Urgent money raising ideas needed

[whattodo36]

Ok I know I'll get a lot of blame etc but we've ended up in a situation where I need to desperately raise £300 and I can't think of any ideas so I'm hoping someone may suggest something I haven't considered.

The money is needed for food for the week and to pay a very important bill. There's no wiggle room on the bill as we've already tried.

I've been on countless loan websites all afternoon but due to really bad credit ratings we are getting nowhere. I've thought of selling things but we honestly don't have anything of any value to sell!

I've tried asking family and friends but they aren't in a position to help.

Can anyone think of anything we haven't thought of or can recommend a website that would loan with very bad credit ratings??

Oh and are you on the priority register as you’ve an under 5? I don’t think they can just cut you off if you are but I could be wrong about that.

I don't think they can cut you off because of your son's health condition.

I'm so sorry money is so tight for you right now. I've been there and it was absolutely horrible.

Definitely start using food banks.

It makes me so angry that there are people rolling in it and you are struggling to hear your home and feed your family. Life is so unfair.

The reports won't be personal OP, threads by people trying to get money from posters are unfortunately common on MN, so people are wary.

Regarding energy - are you on the Priority Services Register? If not, call your energy provider and make sure you're put on it - with your 2 year old being poorly, you qualify for it. I'm not completely sure, but it may stop your energy being cut off.

I also work in education, not sure what role you're in, but if you think about it, you can often put your experience into many different areas. Could you tutor others? What about takeaway delivery driving? Things like that. Not the best hours but a good short term solution perhaps, to get this big bill out the way.

@whattodo36 MN HQ always fire in with a standard warning on these types of threads.

It's nothing personal to you, and you are getting some good advice here so don't be too hasty about asking for the thread to be deleted.

Don't do that, you've had some good suggestions and may still get more.
It's ridiculous that people are put in such situations, even more so when a poorly child will be affected.

Don't take it personally, unfortunately for every genuine post there will be some scammers doing it for money. If you look at any thread of a similar nature you will see the same warning from MNHQ.

Thanks everyone. I actually have two DCs under 5 both with some health conditions but my DS's asthma can get very bad over the winter and we often end up in hospital at least a few times so hopefully if I explain this to my bill company they will put us on the register and they won't be able to cut us off. We are with British Gas so hopefully because they are one of the big providers they will treat us fairly because of the DCs

If you're in education can you tutor? Even at £30ph it would only take you 10 lessons to make that up. After school care - loads of posts on our local FB page by parents who need help.

www.nationaldebtline.org/fact-sheet-library/gas-and-electricity-arrears-ew/#:~:text=Gas%20and%20electricity%20companies%20cannot,give%20you%20proper%20notice%20first.

The electric company can't just cut you off. And you can't pay what you don't have. Please don't get a payday loan as it will cause more problems in the long run. I know it's hard OP, sending hugs and positive thoughts your way.

"I haven't asked for anybody to and would never dream of asking so I'm really not sure why you felt the need to comment."

I felt the need to comment as its well known that scammers sometimes come on MN and they hadn't put their standard warning on yet.

You've not upset anyone, and I'm not being mean. There was a post today about a parent with nothing til payday who was scammed of her last £20 after sending it to someone saying they desperately needed ideas to raise some money for nappies.

Who told you your power will be cut off?! They can't cut it off so that's rubbish. You call them back and tell them you can't afford to pay it

I'm only a Ta so unfortunately can't tutor. Childcare would be an option but I would need to just wait until my youngest is fully recovered as I'm currently doing shorter hours over the next week or so because he isn't well enough for nursery

Have you calculated your actual usage under the new energy cap because British Gas have this week told a relative (online bill) that their DD will be taken in October of £580.

She calculated it to be £320 under the new cap and when she called them they agreed and set her DD at £300

So sorry to hear you are struggling so much. Loads of good advice already. Switching current accounts is really straightforward and with good cashback as people have mentioned, I think Lloyd's is giving about £125 atm, but I'm not 100% sure.

Our local church has a scheme called "food save" which is a bit different from a food bank, its not means tested at all, it designed to reduce food waste, so all the local suppermarkes donate stock that is at of coming up to its sell by date and anyone who can make use of it, is welcome to it. Might be something like that near you.

Really hope you manage to get it sorted.

OP energy company is will not switch off your energy within a week - they’d have to send someone to install a prepayment meter, that takes longer than a week, and if you don’t let them in they have to obtain a court order to gain access to the property. And even if they DID do that then you wouldn’t need to put £250 on the meter!

Which company has said this to you? They need to be reported to Ofgem

We don't qualify for food banks or benefits because we own our house (mortgaged) so nobody seems to want to help

Well thats nonsense.
Have you actually applied for benefits? Have your phoned church food banks?

Does your council have a household support fund? This is an extra pot of money for hardship. they can give supermarket vouchers or fuel vouchers. I'm not sure what the criteria would be but no harm enquiring if you are eligible.

Honestly OP if you don’t pay the energy bill nothing will happen. They can’t/won’t remotely switch off energy in the UK.

I worked for British Gas, they will not cut you off for missing one bill.

Instead of switching people off they change your meter to a pay as you go meter. But that’s after a really lengthy process. Which they aren’t eager to do at the moment

Ring them and tell them you are not in a position to pay. There’s no money to pay them and advise them both children have health issues. One being asthma that’s packed by the cold.

If they give no help, open a complaint. Don’t close the complaint. They will want to resolve your complaint before it goes to OFGEM. Don’t not close it, until you are happy with the outcome.

Where are you getting your info from OP? British Gas wouldn't say they will cut you off if you don't pay this £250 and it's possible it's been calculated wrong anyway. Have you actually called them?

Foodbanks wont exclude you because you have a mortgage. That's just nonsense, you need to get a referral or there are food clubs everywhere now which are great too.

Sorry for jumping to conclusions. I just really don't want anybody to think that was my intention as it never would be. Like I said I've spent my whole day online looking for solutions and came to mumsnet as I was hoping people who had been in similar circumstances might be able to offer their advice. I've been a poster for many years but changed my username as I'm embarrassed about our circumstances.

It was on a phone call to the bill company that we got told this. I have to fully hold my hands up and say that it's my own fault. We were with one of the bill companies that went bust last year. We had no communication from anybody about which company we were being transferred to etc for over 9 months. We put a bit aside each month to account for the debt that would be building but we only saved about £500 and it turns out they want to charge us over 2800 so it doesn't even touch the sides. They've now added that amount on to our monthly payments so that's why it is so high and we have no chance of bringing it down. We're soo worried about the bill increase in October and January as we just genuinely can't afford to pay them anymore but what can we do?
We've talked about selling our house to pay off debt but our mortgage is £400 a month and for an equivalent house it would cost us £950 to rent so that isn't an option either. I just feel like we're spiralling in to a black hole

OP I'm not an expert but how about teaching English online to non native speakers?
Aside from that, I would contact your local CAB first thing Tuesday and ask them to advise.
Good luck 👍

You can go to Citizens Advice for a food bank referral or some of them don’t require referrals. Google the ones in your local area. Owning your property won’t mean you can’t access one, where did you get that information from?

Could you let us know what you have in your cupboards/fridge/freezer and we might be able to meal plan for you. That could reduce the £50 down a bit

Ok so it's a bit more complicated as it is already a debt but they can not cut you off in the UK.

Do not get a payday loan. Ring them and tell them you can't pay it back at that rate. Don't budge on it and make sure you tell them about the kids illnesses.

Get to CAB and they will help and give you a foodbank referral.

Good luck with it all

Babysitting? You could register with an agency and get £12-£15 per hour. And absolutely cancel the DD and only pay what you owe.