Newly Unemployed and not sure what to

THX

I'm a Staff Nurse who was unfortunately dismissed by the NHS a few months ago. I have worked for them for 20 years. I've had mental health problems my whole life. These at times led to long absences. They were exacerbated by my wife and I losing our baby twins in 2021.

I'm currently on JSA. My wife is working. I have four CCs with thousands on each. Where do I go from here? Can I speak to the companies to see what help they can give while I look for a new job. My priority is obviously our mortgage (We've just locked into a new 5 year deal.)

If anyone could be of any advice I would appreciate it. I'm 46 and haven't been unemployed since my late teens.

Thank you.

Misslayed

I'll request a move to the Debt Free Wannabe board, lots of very knowledgable, kind folk there. 

Keep_pedalling

Before contacting the CC companies speak one of the debt charities such as step change.

https://www.stepchange.org/

Grumpelstiltskin

Firstly don't panic nothing terrible is going to happen. There will be a solution it's just finding the best one for your situation.

Start by reading this thread.
In Debt and Wannabe Debt Free? First Steps! — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Get a SOA together and post it on here.

sourcrates

You will actually find them quite accommodating, if money is short, tell them, they will put your accounts on hold.

Affordability is paramount these days, remember, get your priorities right, mortgage/council tax/utilities/food etc etc all come before unsecured credit debts, the latter are non priority debts, and can go unpaid if necessary.

gwynlas

Sorry for the loss of your twins I am sure that this must have devastated you both. Also sorry that you have lost your job I hope that you sought the support of your union through this process. Despite your mental health ssues you have managed to work for the past thirty years so it must be very disheartening being unemployed. Whilst you are quite rightly focussing on the practical issues of debt do not ignore your mental health as having lost the focus of work it could suffer and you would benefit by talking to a professional Unless you are thinking about retraining in another field make sure that you keeo your registration live in case you decide to seek a post in the private sector. you may not consider it an attractive option at the moment but keep your options open.

THX

gwynlas said:

Sorry for the loss of your twins I am sure that this must have devastated you both. Also sorry that you have lost your job I hope that you sought the support of your union through this process. Despite your mental health ssues you have managed to work for the past thirty years so it must be very disheartening being unemployed. Whilst you are quite rightly focussing on the practical issues of debt do not ignore your mental health as having lost the focus of work it could suffer and you would benefit by talking to a professional Unless you are thinking about retraining in another field make sure that you keep your registration live in case you decide to seek a post in the private sector. you may not consider it an attractive option at the moment but keep your options open.

Thanks to every one for your advice. As to your last point that is another issue. After being dismissed by the NHS I was offered a Staff Nurse job in a local care home. I was doing fine but in my third week there one of the young domestic staff put in a complaint accusing me of being "aggressive" towards one of the residents. In 25 years of caring I have never been aggressive to anyone. Unfortunately the care home had to take it seriously. I was suspended for two weeks then dismissed. A month later I discovered that they had referred me to the NMC. I now have an 18 month interim restriction order on my registration. I have applied for umpteen nursing posts but no one is willing to hire me.

My registration is due to be renewed in September 2024. At this stage being unable to work the amount of hours I need to revalidate it looks like I will lose that too.

EssexHebridean

Again - can the Union help you on this point? That is what you are a member for, and as it sounds as though you have been treated very unfairly it sounds like precisely the sort of thing that they should be able to assist with?

i’m so sorry to hear you’re been through such a rough time - having your career whipped away from under your feet in what feels like a very unjust way is vile, I’ve been there, it makes you question every aspect of yourself and that in itself is massively challenging to your mental health so definitely do keep an eye on that aspect. 

Back to pure practicalities. The first thing I did once the initial shock had worn off was to get our budget fully updated and then strip it down to pure essentials - priority bills, food, essential travel costs, mobile phone & broadband, things like insurances and car maintenance which still needed monthly contributions to ensure that the money was there when needed, holiday savings where we were committed to the spend already, and anything else where there was a commitment going forwards which had to be met. That then gave me our “Personal survival budget” - the bare minimum income we needed each month to meet all our commitments without any “frills” - just knowing that figure can be hugely reassuring. 

From an employment perspective I would suggest that the first thing you need to do is to work with the union to get the false accusation removed from your record - and simultaneously while doing this, apply for a job of some description just to keep money coming in - even if not to your usual level - and also to keep you in the habit and routine if working. Hopefully once the false accusation is dealt with then you will be able to move back in to the health care sector again.

THX

EssexHebridean said:

Again - can the Union help you on this point? That is what you are a member for, and as it sounds as though you have been treated very unfairly it sounds like precisely the sort of thing that they should be able to assist with?

i’m so sorry to hear you’re been through such a rough time - having your career whipped away from under your feet in what feels like a very unjust way is vile, I’ve been there, it makes you question every aspect of yourself and that in itself is massively challenging to your mental health so definitely do keep an eye on that aspect. 

Back to pure practicalities. The first thing I did once the initial shock had worn off was to get our budget fully updated and then strip it down to pure essentials - priority bills, food, essential travel costs, mobile phone & broadband, things like insurances and car maintenance which still needed monthly contributions to ensure that the money was there when needed, holiday savings where we were committed to the spend already, and anything else where there was a commitment going forwards which had to be met. That then gave me our “Personal survival budget” - the bare minimum income we needed each month to meet all our commitments without any “frills” - just knowing that figure can be hugely reassuring. 

From an employment perspective I would suggest that the first thing you need to do is to work with the union to get the false accusation removed from your record - and simultaneously while doing this, apply for a job of some description just to keep money coming in - even if not to your usual level - and also to keep you in the habit and routine if working. Hopefully once the false accusation is dealt with then you will be able to move back in to the health care sector again.

Thank you for your help and advice. I am looking at social care jobs that hopefully will put me in a good light with the NMC. I can't believe the mess I am in. I feel like a broken man.

Andyjflet

Sometimes from what feels like a broken situation you can rebuild from scratch, think of it as an opportunity to start a new life, dont make the same mistakes and enjoy the journey.

I have had to do similar twice, once after divorce and once after redundancy, I called it me V1 v2 etc etc.

THX

Andyjflet said:

Sometimes from what feels like a broken situation you can rebuild from scratch, think of it as an opportunity to start a new life, dont make the same mistakes and enjoy the journey.

I have had to do similar twice, once after divorce and once after redundancy, I called it me V1 v2 etc etc.

Thank you. That's good advice.