Husband made redundant and facing £1200 monthly shortfall, any advice?

[Tappings]

I'm probably going to get flamed in this thread judging by how others have gone.

DH has been made redundant, he was the main earner.

We're lucky that he'll get a decent payout, equivalent to 6 months take home salary.

I work 30 hours per week. I got a promotion in February and have a decent take home, above national average.

DH will be entitled to contributions based JSA and we'll get child benefit back, but even with those and cutting back our bills we'll be £1200 short per month. And that doesn't account for any personal spends, kids clothes/ uniform, adult clothes, birthdays etc.

Due to my recent promotion, me getting a better paying job is extremely unlikely, even if I went full time. I'm close to the ceiling of my profession. There's no option to go full time where I am either.

DH is (was) a well paid professional in a competitive field and was quite senior in that field. He's already looking for jobs, has sorted his CV, spoken with several recruiters and has an interview lined up for next week.

Any suggestions on what we can do? Advice/ support?

I was made redundant in recent years.

I would advise joining LinkedIn (if hes not on it already).

You can find out about lots of jobs there, even via word of mouth from old colleagues.

I was lucky and got lots of opportunity through that website and ultimately got a new job very quickly.

Good luck to you.

I left my job earlier this year without a job to go too or a redundancy package.
It’s an incredibly stressful time, you have my sympathy.
The things I did/considered were taking any job such as cleaning, swopping bank accounts for the incentive cash, online surveys and cutting back on streaming services etc.
I sent my CV to companies that weren’t hiring as well as the ones that were.
I luckily had an interview and was offered a job whilst still working my notice and secured another job which started as the other finished so I wasn’t without a wage.
I have completely changed career. Is that something he would consider?
I also considered using my savings to pay a lump off my mortgage so it lowered the monthly amount. Personally I wouldn’t take a mortgage holiday.
Martin Lewis money tips are really helpful.
Good luck with the interview.

Sorry this has happened, and try not to worry too much - one door closes and another opens and all that.

Can I just say, as well as all the practical steps you are taking to protect your home and finances, remember to keep an eye on how your DH is doing?

It's alright people saying 'become an Evri driver' 'get bar work this weekend' etc but people can be hit really hard by redundancy, in terms of their self esteem and confidence. If he has been with the company/team for some tome it can also be a bereavement process. If it hasn't been handled well, he could feel anger or unfairly treated. Take time to process it all and talk it through before he has to jump in the delivery van.

He should just get any job that pays while he’s looking for a new one in his old industry. Even a minimum wage job would cover the £1200 shortfall.

On the other hand they are also sick to the back teeth of unreliable millennials who demand “reasonable adjustments” for their self diagnosed ADHD and would love to have six months good work by a professional in their forties who will turn upon time, work diligently for their whole shift end then go home.

He's going to feel angry and unfairly treated either way if that's the case, so he might as well do it while he's driving a van earning some money.

Now is the time to take what's going, the TV is the least of your worries. Cancel the subscriptions and then work out what you can do from there. Necessity is the mother of invention.

The goal here is money in the bank, not strategic moves or overthinking.

You do realise millennials are in our 40s right! I think you mean Gen Z.

But good to hear his good work ethic may serve him well in an interim job.

Some good advice.

He sounds proactive, so hopefully he will get another job before the 6 months runs out.

Long term can you take a long hard look at your finances. He's a high earner. You earn very well. If you cut your cloth to that of simply a good lifestyle you could future proof yourselves for life. Or if you like the lifestyle too much, maybe get insurance to protect yourselves.

If you had to cut the kids hobbies on day one you must have been living paycheck to paycheck which is a bit of a high risk strategy, especially on your combined wages.

I'm extremely wary of meters as our last 2 houses had them and the bills were higher than without. I don't think you can switch back can you?

as others have said shopping delivery driver - gardening also an option its between £25-18 an hour where we live

Could you take in a lodger/ language students?

Dont panic - but you are right to cut anything you can as the job market is tough. Also if his next job has to be a bit lower paid you'll be better able to cope with the reduced income. Start with reducing the number of subscriptions and if one is netflix without adds switch to one with adds. Dont forget that he will also be saving a little on commuting costs, although that may be negligible if he's travelling to interviews.

Look at the moneysaving expert website. Start with phone contracts - many people pay more than they need to do. Then look at utlities. If you have any debt can you switch it to an 0% interest credit card? Sometimes there are direct switches available but sometimes you may need to put all your spending on the new card and gradually pay off the other debts. Do you already switch off things not in use, you may be able to cut a little there?

The first £30k of redundancy money is tax free plus he may get a little refund on tax already paid this year. You can apply for a tax refund in year - https://www.gov.uk/claim-tax-refund.

I wouldnt be thinking of a mortgage holiday yet, save that for if he isnt getting interviews in a few months time.

With water bills companies sometimes offer water saving gadgets - the ones you put in the toilet to reduce the volume you flush may be worth considering and sometimes you can get get water saving showerheads. Switch baths (if you take them) to showers.

Check whether your energy company owes you anything. Mine currently has £800 of my money just at there. I’ve asked for a refund. Everything helps.

Get him to get a job asap even if it’s a few days here and there through an agency so money will be coming in whilst he looks for a job and then to support him you can make sure you are taking most of the burden at home so he has time to work and also job hunt.

Don't get a meter, mine doubled when we moved to one when we moved house although I have 3 sporty teenagers and a husband.

If you install it I believe you can switch h back after 12 months tho.

I'd recommend Lebara for cheap phones, Airtime for cash back amd Too Good to Go for cheap treats.

At the moment, it's a paper exercise - cutting the kids activities etc would yield X result. I haven't actually cut anything but the childcare (from next week as DH will be available to do). We're spending this month of gardening leave to take stock and make plans - as many on here have recommended. My first action was to look at what our most basic outgoings are and where that puts us finance wise.

We are not living pay check to pay check but do have reduced savings due to the car late last year and my pay only very recently going up significantly.

As an aside, I caution anyone from putting savings in a children's ISA unless you are 100% certain you won't need it!

Can you husband look at temporary work with nearby universities, eg tech support, admin - they have lots of churn. If he is mathematically or scientifically literate (given his job), online tutoring is another option.

I wouldn’t change your mortgage until ESSENTIAL as it does make a huge impact on your credit file and also everything Lee related! Last thing you do and basically fit everything else out and prioritise paying the mortgage before everything else - as should be doing anyway but especially now

No. If you watch live TV you must have a TV licence.

My DS is restricted on the hours he can work around his wife's work and child care and for the moment is making enough driving for DoorDash - that might at least be easy to fit around your work.

Remember to breathe. And be kind to each other.
Amid all the uncertainty and worry, try to remember that this is not the end of the world and you're both in it together.

Lots of great practical advice here already for tightening belts and stretching your funds.

I'm sure your DH will find work - even if it isn't initially quite as well paid as his previous role.

Good luck OP

Regarding TV subscriptions, you can get D+ for free as your your benefit if you have a club Lloyds current account. The account itself is also free if you pay a certain amount in and have 2 direct debits. Can you juggle/send money around in circles to make the most of things like this?

Sorry to butt in, but where are you seeing these roles, please? DP does internal audit/compliance, and was made redundant this time last year. He had three months of gardening leave and then secured a six month contract on a really good day rate, but that's just come to an end. Because of the high day rate we're actually okay money-wise, and he has been told he can return to do the same contract he just finished in January if he doesn't find something in the interim - but ideally he's working and even more ideally in a permanent post!

We have been in your position, partner got a postman job. He didn’t need to take it because he luckily got a job (took 3 months).
his interview was can you drive? Can you walk x distance. This is the post room when can you start?

LinkedIN mostly. I’m sent quite a lot too. I work in financial services. They tend to be at a relatively junior level though. 60kish. There’s a couple just gone up at Coventry BS today that I’ve seen for example.

Ok. So I've got my hard hat on:

Essential bills per month:
Mortgage £2300 (we are in the fixed term, £14k to get out of it)
Council tax £245
Gas and electric £320 (fixed direct debit, recently changed after doing a comparison)
Water £66
Broadband £33 (in contract)
Home and contents insurance £35
Life insurance £38

Total: £2999

Necessary but could possibly improve:
Supermarket shop £600 (includes toiletries, cleaning stuff and cat food)
Cat insurance £68 (2 elderly cats)
Dog insurance £23
Dog food £30
Car insurance £55
Car tax, MOT, servicing and repair £140
My mobile £11
DH mobile £13
Childcare £650 (may still need some whilst DH job hunts but certainly not all)
Petrol £90 (school run and DH commute)
My commuting costs £80
School lunches £60

Total: £1820

Total essential spends: £4819

Things we'd ideally not cut but will do;
Some of these are put aside each month but spent more infrequently
Swimming £42 (council run swimming lessons)
Children's clothing etc allowance £150
Tutoring £140 (eldest is dyslexic)
Christmas savings £75
Pocket money £45
Sports club £60
Horse riding £140
Coffee beans £22

Total: £674

Things that can be cut:
Children's savings £200
Cleaner £140
Netflix £19
Prime £8
Claude £19
Rock climbing £35
Beer52 £25
Lottery £10

Total: £431

Total outgoings currently £5924

In addition to the above we were also budgeting:

£250 per person for discretional spending (a evening at the pub, adult clothes, lunch out, friends birthdays etc) = £500
£450 credit card payment)this was the amount needed to pay off the balance in the 12 month interest free period.

Total: £6874

Income (since 26th Feb)

DH £4970
Me £2900

Total: £7870

So since March we've been saving almost £1000 a month, but that's only 3 pay checks!

Between April 2025 and Feb 2026, our income was £600 less but outgoings broadly similar. And before that our income was another £1000 a month less than that and our outgoings close to £1200 less than now (mortgage, utilities and food costs hiked).