Rant

immoral_angeluk

Apologies in advance for what is inevitably going to be a rant...

I'm so fed up of being on benefits while trying to pay off my debt. Does anyone else find it a nightmare trying to juggle mismatched income and being skint? It's so hard to keep track of it all, I get child benefit weekly on one day, tax credits weekly on another, esa and fortnightly, housing benefit four weekly and pip on a different four weekly cycle (I do get CSA but this is sporadic).

I'm constantly playing catch up and trying my hardest to pay off my credit card, but the problem is on some weeks I only get child benefit and tax credits which means after buying basic food and petrol we've got nothing left.

My credit card is coming down, and is thankfully 0% despite having to rely on it for essentials in my broke weeks. Part of the problem is I also have chronic depression which is screwing with my ability to budget and handle money, so it all ends up a right mess.

As much as I'm dreading the arrival of universal credit, having one payment would be SO much easier to budget with. The current benefits system is a god damn nightmare.

Anyone else have the same problem?

andyfromotley

I dont, but it sounds really crap. Hugs.

Karen777

^ what he said ^

Karen777

also I just looked at your signature - you are doing brilliantly! well done!

fermi

Nice to see you posting IA.

Sorry to hear you are having a few struggles. I have every confidence you will work your way through it and come out stronger.

bsms1147

You need to disassociate your outgoings from your incomings so that it doesn't matter to you on what day each payment comes in. If you haven't already, check out YouNeedABudget (YNAB) which many people really rate for people in siuations such as yours.

Our thread: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5027025

Growurown

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

As much as I'm dreading the arrival of universal credit, having one payment would be SO much easier to budget with. The current benefits system is a god damn nightmare.

Anyone else have the same problem?

Hi IA, one thing you might want to look into is your local Credit Union for when UC comes in. My one is running a scheme called jam jar accounts, where all your UC goes into the CU and then they pay your rent and any other bills you decide upon and what's left over is then paid into your bank account. That way you won't be tempted to spend money designated for essential bills which is very easy to do when budgets are so tight.

katy_ann

I don't know what that's like but for me it would be a nightmare so I can see how you feel! Looking at your signature though your obviously doing it right as you've done fantastic!

immoral_angeluk

Thanks everyone. It's so frustrating and seems like such a ridiculous situation to be in. If I do my financial statement per calendar month people would think I'm an idiot as over the whole month I have plenty surplus. The killer is that I don't get enough in to cover the outgoings on the low weeks and I'm always trying to catch up so spend more paying stuff off on the 'big' weeks.

The depression doesn't help. Find it hard to keep track of things so trying to monitor every penny and every bill week to week is hard.

I hate it, those who know me from before will know I used to be a master budgeter!

headachesrus

Try drawing yourself up a monthly planner and mark on it each payday, and each bill. I find it easier to visualise what's coming in and what's going out each week.

Sazzie23

immoral_angeluk wrote: »

Thanks everyone. It's so frustrating and seems like such a ridiculous situation to be in. If I do my financial statement per calendar month people would think I'm an idiot as over the whole month I have plenty surplus. The killer is that I don't get enough in to cover the outgoings on the low weeks and I'm always trying to catch up so spend more paying stuff off on the 'big' weeks.

The depression doesn't help. Find it hard to keep track of things so trying to monitor every penny and every bill week to week is hard.

I hate it, those who know me from before will know I used to be a master budgeter!

Sounds pretty tough, but I understand the frustration of knowing, 'I used to be able to do this', is it the depression, or just our minds being fuller with more stuff?, who knows. I defo find writing stuff down helps, and I'm just learning to remember to check my book every day for what I need to do.

On a practical thought, Is it possible to shift your CC or any other bill payment to a better date, would that help? When I started my DMP, Barclays said I was late every time, so I asked them to change the date and in the end they did, and now I'm not late any more!