If you were absolutely flat broke in this situation, how would you make money?

Bank shifts aren't worth the money. You would be better off joining a couple of agencies and doing extra shifts through them. The higher rate of pay will mean you could work a weekend day instead and use public transport. (I used to do agency shifts at a nursing home within walking distance of my house. That was a breeze.) It will also gain you experience in other areas of nursing which will be useful for future job applications.

Some (financial) banks have good Switching deals at the moment - Lloyds will give you £200 and free Disney+ subscription for a year if you switch to them <-- I would do that, cancel your other subscriptions and cancel your TV licence.

If you're out of contract on your mobile, iD mobile has great sim-only deals through the Carphone Warehouse. Unlimited everything for £15 a month on a 1 month contract. But they also do data rollover so if you went for, say, 60GB data for £8 a month, any unused data will roll over to the next month.

If anyone in your household receives Universal Credit, Pension Credit, Income Support, Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, or Income-based Employment Support Allowance, service providers like Virgin Media offer a basic broadband package for either £12.50 or £20 a month depending on speed. It is rather basic, I'm not sure how good it will be if you have a family of gamers. But it's a 1-month rolling contract so you can cancel/upgrade easily it if it's not working out for you.

Not relevant right now but when your student child reaches 18 and is still a student, they can get Amazon Prime for half-price (£47.48 a year), so that's something to bear in mind for the future.

Other than that, I can't think of anything else to suggest. Just sell old clothes on Vinted and make sure you use loyalty cards wherever you do your grocery shopping. Driving to work might not actually work out cheaper after you take into account the fuel costs and parking costs. My hospital charges £10 a day to park in the car park. There is a 3-year waiting list for a staff parking pass and it isn't even free!

First of all, I'd like to extend congratulations for qualifying and making it beyond your 1st year, especially in A&E. I know from personal experience that training to become a nurse is one of the most challenging & arduous things I've ever done.

I agree with an earlier comment, suspending your pension contributions for 1-2yrs until you achieve your next increment. If you can choose shifts - always select the weekend for the enhanced pay. I'm also going to suggest you swap your shifts to day shifts in order to achieve my next suggestion.

The most sustainable way to make extra £££ will be progression, either a band 6, a trainee ACP role, Resus officer or band 6 educator. You have a unique & valuable set of skills and competencies that you've developed via being an A&E nurse, and a mature NQN with life experience that has shaped and challenged your resilience. You are an excellent candidate for one of these leadership roles. The best Segway into this is by making your intentions known to your Matron, your Band 7 and the A&E consultant leading the development of ACP's (yes, all of them).

There is approx 6-12mth lead time involved in planning & creation of these roles. If you're "earmarked", they will start sending you on training courses to get you ready for when the roles are advertised & go live.

All of the networking & planning occurs during the day shifts. I know someone who progressed to band 7 within 3yrs of qualifying - his determination and motivation to achieve this rapid progression was purely financial, so that he could afford a mortgage on his own. You can definitely do this and you deserve to give your children the life you promised.

Moped, £6 to fill up the tank and I can do 80/90 miles, tax £25 a year, insurance £300, CBT was £189 lasts for 2 years. It’s definitely worth it.

Hi, also a fellow band 5 nurse and single parent. I work part time and have 2 children, my take home pay is somewhere in the region of £1600 a month and I get a UC top of around £700-800. Although I do have my own house so I am allowed to earn a bit more before deductions. Are you sure your defiantly recieveing all benefits your entitled to? Do your employers have a hardship fund?
My trust, have recently stopped nurses working more than the European working directive allows (I think that's the one) even if they have opted out. Their concerned about burnout and staff tiredness which will ultimately lead to mistakes. Just something to be mindful of.

I noticed this a lot in OP’s replies. Really defensive and rigid and not willing to explore a lot of options.

I feel sad reading this OP.

What a state this country is in.

If you passed your driving test after 2001 you'll need to do CBT before you can ride a 50cc moped. Even if you don't need to, you should do it for safety if you've not ridden before.

Honestly, I think you'd be much better off getting a cheap second hand car. In theory you could get a moped cheaper but there's not really that many second hand 50cc bikes around. You'd also need helmet, gloves, potentially a storage box to carry all your stuff and in winter you'll probably want a proper jacket, handle bar muffs and anything else to keep you warm. You'll get cold very quickly on the bike.

Because morals are the most important thing when you can’t put food on the table for your kids.

Take the job OP and think about your children

Goodness OP, it seems like every option being put forward is closed off to you! So just wanted to say thank you for all your hard work x

Wow you sound amazing OP, your work ethic is fantastic.

Could you move into primary care, do you have a local GP that you could walk to? There are clear pay progressions and you could still pick up bank in the hospital if you need to.

Can you move closer to the hospital to save the cab fares?

I know this doesn't help, but it'll get better I promise. Your work ethic will pay off eventually. Bloody well done you, passing a nursing degree with three kids as a single mum is truly inspiring, I'm honestly in awe at all you do to provide for your family.

Do you have family who can help at all?

Hi apologies if already mentioned but have you thought about nursing in the care sector? Are there any nursing homes local to you? Worth exploring even if a ‘not right now’ option .

I'd keep my main job, apply to do the PIP assessor job WFH so you'd be less tired and just do the odd bank shift which would cut down your taxis. Any chance your teen at college could get a part time job or babysit for people some Saturdays? If they did you'd not have to fund them quite so much. I know it's hard but it won't go on forever. Before you know it they'll be grown up and gone. I think people like you doing 2 jobs and bringing up your kids on your own should get more support fwiw.

I’d approach one of the charities who support with PIP and discuss whether they think your son would be eligible. They help with the form and any appeals/tribunals (which, unfortunately is something many PIP claimants have to go through) if they think he’d qualify. They ask for a donation which may be a percentage of any back payment but not more than about 17.5% as a rule.
Obviously this wouldn’t alleviate things in the short term as it takes a long time to get PIP but in future it would really benefit your family, and your son in terms of his long term independence.

Is there a Macdonald’s near by that your kids could apply to? They pay £8.60 an hour for under 18’s and are a decent employer. They also get a free meal in each shift

Your deductions seem high, might be worth double checking your tax codes are correct

Take a day's holiday, make an appointment with citizens advice and make very sure you are claiming all you should. You say your eldest is working - are you taking reasonable rent? Ask colleagues about lift shares. Just put a notice in the staff room. Use food banks when you need them -that's what they are there for - citizens advice will be able to advise on that too. I think your drive is admirable and you are clearly a damn hard worker. I am sure it will get easier but perhaps you need to look at the possibility of moving closer to work or move into a less frantic area of the hospital. I am pretty bloody sure I wouldn't be able to cycle home after a long shift either by the way.

My daughter has autism. She works full time but qualifies for pip. Pip is not based on whether you work or not.

My nephews get it too and one of them even gets high rate mobility so he qualifies for the motability scheme. Now that would really transform your life!

It is worth exploring. You probably do so much for your son but the thing about being an adult is that he should be able to do it himself.

OP his needs are higher than mine. I’m a highly educated autistic women in a professional role and also have to cope with the caring responsanilities of being a mum to a young child. I’ve successfully claimed PIP for over a decade.

I think your being far too rigid in your thinking regarding this and should at least try as it’s a lot of money

Op I would go to citizens advice and challenge this tbh. Ive had a number of young people with autism who are able to study and work who can live independently who are also claiming pip but didn't get it first time around.

I think the older kids have to contribute. Really they do.

Try to swallow your pride and get lifts. Use foodbanks or Bread and Butter Scheme. Ditch the subscriptions. Make a few quid on the side.

The NHS participates in the cycle to work scheme that you could use to buy and electric bike, or alternatively the NHS also has car salary scheme that you could use to buy a car if you were able to drive.

Both schemes work on a salary sacrifice basis where you have a loan, but payments are taken from your pay before tax is deducted.

Be a private carer? In what little spare time you have.

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