Fighting debt alone- the sword is out 24 December 2019 at 10:37AM in Debt free diaries 68 replies 4.1K views

[Deleted User]

I think the lodger sounds like a great idea for some income, but also some company for you. 

Blackberrycurved

Okay feeling in a better place. Mostly because I've decided that I can only do what I can do. I'm prepping lunches so no spends there and even prepping teas so I'm not tempted to buy anything or eat too much and I've lost 6lbs at fat club so all good but boring. Coffee machine is working one in the morning and I take one with me and I'm not buying anything, being ill means I lost £300 income last week being on a zero hour contract so everything is bouncing everywhere but nothing I can do about it. I'm meeting my repayments but I seriously need to find another income stream to try to clear these debts before they drag me under. I can't cut back on food anymore I'm spending about £37 which lasts a week and a half including cat food and litter.
Does anyone know what is the cheapest wifi I was with John Lewis and they've just put it up by £12 a month?
That's this weeks task. 

[Deleted User]

Sorry to hear you're not well. For WiFi, check uSwitch website for impartial comparison. 

Blackberrycurved

okay I’ll do that today thanks. 

Blackberrycurved

Well I changed the wifi today and I probably could have got cheaper but i went back to EE. I was with john Lewis owned by Plus net but the speed was rubbish. It was £25 then jumped to £37. EE I'm back to a faster speed and I have no set up charges the others were cheaper but required a £50 or £80 charge for set up so it's £29 not a big saving £92 but better than nothing. I am interviewing lodgers tomorrow very scary. A no spend day as living on lots of root mash and defrosted turkey legs from Christmas freezing and wet nothing to do when you are trying not to spend. Later I am cancelling council gym tommorow I sign up for another which is £9 a month more but open from 6am every day and all weekends which my gym isn;t so it's going to be well worth the extra £2 odd a week. Still struggling to find cheap cat litter. The lodger please let it work out. Items on e bay no takers will try gumtree and list there as well tomorrow. Got to try to keep motivating this is so bloody tiring all the thinking.

beanielou

Hope you get on ok with the lodger.
The money will be handy

Sarahwithlove

A lodger is a great idea its really helped me out. All I would say is go with your gut feeling, if feels off then say no. Also see if they can offer any kind of reference for you. Is there any way you could do more hours at work or a second job? 

beanielou

Agree 100% to go with your gut instinct re lodger.
Also a good idea to have house rules from the start~~boring but true.

Blackberrycurved

More hours at isn’t possible I work in Education so fixed hours. That’s the problem like loads of lecturers and tutors zero hours so don’t get paid when Uni or college is closed so a lot of months July August Dec Jan April May I don’t do full months but when I’m working it’s impossible to do another job as it’s 10 hour days. I need to get out of Education. Lodger going with gut going to suggest a 4 week trial. Rules not sure no big shoes upstairs I don’t like eating in bedrooms but they are paying for it so not sure. 

[Deleted User]

If you have no luck selling on eBay or Gumtree, try Shpock and Facebook marketplace.

Check if you have any old CDs or books you could sell with Ziffit, cookbooks and language courses seemed to get paid particularly well when I did it. 

Also, sign up for Prolific survey site, I've made over £200 from that in less than 2 years. There are other half decent survey sites but none of them pay as well as Prolific, plus the surveys are much more interesting there too. 

Also JobSpotter if you walk a lot. You take pics of job adverts in shop/restaurant windows and get paid in Amazon vouchers. I've had over £100 in vouchers in past 18 months or so.

Get Shoppix and Receipthog apps and scan any receipts you have with those for more vouchers/cash. I probably get a fiver off Shoppix every couple of months. 

Lastly, sign up for grassroots mystery shopping. Can get paid £10 per assignment and it's usually quick and easy. I've done about 5 of them. 

None of these things will make you a fortune, but if you're desperate they can really help. 

I probably make an extra £20 a month between all these and I'm not even trying very hard.