Helping a friend in trouble 14 April 2022 at 12:55PM edited 14 April 2022 at 2:18PM in Marriage, relationships & families 13 replies 1.4K views

annabe1

Does anyone have any ideas how I can help a friend struggling financially? I offered £ but of course he turned it down.

He’s a proud guy, rents a room in a house, works at Aldi, doesn’t have any family in this country.  

He’s so stressed & frustrated.

Other than offering cash is there anything a friend did to help if you’ve been in this situation?

thank you 🙏

gizmo111

Food and toiletries gift

tacpot12

Is there any work you might get them to do for you. They might be willing to accept payment if they feel they are doing somethignthat you could not do yourself. 

comeandgo

Feed him .  Check if he is entitled to any benefits

maisie_cat

Invite him round for dinner and always make too much so he takes leftovers. Invite him around and ask him to cook or help you cook cuisine from his country.
Help him to improve his prospects so that he can aim away from working at Aldi

sheramber

Help him use one of the benefit calculators to see if he is entitled to anything.

https://www.gov.uk/benefits-calculators

SunnyCyprus

Nothing wrong with working at Aldi. They pay more than I get for being a care assistant! 

Retireby40

Does he work full time? If not maybe he could get a second job in the hospitality sector.

Does he live in London and that's what's eating his money with flatshares ridiculous prices?

Offering food, money etc will often make someone feel worse although you're doing it with the best of intentions. In the good weather throw a bbq and invite him around etc.

theoretica

Suggest he could register on here and have anonymous help working through his budget and looking at his finances in detail.

zagfles

theoretica said:

Suggest he could register on here and have anonymous help working through his budget and looking at his finances in detail.

Indeed, if he's working full time he should earn at least £19k, has he got debts, big outgoings, if he's only renting a room how much is that costing? If he's foreign he might not understand the costs of things here and so get ripped off, eg some people pay £50 a month for their mobile! He could do an SOA and post it on the DFW board where people will identify savings

diystarter7

The good friend, you need to ask yourself how he got into money trouble.
If it is not gambling or living beyond his means, then you need to consider helping him.

He could of course help himself by cutting back, working more hours, getting a second job or changing jobs for a better-paid job.

When I left school/college It was about 3 months before I turned 18. I got a job 2 months before IE turned 18.
Straight away I wanted a car and mum and dad put me straight told me to get a full driver's licence first  - then they stopped be from getting a car on HP. Though I was upset they were right


What I am saying and hardly anyone else is bar one

Why is he in money toruble, is it as I've said, or another said paying x for his mobile or tv package, has some item/s on hp, living in a rented place that does not match his income, etc


Just offering money without knowing what is going on is not right.