to ask for help in ways to increase my income (wrong place but more traffic here)

[Grinchywoo]

Ok, I have a thread in relationships about DP leaving after xmas and i have just been doing some rough calculations and it basically means I will be skint after paying all my bills each month and was hoping

i work ft on an okish wage, but after rent, council tax,m bills and groceries i will be left in the minus. Can anybody suggest some ideas for me to bring some extra income in to the house?

Do you have children? Have you factored in maintenance payments into your budget?

Other than that, the obvious solutions are rent somewhere cheaper, see if you are entitled to any help from the government esp if you will be a single parent, use cheaper grocery shops and cut down on luxuries. Don't forget that you should get a 25% single person council tax discount but obviously you need to tell the council.

Extra income is a bit hard if you are already working full time but if you don't have children you could look at getting a second job either evenings or weekends.

Great advice above.

I assume you are saving to leave DP?

If so I would look into getting a seperate bank account to put money aside in as well as if you are looking to claim some government help if can take 6 weeks to start up.

I assume you will be able to get some help with your rent will will reduce outgoings at least.

Have a look on entitledto.com it will give you an idea of what you will be able to get help with.

DP is not ds's dad. We get a little maintenance from ds's dad weekly.

I cant physically save to leave him, that is the problem, and once he is gone I will struggle even more.

I have already contacted the council about housing benefit. I earn 18,000 before bonuses and my rent is £595 per month. This only leave £655,. I get a very small amount of tax credits weekly and child benefit, but they are saying i am not entitled to housing benefit...

All the answers are here.

Sorry for posting a link to MSE, but we all know it is far better equipped to deal with this sort of niche query, and I think it would do the OP a disservice not to mention it.

thank you

You're welcome, Grinchywoo - good luck!

You need to go through all your bills and trim everything back as far as you can.

Go through the last couple of months bank statements and make sure you know what every DD or SO is for, and if it is necessary.

You will probably get more in TC once you are a LP.

MSE is a good place to start. Start minimising outgoings before looking at maximising income. Check you're claiming all you're entitled to.

What is you job? Do you have skills you could use to earn a bit of extra money?

That's a good point. You could have been given wrong advice about HB.

Ask them to send you and application form now. Then you can get all your details ready and take it in to the office the day your partner moves out.

Look after the pennies and the pounds look after themselves may sound like an old proverb but it is true.

Do you buy a newspaper every day or a magazine regularly? £3 per week = £12 per month = £144 per year = your water bill.

Little stuff like that can make a lot of difference.

thanks all :)

I assume you are also looking around for a better paid job (if that is possible where you live, I dont know where that is). There are often similar jobs but being paid hugely differently depending on the company involved. Think about training for another/better paid career - is there something you have always wanted to do but have not done anything about? You could get funding and you can train in your own time. how old are your kids? Can you do something in your spare time to earn extra cash? e.g. mystery shopping or other things. See if there are other jobs out there that you can do and that are better paid.
You need to look at every single outgoing and every single expense. Dont forget the one-off expenses that come round each year.

look at every single outgoing, ie
water- cheaper to use meter?
heating/fuel- could there be a cheaper option- also cut back as far as is possible
phone and internet- this costs alot, how can you get the best deal
shopping- get the basics and cut back on meat! costs a fortune
council tax, get the 25% discount
car, do you run one? these cost a fortune!
I bet you by looking at the above you could save around £40pm

then use the entitled to website and others to check you get the right benefits appropriate

I genuinely cant imagine how you can earn extra money, unless you are prepared to get a PT weekend job in a bar, or shop, or even babysitting? these are actually out there as people on benefits dont tend to work PT, as earn less than benefits

I'd be v surprised if you weren't entitled to some more in either tax credits or housing benefits once a LP - £18,000 sounds v low.

YOu are entitled to child tax credits, you arent entitled to housing benefit as you earn too much. To be honest you would be better off working part time and earning less you get more help that way.

When I had my son at home, and earnt 16k I got housing benefit of 200 a month, plus 140 a week working tax credit and child tax credit, as i said you need to earn less.