Help me save as much money as possible

[dottymac]

Without going into too much detail, my husband may be out of a job in 3 months. He is the sole earner and we have a large eye watering mortgage. I can potentially get a job in September but will be restricted to school hours. No family help at all. I'm wracking my brain on how to raise/save as much as possible in the next 3 months but I'd appreciate any and all ideas. 🙏

If you are at home at the moment, every tiny little bit of money you can save/make helps. You must, however, take the view that every penny counts. It's a mindset - and I have known people struggle with it, particularly if you have a big mortgage and outgoings and are used to a certain standard of living. But it does add up and it is worth looking at your expenditure overall and thinking about what you can do to bring in even the smallest amounts to add up to a bigger total.

• buy all children's clothes in sales, ahead of time. The only thing you should buy full price is shoes (and then try hard not to!). Come down a brand and/or look for outlet stores (Clarks have a number of them). I personally find cheap shoes a false saving as I seem to end up buying 3 times, but you don't need to pay £60 a pair for Clarks, for example.
• come down a brand in the supermarket. If you buy branded goods, come down to supermarket own. If on supermarket own, come down to the value ranges. You might be surprised what you like.
• School uniform is stocked in supermarkets year round. You know it's coming so start buying as early. I start with shirts in May.
• you can get everything - absolutely everything - you could ever need on Facebook marketplace. Might take a while - a few days, possibly weeks if it's something a bit quirky, but sooner or later it will appear within about 15 miles of you. You can haggle and save a fortune.
• Save £2 coins in a moneybox. You don't get them often but they add up. It's nice to have a little nest egg to dip into for things like school trips.
• Make use of your slow cooker and breadmaker (both can be bought for next to nothing at car boot sales, usually still boxed having never been used). You can buy the cheapest meats and they will taste great. There are groups on Facebook for help, recipes etc.
• Moneysavingexpert forums are useful for tips. I use oats, for example, to pad out a bolognaise mix so it lasts for an extra meal. Can't taste it. That's something I got off the forums there.
• there are ways of making small amounts of money (and some people earn hundreds this way) on the internet. Surveys, for example. When my children were small, I used to do surveys for a company that paid in luncheon vouchers and we used those to go for a treat at McDonalds. Have a look at Appen and Lionbridge. If you can type and have admin skills and experience, can you be a virtual PA? Do you have knowledge that people need/want - could you tutor? The NTP programme is recruiting all over the place - not all providers require you to have QTS. Can you knit/sew/crochet - all skills that people are seeking out in the current climate. Could you offer classes? Could you professionally proof read? Write a blog etc. etc. etc All these are about thinking about pennies, rather than pounds and making it all add up to something
• bit late now but if you're struggling as time moves on, exam invigilation is something schools will pay you to do. And something they struggle to recruit to. Phone and ask to speak with the exam's officer.

If I can think of anything else, I'll come back to you. Good luck. It's so very hard out there at the moment.

Have you savings worth a few months mortgage and bills?

Personally I would take out a loan now whilst employed to act as a buffer and only dip into it if everything else fails.

Cancel sky, go no shopping for clothes etc, sell what I can and go ultra frugal until loan repaid and a buffer built up again.

If it’s his feeling rather than formal consultations on redundancy, consider quickly

• remortgaging to a way that makes repayments more affordable eg longer term on a fix (obviously will make the overall debt more but needs must and it should hopefully only be temporary till a new job and then you can overpay until the end of the 2-year term)
• take out redundancy insurance