To hate this recession

[Hydrophilic]

I have been out of work since September. I have recently got a christmas temp job in a supermarket but only a few hours. It doesn't even cover the council tax on our flat (rented, cheapest we could find). I don't get paid until the end of December either annoyingly.

Despite having good transferrabls skills and applying for loads of jobs, having interviews I havn't got a job.

I'm sat here crying because I'm so hungry. I don't have the energy to cook porridge ( its what I live off now). I couldn't sleep last night as my tummy was rumbling and didn't have anything at all the night before.

I'm so fed up of this shit. Please don't think this is a begging post, I just need to vent somewhere. I've been visiting an elderly neighbour a lot recently as she

Sorry,

she offers me tea and biscuits. She's italian and get's offended if I say no.

Let's look on the bright side though, at least I might lose those extra pounds I've put on!

Why are you paying council tax when you've no money?

Get council tax benefit, apply for tax credits if you've only got a few hours.

yanbu, the recession is shit.

Dp on paper earns too much for any help. He took a loan out from his parents to fund studies and pays back £600 a month.

I have looked up tax credits, I don't work enough or have children. I took all the hours the supermarket can offer me. Fingers crossed for overtime!

Could dp not see if he could pay back 400 say while you find a job. I am sure your in laws won't want you to starve.

That's a shameful expectation on your ILs' part, assuming they're not starving having had the money to lend in the first place

OP, I am so sad to read your post.
do his parents realise how much you are struggling - would they accept lower payment/longer term to repay the loan? do they live close enough to provide you a decent meal once a week? is DP being sensible (does he insist on nighths out at the pub etc?) do you shop near closing time and buy reduced bread and veg etc?

do you have a food bank/salvation army in your town? there is no shame in NEEDING HELP, many mnay working couples and families are having to ask for food parcels because they cannot manage

is there anything you can sell/ebay/boot fair, or any skill you could make money from eg cake making/craft/even ironing for people? could you ask family to give presents of food this xmas - eg hamper of staples plus few treats?

best of luck

think you both need to speak to the inlaws to see if you can pay off a bit less so you can afford to eat

best of luck op, the recession is shit

also try www.entitledto.com to see if you can get any help

If you can't afford food then you can't afford to pay £600 per month on loan repayments to a relative can you? Just pay them less each month.

Where are you? What is your work history?

Dear OP - your post made me so sad. Could you speak to your inlaws and reduce the payments to them every month? Reducing it to £400 pounds or so would give you so much more money to spend on the essentials.

Have you tried looking at the MoneySavingExpert forums? There are a lot of people there who are experts on making your money stretch as far as it can, and they will really empathise with your situation, and perhaps make a few suggestions as to ways to get some addiitonal income in at the moment.

I will speak to him about reducing the payments. I just broke down when he came in from work. His parents are not nice people. They will call us every name under the sun. They claim they are hard up despite both having very well paid jobs and spending every school holiday abroad (mil is a headteacher).

Do you have any other debts? I'm wondering whether you should be speaking to one of the advice charities like CAB or CAP? You seem to be in an impossible situation due to your in-laws behaviour.

if at all possible you need to try to eat more variety or you will feel run down because you are basically malnourished, and your mood will feel even worse and you will be susceptible to catching anything that is going around

you can still do this cheaply

-jacket spud and value beans
-value pasta with a tin of cheap tomatoes and a chopped onion/herbs
-a soup pack of veg and a loaf of bread would probably do enough soup for the 2 of you for 3 days, you can freeze it too

what have you eaten today?

Is there anyone in RL who knows how much you are struggling? Food banks work on vouchers available from GPs social workers etc - have you a GP you cantalk to? They will know where you can get help in your area. Do not be embarrassed they have heard it all before.

He needs to stop paying them back so much.

can you get a bank loan to pay the rellies off, then repay it over x number of years to bring the monthly payments down?

your ILs ought to be ashamed of themselves - whats you DP history with them?

They can't call you every name under the sun if you don't talk to them and hang up when they start being abusive.

Get your partner to send a letter detailing outgoings so they don't think he's taking the piss and saying that he will resume payments when your income increases.

Getting a bank loan would be near impossible I should imagine in such dire circs :(

YANBU the recession is shit, OP this is so sad, somethings got to give, you have to eat, inlaws aren't starving, even reducing payments by 100 a month could stop you from starving.

When will your DH finish off paying his parents? Is the end in sight?

Oh god no, Lynette. He has a long stretch ahead before it's paid off.

His parents are toxic. They think I don't have a job because I don't want one and my standards are too high. Then when I told them I am working in a supermarket they mocked me and said "well that's really worth all the money spent on your degree".

I am just feeling sorry for myself.I'm going to take myself off to bed and wake up in a better mood. I can't complain about my situation with the lovely expat on this thread.

Don't worry about it! I think teh ILs need to be the first port of call, though.

or the bank for a loan

get them paid off and out of your lives

they sound worse than any recession