lived, rather than be housed if you see what I mean. Also, you earn a reasonable amount, so although you could go and claim JSA, why would you want to when you're lucky enough to have work and future career prospects.
On the job front, you'd be far better off looking for a new job while you have your existing one, rather than quitting to look. If you have your CV and covering letter typed up, it only takes a couple of alterations depending on the job, so it's not too time consuming. But if you quit, you might not get a job for a while, and employers will want to know what you've been doing in the meantime.
My current job pays the same as my last one, but my travel costs are virtually nothing and I get free gym membership, so from my point of view it's a lot better.
You could look at cutting your travel costs by looking for somewhere to live closer to work which would help. As a first step, why not look around for a house share?
How do they (the council or whoever it might be) decide whether someone can claim any housing benifit or not?
I'm not sure to be honest. I think if you get certain other benefits then it is automatic that one would qualify.