Newbie, In need of some serious advice!

Suki_Lane

Alright, here goes.

My name is Suki, I'm 21 and I'm in debt. I have a part time job but it's not exactly raking the money in. I can't work anymore because I'm ill and my benefit entitlement is low but because I can't risk losing it I have to work less than 16 hours a week.
I am actually entitled to Housing Benefit, DLA, incapacity benefit or Income support but because my partner is able to work and chooses to rather than sponge off of the system we're penalised. Talk about a rock and a hard place eh?
Once all is paid off at the end of the month we're completely skint.
Rent is £275, Bills are £150 all inclusive. But I've just had a letter saying money I thought had been transferred by the bank (because it wasn't in there...) to the bill companies hadn't. So now on top of all the existing monthly payments there is a debt of about £2000. :eek:

So on part time wages of roughly £240 a month, plus my benefits of £13.60 a month plus my partners wage of roughly £500 a month we have to try and pay it off while trying to get together money for a wedding and a new flat... both dreams seem further away than ever.

I need to utilise my skills. I'm not sure how. I can knit, crochet and do general crafty things, I can clean houses, babysit and look after pets but I'm none too sure about how to go about it.

Are there any other ways to make money? Please enlighten me, I'm only 21 and I don't want to get a loan but I see no other way out.:(

RAS

Suki

We need a full SOA to help you see this http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=107280

In the mean-time, search the forum for chevalier's excellent links for survey sites, mystery shopping and the freebies site.

And please be very careful bout loans, They are not the way forward.

Have you checked if you can get WTC? see www.entitledto.com

Adrasteia01

13.60 a month of benefits isn't really a lot. You could probably earn more than this very easily by doing extra work. It might be in your best interests to just try and find another part time job or find a sideline for making money.

In the meantime you could try ebay/amazon/pigsback/quidco etc to make bits and pieces of money/vouchers.

Have you ever temped? I'm not sure how that would fit in with the job that you have, but short-term office work is usually paid reasonably well and it would only be temporary. Try a recruitment agency like Hays. Reception, administration, secretarial or computer experience is usually wanted for most jobs, but not always necessary.

Suki_Lane

Okay, here's my SOA
Monthly Incomings:

My salary - £240.60
Partners salary - £700.00
Benefits - £13.60

Total - £1056.60

Monthly Outgoings:

Mortgage/Rent - £275
Council Tax - £150
Gas - £75
Electric - £75
Phone - £90.00
Food - £120.00
Pets(food and insurance) - £120
Cigarettes - £40 (Trying to stop)

Total: £1045.00

As you can see it's just a tiny bit tight, I've got an £100 overdraft, but it's constantly up to the hilt at the moment.

I've registered with some mystery shopping sites. I'm going to compile an ebay list tomorrow. I've just posted 2 gumtree ads for cleaning and dog walking which I will also turn into physical flyers and put around town.

Is there a thread with Ebay selling tips or just general ebay guides? I'm going to go and register with some survey sites and look at the freebies boards ect.

I'm giving myself 6 months to half this debt, the loan is a last resort if after the 6 months I haven't made a dent but with all the things I'm doing now I hope (and pray) and hope some more it won't be the case.

I know this sounds cliche but it feels so much better to have accepted the problem and now try and fix it.

Thanks for the advice!

dubgirl

hi Suki, just looking at your SOA and your gas, electric and phone all seem really high. Also £120 on pets! thats seems a huge amount, what are you feeding? We have one dog (greyhound) who costs on average £3 a week to feed

sorry just re-read your first post where you said your bills are £150 inclusive - can you negotiate on this to reduce it at all?

Gemmzie

Your working 16 hours a week, why aren't you getting WTC? You can get them under 25 if you have a disability.

Also DLA isn't in anyway related to income, you could be a millionaire and claim it, so please speak to CAB and apply for this too

Suki_Lane

I have CFS which is really hard to get awarded DLA for but my friend is going to help me compile notes to take to CAB to try and ensure an award, half of the reason I'm in so much debt is because of the benefits agencies. I know I sound ignorant but i didn't know i could get WTC while working part time...

The bills are so high because when we first moved into the flat we're living in our flatmate moved out leaving us with her unpaid bills (6 months worth of council tax and electricity and gas) which has been very difficult to get back because she is being so evasive! Along with the £1000 in rent arrears she left and we had to pay.

We have a few pets, it costs roughly £50 to insure our dogs and £20 a month to feed them (dry food and veggies normally) we also have a rat, budgie and a cat to feed. All in all costing roughly another £30 a month and on top of that flea treatments £10 a month and worming treatments another £10. We are looking for new homes for the cat, rat and budgie probably at my parents, we got left with them when our old flatmate moved out too. I do believe that karma will get her but we are in talks with the CAB to get her to pay up. It's not going too well.

unfortunately we can't reduce any of the bills because we got stitched up by this girl, i've been trying to iron out the kinks slowly but now I'm just going to try and get back in the black and if she pays up then we'll have a bit extra cash.

Is it too late to start growing my own veggies/herbs ect? I think along with all the bits and pieces I have in mind it would help the pennies turn into pounds and get me debt free a bit quicker.

tealady

Its never too late to start veggies, thre is a gardening bit on this site which I'm sure would be very useful. Good luck.

tottie666

Suki_Lane wrote: »

Alright, here goes.

My name is Suki, I'm 21 and I'm in debt. I have a part time job but it's not exactly raking the money in. I can't work anymore because I'm ill and my benefit entitlement is low but because I can't risk losing it I have to work less than 16 hours a week.
I am actually entitled to Housing Benefit, DLA, incapacity benefit or Income support but because my partner is able to work and chooses to rather than sponge off of the system we're penalised. Talk about a rock and a hard place eh?
Once all is paid off at the end of the month we're completely skint.
Rent is £275, Bills are £150 all inclusive. But I've just had a letter saying money I thought had been transferred by the bank (because it wasn't in there...) to the bill companies hadn't. So now on top of all the existing monthly payments there is a debt of about £2000. :eek:

So on part time wages of roughly £240 a month, plus my benefits of £13.60 a month plus my partners wage of roughly £500 a month we have to try and pay it off while trying to get together money for a wedding and a new flat... both dreams seem further away than ever.

I need to utilise my skills. I'm not sure how. I can knit, crochet and do general crafty things, I can clean houses, babysit and look after pets but I'm none too sure about how to go about it.

Are there any other ways to make money? Please enlighten me, I'm only 21 and I don't want to get a loan but I see no other way out.:(

I thought DLA was not means tested, we get it for our daughter, and we both work. You should be able to get an application pack from the job centre, after you have this you could apply for the mobility componant.

Kevicho

Suki_Lane wrote: »

Alright, here goes.

I am actually entitled to Housing Benefit, DLA, incapacity benefit or Income support but because my partner is able to work and chooses to rather than sponge off of the system we're penalised. Talk about a rock and a hard place eh?

Im a bit confused here, I was ready to launch into a tirade yet you have posted partners salary 700?

How many hours is he working?

Sounds like enough to me to prove hes not "sponging" off the system

Also i would seriously get some advice on your benefits, not working for the sake of £13 a month(wages would be a lot more than that) doesnt really seem sensible.

My advice re ebay is check out what other sellers are doing and saying about there products, write good descriptions, make sure there are no speeling mistaks and ensure that your prices are competitive.
Also charge fairly for postage.

Kevicho

And yes, quit smoking