My lightbulb moment

lynzpower

kev welcome :wave:

Can I ask, whats your hourly rate- if you are working a 40-45 hour week but bringing home that little

ONe thing, you might be entitled to Council tax benefit or a contribution to housing benefit, do ask for a form and apply.

Where abouts do you live, is there any jobs that are better paid??

James&Shell

Why dont you conact payplan or CCCS they hould be able to help you !!

Good luck

tyllwyd

lynzpower wrote:

kev welcome :wave:
Can I ask, whats your hourly rate- if you are working a 40-45 hour week but bringing home that little

I wondered if it was possibly 40-45 hours per month? But then that would make about 10 hours a week, which would make £210 per week pretty good, so maybe not.

Storm

Hi Kev!

It sounds like you're on the minimum wage or very close to it, so you might be entitled to working tax credits, here's a link to find out if you're eligible:

http://www.taxcredits.inlandrevenue.gov.uk/Qualify/DIQHousehold.aspx

Also, £40 a week on socialising is quite high and works out to £2080 a year! Could you limit yourself to maybe £20 a week whilst you try and get on your feet? If you or your mates have Orange mobiles you can get 2 for 1 on Wednesday nights at the cinema, try alternating soft drinks when down the pub etc

Storm

kev7n84

Thank you lynzpower for pointing out how little my wages are! (btw, well done on paying stuff off, just seen you sig, look how much youve done so quickly!)

im on £6 an hour and when i do 40 a week its about 200, i normally am able to get a few hours o/t but even this week, i did 50 and a half, i brough home £239.98....

I work in a spar shop as 'senior supervisor' and have been offered he assistant manager job, which ive turned down twice before, just because i dont like where i work and dont want the extra responsibility, however this time i think i need to take it just because of the payrise.. will be £6.75 after 3 months. I left my old £7.50 an hour job in january to take this job... how dumb!

Yep £40 a week it quite alot, and thats actually usually spent in one night, but thats whats goina take the biggest amount of will power, some weeks i spend more than that, if i go out more than once that is. But i think of it as im 22, i need to be socialising, the problem is i can drink alot!! what i need to do is what im having to do this week and thats work friday and sat nights, meaning i dont wanna go out after work. and / or maybe instead of going out, get people round my house, or go other theres with alcohol from the shop, much cheaper i guess.

I personally think it will be easier for me to cut down the amount spent on clothes and work meals, im sure i can budget packed lunches into my weekly shop, and therefore save £10 / £15 a week.

cheers everybody for you messages, im appreciating it alot!

piglet6

kev7n84 wrote:

I work in a spar shop as 'senior supervisor' and have been offered he assistant manager job, which ive turned down twice before, just because i dont like where i work and dont want the extra responsibility, however this time i think i need to take it just because of the payrise.. will be £6.75 after 3 months. I left my old £7.50 an hour job in january to take this job... how dumb!

Yep £40 a week it quite alot, and thats actually usually spent in one night, but thats whats goina take the biggest amount of will power, some weeks i spend more than that, if i go out more than once that is. But i think of it as im 22, i need to be socialising, the problem is i can drink alot!! what i need to do is what im having to do this week and thats work friday and sat nights, meaning i dont wanna go out after work. and / or maybe instead of going out, get people round my house, or go other theres with alcohol from the shop, much cheaper i guess.

Hi Kev!

Welcome to the boards - no criticism here, just congratulations for facing up to your "problems" at 22 (wish I'd been wise enough to realise the error of my ways that young!:o).

Don't feel bad about taking a wage drop - yes, logically it makes no sense, but sometimes mentally and emotionally you have to measure things up and take stock of just how miserable you would be for the extra money, and you'll find that you are better off sticking to mental health for a little less money(!!).

As far as spending on socialising is concerned, I'm not going to pick holes in your budget there either - for what its worth (and I'm sure I'll probably be attacked for this next bit...!:p), I think that £40 a week for a 22 year old is quite restrained!!:rotfl: What I would suggest is maybe getting a few friends round to your house for a few drinks before you go out (maybe they could bring the booze and you could provide the "nibbles" with a few crisps or even a couple of cheap pizzas before you all head out!). Also, get yourself over to the Freebies board to pick up some 2-for-1 meals at places like TGI's and some free cinema tickets - lets face it, the overpriced popcorn doesn't hurt so much if you can get an evening out at the cinema without having to pay for the tickets!!:rolleyes:

Keep posting - I'm sure other folks will come up with other ideas to cut your spends and save you money!:D

Piglet

kev7n84

Thank you Piglet, £40 is restarined isn't it! goina keep trying to work weekend evenings and the getting people round before we go out is a good idea, will hopefully put me off the £3 i pay for a crappy burger at the end of the night as well!

I have got a mate with an orange phone so will maybe start the 2-1 tickets at vue cinema, btw i live in plymouth, we dont have tgi's... weve only just got starbucks! We had a new mall open at the beginning of the month and now have H&M and Primark so maybe will be able to save on my clothes spending with these shops around now :-)

piglet6

Fair enough - understand about the Plymouth situation (my mum was born there and, although she moved to the other end of the country to marry my dad, I have family who still live in Southway and Crownhill - a really lovely part of the country, in spite of a lack of TGI's...and I have spent many happy holidays there!!:D).

Hope the hint for nibbles beforehand will curb the burger cravings at the end of the night - when we were students, Mr P and I used to keep an eye out for reduced pizzas in the supermarkets to stick in the freezer to quell the late night munchies! The reduced counter bargains are invariably cheaper than the burger/kebab/chip van!

Good luck with H&M and Primark - remember, the more you spend with them, the more that type of store will move towards you (I know its tough, waiting for them, but just think what tips you'll pick up for each store on this board...by the time they reach Plymouth, you'll be an expert and be right in there taking advantage of the bargains as soon as they become available...!!) :rotfl:

Piglet

P.S. Have you signed up to https://www.Pigsback.com? Get yourself over to the Freebies board and have a look at the Pigsback thread - there are no catches...I have been a member since June and have earned over £100 in vouchers (and I'm sure you have Pizza Hut/Costa Coffee/other places you can spend leisure vouchers in Plymouth!!!). Get in there, boy!!!:T :rotfl: :T

kev7n84

I used to live in southway, well did for most of my life! how weird is that!

Yeh i signed up for pigsback the other night, not doen anything with it as of yet though. Oh and as i work in spar, i get to take all the reduced stuff home for free :-) ratehr than pay the 20p like the customers do!

Ive already taken advice from one board i read the other week, my problem was i was going shopping once a week, but after 4/5 days was chucking out alot of the short dates chilled stuff and all the fruit and veg, but now i just get it as i need it, sainsburys is only a 5min walk away, and if something is about to go out of date, bang it in the freezer...

im goina go look at pigsback in more detail, see what i can do to earn my vouchers.

piglet6

kev7n84 wrote:

I used to live in southway, well did for most of my life! how weird is that!

Freaky...! You might have been my auntie's neighbour - small world!!:p Check out the first few posts on the Pigsback thread - they will tell you all the offers on at the moment and you will very quickly build up enough points for a voucher! Also, log on every day as people post ideas every day - like yesterday...there was a points voucher in the London Evening Standard, but the code was posted online and people were taking advantage of it from all over the world (literally, people abroad were able to log on and take advantage!) - it really is a great community...even daily quiz answers are posted so it is a totally pain-free way to earn points for zero personal time-input!!:D

Nice one on taking home the reduced stuff for free - already a good start to moneysaving!:T And it sounds like you've got the Sainsbury's-freezing thing sorted!;) Next step is to get yourself over to the Moneysaving Old Style board where they will have some amazing tips on meals to make and stick in the freezer (so you don't throw anything out - trust me...they are amazing on there - you can post with any ingredient and they will come up with a tasty use for it - they're fab!). They come up with ideas you would never even think of (and I am married to a chef, so you would think he would know all the short cuts - but he picks up tips there!:rolleyes:).

Stick with it - you'll be amazed by what you can save/achieve/accomplish/gain as a result of a bit of surfing...!!:rotfl:

Piglet