money ?

Reeeka - We are going to be living in Bristol and found a very cheap one bedroom furnished flat.  This is the budget that I drew up for my visa application (that I had posted in a separate thread about the spousal visa and money):

Rent -  £475
Council Tax - £38
TV license - £11
Gas - £30
Electricity - £30
Water/sewer - £27
Telephone - £25
Transportation - £130
Groceries - £152 (£35/week)
Household items (toiletries, cleaning supplies, paper products, etc.) - £40
Pets - £25
Personal Care (like hair cuts) - £20
Total Monthly Expenses - £1,002

The rent, council tax, and water/sewer are based on the actual rates for the property we are renting.  Transportation is based on buying 2 monthly bus passes for both zones in the city.  Everything else is an estimate based on what I could find on this website, what I remember us spending 5 years ago, from talking with the ILs, and from doing online "shopping" at sites like Tesco.com.

The budget doesn't include general spending (clothes, dining out, entertainment).  And it doesn't include any money left over for savings - for emergencies, or holidays, or gifts. 

Reeeka - We are going to be living in Bristol and found a very cheap one bedroom furnished flat.  This is the budget that I drew up for my visa application (that I had posted in a separate thread about the spousal visa and money):

Rent -  £475
Council Tax - £38
TV license - £11
Gas - £30
Electricity - £30
Water/sewer - £27
Telephone - £25
Transportation - £130
Groceries - £152 (£35/week)
Household items (toiletries, cleaning supplies, paper products, etc.) - £40
Pets - £25
Personal Care (like hair cuts) - £20
Total Monthly Expenses - £1,002

The rent, council tax, and water/sewer are based on the actual rates for the property we are renting.  Transportation is based on buying 2 monthly bus passes for both zones in the city.  Everything else is an estimate based on what I could find on this website, what I remember us spending 5 years ago, from talking with the ILs, and from doing online "shopping" at sites like Tesco.com.

The budget doesn't include general spending (clothes, dining out, entertainment).  And it doesn't include any money left over for savings - for emergencies, or holidays, or gifts. 

THANK YOU CARRIE! Thanks so much!

lol we can take out the last 2...as i doubt we'd get a pet right away and he cuts his hair at home cus he just shaves it off. So...it's about £957. Who cuts their hair once a month anyway? lol I've been looking at rental prices in areas around where he lives and i've seen a 1 bedroom flat for £325 and i've seen others lower so...it could work.

Is there anyway one of his family members could act as a co-sponsor? That's what we did, his dad was able to (earns about 30K a year). We even got away with not doing a budget and not submitting his dad's bank statements (because they just got back from holiday here in the US - seeing us get married and didn't have a lot of money in there) so we just submitted his wage slips. Do take in to consideration that they do look at how much you have in the bank. My dad was able to help me out a bit so I had around $3,500 in my account when i submitted...not a lot but I think it helped get my application approved. I think my H only makes around 900 quid a month which doesn't go far in the southeast (he's in Essex). We're also staying with his parents until I get a job and we can afford a place, is there any chance you could stay with someone?

Who cuts their hair once a month anyway?

Remember that you are budgeting for 2 people, so you'll need to pay for some things twice as often.  I get my hair cut every 2 months and so does my husband. 

Also, you might be better off having him pick up a paper and look at areas to live and apartment costs since he knows which areas are unsafe and which ones are livable.  He could at least give you some town/area names to look at or stay away from (or you may have done this already).