need advice on a money issue

mazmac_2

hello there i am new to this, i was looking for some advice just now I am a lone parent with a 3year old.

im currently getting all the right benefits Child tax credits, income support and child benefit.

Its just im up to my eyeballs in debts and im currently going through bankruptcy, anyway all of debts are going to be dealt with. At the moment my ex isnt working and i havent recieved a csa payment since june 2010 and things are getting a bit tight for us!

I thought that i would apply for a community care grant is was for clothing for my son as he really does need it all his clothes are like 6months out of his age range and they are a bit tight for him, anyway I called this afternoon to find out if they recieved it and I was told that they cannot help,
I cant apply for a budgeting loan as i reached my limit with them last year and with no csa coming in and christmas looming on the horizon, does anyone know of any additional help i can apply for as ive scoured the net for ages and i cannot find anything at all!

any suggestions wuld be gratefully recieved. I have looked into grants for familes but most of them you need a social work referral and i dont have a social work imput at all.

Many thanks
Marie

welshmoneylover

mazmac wrote: »

hello there i am new to this, i was looking for some advice just now I am a lone parent with a 3year old.

im currently getting all the right benefits Child tax credits, income support and child benefit.

Its just im up to my eyeballs in debts and im currently going through bankruptcy, anyway all of debts are going to be dealt with. At the moment my ex isnt working and i havent recieved a csa payment since june 2010 and things are getting a bit tight for us!

I thought that i would apply for a community care grant is was for clothing for my son as he really does need it all his clothes are like 6months out of his age range and they are a bit tight for him, anyway I called this afternoon to find out if they recieved it and I was told that they cannot help,
I cant apply for a budgeting loan as i reached my limit with them last year and with no csa coming in and christmas looming on the horizon, does anyone know of any additional help i can apply for as ive scoured the net for ages and i cannot find anything at all!

any suggestions wuld be gratefully recieved. I have looked into grants for familes but most of them you need a social work referral and i dont have a social work imput at all.

Many thanks
Marie

Can you not use your child benefit to clothe your son? That is what it is there for.

Perhaps you can also post in the DFW board, there is loads of good advice from people who are in the same boat as yourself.

dmg24

Are you not able to work?

Lip_Stick

If you're going bankrupt then you shouldn't bother paying any of your debtors (barring a few like council tax etc) so that should free up some money surely? You should be able to get help with the bankruptcy fees I think, not sure how much.

Jowo_2

I'm not aware of benefit entitlements that could help but do browse free sites like Freecycle, Gumtree freebies, Freegle and similar and consider posting 'wanted' ads on them to get free clothing.

Do you get your rent paid in full or do you need to top it up or are you a home owner?

As per the earlier advice, I strongly recommend you post your debt info on the Debt Free wannabee board, particularly if its the repayments that are causing you hardship. If you are getting your rent and CT paid in full, you should be getting somewhere in the region of £130 per week, which isn't particularly great at all, but you should allow you to buy cheap childrens clothing.

Download the budget planner spreadsheet on the tools section of this website and work through the site to identify where you can make savings on all household expenses. For instance, someone recently posted a link to a website to allow a family to make cheap fresh meals which allow a family of 2 to eat main meals for £50 a month.

http://www.cheap-family-recipes.org.uk/

viktory

As you already have DWP debt you are not going to be able to get anymore money from them. Besides which, as a bankrupt, do you really think it is a good idea to get more debt while you are in the process of offloading your 'old' debt? Your child is very young, so at least you won't feel obliged to spend a fortune at Christmas. As someone else has said, with no debt you should comfortably be able to manage on the generous benefits you receive - including cheap clothes from places like Tesco and Sainsburys.

tinkerbellaneesa

just wondered, if you got a budgetting loan off them last year wouldnt you of paid most/all of it off by now? you could always give them a ring and see how much you still owe and if you would be able to apply for another one. I know childrens clothing can be expensive but if you shop you can always pick up a bargain, primarks clothes are quite trendy and pretty cheap

DaisyFlower

Can you not use his CB and CTC as they are designed to help with essentials for children. If you cannot survive on benefits, then working may be far more beneficial.

andyandflo

mazmac wrote: »

hello there i am new to this, i was looking for some advice just now I am a lone parent with a 3year old.

im currently getting all the right benefits Child tax credits, income support and child benefit.

Its just im up to my eyeballs in debts and im currently going through bankruptcy, anyway all of debts are going to be dealt with. At the moment my ex isnt working and i havent recieved a csa payment since june 2010 and things are getting a bit tight for us!

I thought that i would apply for a community care grant is was for clothing for my son as he really does need it all his clothes are like 6months out of his age range and they are a bit tight for him, anyway I called this afternoon to find out if they recieved it and I was told that they cannot help,
I cant apply for a budgeting loan as i reached my limit with them last year and with no csa coming in and christmas looming on the horizon, does anyone know of any additional help i can apply for as ive scoured the net for ages and i cannot find anything at all!

any suggestions wuld be gratefully recieved. I have looked into grants for familes but most of them you need a social work referral and i dont have a social work imput at all.

Many thanks
Marie

Word of warning, during the course of the bankruptcy, and no doubt the Official Receiver is acting, make sure that you include all and everything in your statement of current means. You don't want to find that they say that you have 'spare' money that is to be used to contribute to the bankruptcy charges and debt for the next three years in the form of an Income Payment Agreement/Order!!!

Make sure your expenses equal your income!!

The idea of going bankrupt is to offload as much debt at nil cost, not pay some of it off!

Oldernotwiser

andyandflo wrote: »

Word of warning, during the course of the bankruptcy, and no doubt the Official Receiver is acting, make sure that you include all and everything in your statement of current means. You don't want to find that they say that you have 'spare' money that is to be used to contribute to the bankruptcy charges and debt for the next three years in the form of an Income Payment Agreement/Order!!!

Make sure your expenses equal your income!!

The idea of going bankrupt is to offload as much debt at nil cost, not pay some of it off!

Wrong again! You can't get an IPA/O if your sole source of income is state benefits.

divastrop

Just to add, even if your ex partner is not working he should be contributing £5 a week from his JSA if that is what he is on, so I would also contact the CSA if I were you. It's not much but it could buy a couple of bits for your son.