My first post here

Toomuchdebt

I'm going to put the 61.30 for 4 months into debt repayment

JAMIEDODGER

hi there, i am (not for long though) on income support with 4 children, about the same ages as yours. I feed us all and 3 chickens and a cat on about £40 per week. its not easy but if you get yourself over to the OS board they can help you cut your groceries down.

also, if you are on IS, you can apply for a social fund loan (i think up to £1000) which is 0% and you could clear the small overdraft and the few little balances etc.

i know what its like trying to do and be everything and yes its hard but take everyones advice, start tightening those belts and you WILL see a difference

HTH
JD

Toomuchdebt

ooh what's the social fund loan?Where do I apply for that?That would really help-I could pay off Morgan Stanley with that and all the store cards and put the rest towards something else and it being 0% would really help.

overbudget

Do you know if there is a reason for the dog's sensitive stomach? (Does he have an illness?) It may be that he is just allergic to a particular ingredient and you could get cheaper food without that? A lot of dogs are reactive to wheat and to beef - chicken and rice are good options but you can get cheap food made of those. Try Autarky if you can get it - it is chicken, rice and herbs but made for working dogs so no VAT - half the price of what you are paying now. You'll find it at feed merchants. Another possible one is Wagg. One of mine has a sensitive stomach and I was feeding James Wellbeloved, then Autarky - he was fine with each for a while then reacted. He's been on Wagg now for months with no problems at all - and it is £8.85 at Tesco for 17kg! Worth trying different ones before taking the drastic step of rehoming - though if you decide you have to do that and need help finding him a good home go to the Dog Rescue Site - you'll really supportive folk there who can help you.

Prudent

Baggiebird1nil wrote:

How come OH dosn't contribute more? Don't mean to pry but £50 for 4 kids is he taking the mick? Does he have life insurance? Only joking. Been there myself with 2 kids and OH is rolling in it, nice lifestyle. Still 20 years on it's come back to bite him cos DD is getting married next year and has just realised what a b*****d her Dad was and is now not inviting him to her wedding! Result!

As the op is on benfits she only gets to keep some of his contribution.

Turtle

Hi Too Much Debt, a couple of points for you - you asked about Pigsback for the piggybanks - go to https://www.pigsback.com, register and you collect points for signing up to newsletters and stuff (you can alsways unsubscribe when you've got the points), you cant cash points in for 10 days but I joined 2 days ago and have collected 420 points (worth £4.20) and haven't had to spend anything. The piggybanks are 400 points each but you can get gift vouchers and other things as well.

Car insurance - have a look at Quidco.co.uk. It's a co-operative that cost £5 a year (taken from your cashback, you dont have to part with anything). At the moment LLoyds have got £110 cashback for car insurance. My car is £40 cheaper with them than elephant.co.uk plus the £110 cash back makes it half the price I was paying before. Takes 2-3 months to get your money back but it would be a nice extra sum. Also someone on here said you should change your bank account as well, there's 2 or 3 banks on here offering around £50 cashback if opened through Quidco, well worth a look. Make sure you don't access their site without going through Quidco though as they'll plant a cookie on your computer so when you go through Quidco they'll know you've already been on and you might not get your cashback.

You've not got time to work but do you have time to Mystery Shop? Theres a few threads on here about it, not done any myself but seems to take around 1 hour for payment of about a tenner. You could maybe fit that in.

Toomuchdebt

Thanks all.I will try and get the Autarky-no idea where to get it from yet though.He isn't olf enough for Wagg yet-he's only 5 months old.
Car insurance isn't sue till next June but will keep it in mind for then and go through quidco.
I do occasional mystery shopping with retail maxim but they pay very little-are there any better ones out there?

Turtle

You could check your car ins terms - even if you have to pay a months cancllation fee you could still be loads better off. worth considering anyway.

I have seen good reports about Grass Roots for Mystery Shopping on here but I dont know any others.

overbudget

Toomuchdebt wrote:

Thanks all.I will try and get the Autarky-no idea where to get it from yet though.He isn't olf enough for Wagg yet-he's only 5 months old.

What kind of dog is he? Unless he is a giant breed he can eat "adult" food from 5-6 months. The "12 months on puppy food" is just a way to make us all spend more! But Autarky do do a puppy food - try here for your nearest stockist - or you can buy it online from here too. Good luck - it might be he will grow out of the sensitivity as he gets older...

lil_me

Social Fund Loans =

Ring your local benefits office and ask them. If you are on Income Support you will qualify, always apply for more than you need, maybe state as £1200 etc as I think the borrowing limit for a family of 5 is just over £1000

They also do community care grants for those in severe hardship which don't have to be paid back but are difficult to get

I agree with whats said about the dog, maybe it's just the wrong type of food, when I got mine ( a sort of rescue) he was seriously ill off being given adult food under 6 months, kept him on cheap puppy ranges until he was 13 months and he was fine after that. Now I pay £5 for a 15kg sack which lasts him over a month More expensive food makes him ill

Last comment unless I can help any more is good luck