Not enough money to pay rent/bills

[Grimlin]

I'm a single mum and on benefits following redundancy. I receive child tax credits, child benefit, housing benefit and income support. I have dd coming out around the 1st and not enough money to cover them. My main worry is my rent as I figured I could cancel dd for other things if needed. My little boy is 14 months old. We have plenty of food, milk, nappies, wipes etc so not worried about that side of things. I applied for a few payday loans but was refused. I do not have anyone I can ask to lend me money. What should I do?

[gamerchick]

Well what are your income and outgoings? Maybe there might be some tips to help you cut back.

[gamerchick]

Actually don't give your income. Just your outgoings.

[youbethemummylion]

Call the money advice service it is very good at helping with things like this. Do not take out a payday loan.

[ArsenicChaseScream]

Cancel DDs for everything except rent and council tax.

Are you not getting Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support to cover most of these anyway?

[ArsenicChaseScream]

Then do a full income and expenditure list.

[ArsenicChaseScream]

Correction: Rent, council tax and essential insurances.

You can contact utilities and explain you will need to pay via a different method for a while. Let them know you have a baby in the house. They can't cut you off.

[jacks365]

It's the 20th today, dd will go out on the 3rd as the first is a saturday so sit down and calculate what money is coming in when and seeing whether there will be enough by then to cover if there isn't then the first thing to look at is whether you have anything you can sell that you no longer need.

[DiaDuit]

Sell what you can now.
Please avoid payday loans if at all possible or you will be in this same situation next month but with less money and probably fewer loan options but with higher rates.
Cancel DDs apart from rent/council tax.
Make sure you are getting everything you are entitled to.

[DiaDuit]

Also- is your child's father paying child support?

[bloodyteenagers]

Call companies and cancel all non essential services. Yes they will say you have to pay, but they cannot make you pay it there and then and in full. You can pay at an affordable amount over a period of time.
Your rent and council tax is covered almost fully if you are out of work surely?

DOn't take out loans. There is simply no point. You need to budget with what you have. Loans will make things worse in the long term.

[Grimlin]

ArsenicChaseScream - my rent is £250 more than the maximum housing benefit I am entitled to. There are very few cheaper properties around here than the one I am in. I am on a council house waiting list bit doubt I would get anything for several years as not priority.

Jacks365 - do you know if standing orders will go out on the 3rd as well?

[DiaDuit]

What standing orders an direct debits do you have?

Its possible standing orders could show as having left your account on the saturday. This has happened with my halifax account so i had no access to money over the weekend.

[twentyten]

Contact citizens advice bureau- they should be able to help. Good luck.

[DiaDuit]

For future what i did with rent is I worked out how much my rent was weekly and made a standing order to go every monday into an account i use only for rent. My CTC come in on a monday so the S/O goes at exactly the moment my CTC comes in so no way i can spend it before it gets sent to rent account. If you do this then you will be sure that rent is paid before everything else which really is a priority. You can also do this with all other essential bills like council tax etc. and then you know those bills are sorted and what you have left is what you have to budget for everything else.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Can you now move as you're redundant and can move somewhere cheaper?

[jacks365]

with regards to standing orders my bank insists on money being in by close of day the day prior so that in this case would be the Friday I'm afraid. My dd all show as having left my account over the weekend for a monday payment but any money due in on a monday shows on the Saturday too however they would still be paid if I transfered money in on the Monday afternoon but that doesn't apply to all banks I know my daughters only show transactions on the Monday.

What's the frequency for payments ie is ctc paid weekly or 4 weekly, same with cb. I know income support is paid bi-weekly, how do all the payments fall with regards to the 1st. lets get you through the rest of this month then you can set things in place to ensure it doesn't happen again. £250 a month rent top up must almost wipe out your income support leaving you very little a week to live on.

[ArsenicChaseScream]

So that is approx £60pw shortfall on the rent.

That's your main problem.

You need to look again at your housing options.

[Grimlin]

Thank you lots for taking the time to reply. I'm going to have an early night as have got a headache, but will let you know how I get on.

I agree, my housing costs are a big issue. I actually moved to this area from a more expensive one as it was cheaper. But I will see what's further afield. And obviously I think I need to step up my job hunting too. I was made redundant while I was pregnant and have been using the redundancy money to 'top up'. Wasn't enough money to effect benefits. However, this has gone now and was probably a stupid way of using the money in hindsight.

[DiaDuit]

Its a horrible situation OP but yes- be pro active on both the job and new home search front. This situation isnt sustainable- £60/wk leaves you with £12.40 (i think?) of your income support each week.

[Bdaonion]

Contact your local authority and apply for a discretionary housing payment to cover the shortfall in your rent. They will require you to provide details of your income expenditure so have that information ready to expedite the process.

Good luck.

[Bdaonion]

*income AND expenditure

[starfish4]

My friend and her husband got into debt and they took advice. They were told if they paid £1 a month to each company they owed money (three) it would hard for them to take any action as they'd explained the position and were showing goodwill. I know you are trying to avoid getting into this position, but if you do have utilities or other organizations you can't pay now or in the future, it might be worth considering this option.

[Imeldainthemustardcoat]

Write to all the people you owe money to other than the rent, council tax.
you can pay a low amount every month such as £5, you ask them to set up payments as a good will gesture, go to the CAB they were fantastic with me...Good luck I really hope you can get yourself straight again.

[inthename]

Write it all income and expenditure down.
£250 is a big shortfall on income support, check your HB has been calculated correctly as looking at my award letter my council used the £950 I had in my bank at the time as 'capital' which was added to my income to give an applicable amount, so that may have affected their calculations? Either that or is the house considered too big or is the LHA rate based on lesser amount 'average rent' for your area?
With rent, is it a standing order or a DD, if a standing order consider changing the date this month to the 3rd if it would mean you'll have the money.
Cancel everything except rent and council tax and ask for payment cards for everything else, as you can then budget weekly or monthly depending on when money is coming in.
Have a look on your energy providers website, they often have grants available for people on income support (but you have to look for them)
If you have any debts, offer to pay a small amount regularly rather than an amount you can't manage, and most of all check that you are receiving everything you are entitled to, theres an online calculator on a site called something like 'entitled to'

[Lushlush]

Surely you should be in receipt of council tax benefit?