Cannot escape poverty, what's the cheapest place in the world for me to move to?

[despair1234]

I can't cope and getting depressed again. I can't earn enough money. Had a real go with lots of tries at being freelance, because my health problems make it extremely hard to keep a normal job. Time off for hospital appointments etc.

I'm on my own in the UK and just done. I have a partner is another country but don't have a visa.

Need to move somewhere it's really cheap to have housing and food, I can't cope here anymore. Everyday is a massive struggle worrying how to pay the bills once my savings totally run out. No money is coming in. Not entitled to any benefits apart from Jobseeker's Allowance maybe which I don't bother with because I can't stand the effect it has on my mental health.

I just can't cope. It's too expensive just being alive. I have no family I can go to stay with, there is literally nowhere to go to relax.

It's like being in a nightmare except I never wake up. Constant, constant stress of money I can never overcome. Yeah I can borrow money but have no way of paying it back if I can't earn.

Where can I go??? Where can I find somewhere to rest???? I need to calm down and can't calm down, I'm having nightmares when I'm asleep, I'm not depressed but the impossible financial reality is making me depressed...because... where can it go from here?

It will never get better? Just breathing and eating and sleeping somewhere safe costs too much money? Let alone upkeep of clothes for interviews, reliable computer to try to find jobs, even small fees for retraining???

I just want to go away and escape, I need to escape.

Op, have you heard of the Work Away scheme?
You are offered accommodation and food in return for 5. Hours work a day, 5 days a week. You can do it in the uk, or all over the world. Work can be anything, from childcare, house keeping, gardening, through to building or decorating. Lots of perle use it to travel on a tiny budget.

Friends who do it have done amazing times, and meet some amazing people. It's very freeing.
Have a look at the website x

What about a job as a live in carer / companion or housekeeper? There are lots of live in positions available in the Cotswolds. Lots advertised locally, have a look at local town / village websites for info.

If you knew that anything you then had coming in you could save, maybe it would take some of the stress away.

Could you get ESA instead of JSA?

I think the idea of a live in companion or carer is a much better one. Sometimes you get an old person who only wants very light duties and a bit of companionship in return for board and lodgings and a small wage.

Okay, I clearly can't help you and as I am not a mind reader I have no idea how anyone on here can help you, when you give us so little information to work with and insist on being so defensive and prickly.

Claim the JSA. Speak to your GP about your mental health, not just your ongoing physical condition. Maybe rethink the partner.

Good luck. I'm out.

Have you looked at virtual assistant jobs? I've been looking at them as I'm really unhappy in my current job and struggling with mental health.

It seems like it could be good I just don't know if it's actual legit in terms of you get work / make money. I did see one company and you would get £12 an hour which seemed great. It's general things like admin, inbox management, social media management, report writing etc.

*All done from home I should have mentioned.

Ultimately,it doesn't matter where you live, to have enough money to support yourself financially you need to do one of:

work full time in a job paying highly enough to support yourself, or
claim sufficient benefits to cover your living costs, or
be supported by another person (i.e. partner, family), or
have enough capital/investments to support yourself.

Wherever you move, if you don't do one of the 4 above, you are going to find yourself in poverty, possibly more so if you also have to pay for things we take for granted like healthcare.

It sucks, but its exactly the same for all of us.

I have lots of experience and knowledge re visas, disabilities, and the benefits system. I help people with some variant of these on a daily basis. I understand your desire for anonymity, but I can’t see you getting any satisfactory advice until you provide a bit more info. You can be vague about it, but nobody can give truly helpful advice based on what you’ve said so far.

Flipping heck op I am not trying to pressure you. You have a disability I advised applying for pip. I was only trying to help. Why are you so defensive?

Tournesolet you just can't help one last dig eh?

I patiently explained the situation to you (visas, children, not easy to simply move, me wanting to be able to work) and you just keep making digs at my relationship. Who the fuck do you think you are?

I'm not defensive. I'm simply not being listened to.

I am not eligible for PIP. I've said that a few times.

Where are you in the UK op? I wonder if you would be better served in Scotland?

people have also said esa

you cant just not try its str5essful forf everyone but if you need it to live so be it

I have a friend with chronic health problems. The only job she's been able to manage is a mealtime assistant in her local primary school. That's not in the kitchens, but helping out in the dinner hall or in the playground for an hour a day. She gets about £25 a week, which is a pittance, but pays for her weekly food shop.

If you got something like that, you could hopefully fit in medical appointments, interviews and freelance work around it, but it gives you money for food at least.

She had no childcare experience and had been out of work for 5 years. Apparently, schools are crying out for dinner ladies. There are other jobs in schools too - Breakfast and After School clubs, which could top up your earnings.

I need to earn a living wage, I can't survive on £25. How does your friend pay any rent and bills?

It really is a disgrace that in our country people are so poor. It is entirely possible to have an illness or disability that prevents working regular hours but that doesn’t qualify you for PIP or ESA. Finding a sympathetic employer is frequently difficult. The process of claiming JSA or UC can be so bloody stressful the system can be kafkaesque and the claimant gives up.

OP I hope you find something useful from the pp on here who have offered work suggestions.

Hi OP

I think the suggestions of live-in carer / companion, or a live-in job at a hotel could be great options?

Also, live-in nannies do not need any qualifications if that would Be Of interest to you? (Childminders need to be ofsted registered etc, but nannies do not need to be)

It sounds very exhausting so remember to take care of your health, including spending time with friends, eating / drinking as well as you can, and walking outside in green space if you have any nearby. I know this advice sounds patronising but it can be the first things we forget to do when we feel so exhausted.

Best of luck

This thread is makng me consider ESA at least for a short time. Fuck it, it's not forever. Just a few weeks maybe.

OP, I get that you're depressed by your circumstances but jumping down the throats of posters who quite sensibly suggest applying for benefits such as JSA is plain rude. People are only trying to help.

The cheapest places to live in teh world are places like Bangladesh, Egypt and Syria. Not exactly known for their good infrastructure and health service.

Yes there are many work suggestions, i am making a list of all of them. Some I have tried in the past, but others not yet.

someone else had mentioned what I was going to suggest / live in positions depends what kind of medical appointments you have regularly though.

Hotel work with live in, or a mature Au pair type role (do these exist) or live in housekeeper.

It's a horrid position for you to be in, too ill to work reliably to well to receive any support. You end up
Feeling like the state solution is suicide

Wow. I was all ready to make suggestions but I see that's been done and you've just been rude. I get that you're stressed but you obviously posted for help but you've just bitten people's heads off. Good luck but I'm out.

Look, if your partner is such a No Go topic of conversation and completely unable or unwilling to help solve your problems right now, then why did you even mention him?

He clearly doesn't figure in any of the possible solutions available to you so I really don't know why you bothered to tell us he existed.

You are giving us information we are not allowed to work with, and yet without holding information that might enable us to advise you better.

Just where exactly have I been plain rude at the suggestion of JSA?

Quote what I said?