The important difference is that the LWF ' s figure is based on an assessment of how much money employees need to live that ' s what ' living wage ' means . The ' national living wage ' is simply based on median earnings it ' s not in any meaningful sense a living wage at all . They just liked the branding . <| sep |> I think possibly you need to formalise her living at your place since she practically does live there . You say she helps with bills when you are struggling but you barely have 500 and are 800 in cc debt . And I think she must be staying over a fair amount as your bills seem very high for a single person . I live with my partner and our gaselec is 21 month and we currently pay 80 month water but we use much less than this as our water account is currently over 200 in credit . So for two of us we are using much less than one of you . I think you should be honest with your girlfriend that right now you can ' t have her over so much because it ' s costing you so much money , but that if she wants to move in then you will happily split the costs with her 5050 meaning she would be paying a monthly amount lower than any rent she would be able to get in the surrounding area . This will allow her to move out of her parents and be independent while not spending all her money on renting somewhere at the market rate . I agree with other people you need to pay off that CC debt first and then save because the interest is so high . Also need to look at getting a lower interest card . It worries me that you don ' t have more saved up , if you lost your job how long would you be able to keep paying mortgage and bills for before the bank would foreclose ? Depending on how many rooms your house is you might also want to consider renting a room our or air bnb .