where do I go from here? :-(

myothercarisaferrari

thank you Ras, that is encouraging to hear x
will join up to Freegle and Freecycle x

determined_new_ms

stay strong, I know it can be misery sometimes, but u'll get through this and the sun is shining. "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger" xxx

myothercarisaferrari

thank you xx

Mrs_Jojo

Talk to CAB or someone too, they can't have money you don't have.... there must be some way you can come to an agreement that they will honour that will allow you to keep your head above water.

myothercarisaferrari

thanks Mrs Jojo. I'm going to call them tomorrow and see what they say x

GEEGEE8

Are you eligible for working tax credits or housing benefit? May only be a fiver a week, but worth looking into?

I recently switched to cheapest of the cheap toilet roll, saved me a fortune on Andrex! lol

Also, ASDA/Tesco etc do shower gel for 10p, it's quite alright, not much aroma, but it bubbles up nicely and is okay for hair now and then too.

myothercarisaferrari

Geegee, I applied for tax credits but am not entitled due to my wages last year. I doubt I'd be eligible four HB either?
Hahah everything I have is Asda smartprice :-) I get their own bog roll 45p ;-) x I'm at my mums tomorrow so will pinch some shampoo from her.

God how pathetic do I sound. Having a whinge cos I cant afford shampoo!

GEEGEE8

I'm sure we have all been there x

Smartprice stuff is ace, I love the 9p noodles.. altho I'm sure they aren't healthy lol.

Housing benefit is a funny one, you get a certain allowance for how many people and rooms you have, so you might be... albeit a very small amount. Depends if you want to run around and fill out all the forms for a few extra quid a month..

podperson

Hiya,
First to say I really feel for you have been there, and to the stage of nicking toilet rolls from public toilets on occasion cause had a couple of quid to last the week and no food in. Yes it does suck but you are surviving and things like this do make you stronger *hugs*
Regarding tax credits I would ring them up again and say that you are on very different circumstances to last year and can they assess you on your current ones. Did it for me a few years when I lost a relatively well-paid job and was on a minimum wage one, which was a massive help. Also worth checking out housing benefit, you could be entitled to something due to low income, and every little helps!
From your SOA it is showing that you have £100 a week left over and this is obviously not turning out to be the case. Could be worth keeping a spending diary to see where your money is really going, some of your figures, eg groceries are quite low so maybe extra is going there without you noticing.
Good luck with it x

elfen

Try for HB and CTB (council tax benefit) they might be able to help you. Do you already get the 25% lone living discount from your council, if not get it!