How to Prepare

seabright

I agree with all the stock piling ideas above. Also, I suggest you joing your local freecycle group (www.freecycle.org), all sorts of things get offered on there. I'd suggest you look out for a freezer and slowcooker (if you don't already have one) and then you can also stockpile meals as well as ingredients.

Join your local library too. Most take all the daily & local papers too, so you can job-hunt from there, and use their computers whilst you're about it.

The carboot sale has just started, have a mooch round them too. You might find bargains you can sell for more on ebay/amazon etc as well as presents you can store until needed for birthdays and Christmas.

Will try and think of some more ideas for you!

greenbee

There's lots of information on this board:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.html?s=&daysprune=&f=165

RAS

Hi

Get one months rent or mortgage in hand so that you are not clobbered when the HB takes time to come in.

Have you got PPI on any of your debts? if so can you claim?

Do you have any garden space? You only need a small area and you can start to grow stuff. Lidl has seed packets at 29p for most things and 49 for peas and beans. Personally, do not think peas are worth growing money wise but other veg are.

If you have any debt to your existing bank, open another account in an unrelated bank and get your benefits moved now. Then shift over other payments later. That will prevent them off-setting your future income against the debts. Ditto if you havr savings accounts with the bank where you hold a current account, as they can offset those.

If you have a local credit union, join that and get a few payments in before the job goes. They make short-term loans at lowish rates.

flutterbyuk25

Are you in any benefits scheme at your current job? In my job we have a benefits scheme where we can buy x amount of vouchers for stores for 5-10% lower than face value, e.g. £100 voucher for £95 cost. It includes supermarkets too.

Also maybe start buying saver stamps for the supermarket you shop at. a pound a week for months will only be £12 outlay but would keep you in bread/milk etc for a little while.

Hope all gets sorted soon

x

seabright

Another thought, on the Lakeland website (www.lakeland.co.uk) if you apply for the gardening catalogue you get a free packet of seed - mine were salad leaves

Taye

Hi,

I started this thread less than 2 weeks ago, when i was told that chances where i was going to be made redundant, well i've still heard no news on that front though we have been told it may take longer than 3 months before it all get's sorted out so im crossing my fingers that i have more time.

I've been looking for another job just in case and i've been doing my best to clear off my debts and sort out my finances granted not much can be done on that front in just 2 weeks but it's been looked at and plans have been made.

However i was sorting out my stock piling and i have to admit i've shocked myself, i've been cooking like a demon freezing foods and filling tubs under my bed full of anything i could find.

Heres how i've done so far.

Frozen family meals = 14
Frozen single meals = 19
4 frozen family sized pizza's
1 tub icecream
4 family sized chunks of banana cake (frozen)
1 carton of UHT
1 tub dried milk
24 packets of crisps
4 tins of tuna
6 tins of beans
2 tins of tomatos
1 bag suger
2 bags of dried pulses
1 bag spagetti
1 bag oatmeal
1 bag rice
1 box of ritz crackers
1 Large bar of chocolate
2 large bags of smarties.

Ok granted some of this stuff doesn't exactly seem essential, (crisps, chocolate, icecream etc) but i figure if the worst does happen it would be nice to have a few treats set aside to make us (me and the kids) feel human.

I think the scaryist thing is that i've managed to set all this aside / cooked all the meals etc without blowing my normal monthly budget, i've litterally rooted though my cuboards and worked out what i have spare and will keep till potentially this time next year and horded it, then i've also bought things i've seen on offer etc.

Im also gardening this year so i've pretty much doubled any veg that comes into the "freezable" catagory.. so hopefully i'll have some of that too should the worst happen.

The peace of mind this has given me is HUGE, and i know not everyone will get the point, but watching my kids starve is one of my biggest fears.

Ok so i still know i'm short a ton of stuff .. i need loads more beans, pasta, rice, poridge etc but im getting there little by little.. So i just wanted to say a huge thankyou to all the oldstylers who's given me idea's and help along the way ... i know i still have a HUGE way to go.

But i'm determind that if redundancy does hit.. im not going to crumple... im going to be prepared.

annie123

Dont forget to keep an eye out for loo roll bargains!

Nitha

Get decluttering and see if you have any stuff you can sell. Trawl the internet and build up a 'recipe book' online. Get registered for mystery shopping, paid surveys etc. Get on the books of as many temping agencies as possible. Don' forget to ensure you're getting all the benefits you're entitled to.

Cruiksl

Taye - I was made redundant from RBS over 5 years ago. Somethings may have changed but with regards to your redundancy pay - anything under £30,000 you are given tax free. RBS also sent me on a redundancy course which was beneficial in helping me get my CV into order and also prepared me for job interviews. They didn't however let me go on garden leave and made me work the notice period

I think you've done the best thing though and not buried your head in the sand.

Definately get the basics in.

Good luck.

greenbee

I was made redundant 5 years ago, and although it was scary at the time, it was probably the best thing that could have happened to me. It got me out of a dead-end job that was making me miserable, and into a new job that I love (although we're currently restructuring, so I'm not sure whether I'll still be in it in a couple of months :rolleyes:) and that pays considerably more.

If you can:

• make sure that you have your finances in order so that you can pay for the essentials for a few months,
• know what benefits you may be eligible for and get everything in place to sign up for them as soon as you need to,
• have your CV ready to go and keep scouring the job boards and talking to agencies, and
• cut your outgoings back to the bare minimum with immediate effect to bolster your emergency fund and make it cheaper to live if you do have a gap between jobs,

then it shouldn't be too frightening. You'll know what your timescales are for finding a new job, you'll be prepared for it, and fingers crossed you'll find something better than the job you left.