How do you afford the bills alone?

[Mum2Romone]

I was lucky , the landlord prefers single people , and likes to help out single mothers apparently, hes already been around and bought new lights for all the bedrooms after i showed him a crack in one, and needed a globe replaced in another

He has sorted any problems i had straight away too, Guess im super lucky ,
I was honest and out my married name ( which I still use of course ) and reason for moving, I put currently seperated.... I thought it would hold me back and was super suprised when it helped ...

I was just stresses about the cash flow after moving, thanks ladies for all your ideas, I do them all, and dont need to stress so much now that things have settled, i still owe telstra but im paying it off and as I see it they are arses for charging two seperate connection fees for one service (ph & net in one) so they can wait for their money. ....

life gets easier and I have been making some great cheap meals....

Whats a luxury anyway? lol Just kidding....

[_JeSs_]

yep Gigi thats it! or they prefer the 'perfect' 2 parents 2 kids kinda thing, its crap! what, since we are single mums we cant work, or have enough money to pay rent? and cant keep the house tidy? its crap lol

oh thats very lucky mum2romone! i looked for the whole time i was preg with DS cuz i took over the lease from mum when she got married, place was a bit small so i wanted something bigger... had no luck then, then started looking again when DS was about 8 months old n looked for a year again, no luck.. then when i got with the ex, we looked for about 3 months n got something... really shows that they rather 2 adults! and i looked for about 6 months for the place i just got, was just luck that i got it i think... and im pretty close with my current real estate agent lol... anyway, yer write up what u spend n cross off what u can live without! cheap meals work well and dont feel bad about asking st vinnies for salvos for food vouchers, i rang st vinnies when i moved outta my last place, cuz i had to pay the ex's bills he left and carpets to get steam cleaned ect, and they gave me 2 vouchers, for 110 each! i was very suprised! that fed us for a month lol! dont know how often they do it but it was a lifesaver... yer whats a luxury!? i dont know these days either but u get used to that too haha

[Jennie13]

Im still paying of debts from back when I was with xdp, and I dont have a car (coz i left it with him even tho now he has 2 ) so atm for me its a house or a car sucks

[Gigi]

my x's financial irresponsibilities are still following me, even though we're separated.

"Moving House expenses" always throw me for a loop, they're always more than i expect. I got billed for DISconnecting at one end and billed for RE-connecting at the other end. Yowsa. No gap in time, just transferring.

and extra to that, i've spent $100's on making this place lockable, safe (living on a corner in a dodgy neighbourhood) and repaired. never had to spend like this on any other rental i've ever had (in 30 years). The Housing Trust has this stock standard answer, if something is wrong "that's your problem". i suspect the gas heater here is leaking carbon monoxide - it's MY problem apparently. if i want it fixed, i have to pay for it 100%.

i'm glad you've got a great landlord M2R.

in my opinion, it takes months to recover just from the moving costs, let alone all the other unforeseen expenses you have been coping with.

the DV service very kindly gave me a reconditioned fridge when i first moved out, but after six months, things are going wrong with it, i'm dreading replacing that fridge. Something is wrong with the washer, it's JUST still in the warranty period. But the replacement part is not happening (poor plumber has been out 3x, part has never fitted). if i have to replace TWO whitegoods in the same year - i dread to think about it.

this time of year makes me grumpy - we haven't gotten the annual Family Supplement - cos X doesn't file his tax returns. That would make SUCH a difference to us.

[Mum2Romone]

Salvation Army stores ( the ones with furniture) have whitegoods too

i was just thinking this the other day as my fridge is about to go. They had ones bigger, newer than mine in perfect condition for only $200.
Thats where im going when it totally dies

Mine has been damaged from 10 years of moving between houses and hasnt had a light in it for yonks so have a look for whitegoods there ....

[Gigi]

thanks, i will ask Salvos. i thought they had stopped selling electrical goods, due to Public Liability insurance concerns, so would not have even thought they would have had whitegoods. thanks for tip. I know of people (in last five years) who have wanted to donate whitegoods, who have rung multiple charities, and been refused by all (because of the Public Liability worry).