Ida Said:

What are the average monthly living expenses in Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong (AUS) for a student?

We Answered:

I live in Newcastle and go to Newcastle University. I live with my parents though. But I have looked into this and have worked out that for food I'd say about $100 per week. Renting, if your sharing you could get away with abut $100 per week, on your own would be more like $250-$350 per week. Entertainment, well it depends on what you label as entertainment.

Gwendolyn Said:

OK I really need your help?

We Answered:

In my day we would check the post or bulletin boards at school or in internet cafes

Vivian Said:

Urgently need a solicitor / law student or someone helpful.? thefemale@email.com ?

We Answered:

And this is urgent....NOW?

Minnie Said:

is this subletting or illegal or what?

We Answered:

Colleges will only pay out bursaries to recognised student accommodation and it will be to the person that owns or is legally entitled to rent the rooms out which is the landlady. That is the reason your other friends don't claim a bursary.
There is another issue here which you and your landlady don't appear to know about or in the case of your landlady maybe she is choosing to ignore and that is there is a limit to how many persons she is allowed to have at your accommodation.
You should have a student union that can advise you on this and any other legal issues whilst you are in college.

Oscar Said:

Renting a house with no off-peak power, owner wont put it in, anything I can do?

We Answered:

You need to go into Your local Tenancy Tribunal office which is located at:Level 1/175 Scott Street Newcastle, and request the forms to take Your landlord to Court through the Tennancy Tribunal and make an order on Your forms for Your landlord to supply You with an off peak meter in Your electricity box (which will be put next to Your existing meter), to meter Your hot water.
The costs involved in taking Your landlord to court are not expensive, I think for people who work the costs are apprx $40 dollars, for people on a pension or on Centrelink payments the cost is $5.00 dollars.
You will need to take pictures of Your Electric box to also submit with Your paper work so that the Registrar can look over Your paper work and pictures.
Make a copy of Your current lease and highlight the follow Clause in it: Under/The landlord aggrees to pay/ under clause 4.4 read below, You will see that Your landlord has to pay and supply tennants with meters to measure the supply or WATER, ELECTRICITY, or gas.
You are entitled to off peak meters legally.

1. The landlord agrees to give the tenant:
1.1 a copy of this agreement at or before the time the agreement is signed and given by the tenant to the landlord or a person on the landlord’s behalf, and
1.2 a copy of the agreement signed by both the landlord and the tenant as soon as reasonably practicable.
Rent
2. The tenant agrees to pay rent on time.
3. The landlord agrees to provide a receipt for any rent paid to the landlord or to ensure that the landlord’s agent provides a receipt for any rent paid to the agent. If the rent is not paid in person, the landlord agrees only to make the receipt available for collection by the tenant or to post it to the tenant. (The landlord is not required to provide or make available a receipt if rent is paid into the landlord’s account.)
Payment of council rates, land tax, water and other charges
4. The landlord agrees to pay:
4.1 Council rates, and
4.2 for water, other than water that the tenant has agreed to pay for under clauses 5.3 and 5.4 of this agreement, and
4.3 land taxes, and
4.4 the cost of installing any meters to measure the supply of water, electricity or gas, and
4.5 charges under any other Act for the residential premises.
5. The tenant agrees to pay:
5.1 for electricity, and
5.2 for gas, and
5.3 for excess water, and
5.4 any other charge for water set out in the additional terms of this agreement if the charge for water is calculated according to the metered amount of water consumed and there is no minimum rate chargeable, and
5.5 any excess garbage or sanitary charges, and
5.6 any charges for pumping out a septic system.
We have already been through all this that is why we know, we ended up with solar power, we are still debating if this option is better and having no off peak as if it rains we still have to heat the water using no off peak service.
One thing You can do in the meantime is You can turn off Your hot water system by the hot water switch which is located in Your power box , and just turn this on for 1 hour a day which will be quite sufficent for 2 people, as this used to be what my husband and I did, and this cut our power bill down by $100 or more a quarter. Hope this all help You, I would love to know how You get on with this, my email address is: lee.dwyer5@bigpond.com Kind Regards Lee-Ann