To ask what you would do if you has absolutely no money but

[ashamedmum007]

Needed some desperately?

I have to move in the next two weeks. I have virtually no furniture, no sofas or beds. What I do have probably won't survive a move. I have no white goods as they were included in my current rental. I have no car currently as I could afford to keep it on the road so cantmove myself. Working more to earn more isn't doable. I have 3 kids I'm solely responsible for. No financial help from there father just £1000s of unpaid debt via cms ill never see. I have nothing of value worth selling. I can't get credit due to the ex-husband. I have seeked help through charities and been declined. I can't get an advance from UC as I've earned more than £2600 in the past 6 months. I don't have family prepared or able to help. Nor any friends who would be in a position to help. I've scoured Facebook market place, neighbourhoods and Freecycle etc for furniture but always get let down. 3 times I've found sofas waited in for them to be delivered only to be ghosted and them not show. No cooker. No washing machine. No fridge. No beds. No sofas. Not even curtains or lampshades.

What do I do next?

I hope you are near me-I've got a sofa and double and single beds and some other bits and bobs I am about to freecycle. I'm in herts if that's any good to you?

The new house is social housing so it's an empty shell with nothing. We were private which is why I don't have a lot of the big items I need

Could you ask the landlord if you could buy some of the white good from them at a discount? Some landlords will replace them at the end of a tenancy, especially if it's been a long tenancy, or will decide that the upkeep on them is too much and re-let it 100% unfurnished. It's worth an ask.

Mumsnetters might be able to help if you give the rough area you're moving to.?

If you can tell us roughly where you are, someone might know of a specific local group who can help.

I know of a few local to me that would help someone in your situation.

Focus on the absolute bare essentials first. Mattresses (bed frames can be arranged later), a fridge, a kettle, a microwave, a small hob.

Scour charity shops and ebay etc for old curtains - the pattern or colour doesn't matter. If they fit your windows and you can afford it, you get them.

Forget the lampshades, sofas and the washing machine for the moment, unless you happen across a good offer on marketplace of course. Handwashing clothes in the sink / bath is a pain but I've had to do it before when ours broke and I couldn't afford to replace it and it IS doable temporarily.

Post on a wide range of sites and don't focus on FB marketplace - try freecycle, eBay, Gumtree etc too. Speak to local churches. Go into your local charity shops and let them know that you're in real need of X, Y, Z and ask them if they are able to call you if anything comes in.

Try your local CAB, they'll have charities that may help, welfare funds from local council. What do you do for a living, do you have any illnesses, there may be charities connected to those

Shropshire/Cheshire area. There's no real big towns locally so it's not great for stuff like this

I would make a post on a community Fb page etc, lots of people have stuff they want to donate rather than go to the hassle of trying to sell it to someone messing you about. Although I realise you may not want to make your situation public.

I have several times seen posts saying we have a local family need x y and z and very quickly people reply saying they have these things available.

In our area women’s aid would probably be able to help you.

Good luck

Try Zarach for beds, Emmaus for furniture

I think I'd move without sofas, and think about it once I got there.

Beds are a different matter.

I would approach the churches in the area, in my area they do help.

I'm really sorry you're in this position. Life can be really bloody tough at times

I've posted on our FB pages. 2 of the sofas were offered from that and I never heard back once they agreed I could have them and set a date.

That's always the way with marketplace and Gumtree, you get ghosted a lot on there but keep persevering and you'll find something. I managed to get a freezer and sofa for free on marketplace when I moved but it took messaging every single ad.

See if there's a local mutual aid Facebook group for your area as well.

Have you contacted your council to see if they can help?

What area are you?

Can you approach your employer to help you out?

Our HA have a customer support fund you can apply to - not sure if your new place is council or HA
Sorry if you've tried this but does your council have a household support fund?

Hold onto the fact you should have secure housing now, this can hopefully be the start of things getting better.

They have no funding so aren't running referrals anymore. They initially said I could ask for 1 white good item and I asked for washer as I have a microwave but when I approached them I was told they had no stock currently and I could be waiting months to hear back

Have any of your kids friends got camp beds they could borrow until you have mattresses?

What are you currently sleeping/ sitting on? Will it do for the time being?

Have you approached local lions/rotary clubs? Usually have discretionary funds for families in need, they may not cover you but possibly the children's beds

It's not ours I can't take it

Gotcha. Is it worth a chat with your current landlord?

Hello everyone
We've had some reports from people concerned about this thread so, as we usually do in these circs, we're putting our heads round the door with some important reminders.

Right now we can't see any evidence to indicate that the OP isn't above board – if we did, we'd remove the thread straight away. But the truth is that, sadly, we at MNHQ can't know with 100% certainty that any poster is genuine, no matter who they are or how long they have been here. As frustrating as it is, we're not able to vouch for anyone here.

So we always ask users to remember that not everyone on the internet is who they say they are – and remind folk not to give more to another poster, either financially (in cash or gifts) or emotionally (in time or care and support) than they'd be prepared to lose if things went wrong. Though, we strongly advise against parting with any cash or giving away your personal details, and if you receive a PM which makes you uneasy - report it to us and we’ll take a look.

We've compiled some useful links posted by Mumsnetters into a financial issues webguide, so that people experiencing difficulties can find all the relevant information in one place.

Sorry to hijack your thread briefly there, OP – we really hope you get it all sorted soon.

Try the recycling centre. There are often very usable things people just cant keep anymore.

This may have some useful info/links :
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/grants-low-income/

Take a look at this https://grants-search.turn2us.org.uk/

It's a way to see what grant making charities might be in the area