I feel so fed up I don't know where to start

jellycat40

Actually that is not true really or I would not be on here would I?

On Wednesday OH starts a proper job. He has been self employed for 12 years and our income has always been of the feast or famine type.

Next week he starts a job which he intends to stay in until he retires in 5 to 7 years time. He will be earning about £1,500 a month. I get a £350 maintenance from previous partner and the child benefit of about £80.

Our rent is about £650 and council tax and water comes to about £160 per month. Gas and Electric are about £60 per month. Our son is an apprentice and we currently support him to the tune of about £300 per month. We both run cars as we live outside of the towns and cities. We also have to provide maintenance for my OH children - I am not sure how much he sends it varies on income.

We are used to a high standard of living and just having whatever we want when we want it. We have always enjoyed going away for weekends and have just returned from a trip away where we spent probably about £700-800 just having a good time.

I do understand that not everyone can live like this but it is the change that I am scared of. We have opted for the security of a PAYE job as my husband is not getting any younger and we have 2 children under 10 that we have to provide for (only one living with us).

I have not been well for many years and I have tried to work, I have just done 7 weeks in a new job but I had to leave in the end it was too much for me.

Any suggestions?

Louise

alwaysonthego_2

you should post your state of affairs (soa) in the debt forum bit. The peeps in their are really good at helping you trim your finances

Hardup_Hester

Hi Jellycat
How big is you house, you may be able to cut your fuel bills down a bit & there is loads of good advice on here.
Hester

lil_me

I think if it was me I would start with knowing what you will be paying out. As your partner will be on a set salary the CSA/Maintainence payments should be the same each week.

From knowing precisely what you will be paying out and what you have coming in (every last outgoing/income down to the penny) you will be able to hopefully see what you have left, if there is room for improvement etc.

I understand what you are saying about the lifestyle change, been there myself, it isn't easy but it does get easier as time goes on.

Gingham_Ribbon

The debt free board is ideal for this sort of question so I'll move your thread there.

Do you know if you're entitled to child tax credits? It sounds like you should be.

Gingham_Ribbon

Bump.

I promised this poster she'd get lots of help on this board but her thread seems to have drifted into the shadows so I thought I'd bring it to people's attention.

Thanks. :beer:

lynzpower

hi there OP

Best bet is to do an SOA you cant be a true moneysaver without one! pop it up and lets see how we can help you cope

hypno06

Hi Louise and welcome to this board!

If you have a look at Southernscouser's sticky for first time posters, and prepare an SOA, this will give us a lot more information so that we can suggest ways of cutting back.

Also, check on www.entitledto.com to check that you are getting all the benefits that you are entitled to.

If your OH can arrange a more standard child support payment, then that would help simply to know what you will have going out each month, leaving less danger of you running short.

Hope to hear from you again soon!

andyrules

Hi Jellycat

You don't say how old OH children are (is one the under 10 one, I wasn't sure), but the maintenance will come to an end, and that will free up cash. We had years of poverty - one salary, maintenance seemed never-ending but it DID finish and that was an enormous relief.

As Gingham says, look at tax credits, check out any benefit if you're unable to work.

Is it possible for OH to commute by train to work? If he's sat in an office (I'm making assumptions!) he only needs car to and fro, if you don't work could you drive him there? One car less would help enormously. Do you have periods of better health when you could do some temping?

Don't discount your going away treats, look on the travel board for cheap hints, £15 hotel rooms, sometimes you can get cheap cottage lets out of season, free entries to activities (Sainsburys at the mo), rail discounts etc. I agree you need some things to look forward to!

I feel for you, I've just been made redundant, no job yet (how hard is it??) so am looking at anything myself! Currently I'm looking at changing mobile phone deal hoping to trim bills there!

Good luck, I'm going to watch this for better advice from the experts!

gems2381

Try signing up to all the cashback sites and do the daily clicks if you have time, PM me if you want help on this and I'll let you know what to do. You won't make a fortune doing them but it'll help save up for treats etc.

chevalier

Hi there these are all sites I use, to earn money/points. They are all things you can do from home. They won't earn you hundreds but every little helps.

Also there is the mystery shopping thread. This might be good for you, as you only do a brief walk through a shop, or have a meal etc and then write a report on it.

Best of luck
chev

www.lightspeedpanel.com - this is a survey site, where you get points which turn into vouchers (you choose). May not help with the cash flow, but the vouchers could be saved towards birthday/xmas or given as presents.

www.ciao.co.uk - survey site that gives money. A bit fits and starts ie no surveys for a couple of weeks, then three or four the same day.

www.yougov.com - again paid surveys. However takes a while to get to the minimum payout level

www.mytns.com - again this is a survey site, but it pays you in points that convert into Nectar points at Sainsbury’s.

www.pigsback.co.uk - this is a points site, ie they give you points for buying things via their site. BUT you also get points for signing up for news letters (some of which are even interesting!), and also for clicking on adverts with pink borders. I have spent NOTHING with them but got a £10 voucher through this week (only been registered since January). There is also a thread in the freebies section, of www.moneysavingexpert.com which gives you all the daily answers to the competitions so you can have a better chance of winning on them.

www.mutualpoints.com - another points for clicks site. You can also buy things via their site and get points too. For a long time, I just clicked the links in the emails they send you, and that gets you 5 points. At 3000 points you get £20 I think. You can do searches via their site and that gets you points too.

www.quidco.com - this is a cash back site, so very good, for checking if any potential new insurers (ie if you have checked your contents insurance say and found a new provider), are offering cash back. Eg Lloyds was offering £120 cashback on new policies at one point (the offers do change). You can also get small amounts of cash again for doing searches via their site. You can earn 52p a day by doing this. Every little helps.

www.greasypalm.co.uk - another cash back site, where you can do searches and get small amounts of money. But it all adds up. I think you can get about 50p a day on there for nothing. Minimum payout is £20 I think, but you can sign up to survey sites via there, and get extra money that way for nothing.

Again more medium term money might come from claiming back bank charges. Also if you had an endowment you can write to your provider suggesting you might have been misinformed about its performance. Many people have got money back on that. There are articles from Martin on the main site about how to go about doing this.
If you are going to do this, it is wise to set up another current account first, with a bank that you have no debt with. Just to be on the safe side.

Are you in the correct banding for your council tax? Again there is an article by Martin on the main website about how to go about checking this. If you are in the wrong band and due a rebate, it is for all the year you have been living in the house since 1991, so this can be several thousand pounds back.