Starting Out, low income

MallyGirl

some really good suggestions there Steerpike.

TopCashBack or Quidco can really mount up.
I get laughed at by my DD and DH for having a snuggly blanket on the sofa but the alternative would be to whack the heating up as I feel the cold more than they do.
Freecycle is a great resource - also checkout if there is a local Facebook buy and sell group as then you know the collection distance should be short (our Freecycle/Freegle covers quite a big area).

Upsidedown_Bear

Hello, welcome :hello:

Do check out Jack Monroe's blog Cooking on a bootstrap - really good cheap recipes.

3_kids_2_jobs_1_dog

Hi

You may qualify for Housing Benefit to help with your rent, especially the months when you are on minimum hours. Check with your Local Authority, you can usually apply online and our local council ask for payslips to be taken into them monthly when the pay varies so that they can adjust the amount of Housing Benefit accordingly.

If you are living alone don't forget you will also qualify for the 25% discount on Council Tax.

HTH and good luck

321

teffers

Separate your finances in different bank accounts.

Wages go into one account. Transfer your 'disposable allowance' into another and keep your bills money completely separate. Pay the amount into it each payday to cover any direct debits etc.

I did this when I started out and still do it today. You'll never 'accidentally' spend more than you can afford :-)

Good luck and all the best.

moneyistooshorttomention

Thinking further on bank accounts. ....and I like to have what I call "cashflow money" in my bank account (ie as well as the money I need to live on for the next month). My savings go elsewhere into a savings account.

The purpose of the cashflow money is quite a variety of things really:
- I have the money to layout on buying bigger sizes of frequently-used goods (if they work out cheaper that way)
- If a bit of unexpected expenditure comes up (eg accidentally ruining some necessary item of clothing or household item or something) then I have the money readily to hand to replace it instantly

and all sorts of other uses I'm sure I'll recall as I go on.

So - to me - my decision is to keep £1,000 more in my bank account than I need for the rest of the month (ie until salary or pension gets paid again for the next month). I've not always managed it - and sometimes its sunk a fair bit lower than that and there have been times (some time back) where it went into overdraft in fact. But that's the aim and I've got my cashflow money back again recently.