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Need to boost income when I have a child with extra needs

Sansababy
Posts: 41 Forumite

Hi,
My husband works between 16 and 35 hours a week, it varies due to hours cuts and what he can do, he earns on average £200pw although this goes up and down a lot.
My daughter (nearly 2) has extra needs; She has hip, chest, eye and ear problems she may also have autism/a processing disorder which is being assessed and these mean she has regular hospital and doctors appointments often 2/3 a month as well as the regular illnesses and accidents that happen with a toddler and require other appointments (the receptionist at our doctors joked the other day she'll set up a bedroom in the spare office for us as we're there at least once per week). She's settled in a nursery which she attends 3 days per week and that costs us the best part of £500pm. I'm reluctant to remove her as not only does she enjoy it but the specialists in charge of her care have warned she will probably regress quite far if she is removed as the staff and teachers work with her on her disadvantages; she's only around 2-3 months behind her peers now where before she started she was 9-12 months behind, so it is a huge leap.
So even with tax credits top up, child benefit and housing benefit (technically council tax support too but I doubt 4p a week counts for anything!) we're between £20 and £50 short a week of money as it depends on my husbands shifts as to how much. I don't currently work but need something that works around my husband and daughter:
- I need to be available for drop off and pickup at Nursery (drop off is between 7.30 and 8am and pickup anytime between 4.30 and 6pm) as my husband works unknown shifts and only knows a week in advance
- Need to have the flexibility to be able to take time off when my daughter has appointments/is ill however if my husband is off/working a late shift (6pm start) he is happy to let me go work and he'll look after our daughter
- Needs to make at least £50 a week, but possibly more if my husbands workplace go through long periods of hours cuts (10 weeks was the longest and financially it was a disaster for us)
I don't care what I do - keeping my daughter in Nursery is the most important part. Unfortunately my husband refuses to change jobs despite the uncertainty in his as he enjoys it - he has mental health issues so feels a job that he's happy in is more important that what he earns (don't get me started on that).
If I can work enough to cancel out the benefits we get but it still work around my daughter I'm also happy with that. Happy to work from home, or out of the home. Really doesn't matter. But I'm stuck as to what I can do.
I'm 24 (25 in June), and don't drive although when I do have extra money I plan to take lessons.
Any suggestions?
My husband works between 16 and 35 hours a week, it varies due to hours cuts and what he can do, he earns on average £200pw although this goes up and down a lot.
My daughter (nearly 2) has extra needs; She has hip, chest, eye and ear problems she may also have autism/a processing disorder which is being assessed and these mean she has regular hospital and doctors appointments often 2/3 a month as well as the regular illnesses and accidents that happen with a toddler and require other appointments (the receptionist at our doctors joked the other day she'll set up a bedroom in the spare office for us as we're there at least once per week). She's settled in a nursery which she attends 3 days per week and that costs us the best part of £500pm. I'm reluctant to remove her as not only does she enjoy it but the specialists in charge of her care have warned she will probably regress quite far if she is removed as the staff and teachers work with her on her disadvantages; she's only around 2-3 months behind her peers now where before she started she was 9-12 months behind, so it is a huge leap.
So even with tax credits top up, child benefit and housing benefit (technically council tax support too but I doubt 4p a week counts for anything!) we're between £20 and £50 short a week of money as it depends on my husbands shifts as to how much. I don't currently work but need something that works around my husband and daughter:
- I need to be available for drop off and pickup at Nursery (drop off is between 7.30 and 8am and pickup anytime between 4.30 and 6pm) as my husband works unknown shifts and only knows a week in advance
- Need to have the flexibility to be able to take time off when my daughter has appointments/is ill however if my husband is off/working a late shift (6pm start) he is happy to let me go work and he'll look after our daughter
- Needs to make at least £50 a week, but possibly more if my husbands workplace go through long periods of hours cuts (10 weeks was the longest and financially it was a disaster for us)
I don't care what I do - keeping my daughter in Nursery is the most important part. Unfortunately my husband refuses to change jobs despite the uncertainty in his as he enjoys it - he has mental health issues so feels a job that he's happy in is more important that what he earns (don't get me started on that).
If I can work enough to cancel out the benefits we get but it still work around my daughter I'm also happy with that. Happy to work from home, or out of the home. Really doesn't matter. But I'm stuck as to what I can do.
I'm 24 (25 in June), and don't drive although when I do have extra money I plan to take lessons.
Any suggestions?
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Comments
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Why not apply for freelancing jobs online. You can try so many freelancing jobs and they offer good income. There are so many transcription jobs you can apply for. What are your skills? I know it's pretty hard that way but since you have a child that needs you better to just prioritize earning from home.0
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I did go to University, but never completed my degree and have no qualifications to show for that although I am happy to contact the University and see if I can get recognition for the two years I did complete. My degree was in IT.0
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It's really hard, I do sympathise. My kids don't have special needs but it's still really difficult to find a job that fits in with childcare hours, and I feel guilty for having to take time off when they are sick. I think it's the same for a lot of parents. That is, it's bad enough with kids who have a normal amount of illness, so from what you've said about your daughter I just can't think of any job where they wouldn't mind you taking that much time off at short notice. Do you have any family nearby who could look after her if she was poorly or to help with taking her to appointments?
Working from home does sound like the best plan but it's hard to get a genuine job that pays reasonably well (otherwise everyone would be doing it!) Maybe something like Usbourne books or Avon? No idea what the earning potential is though.
Could you drop your daughter's hours from 3 days to 2? It is a normal nursery or a special needs one? Do you get any funding for her?0 -
If your partner is home in the evenings, look for evening cleaning near to where you live? Banks and offices. Try on 'Indeed' jobs and set up alerts for just evening jobs near to your home. I used to do cleaning in Tesco doing chicken machines and the bakery in the evenings and also 3am to 8am in the store. Cleaning is not as popular as shelf stacking or the home delivery orders. All the large supermarkets have jobs stacking shelves when the shop is closed. Good luckRemember when you judge someone, it does not define them ... You define yourself :j0
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Husband works varying hours with no guarantee he'll be home in the evenings - he works zero hours at a supermarket and makes himself available whenever he's needed so no guarantee of hours or when he'll be working. They seem to favour him doing either 5.45am-1pm or 6pm-10pm but he can get hours in between too.
Daughter is at a normal nursery with a specialism in deafness (which is her ear problem). We're trying to keep her in Mainstream if possible as the nearest Specialist School/Nursery that would be suitable is 30 miles away.0 -
We have family nearby but they work fulltime or still have teenage children at home (or both) so can't commit to a day a week or whatever we'd need for me to work fulltime. My father-in-law is also immuno-compromised so can't have her around him when she's ill/0
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With your daughters nursery hours I would think there should be lots you could do. I work on a 0.6 contract so three full days a week in an admin role in a university, this was what I did before having children so it just do it part time now. My hours would be covered by your daughters nursery. You have the capacity to work 9-5 on the days you daughter is in nursery. My salary isn't huge but its 1K a month take home. Depends a bit on what work experience you have though as to what jobs you might get- what work have you done before? Retail, waitressing, anything while at uni? Admin or TA work in a school? work in a nursery or pre-school in childcare (you have the experience for that if nothing else), care work? I think it is a bit more challenging to find decent part time work than full time but you are not without qualifications even to have got into uni you must have A-levels? If evenings are an issue then you would probably be best working on nursery days.
If you completed two full years of a degree programme and passed everything then you should be eligible for a Diploma of Higher Education (you would need 240 credits usually) - I am a bit surprised your university hasn't already awarded this but get on to them and ask. You could then use that later if you wish to go back into higher education and perhaps only only do one further year to get your degree (e.g with the Open university) although that is presumably not your priority currently.0 -
Mrs Soup thank you for that, I do eventually want to get on and finish my degree as it will open up far more opportunities for me.
I did work as a tour guide for the university, but also went into schools and gave talks and presentations about University and my experiences. I've also done a bit a teaching as well.0 -
If you have teaching experience and a child with special needs I would definitely take a look at teaching assistant work which by definition is within school hours. Try your local council jobs website or jobsgopublic. Schools around my way also have a jobs advertising site called greensheets, I don't know if other areas have something similar. Secondary schools also sometimes have jobs called "cover supervisor" which I think means basically babysitting a class whose teacher is absent while they do the set work- you don't have to be a teacher for this but having done a bit of teaching might help with the skills you'd need.
Anyway hope you find something.0 -
If you have good IT skills could you put some free adverts up in local Tesco, Morrisions etc usually free.
also go to trade supplier places for builders, electricians, plumbers painters etc.
a lot of self employed don't have websites. could you set one up for them ?0
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