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??

@CornishTiger thank you so much for this, I will send of the application tonight

Sell your time on Taskrabbit. People pay you to do their shopping, mow their lawn etc.

@AloysiusBear thank you, I will submit my actual meter readings in the morning and see if that makes any changes. I did submit them a few weeks ago so I think it's up to date but I will definitely try.

As for the odd jobs, unless it's childminding or babysitting it's not really an option. I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses but because my husband works away as a driver there is only me around for childcare so I need to do something that fits around my own children

There are already loads of people doing things like cleaning. It's ot that easy.
You need references, experience, your competing with loads of other people.
It's not as easy as that.
Dog walkers need to have insurance too and be experienced with dogs.

Is the £2800 just for the 9months or so you were waiting to hear about your switch? Sorry if I’ve misread, and I can see you’ve already submitted a reading but the amount seems very high for 9 months with the old prices.

I've just had a look in to getting my TEFL certificate and I think this might be a good option for me. It's not very much money upfront (obviously I would need to wait until I am out of my current fix) but I have the time available to do this and a laptop and good internet connection for doing the tutoring so hopefully this might be a viable option

Yes it was just for the 9 months. We didn't predict that amount because it was nothing similar to what we were paying but every time I've tried to question it I just get told that's what it is and there's nothing they can do

Have a look on the £10 a day threads,there are some really good ideas to make extra cash that you might not have thought of before.Personally,I do surveys as a way to earn extra.I use qmee,streetbees plus inboxpounds.While you won't make a fortune,I easily make £20 a week and store it up for emergencies.
qm.ee/6TT34LY4LJMRW
and
onelink.to/streetbees with referral code 73773X
If that would be any use building up an emergency fund x

Ask every single friend, workmate and family member to lend you a tenner.
Asking for a £300 loan is unlikely to yield results, but most people will hand over ten pounds to help out.

You say you’ve done a benefit entitlement check up? Was your household income much over the qualification limits?

If you can't do anything else I'd urge you to speak to the people you owe money to asap and work out a reasonable payment plan.

They're really quite helpful as long as you don't ignore them or bury your head in the sand x

Sometimes it doesn't even harm your credit further

Could you take on some cleaning jobs or tip runs/gardening etc for people?

@CornishTiger we are over the threshold. I know that makes me sound like a really bad person because we shouldn't be struggling if we are over the limit but somehow we still seem to struggle.
I don't want to be too outing but my DH earns approx £23k after tax, I earn about £13k after tax. We were managing our bills fairly well before but with the increase in gas bills and petrol things have got out of hand.

Looking at your posts.

Your family unit needs to increase its income. It's not easy.

But your Bill's have increased by a lot.

Even a loan right now. It will help for a few weeks but when the next bill comes through you will be in the same position.

So over the long term you need to think of a plan to increase your income.

Either yourself or your husband.
Short term like the suggestions above, food bank, odd jobs.

Yes, I totally forgot I do this too @Ecclescaker i use AttaPoll which I found on the Martin Lewis pages years ago. They pay direct to PayPal from around £4-5 so don’t need to get kids to get a payout, I use a few but this is by far the quickest one and you need it fast. Curious cat payout from £1 too. I know it’s not loads but I do it when my wee one is in bed so it’s handy when you don’t have a lot of time to spare. The others I use and have been paid out from are OnePulse and Viper but these take longer to get the required amount or points. OnePulse o get about $20 so around £17 every 4-5 weeks. When I cash out I use it for my credit card debt as extra. Other than that as I mentioned before selling is the best way to go anything your kids have outgrown wellies, waterproofs etc I’ve had so much luck on Gumtree. Remember at car boat sales you will have a pitch fee which can sometimes be quite high and it’s disheartening sometimes trying to by pass that to make some money!

I'm hoping as the kids get older this will be something that is easier to achieve. At the moment because my DH is only home one day and night a week childcare falls solely on me and that's why I took a job in a school so I can work my hours around them. I'm going to try and get my TEFL certificate because hopefully that will enable me to increase my income as I can hopefully do it around childcare

A friend of mine does TEFL online for a school in SE Asia - it's well paid and fits in with his UK working hours. Maybe that's something you can pursue?

Yes,there are lots of survey sites,I love the fact that you can do the surveys whilst watching the kids,when they're in bed etc etc.Its not amazing money,but it is very very useful when you save it up and use it as an emergency pot of cash as I do.It's been a great help to me when I have needed a few pounds for this,and a few pounds for that,just do a few surveys,transfer the money to your PayPal and then straight to your bank.I have done it numerous times of a weekend to make sure a direct debit wouldn't bounce on the Monday.

Do you remember if meter readings were submitted before and after your switch? Do you have the statement from when that £2800 bill was generated to check the rates and usage it is based on?

I ask because my relative who pays quarterly didn’t submit her readings before the price rise in April, so they tried to bill her for the whole quarter based on the new higher rates. I contacted them for her and they reissued a lower bill, they estimated the usage pre/post April. If your debt bill was issued after April, I’m wondering if they’ve done the same with you, for whole 9 months. Might be a shot in the dark but worth checking.

Can you apply for DLA for your asthmatic child? If the asthma is severe as you suggest this may well qualify for some support x

I don’t see this suggestion often here, but have you considered getting a paper round? My children have a round each that takes them about 30-40 minutes each morning, and a bit longer on Saturdays and slightly shorter on Sundays. Admittedly they use their bikes, but sometimes walk if bikes out of action. They each earn £43/£45 cash each week, which is actually a lot of money for the hours. Also cash in hand, so tax free. As the fuel bills are going to hit each month, that’s a fair whack and reliable additional source of income. Also good chance to clear your head and get exercise of a morning.

Sorry you're going through the cosh at the moment. Whereabouts in the UK are you (which is your nearest city)? I may be able to point you in the direction of community food banks that don't require a referral if you're in the north west

Wow that's a lot of money for a paper round! I will look in to that as it's something I could do with the kids in tow too

Thank you but unfortunately I'm in the south west/south midlands