Impossible Situation

andy_vip

Hello people,

First post on here, just after a bit of advice, hope I can help others in the future too.

This is quite complicated and quite a long story so please bear with me. I've spent the last 3 years in further education (being paid nothing and having to pay for the training) and have spent the last 6 months on an "apprenticeship" type program where I have been paid an allowance of £1200 a month. This is an 8 month program, which expires on the 12th February. After this I go onto a different contract which pays per the hour, which is good money and means I can finally start saving and paying off some debt.

The problem lies in the gap between my final month allowance and getting my first pay on the new contract. My first monthly allowance was 1st June 2010, starting work on 12th June. So you can see I get paid in advance, and currently owe them two weeks work. So my final allowance will be on 1st January (8 months worth), but I switch to new contract on 12th February.

The new contract pays in arrears, so you get paid for what you've done, for the previous month, and pays on the 15th of each month for the previous. So, the first payment will be 15th March, for 2 weeks work in February.

To simplify, I'll get £1200 on 1st January, then nothing until mid March when I'll get two weeks pay only.

I currently live with my OH in rented accomodation, and also have to run a car so I can get to work. My half of all the bills total around £600 a month, plus £150 for petrol. I also have to pay loan repayments of £200 a month at the moment, although this is also set to rise with my rise in income (to around £1000 ) although I can probably persuade the bank that I can't afford the rise until April.

I have no other savings, and my OH will not be able to support my complete lack of income for 2 and a half months (even with 2 weeks pay in March I won't be able to pay my way). The one benefit will be that my pay in March will be tax free as it will be under my personal yearly allowance (no other pay this year).

So, my question is; Would I be entitled to some form of benefit or assistance from the government? I know I've got myself into this mess, and should have saved a little off the top each month to save for this, but it just hasn't happened - car repairs, tax, insurance, term assurance and other costs have prevented me doing that.

I appreciate any advice people may be able to give, otherwise I really don't know what we're going to do, there is simply no way I can get any other income at the moment.

Fiddlestick

andy_vip wrote: »

Would I be entitled to some form of benefit or assistance from the government?

Doubtful, as you will be deemed to be "in work".

Can you ask them to pay you early, or find some evening job that pays weekly to tide you over?

andy_vip

Unfortunately not. It's shift work, on a random roster so can't really get a second job as no-one would employ me. They won't pay early I've tried that, thanks for the advice though.

opinions4u

Have you considered saving as much as possible between now and January to fund the gap that's inevitable?

Can you get an overdraft and look to repay that within a few months after the event?

Could you apply for a credit card to do the bulk of your spending on in March, and repay it in full in April (interest free)?

Plan a cheap shopping month too .... 6 nights of Tesco Basics with a treat as the weekend?

Debt-Free Wannabe would be a great place to visit. Ideas on reducing outgoings with immediate effect with a view to building up a savings pot for spending in February or March.

After you've got through this, look to build up a contingency fund of 3-6 months net pay. That would soften the hit if you faced a similar crisis in future.