at rock bottom

greytdog_2

who is your broadband with? - i recently phoned virgin/ntl and moaned about the fact that they give new customers great deals but not existing ones and they immediately offered to know £10 a month of my bill from now on. Not much i know but every little helps. Also are the any other nurses you could do a job share /childcare share for ie you do their childcare for free and visa versa?

greytdog_2

ooh also forgot that when my o2 mobiel was due for an upgrade they asked what i wanted and i said free line rental - they gave me free line rental on a claim back arrangement for a year

Karmacat

Hi mrs pinkybinks

Welcome to mse - sorry things are so hard right now. Is it the shifts that are the problem with nursing? Maybe you could look at options that aren't shifts - places that run day care programmes, a friend of mine who's a nurse had a job at a state school as school nurse.

Otherwise, standard advice, I'm afraid
- look at the providers of all your servces, see if you can get anything cheaper. If you can, use a cashback site to get it (quidco etc).
- there are bits of money that most of us make through cashback sites for no expenditure - clicks, free trials etc.
- plus if you sign up to do surveys, eventually they pay out a bit of money - its pennies, really, but while you're hunting for other stuff, you might as well have the pennies.
- mystery shopping, depending on where you are, can give a little income.
- go to the old style board on this forum, and check out ways to get your costs down.
- and, I hate to say it, I really do, but the swimming lessons might have to go by the board for the moment - thats 15% of your shortfall, right there.

Good luck.

RAS

If your daughter is 3, you are entitled to 5 half days free child care, I think. Also you can take this as 2.5days or 5 half days.

Check it on the benefits board if no-one comes along.

LandyAndy

Could you really manage on what teaching assistants are paid? I thought it was a lot less (and I mean A LOT) than nursing.

I am seeing salaries quoted as 12,500 to 14,000 p.a.

level 4 TA's may get up to 23,000 p.a. pro rata but are often on termly contracts and so aren't paid at all during school hols.

RAS

mrs_pinkybinks wrote: »

RENT £625
C TAX £104 SINGLE PERSON DISCOUNT - can you pay this over 12 months instead of 10?
PHONE MOBILE TV AND BROADBAND £60 - you should be able to get a better deal with this. Check the deals on here and use www.quidco.com to get cashback
GAS £31
ELEC £10
WATER £30
TV LIC £12
FOOD £200 - head over to the Money Saving Old Style board for ideas on cheap meals, menu plans and all manner of savings
NURSERY £180 - get your free sessions
LOAN 1 £133 HSBC 12.9% 4 YEARS TO GO - pls do not get any more loans
LOAN 2 £212 HALIFAX 12.9% 5 YERS TO GO- pls do not get any more loans
NEXT £73 MIN 29.9% BAL £778 - if you have a spare quid, this is where it has to go get rid ASAP and stop using it. It is your most expensive debt. :mad:
MINT £135 MIN 18.9 % BAL 6220
BARCLAY £35 MIN 4.9 % BAL 1250 - what is the maximum limit on this card?
NATWEST £20 MIN 0% UNTIL JULY 2008 BAL £847 - what is the maximum limit on this card?
SWIMMING LESSONS £30 - these have to go for a while
PETROL £60
NURSING UNION £12 - check what other benefits you can get from this?

TOTAL £1952

Are you entitled to HB at all?

You have nothing in your budget for clothes, you have petrol but no car insurance, car tax, MOT or repairs?

Join the local branch of www.freecycle.org, which is like e-bay but they give away stuff free instead of seeeling it. great for kids clothes, white goods, toys, electrical and household bits and pieces.

I also suggest that you put in the value of loans 1 and 2 and talk seriously to CCCS, payplan or CAb about your situation if you canot get things to balance.

Right now, you might just make it but it is going to be a long haul. On the other hand DD will be at school in another two years, so things will improve.

hypno06

Hi there.

The thing that jumps out at me is the food bill. If this is just for you and a three year old, then I reckon it can easily be reduced by almost half. It does require a bit of planning, and careful shopping, but it can be done. Head over to the Old Style Board on here and get some fab tips on reducing your shopping bill.

That alone makes up a good amount of your shortfall.

Also, get ebaying, putting books on Amazon, etc etc to give yourself a bit of extra - it is amazing how quickly that all adds up!

greytdog_2

RAS wrote: »

If your daughter is 3, you are entitled to 5 half days free child care, I think. Also you can take this as 2.5days or 5 half days.

Check it on the benefits board if no-one comes along.

people with children under 16yrs are entitled to 5 days (nominally 8 hr days) pro rata childcare leave. So it depends on how many hours you work as to how much time you actually get.

Burlesque_Babe

Have you spoken to your local hospital? i've just left the NHS and where I worked have a 'family friendly' policy where they offered term time contracts to nurses who had children.

Just a thought that they might be able to do a specific contract rather than the luck of the draw on the bank.

RAS

greytdog wrote: »

people with children under 16yrs are entitled to 5 days (nominally 8 hr days) pro rata childcare leave. So it depends on how many hours you work as to how much time you actually get.

Hi I am refering to free weekly child care sessions not annual emergency leave entitlement. Chev, Sea, anyone - help?