Student, pregnant, sinking and in need of help :( *update*

matttye

Ignore the rude idiot that posted earlier.

Some people get really touchy about people on / about to be on benefits and think they're all really lazy, without giving any regard to the individual circumstances. Not even worth your time replying to such posters.

Archi_Bald

ABL, I do have another idea - - - assuming you don't have a bad credit file (check for free on noddle.co.uk), you could probably make an extra £100 - £160, if not more, relatively easily.

You would have to agree that your bank account gets switched to Halifax or to the Coop Bank.

Both pay £100 for switched accounts, and you could do them one after the other.

Halifax pay quite quickly, the Coop are very slow with paying. But staying with Halifax could help you getting £5 a month extra if you apply for their Reward account - thus may be doing just Halifax might be better for now.

If you come across minimum monthly deposit requirements, don't worry - these do not have to all be made in one go. All you need is pay in the total required during a month. E.g. you can withdraw £250 and pay it in again. Do that 3 times and you have paid in £750. Some people have two current accounts and just shuttle the money to and fro.

Halifax Reward also needs 2 monthly Direct Debits to pay you the monthly fiver - - I know you said you don't like DDs but you can set some up for just £1 to go e.g. into a Tesco Savings account in your own name. https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4168667

If you want to go ahead with the switching, open the new bank account fully before you request the switch. Getting online access, a card and a PIN are not part of the switch service, and you really need all this before you can ask them to switch. The switch is quite straightforward and just takes a week from request to completion.

sulphate

£100 a month on food seems like quite a lot for one person, but that may change when your baby is born and if you need to buy formula? Anyway husband and I have been known to spend just £140 a month for both of us, and we shop in Tesco (no aldi/lidl near us).

Someone has already mentioned agirlcalledjack.com - great, cheap recipes.

ABetterLife

Okay, so I'm back!

I'm so proud of myself, this is what I've managed to achieve so far:

- reduced my monthly payments to my old rent account by £30 a month to £10 per month.

- Just bought £56.89 worth of shopping, but listen to the savings! First of all, I swiped my nectar card then cancelled the transaction, which meant my coupon still got printed. It was a double nectar points one. Then I scanned all my shopping through, used that coupon and another coupon for £3 off. I also collected 6 bag reuse points. After completing the transaction, I received two more coupons - a £4.50 off £30 spend and £3.04 off my next shop. I then took my shopping to the customer services desk and refunded some items to use the £3.04 off voucher, meaning I got £3 back I then swapped the £4.50 off coupon for a gift card. Finally, I received:

200 bonus points from the 3 for £10 Fairy offer

and 100 bonus points from buying Lenor fabric conditioner.

I also have a receipt with 6 nectar points to redeem!

So that's 412 nectar points from one £50 something shop, plus 6 points to redeem, plus I got £3 cash back and £4.50 on a gift card (which I intend to swap for cash). I put the £3 cash and the rest of the change in my purse in my change jar.

- started using Adpoints properly and, so far, earned 31 points with lots more to earn. I'll be up all night doing that for sure!

- Earned £15 with TopCashBack with other windows open to do some more also (another all night activity)

- Through TCB, joined CreditExpert (sent a cancellation req straight after) and Equifax for the free trial and checked my credit report. Happy to see it's not as bad as I thought. It reminded me to sign the electoral register, so I filled out the form and emailed it to myself ready to print, complete and send off. It reminded me of the bank accounts I want to query and one I have open but have never used so that's on my to do list to sort. Also reassured me that the only negative thing on there was the default from Lloyds.

- Entered into prize draws/done surveys etc.

- Started switching off appliances that aren't needed when not in use

Whoop whoop! Thank you so much everyone!

ABetterLife

Also bought a packet of 59 nappies for £6.69 in the reduced section, down from a tenner because the packaging was slightly ripped

ABetterLife

Added the Nectar toolbar and earning points on purchases now! Also bought a money jar for my small change and a nursing bra for my hospital bag and earned bonus points on these

Edit: Joined MSE cheap energy club!

Edit edit: Switched to Npower with £30 cashback!

ABetterLife

bluep wrote: »

OP, ignore the haters. Haters gonna hate. Nothing you can do about that! Sounds like you are doing the best you can to build a life and its tough. My mum wasn't in that different a situation to you when I was born but worked 7 days a week, lived in constant overdraft when I was young. Hey, she scraped together enough cash to survive, I got a scholarship to one of the top schools in the country, went to a top university and now have a top job. Gosh. Look who's paying all the tax now. Strangely enough, I don't have an issue with benefits and welfare payments going to people who work hard and are trying to improve their situation. Keep going. It will all be worth it

Surestart would be good to look into if they are operating in your area? Church mums groups too - very welcoming even if you aren't sure that you strongly believe and are just explorign things - so many people there willing to help out others in less fortunate situations.

Watching tv on your ipad via 3G or 4G is always going to burn through your data. Broadband and a wifi connection you can link to at home would be a much more efficient way of doing things if you can find a good deal.

Thank you, and I really appreciate people coming together to stick up for me!

Wow, that must have been so hard for her I can't imagine. I'm always so busy anyway that the thought of not ever having a day off PLUS a baby is ghastly. Huge kudos to your Mum and congratulations to you for doing well for yourself!

And I know, right?! Benefit bashers really frustrate me. I hate the scroungers as much as the rest of them, but I DO NOT want to live in a place like America! I am glad we have a welfare system and I hope it stays, and stops getting stripped further and further back. I've also paid my tax too, as I've worked since I was 16!

And thank you, it definitely will and I can appreciate it more because I had to work really hard for it.

Surestart grant would be great but I won't be eligible for it unfortunately

Again, definitely open to church Mum groups as long as there's no bible bashing, ha.

And yep, I'm looking into getting that sorted too and will of course purchase it through TCB

ABetterLife

kindofagilr wrote: »

Hey hun

I wanted to say I think you are doing awesome and well done for tackling all this

Also try not to be put off by a couple of bad comments on the debt free board most of the people on there are lovely

Your daughter is a lucky little baby to have such a hard working momma like you, I hope in the future you can reconcile with your mam and that your baby's dad can come around to the idea of having a child and see your daughter.

I wish you all the best xx

Thank you so much! :heartsmil

I've noticed some people have started leaving constructive comments on the thread I posted there but I just want to leave the whole subject/thread now! I feel like the first few people who replied to it have read it without reading it and been quite unreasonable! But I won't let it put me off making more threads/commenting

That is so sweet of you, thank you :') I hope so too!

xxx

ABetterLife

busiscoming2 wrote: »

I admire you OP for trying so hard to make a good life for yourself and tackle the financial situation you find yourself in.

I can't offer much advice except to say your gas and electric do seem expensive to me and as has been advised use a comparison site to do a check for the best tariff.

Have you looked at this website for cheap food ideas?
She also has recently had a book of recipes published.

Thank you so much!

I have now switched to Npower plus earned cashback by doing so! Fingers crossed. I joined MSE cheap energy club which will alert me to switch any time a cheaper tariff comes along, so that should help massively!

I shall have a look, thanks!

ABetterLife

sulphate wrote: »

£100 a month on food seems like quite a lot for one person, but that may change when your baby is born and if you need to buy formula? Anyway husband and I have been known to spend just £140 a month for both of us, and we shop in Tesco (no aldi/lidl near us).

Someone has already mentioned agirlcalledjack.com - great, cheap recipes.

Hopefully I won't have to buy formula at all. I earn a lot back through Nectar points though. To be honest, most of that £100 shopping isn't food, it's my addiction/craving to smells - cleaning products, washing powder, fabric conditioner, soap. I impulse buy a lot too, although I do write a list! Just another thing for me to work on