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??

Sorry that should have said West Midlands/south west

Is your husband an HGV driver? If so, £23k is a very low wage, especially if he's a tramper (as you mention only being home one night a week).
If so, he should look at other jobs, agency always pay higher too.

Try Beelivery. You buy food from supermarket, get reimbursed the next day plus a fee. I do it in a city and if I try really hard can make £250 to £300 a week. I haven't done it for a while but once I move I intend to start it again

Hi OP, they put mine up loads, so I logged into my online banking and cancelled the direct debit. They then sent me an emailed bill a week later, and I paid it to the penny. It was about £150 less than the direct debit was set for. I KNOW that you tend to pay higher than you use in the summer to build a buffer for the winter, but if its a this month only kinda issue I'd still do this

£23 is after tax. It's pretty low for a tramper still but we are reluctant for him to change company because he works tramping hours over the winter when demand is high and then over the summer his hours get less and he gets more time at home with us. It's ideal because we then still get to see him more over the summer. It's hard to explain but his pay works out about £33 after tax in the winter and £20 after tax in summer so we have to average it out for the year. We try to use as little as we can over the winter to help us live over the summer.
Obviously if things carry on as they are then he will have to look at changing company.

Any family members who might be able to help? Often people are delighted to be able to.

I would contact GP and get referred to a food bank.

Speak to energy supplier and try and meet them towards the middle, if you can't afford it they should try and help you. If not, I heard they're can't cut you off if you have an under 12 living with you so pretend that. I'm sure there's loads of advice on this online atm

I see what you mean with hours, although he could probably get a similar contract with reasonable hours elsewhere, especially if he has his class 1. Although it is still low for tramping, even on rigids.
It may be an option for him to sign up to an agency and he can take shifts when he isn't working his usual job? Although if he's in a high demand period he might be using all his tacho hours already so might be a better idea for summer when he's less busy.

Sorry, I see you have already done that.

www.biscuitfund.org/how-to-refer/

Do you have someone who can refer you?

Also are you on the priority register with your utility companies? If not ask to be put on ( for water too).

www.ofgem.gov.uk/getting-extra-help-priority-services-register

Hi OP, sorry things are so stressful for you right now. This might sound silly but do you have a nectar card? You might have some money on there to do a food shop or even to just get a few things? Or a Boots card, not for food but any toiletries etc? Any gift vouchers lurking?

Google National Energy Action - they should be able to advise on how to proceed with your energy bill.

There may be local support funds you can access. Please speak to Citizens Advice. They will likely have access to emergency referrals. The one in my area is for anyone who needs it but it's not being advertised, it's just for front line professionals to make referrals to those who need it. It's not for people on certain benefits so it doesn't matter if you're working.

Hold on. He brings in 23k after tax and you earn 13k so pay pretty much no tax.

Your mortgage is £400
Fuel inc debt £250
Other debt £50
Mobile £7

Why can't you afford this. There must be something else you're paying a huge amount for because even after the mortgage, the big bill, the other debt you've £2250 to play with each month.

@whattodo36 you say you own the house and mortgaged - speak to them also.
See if you can increase the term or move to interest only for a bit. The fact you have an asset means you might be able to defer a couple of payments. Anything to give you some immediate breathing room.

Question is though, has this situation arisen due to a short term cash flow issue / one off bill? Or do you have less coming in than going out, therefore a structural financial problem?
Understanding that would be my start point. If it's the former, then a bit of space will help. If it's the latter, then you need a plan - you can't eBay your possessions each month.

I don’t know if your credit will allow it, but the bank account switching bribes are up to £175 (I think that’s for a couple) Check out money saving expert for more info.

Is it the electric DD that’s gone up or your actual bill. If it’s the DD, have you built credit you can claw back? It’s only kicking the can down the road, but any port in a storm and all that.

Theres a £10 a day thread that helps a lot of people too. Good luck. I’m currently scraping by on the bones of my arse, myself and it’s no bloody fun.

Several friends of mine own pubs who are seriously struggling for staff on Monday due to queens funeral. May be worth asking on a local fb group if anyone is looking for staff?

The £10 a day thread for September is over on Money Matters,but you can go back and see August,July etc etc for ages.There are loads of great ideas plus links to websites.You are literally walked through ways to make extra cash,as long as you have a tablet/ phone and a decent Internet connection,you are good to go for most ways to earn x

Energy companies do not switch off supply

Can I just check. Childcare costs a month roughly? Are your wages you quote after tax/ni/pension.

Because if my calculations are right if you have childcare costs of around £380 you might be entitled to UC. Pm if you prefer

I can't let it get to that point as I currently have an asthmatic 2 year old with pneumonia so not having electric is not an option. I will literally do everything I can to stop it getting to that point.

I’ve not read past this comment and most likely others have already said this, but you have to register for Priority service with British Gas. I don’t think they are allowed to cut your energy off if you have a child under 5 in the household.

Oh also, me and DH have bugger all money for the first time in a long time. I'm on my 3 month portion of maternity where I get zero pay and DH salary covers mortgage and nursery fees.
So I found out the council can offer some support in delaying council tax. We have an agreement where they won't take a payment for the next three months and then when we usually don't pay in February and march, we will. You could try that?
We also just used Gousto for a four meal box for £14

I don't want to list everything as I don't want to fully put myself but roughly:

Incoming per month after tax is £2900.

Outgoings are roughly:
Mortgage: 400
Gas: 300
Debt: 50
Mobiles:57 (husbands is higher than mine)
Family debt: 150 (we borrowed some money whilst I was pregnant as I was put on bed rest and couldn't work, have tried to negotiate a lower amount but they won't accept it)
Other bills including insurance, tv license, water, general household bills and prescriptions: 450
Childcare (2 kids in before and after school club for half an hour for each, 5 days a week) : £650
Nursery (all local nursery's to us charge for subsidies) £200.
That's £2260 a month which leaves us with £640 a month which roughly works out at £140 a week.
Our food shop for 4 of us generally comes to £75 a week at Aldi and I make sure I get everything on a budget. My DH needs £40 petrol a week to get to and from work. I need £20 a week for fuel. That leave us with £5 a week.

We've cut back every single bill where we can. I've cut back on every shopping item that I can. My children have an allergy which makes shopping slightly more expensive than it would be but I try and get every deal I can.
Honestly reading it back makes me feel like we should be better off than we are but I don't know what else we can do.

I've recently stopped taking my anti depressants, asthma medication and metformin prescriptions because they were costing me £60 a month and it's something we can't afford. We're left with £5 a week which is normally absolutely fine until we have a random bill come up, or this month it has been uniform payments that we're needed etc.

Would your mortgage company let you pay interest only/mortgage holiday for a few
months while you think of ways to increase income might give you breathing space?

Other bills including insurance, tv license, water, general household bills and prescriptions: 450

^ is jumping out as seeming really high.

£850 a month in childcare? How much do you earn a month? Have you applied for universal credit? I've seen people on higher incomes have a contribution to childcare costs