Any ideas to earn extra cash to pay for Christmas

[dreamerz]

I recently found out that my dh has rather a lot on several credit cards.

I've been through it all and it seems there's been a few issues with his work (he's self employed) and had a few quiet months and used cards and overdrafts to prop him up. Then tax bill was due. Then our car broke. And because the cards are not zero percent the min repayments each month is insane. It's snowballing. There is a bit of silly spending too.

I was furious when I found out and that's another thread. He tends to bury head in sand.

I've made him transfer the largest one to a zero percent card.

But the other two still need 400quid minimum repayments per month also.

Ive stopped all spending
I've started selling all my stuff online (clothes, books etc) I've made hundreds.
He's selling his stuff too.
We've swapped Tesco for aldi
I've ended all subscriptions and exercise and eating out.I've stopped all fun! For everyone.
started paying more each month into joint account. We have separate accounts and each pay into joint account which is why I had no clue.

Obviously it's Xmas and we have three kids. I've started using cash back sites and used some of my vinted money to buy a few gifts. I also had a voucher for Amazon so used that.

Is there anything I'm forgetting?

He obviously feels terrible and whilst I'm furious at him for hiding it, splitting is not what I want.

I actually work full time and earn good money. I always paid my bit. But it's not enough to cover all the bills myself 🤦‍♀️

How else can I make money?

If anyone has any bright ideas re getting us out this situation please let me know? Our mortgage is relatively low so I thought about taking some money out of that? Borrowing a bit more.

Or getting a loan?!

Say he pays himself 2k a month (not much) that's 500 in taxes, plus 1400, so he needs to make 3900 pounds per month in revenue to pull in a fairly low salary, or in other words of his first 4k per month half is gone.

Does he understand this? Surely he can ask his accountant how much he makes?

He should be out earning extra, not you.
He can do evening/ weekend deliveries.
Clean windows, paths, gardens, cars.
walk dogs.
Stack shelves.

@Lifeislikeaboxofdogmess I bought a £5 amazon card online and added it to my Amazon account. This way, it didn't become an "extra" spend, as I use Amazon quite a lot.

I'm not planning on using my zing account, other than to take out any bonus made!

This is definitely my take on this.
You seem to be in full rescuing mode OP but he is a grown ass adult and needs to be sorting this out as well.
He should be balancing his own books and taking on extra work if needed.

1. Meal plan/write down everything you have in the freezer and cupboards and use it all before buying extra

1. Have days out with the kids but make them free. Walk and a snacks brought from home.

1. Packed lunches for all. No eating out or school lunches.

1. You need to know how much he earns so you can claim UC if you don't earn much.

1. HE needs to get a second job NOW.

1. Take time out for yourself, you shouldn't be taking it all on yourself.

@purplehue

Thanks, this is very kind.

He does know he's stuffed up and has been miserable but he's not at the level of panic I am.

Shame it's the most expensive month of the year.

He's going to need help running his business from me. I can't believe he doesn't know how much he's had in this year so far. He just sort of wings it and let's his accountant sort it out. I said it would be nice if he tracked it so we could see if he's had a quiet month and need to ease up on spending. He really has no clue and is an eternal optimist usually.

I will deffo take time out for myself.

It's so upsetting because I earn ok money, I'm in my 40s and get over 50k a year and I'd been living my usual standard because I thought we were ok (my usual standard isn't amazing but I never felt guilty at costa treats or cinema trips with kids or exercise classes, the odd charity contribution, we had a uk holiday last year etc)

To be blunt, what is his solution and what will he do about it?
You shouldn't be the one to have to go through everything with a fine tooth comb
I suggest he should seek permanent employment asap and do his " creative" job as a side line
Dreams don't pay the bills do they?
I have personal experience of my exh behaving exactly the same( also 3 kids)
Note the ex
He won't change I'm afraid

Regardless of your dh burying his head in the sand, he needs to be the one to sort out the extra income, not you. You seem like you’ve already kicked things off, and he’s done absolutely nothing to help. Don’t take in extra work, this is his doing and his problem to sort out.
I agree with not getting the kids involved. You could easily explain as ‘budget’ Christmas due to the cost of living this year.

Same as @Normallynumb, I've been there with my ex including getting involved to help run his business. The only thing that made him change was me not being around anymore to support him.

I’ve used your code x

Thanks so much!x

User testing, Userlytics and Intellizoom. Today I have made $24 and Sundays are slow. I have over $100 pending on User testing and €30 on Userlytics and I don't know how much in Intellizoom but it must be around $30. It's not full time work money but at good times it builds up.

I’m not sure that you running around getting £30 here and £40 there is going to solve the underlying problem of this man’s fecklessness and lack of realism.

Selling as much as you can on fb marketplace and Vinted - bundles of clothes always do well

Use the boots recycle at boots app

No it won’t solve the underlying issue but I’ve made a fair bit on vinted so far. Enough to pay for a couple of weeks food or buy my kids some Xmas presents so they don’t notice something is up this year