My wife lost her job and her monthly bills are killing me

onwards&upwards

Definitely use the debt free wannabe forum here, the old style money saving is useful too for frugal living tips.

You’ll be fine, you just need a bit of help because this is not stuff you have had to deal with before!

Purplepineapple

Realistically she needs to bring in an income by doing whatever she can. I lost my job on 31st December and by 6th January had been offered a new job. It pays less than my old job but it's better than having no income. I can cover the bills by making some cuts and then keep looking for something better paid. The longer she is without a job the worse it's going to look on her CV.
See if you can negotiate with creditors as well. If you explain the situation they may agree to lower repayments.

Pollyflinders

If she's had an operation and is recovering, your wife should have sickness benefit.

Pollycat

Pollyflinders wrote: »

If she's had an operation and is recovering, your wife should have sickness benefit.

The operation was 8 months ago (she lost her job 9 months ago) and took a few weeks to recover so I don't think sickness benefit will apply now.
The OP's wife has a JSA interview arranged.

[Deleted User]

Purplepineapple wrote: »

Realistically she needs to bring in an income by doing whatever she can. I lost my job on 31st December and by 6th January had been offered a new job. It pays less than my old job but it's better than having no income.

Right place, right time......

Until you are deemed to be messing the temporary employer around and don't mind the risk of another gap which may well be longer by rushing into the first available job, also great as long as you are fit & well as whilst it has now been indicated as per ending of post 4, the OP's wife had an operation and could well be down.

We can't all live in fantasy land that the temp job is going to go perm and indeed can back us in corners when taking low-paid job that suddenly does become permanent! Even more awful if you have no passion for the company you work for.

I would have been rich in more ways if I had told zero-hours employer to jog on straight away, told the over 18k 6 month FTC that actually the higher wage at the time, would see me crash to 15k after them. Some of my greatest mistakes and subsequent downers has come from rushing into jobs.

So rushing into first available job doesn't always pay. All my interview times whilst unemployed actually wouldn't be suitable for someone employed to attend... don't be jel!

maman

While I agree with all suggestions of SoA, possible benefits entitlement, getting any job ASAP etc I believe it's essential that OP's wife is on board with all this. I'm concerned about the 'secret' credit card. What's she buying on this?

Pollycat

It's a fine line, especially with high income technical jobs (not sure if the OP's wife is in tech).
A good friend of mine spent a number of years in IT as a contractor.
When his last contract ended he pretty much sat back and waited for someone to knock on his door with another job.
18 months later, his skills were out of date and he had zero chance of a job at his expected level.
He actually ended up doing temp admin jobs, one of which luckily led him back into IT.
But somewhat of a slap in the face with a massive dollop of reality for him.
From earning over £1k per week (over 25 years ago) to minimum wage, inputting data.

Something for the OP and his wife to consider.

Just to mention the OP also has another thread running on the DFW board.

Pollycat

maman wrote: »

While I agree with all suggestions of SoA, possible benefits entitlement, getting any job ASAP etc I believe it's essential that OP's wife is on board with all this. I'm concerned about the 'secret' credit card. What's she buying on this?

I've made this point on the OP's other thread (it's getting somewhat confusing).

durzoblint

Pollycat wrote: »

I've made this point on the OP's other thread (it's getting somewhat confusing).

She's always had the card. She told me she'd hold onto it for emergencies when she stopped working but i found out later that she stopped asking for money for stuff and just started putting it the card when i told her we couldn't afford it.

Its partly due to the fact that after paying bills i'm already in overdraft and cannot provide an "incidentals" fund.

Pollycat

durzoblint wrote: »

She's always had the card. She told me she'd hold onto it for emergencies when she stopped working but i found out later that she stopped asking for money for stuff and just started putting it the card when i told her we couldn't afford it.

Its partly due to the fact that after paying bills i'm already in overdraft and cannot provide an "incidentals" fund.

She shouldn't be expecting you to provide an 'incidentals' fund.

She has not been honest with you.
And it appears she's still reluctant to be honest with you.

Do you have any idea what she is spending money on?

You do seem to be making excuses for her.
That's your prerogative.
But I doubt you'll get much support for your wife's reluctance to accept your joint financial problems and to help you both get out of them.

Read maman's post from an hour ago.
Your wife needs to be on board.
Your wife needs to be honest.