23 & on an Apprenticeship, help please!

complimentschemistry

Hi there,

Don't know if I'm in the right place, but if not, please point me in the right direction

I'm on an Apprenticeship at the moment, working 30 hours per week and earning £106 per week (£424 per month). I am 23 years old, 24 in March, and my Apprenticeship ends in January 2014.

As you can see I am on a very low income, brief SOA as follows:-

Board:- £125
Petrol:- £50
Groceries:- £30
Phone: - £25
Car Insurance:- £45
Debts:- £41.55
Contact Lenses:- £13
Prescription:- £7.65
Haircuts:- £5
Clothes:- £10
MOT:- £5
Emergencies:- £10
Car Tax:- £10
Catalogue:- £5
Birthdays:- £5

This leaves me with just under £40 left after expenses.

I have looked on Turn2Us for a benefit check up, but because I'm under 25 and don't have any children, I'm not entitled to anything. I've also checked for grants, etc. I can't get a student loan or such as I'm an Apprentice and that doesn't count.

I have nothing to sell, and cannot get rid of my car as I need it for work.

Is there anything at all I can do to up my income? I've signed up for the survey sites, but that's all I've managed to find at the moment.

Any help would be very much appreciated

tpl

Hi, there are Career Development Loans available that help people pay for courses and training, but I'm not sure if this applies to apprenticeship schemes?. Afraid, I'm not sure otherwise, but seems a bit unfair that students can apply for loans, but apprentices' can't (as the wage is so low). Do you work 30 hours over 4 days per week? If so, could you get another job on the extra day? Good luck!

amr547

I was in the same position and unfortunately I didn't find anything that could help. I'd ditch the contact lenses and use glasses if you've got them.

How long is left on your phone contract? Could you cancel or reduce the tarrif?

[Deleted User]

I don't know if I could ditch contact lenses as amr547 says, but that's a personal matter.

I think you may just have to make do at the moment, because of your situation you can't really increase what you earn unless you do more, i.e. part time job, extra jobs, surveys and so on... But we could just call that extra work or additional work.

I have loads of ideas to save and loads of grants that you could apply for, but you are not paying tradional bills and I think that is where most of the support is.

I don't think your budget is really that bad, your issue is the income! But of course you are working towards a better furture, and with your efforts and this training you can hope never to be in this situation again in the future.

It's probably just a life stage - Sorry that's not much help. But you are lucky that you are doing something that won't leave you where you are now for life :-)

Bogof_Babe

"Board" is very cheap @ £125 a month, as is "groceries" @ £30, so I'm assuming you still live at home?

If so, would your family consider reducing the amount you contribute, on the understanding that you will pay them back once you are working in a proper job?

immie

Can I ask what's the job you're training in? Can you get any work part time somewhere else?