Need help please...

Tazinijif

We have applied for and been denied for it all. It is very frustrating, if we didn't live together we would be fine! He would get his JSA, LHA, HB, etc etc and I would have my wages which is more than enough to cover all my rent, bills etc etc.

I have come to terms with the fact that we aren't going to get any help from the benefit system, I was advised to post here for ideas on how I can save a bob or two and howbest to go about trying to reduce our loan/credit card repayments, so far a few really good ideas, thank you all so much!

TUS

Take a look at the "Up Your Income" board as well ... may be a few ideas for HIM to make a few bob whilst you are at work. Small things add up.

KPR11

Hi Taz,

I am sure you will come through the temp difficult phase that you and your partner going through.

As most of the other guys have posted, you are already on a very tight budget and the only place I can see a potential saving is travel to work. Is there any chance you can get a lift to work or if it isn't too far, can you cycle to work?

The following suggestions are just a stab in the dark:

I am not sure if this will work (and it may not be a suggestion everyone will agree with) but if you are you on good terms with your landlord maybe you can speak to him and ask if you can pay reduced rate of £425 pm for the next few months which you will repay as as soon as your partner gets a job. When I was at uni my housemate was going through a rough phase and the landlord did reduce his rent in the short term and then he was paying back a bit more to cover the arrears.

Not something I would recommend lightly (but when you have a crazy benefits system like we seem to do then all is potentially fair), the only other thing I can think of is if you aren't married then for the sake of the system have your partner down as a lodger/single (I am sure there is nothing in the benefits system preventing a relationship between the landlady and a tenant )

You are only short by £13 pm, any chance bank of mum &/or dad be able to lend you £50pm to help you through?

Good luck

KPR

RAS

d3mon4ngel wrote: »

JSA does take into account your partners income. I was in a similar situation to the OP several years ago, and it is frustrating and upsetting. JSA will only pay your NI contributions if your partner earns more than whatever their limit currently is.

(( HUGS )) for you Taz

Correctly. Income based JSa takes into account your partner's income.

Contribution-based JSA does not, so it depends what NI the OP's partner paid in the relevant contribution year.

Tixy

Hi

This might have already been suggested (I scan read and didn't see it), but with regards to the elec arrears can you ask to pay them off over a slightly longer period so that your overall monthly payment is a bit less? Might only save £10, but that still might be useful in the short term.

Hope OH gets some work soon.

ROSIEGLOW255

Not sure I can offer much advice but just wanted to say that judging by your budget you have been really sensible in managing money as there isn't really much wasteful stuff to cut out. You seem to be doing everything/alot right.

I suppose there are only 2 options

1. Reduce Debt Payments - Probably best to contact debt charity for advice on this.

2. Increase income, it really sounds like partner is doing everything to find employment. Was just wondering if finding 'odd job' work near where you live might be an option, around this time of year people might want gardens done, car washing, etc

Hope you get it sorted. I'm sure you'll get lots more advice from other people soon. Would suggest doing a full soa, if you look through other threads i'm sure you find a link somewhere, then perhaps people can give more precise/tailored advice.

Tazinijif

KPR11: Unfortunately not, nobody I work with lives within 10 miles of me and work is about 15 miles away, bit too much of a trek to walk/cycle i'm afraid, someone else did suggest that on another post and it is a good idea, just not feasible at the moment!

Our landlord, unfortunately, doesn't like us. He built a shoddy house and then resents having to fix it all the time! I can't put him down as a lodger or tennant unfortunately as our contract forbids sub-letting. He may get JSA for a while but if our landlord found out we would be homeless as well as peniless! Bank of Mum is empty and bank of Dad is completely unwilling to help out. To be fair to him though I guess his motorbikes SHOULD be more important than his kids... :0P

RAS: He has been a student for the past 5 years, so unfortunately no NI JSA either :0(

Tixy: This is in our newly devised plan to send letters to all of our creditors asking for reduced payments.

I seem to end up dismissing almost everything, so apologies for that, but thank you all for the help, it really is appreciated! :0)

NorthernLas

What about agency work, where you turn up and you do short term jobs of a couple of days?

Saves you putting a CV in every time ... try reed, there will be others. As long as he is auth to work in the UK and is fit and healthy.

pinkkaz

Hi Taz,

When someone asked what your boyfriend does I had a funny feeling you were going to say sound engineering! My husband is a sound engineer and he has recently had to branch out into TV sound (which he's really enjoying) as there are NO jobs out there with all the music studios shutting down, and yet thousands of sound engineering graduates qualifying each year. Unfortunately with music-making technology getting cheaper it's now seen as more of a hobby than a profession except for the very lucky.

Sorry, that's a bit all doom and gloom!

Good luck with it all. As others have said there isn't much leeway in your budget so can you either reduce your rent (room in a house-share? Even in London a nice room isn't going to be more than £500) or you/he have to up your income in some way. Lots of ideas on these boards. Can parents help out in the short term? Can you move back in for a while? Sorry if these questions have been answered already.

Good luck x

Tazinijif

pinkkaz: Yes rent has been mentioned many times, we can't get out of our contract and even if we could we haven't got the money we would need for a deposit :0( looks like a good idea but comes with more problems than it is worth! Parents can't help out either, and as they live 3 hours away if we moved back in with them I would have to quit my job but would still be expected to pay most of the stuff above! There have been some really good suggestions on how to earn a little extra money though, as well as some really good, constructive advice on how to go about reducing the amount we pay for debts every month (much better than the "you shouldn't have got into debt in the first place... scrounging off tax payers... your debts... why should I help you when you have such crappy money management..." etc that I have gotten on other boards here!) so hopefully we will be able to just about get by :0)