Starting again but lost.

Nargleblast

Now you know what a week's money looks like, you can plan around it. Haunt the supermarkets near closing time, or in the evenings, that's when you get good reductions in prices. If you spot a good deal on veg but are not sure if you will use it before it goes off, get it anyway. You can make and freeze soup, or curries, or just chop the veg up and put in bags in the freezer for another time. If you buy full fat milk you can add water to make it go a bit further. Dried milk is handy to have in stock, for cooking or drinking purposes. If you need clothes or things for your home or presents for people, try charity shops - some really class stuff gets donated nowadays. You may be living in a room in a refuge at the moment but you can still make it nice to live in, and when you eventually get a place of your own you will need to budget for rent, council tax, water, heating and lighting, so if you practise being careful with money now it will help later.
Ok, so your college thing is just a poetry course, not a career thing. It still gets you out and about, meeting other people and hopefully making new friends, so it has its place in the grand scheme of things. Keep posting and let us know how things go.

Willowpop

ISeeBeforeMe wrote: »

Thanks for the tip about buses. Of course! it takes 2 buses to get to college and actually takes less time so I will be doing that. It is weird, it never occurred to me NOT to take the tube, as it is what I have always done.

No worries, I mentioned the buses as I'd just realised the same thing. I was travelling almost weekly to the hospital and one day there was a problem with a tube line (I was taking a bus, 2 tubes, a walk, and another bus to get there, and the same back). I did a journey planner and 2 buses came up as a route. I hadn't even thought about doing the journey just by bus! I did it the visit before last and it was quicker than the tube..and then I realised it was cheaper too!
I was the same as you, I always thought around the tube rather than the buses, especially if I was doing a new journey.

Do you have a Sainsburys near you? I can recommend a lot of their basics range..we have it all of the time. A bag of rice is about 40p, teabags 30p ish, stock cubes are 10p a box, pasta is about 30p too, showergel is 30p ish and toothpaste (showed it to my dentist and he declared it perfectly good) is about 25p. There are loads of good items in the basics range and they are really cheap.

EDIT: Just read the post above..definitely hit the charity shops, you can get some lovely stuff from them for very little..my daughter and I call it treasure hunting! And freecycle is really active in London. Just about half of my home comes from there...table and chairs, desk, office chair, 2 massive canvasses that decorate my lounge, games and clothes, the list goes on!

saterkey

we have a jar that any money we find goes in there, its amazing how many people drop money in the streets, might be worth keeping your eyes open on your travels, pennies add up.
Try to build up a store cupboard of bits and pieces before paying back the foodbank, I couldn't imagine just having 7ukp to live on. put in live below the line, a lot of people this week are trying to live on £5 for the week and have some great ideas and photos of what they have bought.
Also join valued opinions, for surveys they give sainsburys vouchers amongst others, if you also join nectar canvass, you can point your points earned together with the Sainsbury voucher and have approx. 12.50 a month for basic food stuffs, enough to stock up a bit.
wishing you the very best.

FairyPrincessk

Iseebeforeme---just a couple of suggestions from a fellow student, all of the above are fab ideas.

1) The college probably does have at least some resources, no matter how small. This may just be a list of referrals, or it might just be a pat on the back, but there is also possibly a small emergency fund. These exist in most institutions (though not all!) and at small institutions they often go unused because people don't know about them. The college may also be able to refer you to other things. Finally, they may also be able to help you coordinate transport with a fellow student, or help you to find closer accommodation in the long term that is affordable.

2) I don't know as much about transport passes in London, but I do know that most metropolitan areas have some sort of student discount for travel. Often you have to buy this in advance, and this MIGHT be a very good use of your "loan" on JSA. Sometimes you have to be a fulltime student, but not always. Your college might know, or it might be worth looking around TFL's website. If I remember correctly, London transport is priced by "zone" so it might be worth it to walk into the next zone, get transport and then walk over your last zone, if that makes sense.

Finally, you've done something so difficult. Sometimes, you get so tired of doing hard things. Don't forget to acknowledge to yourself how much courage this has taken.

Chris25

Hi, ISeeBeforeMe, welcome to the boards

as well as Freegle/Freecycle, there's also Gumtree & Streetbank that offer freebies.

I'm not sure about Preloved - but they may have inexpensive things that would prove useful to you; same with Cheapcycle.

Always worth checking posters in libraries (local & college) & newsagents.

Good luck, you've taken the first and, probably, the most difficult step

BitterAndTwisted

If you're prepared to give us a vague indication as to where in London you are I might be able to give you some pointers to good charity shops. There's a British Heart Foundation furniture store not far from me which sells electrical appliances, so a kettle or slow-cooker could be acquired for a fiver or less.

Also, keep stalking your nearest supermarkets, so you get acquainted with at what times they start reducing their prices.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Best of luck with a new chapter in your life, ISeeBeforeMe.

As a poet you will certainly not be short of people-watching material on London buses!

In London you should never be too far away from some sort of ethnic supermarket. You'll be able to buy stuff like rice and spices much cheaper than the likes of Tesco.

Have you joined your local library now you've got some paperwork with your address on? Full of FREE books, plus info on the local area and usually a base for community groups.

Steveswift

Hi, I am a college Lecturer and help is available at all levels, ask, let your Lecturer know the situation and you might be surprised how resourceful they can be. If a student came to me with your issues pending on security etc. I would probably offer lifts until you have sorted your self out. Ask and gl


Steve

nuttyp

Just wanted to wish you the best of luck. please try the foodbank, they have been set up to help people exactly like the situation you are in. I would love to be able to donate more, but we live on basic shopping and the rest from aldi, we work full time but struggle.

Onwards and upwards, and keep smiling x

sonastin

This might sound a bit callous but I honestly don't intend it to be so I hope it doesn't.

You should ask for all the help you can get NOW. People will have a lot more sympathy while your situation is fresh and new and you have *ahem* good reason for finding yourself in dire straits.

Struggle along for a month or two crippling yourself by managing and making do before you realise that you have to ask and some of that sympathy will have dissolved into cynicism. There will always be people who think that it just takes a bit of effort to dust yourself off and get back on track and if you've not magically turned your life around instantaneously, well you're just not trying hard enough and you don't deserve help. I hope you don't meet those in a time of need and I try very hard to not be that sort of person but I know I have that little voice in my head sometimes passing judgement on others. I try to silence it but not everyone does.

Ask now in case it is that sort of person you have to deal with. Some of the help available to you now will fade with time so make the most of it while you can. And then pay it back once you have managed to dust yourself off and get back on your feet, however long that might take. But don't suffer in silence until its too late.