Always skint and have a 3 month old child. I need money advice

Faith177

Flinchy-Stryder wrote: »

Thank you to everyone who has offered me advice. At my next payday on the 5th of dec i will have a second attempt at making packed lunches. I never knew before this that you could freeze a whole sandwich. I'll also look at some cheap soups to try bulk the lunch out a bit. I only work until the 20th of dec and go back on january 5th i think, so next month will mean i have a bit more money but it will be a good time to trial my packed lunch.

Others asked about taking my washing to my mums house. Thats not possible as her house is about 30 miles away. I have phoned around for jobs this evening in pubs and restaurants. Most have nothing but 1 hotel said they will call me tomorrow as they will need temp staff for xmas. Oh and my apprenticeship is in aeronautical engineering for those who asked. I'll check out the food boards for some more food tips that will hopefully reduce my spending

Make sure to have a bit of variety in the bread you use if you can otherwise it can get a bit boring

Warbuton thins are quite nice and often on offer and most supermarkets do their own version i think tescos are 6 lots for about a pound and they freeze really well Also try wraps and things like that they freeze well as well and as i said will hopefully stop you getting stuck in a rut lunch wise.

And if you have fb there is a group on there that has recipes to feed a family on 20 a week you could make up a batch of stuff freeze it and then alternate the meals as one of the recipes is normally designed for 4 people

The pound stores tend to do a set of plastic trays (like the take away ones) and they are good in the freezer

Also try bulking out your meals with lots of veg it's very cheap and will fill you up. Do you have any markets near you at all? Aldi do a lot of veg and fruit really cheaply so that might help but i would buy that as you need it tbh save it going manky

Good luck with everything OP I think you have it in you to do great and i wish you all the best for the future

theoretica

Flinchy-Stryder wrote: »

i will have a second attempt at making packed lunches. I never knew before this that you could freeze a whole sandwich.

For future reference and if experiments don't work out things which 'don't freeze' aren't going to be bad for you if you do - they won't grow bugs, just get rather odd textures. As you discovered it is a good idea to divide things up before you freeze them.

dory22

Flinchy-Stryder wrote: »

It would be great but where would i get a job that is only 8 hours a week on a saturday or sunday?

would you be better off if your child and mother moved in with you?

lots of shops and supermarket have 8 hour weekend contracts.
as do theatres/cinemas needing ushers, especially this time of year, have you seen if your entitled to any benefits? housing benefit, etc?
even a paper round could help.

if you have a theatre near it might worth seeing if they need any extra crew, when a show ends they need people to help take the stage down etc its hard work but its normally over £40 an hour, not always regular work but it may help.

Lily-Rose_3

Faith177 wrote: »

To lilly-rose YES he does work 110 hours some weeks he is a pub manager so some days doesn't finish work until 1:30am - 2am he then has to be up for deliveries first thing in the morning which means a 5 - 5:30am start. On a good week when he can get a night off or two then he will only work 70 but it's still 7 days a week. He is constantly tired and stressed but at least it's a job. Wanna see his weekly hour returns if you don't believe me?

We don't have children as unfortunately we are unable to have children
but we have some outlays that are the same as OH for example mortgage, travel to work etc if we didn't work the hours we did we would have 20-30 quid a month between us spare and we don't want to live like that so we have to work. Our main expense is our animals they cost us a fortune every month 80-100 a month in food alone not including the 15 insurance per cat x 7 and 50 per dog x 2. I pay 200 a month for train travel to work alone

Your OH has 3 hours a night sleep, and works 110 hours a week some weeks?

And you work 65?

And you have so many outgoings that you have to do these hours or you'd only have £30 a month between you to spare?

And your pets cost you some £300 a month and your train travel £200?

I don't know if you're happy with this situation, but I must admit that I certainly wouldn't be.

That is a LOT to spend on pets. And if you're both at work for 65 to 100 hours a week, do you even get to spend time with them?

Each to their own, but this situation wouldn't do for me. I think I would be doing my best to change this situation.

I'd rather live in a caravan and live off the land than work 65-100 hours a week just to make ends meet. I don't see that as a life. It's just work work work and no play. No way to live IMO. Surely there must be SOME way to make your outgoings less? Have you done a I & E list on the money managing boards?

Faith177

Lily-Rose wrote: »

Your OH has 3 hours a night sleep, and works 110 hours a week some weeks?

And you work 65?

And you have so many outgoings that you have to do these hours or you'd only have £30 a month between you to spare?

And your pets cost you some £300 a month and your train travel £200?

I don't know if you're happy with this situation, but I must admit that I certainly wouldn't be.

That is a LOT to spend on pets. And if you're at work for 65 to 100 hours a week, do you even get to spend time with them?

Each to their own, but this situation wouldn't do for me. I think I would be doing my best to change this situation.

I'd rather live in a caravan and live off the land than work 65-100 hours a week just to make ends meet. I don't see that as a life. It's just work work work and no play. No way to live IMO. Surely there must be SOME way to make your outgoings less? Have you done a I & E list on the money managing boards?

we are looking to change but we racked up debts helping my mum and his mum that we need to clear plus he had 2 extended periods of unemployment and I had a mental breakdown a few years ago and was on ssp for about 7 months and also had our wedding so we are trying to get back on an even keel

We will only need to work like this for about another 6 -12 months and we'll be all good and we have managed to clear our debts 3 years earlier than had we not worked our butts off and then we can relax

By working the extra hours it has meant that we can still afford a holiday every year and a few weekends away plus treats when we want them but still pay our debts off we have certainly never gone without and go for meals out whenever OH is off or get a take away

Working the extra has just made the difference between getting by and enjoying ourselves

The 20-30 spare is if we continued to pay the amount off of our debts that we are now and which has enabled us to get them down fast

The additional I work is pin money and as OH works long hours I'd only be stuck at home on my own so I may as well work and get myself in a better postion finacially as quickly as possible.

I was brought up that if you want something you have to make sacrifices and some times that means putting your nose to the grindstone and getting on with it.

Georgiegirl256

Faith177 wrote: »

To lilly-rose YES he does work 110 hours some weeks he is a pub manager so some days doesn't finish work until 1:30am - 2am he then has to be up for deliveries first thing in the morning which means a 5 - 5:30am start. On a good week when he can get a night off or two then he will only work 70 but it's still 7 days a week. He is constantly tired and stressed but at least it's a job.

We don't have children as unfortunately we are unable to have children
but we have some outlays that are the same as OH for example mortgage, travel to work etc if we didn't work the hours we did we would have 20-30 quid a month between us spare and we don't want to live like that so we have to work. Our main expense is our animals they cost us a fortune every month 80-100 a month in food alone not including the 15 insurance per cat x 7 and 50 per dog x 2. I pay 200 a month for train travel to work alone


Georgie we thought she was in the clear but it looks like it might be back (we found out tomorrow) but I know for a fact she'll kick it's butt like last time

Sorry to hear that, but fingers crossed for tomorrow. Really hope it's good news.

quidsy

Originally Posted by Mrshaworth2b


Some of the comments on here are harsh.


Fair enough some of us work silly hours to afford our lifestyles,
some of us don't. This guy has come on asking for advice. Give advice or
don't.

Also, there was a comment made about £11 would buy a
months worth of nappies.....For a 3 month old.... er no!

This forum cracks me up.

I will quote my whole post in case someone thinks that part you referred was the entirety (oh I see "someone" already did, shocker!) :eek:

It is possible to get nappies for that price or as close to for a month.

Supermarkets, hotuk, amazon, all do regular deals, lidl, & aldi also sell cheaper version but much better quality imo that branded.

I used LIDL toujour, currently their MIDI's are 2.89 a pack of 42. That's just over £11 a month for 168 nappies if 4 packs bought, worst case baby needs changing 8 times a day, mine only needed a max of 6 changes a day on average but 8 changes = 21 days worth of nappies.

Either way, the op wants to find some way to cut costs to contribute to his child, I made a suggestion that is workable if he could find an alternate to his laundry costs.

quidsy wrote: »

The phone is locked in for 2 years, let's move on & give the lad a break I would make a note of the earliest they will let you off though, always good to be prepared.

Would you mum help out with your laundry? Even temporarily until you have more coming in, £11 a month will pay for nappies for a month.

Buzzybee90

Some of the holier than thou comments on this thread are ridiculous

Right anyway to the OP-

I personally think you're doing pretty well! Your apprenticeship will hopefully lead you to a fulfilling and lucrative career, I think you've got to bite the bullet for the mo. Freezing lunches is good - freezing spag Bol etc is good - if you stock up on cheap pasta, rice and sauces then you should be ok - but I don't think this is a great quality of life and don't let anyone tell you you're wrong to have a little moan.

Your phone contract is high, I pay a lot less and I've got an iPhone, however as you've pointed out you're locked in (I hate phone contracts!) but you'll know next time there are savings to be had, especially if you've been with the company for a while.

You've got so much bad press and I think it's awful, seeings as you could be bumming it on benefits.

Good luck!

lidlest

Mrshaworth2b wrote: »

Some of the comments on here are harsh.

Fair enough some of us work silly hours to afford our lifestyles, some of us don't. This guy has come on asking for advice. Give advice or don't.

Also, there was a comment made about £11 would buy a months worth of nappies.....For a 3 month old.... er no!

Anyway op, check benefits, make sure you are claiming for all that you can. Split your shopping into less than once a month then things don't go off. Live on discounted food, there are plenty of threads on old money saving thread that will give you recipes to live off far less money. And plus there generally for a family of 4 so think, that's more than one portion = more than one meal. Handy!

Ask your parents for a little help? May it be washing, freezing you some food, paying for your dinners? Anything!!

This... This forum has become stupid harsh over the past few years, here is a 19! Year old, in a tough situation. Yes it's of their own making, but having been there I want to salute this young man for working, studying AND wanting to better themselves for their child. I still teach young adults of this age and I find it commendable that you have come on here for help.

You have had some good ideas on saving a few pennies, but you do need to do the following a) get a little evening job, even one night a week will give you money to give to the mother to spend on your child. keep studying.. it WILL get better and you will soon be earning more c) at weekends do your washing at your mums and earn a few Amazon gift vouchers through gifthulk/swagbucks, those kind of things and spend these on nappies and gifts for your little one. This will make YOU feel better, contributing and doing your best.. Keep your chin up and plot on through.

And ignore the people who work 70 hours a week and walk 20 miles through snow up hill with no shoes. Those kinds of people are just not helpful .

Georgiegirl256

lidlest wrote: »

This... This forum has become stupid harsh over the past few years, here is a 19! Year old, in a tough situation. Yes it's of their own making, but having been there I want to salute this young man for working, studying AND wanting to better themselves for their child. I still teach young adults of this age and I find it commendable that you have come on here for help.

You have had some good ideas on saving a few pennies, but you do need to do the following a) get a little evening job, even one night a week will give you money to give to the mother to spend on your child. keep studying.. it WILL get better and you will soon be earning more c) at weekends do your washing at your mums and earn a few Amazon gift vouchers through gifthulk/swagbucks, those kind of things and spend these on nappies and gifts for your little one. This will make YOU feel better, contributing and doing your best.. Keep your chin up and plot on through.

And ignore the people who work 70 hours a week and walk 20 miles through snow up hill with no shoes. Those kinds of people are just not helpful .

"Those kinds of people" were simply just commenting on that how if you need to do extra hours to earn extra money then you can....it is possible.

Many people had suggested that the OP get a second job, even just a little one (night, weekend etc), but straight away those suggestions were shot down because he was already doing 32 hours a week.

Making your own sandwiches etc is a start, and will save him some money, but to earn anything decent to be able to help support his child, then yes, a second job is the way to go IMO.

Millions of people do it....because they have to.