To feel depressed at how skint I am?

[Smolgoose]

I was furloughed for 8 months over the past year and a bit on 80 percent pay and it has tipped my precarious finances into total shit. Money is tight anyway on full pay (I only earn 16000 a year) so I've had to make up the shortfall with overdraft and credit card.

Endless expensive things keep happening, like the car needing repairs and it's starting to really get me down. I have £50 to last till the end of the month which is doable just about, as long as I stick to cheap food.

I've taken on an extra part time job cleaning that starts later this month, but I have no idea how I'm going to physically do it on top of full time work, as I've had health issues recently.

I just feel so depressed with it all.

No point cancelling the little bits like netflix audible etc, they don't add up to enough to make a difference do they?

Of course they do.

The problem with things like Netflix is people of "oh, it's fine, it's only a fiver" but when you're paying for several things that are "only a fiver" it soon adds up over a month or a year.

You can save a decent amount by cancelling all unnecessary subscriptions and just getting a cheap broadband deal and using YouTube and free catch-up services.

Phone data doesn't go very far, I use it as a hotspot in our caravan but just streaming a couple of programme eats loads of data, you would need an unlimited data contract to make having Netflix worthwhile

If you have BT or EE broadband you can get 6 months BritBox free, also you can hop in and out of Netflix and make sure you are on the lowest £5.99 tariff, most people are on the one that cost £9.99

Has anyone mentioned Toogoodtogo? This is great - includes (in date) food from loads of places, including groceries. Depends on where you live. It's cheap but also fun to do. So e.g. M&S you get food for £4 which retails at £12.

Do consider retraining for better-paid work, OP. And if you’re thinking of giving up the car, work out how much you would spend on fares, and if season tickets would save enough to make it worthwhile. Seriously, don’t even think of gambling! And best of luck.

People are ridiculous. Don't cancel the few things that give you pleasure in life.
Ring CC company and say you're struggling. They should freeze interest and let you pay back £20 a month. They're really helpful.
Swap cleaning for Amazon flex delivery which pays more and is less tiring.
DO NOT swap to Aldi or Lidl, they pay slightly more because they treat you like a dog and aren't good with physical health concerns. Basically they want fit people that can sprint across the shop to go from cage to checkout.
Don't pack in your job at all if you enjoy it. Good retail jobs are hard to find.
It's not your fault that full time working people struggle for money. Cost of living has gone up, wages haven't. Stay strong sister.

There's also Olio. Obviously experiences of both will vary, but it could be another way to eat, or even have a treat for minimal cost.

Upping your salary would be a food plan - really high vacancy rate in hospitality at the moment which is driving pay rates up - could you swap the shop job for a restaurant, pub or cafe? Or add evening shifts?

Any bits you no longer use which you can sell on Ebay?

I hope you manage to get something sorted, coming to an agreement re the credit card debt seems like the best starting point.

Apologies, jumping straight from your outgoings message. Re phone, I do PAYG (vouchers) I spend about £10 every 3 months, but am very frugal on using phone outside house! Calls free inside the house!

If you could try that too, it’d be a saving?

I agree with others in that you need to increase your income. I would get a CV done and register with some local agencies and see if they feel there are suitable but better paid jobs around.

If you want to remain in retail, have you thought about applying for supervisor positions or moving to a larger store where you may be taking a sideways position but could prove yourself and then apply for supervisor roles in time?

If you are not in contract with your phone get a lower priced pay and go contract or use Giffgaff

I'd bin the car off and get a bike.

Also, do you have the app Too Good To Go?

Doing a weekly shop for one is quite an expensive way to eat - best off knowing when your local supermarket does their reductions and nipping in each/every other evening and picking up some heavily discounted foods to eat that night.

Make a massive batch of soup and freeze into portions for lunches for a few weeks that cost pennies oer portion.

@CirqueDeMorgue

Also, do you have the app Too Good To Go?

Good shout! Often some great bargains on this. You got to check it multiple times a day

When people are really struggling I think this is when you see the worst in people.
Can you let a stranger sleep on your sofa?
Can you drive around picking up surplus gone off food which you won't be able to make a meal from?
How many of these posters would actually do this if the going gets tough?

You say there is no promotion opportunities where you work. Time to look for a new job where there is, in a big national retailer so you won’t always be in this position. Easier said than done though!

@Spidermanssecretary

When people are really struggling I think this is when you see the worst in people. Can you let a stranger sleep on your sofa? Can you drive around picking up surplus gone off food which you won't be able to make a meal from? How many of these posters would actually do this if the going gets tough?

Me, I work in a low paid job and I absolutely use too good to go. I don't drive so I carry the perfectly decent selection of food (past its use by, yes) home, can you imagine!? 🙄

Wow my grammar!

Also OP, I've started using ebay more. Some real bargains on there. :)

Past its use by should be past its best before btw ! 😁

my clothes are charity shops/sale
go veggie, not quorn, lentils, you can make marvellous meals with chickpeas and lentils
cleaning, you are just about to start, they can pay well
have a spread sheet of your expenditure
try stepchange for your credit card

hopefully you have a freezer, freeze all uneaten portions.

@PolkadotFlamingos

Also food costs more than 100 a month, and then there is petrol, household supplies, prescriptions, clothes etc etc

OP I'm sorry people have posted such ridiculous things to you. 30 years ago I could not do food/ household supplies plus prescriptions and clothes on £30 per week (in nominal terms, not inflation adjusted) so the people saying this is ok now are having a laugh.

But she has £300 per month to pay for all that stuff, not £30 a week.

£25 per week for food for a single person is extremely doable. You wouldn't be able to pick and choose luxury items, but it would comfortably provide a basic, nutritious diet. Porridge and a banana for breakfast, sandwich and an apple for lunch, pasta dish/vege curry/veggie chilli/filled jacket pot/egg, chips and beans/omelette, peas, mash etc.

The reality is that £16k pa doesn't afford anything other than a basic lifestyle. OP either needs to accept that and budget hard/live frugally, or she needs to up her income. She can't expect to live as if she is earning £30k pa, when she is only bringing in £16k.

I don't want to kick the OP when she's down, and I have massive sympathy for the impact furlough, which is completely beyond her control, will have had on her. However the penny needs to drop for her, that the lifestyle that she wants (not having to scrimp and save) isn't ever going to be affordable for her if she continues to only work basic hours on minimum wage. So longer term, she needs a goal to up her income, whether that's changing jobs, working for promotion in her current job, working more hours, retraining etc. Fiddling around with cancelling £5.99/m Netflix etc isn't a long term solution to her problems.

Hi OP, I don't have any advice but I'm also struggling with money at the moment and I know how exhausting it is.
I think its incredibly easy for people who aren't struggling to offer well-meaning solutions, even though when you are that skint, going over and over potential ways out in your head is often all you can think about and keeps you up at night.
So no advice really but a big for you. It'll won't be like this forever.