If you were absolutely flat broke in this situation, how would you make money?

[stressedoutstudent]

Some context - single mum of 3 teenagers. Qualfied as a nurse a year ago, so on the lowest increment for band 5 pay. i work all night plus extra bank shifts to maximise my income with enhancements. Moving up pay scales/banding is impossible at the minute. The extra shifts means my UC entitlement is 0 most months. I get CB for 2/3 of the children. Eldest has autism and whilst he works, he doesnt earn enough to be contributing anything substantial to the household. Ex gave up working and claims benefits, i get the standard £29 a month deduction from his benefits via CMS, he hasnt seen the children in over a decade so doesnt contribute anything further. I dont drive and theres no public transport running at a time that i can get to work, so i have to pay for taxis which are expensive but i have no other options. Its a 2 hour walk before/after 13 hours shifts and i usually do 4 or 5 in a week, im so exhausted i cant do this walk on top of my very busy active shift. We live in a rented house, which is a reasonable rent for the area, but still expensive. 1 child in school who can walk, 1 child in college who cant walk as its too far so i have to ay transport costs for them. I have some "unnecessary" outgoings, gaming subscriptions and streaming services, however my children are home alone 4 or 5 nights a week so they need something to keep them occupied as i dislike them going out and about whilst im at work, as i work in a very busy A&E department, im not easily contactable and like to know they are safe. I have some small debts im paying off from when i was a student and really struggled to get by.

Every month i run i out of money, its just impossible. I cant work more, i cant see where i can reduce out goings. I cant get a third job (my substantial and bank are two different contracts). I cant afford christmas, which i know isnt the be all and end all. But, when i was a student i promised my children a better future when i was stressed writing assignments doing placements and missing important events. But its not gotten better. Infact im worse off each month now than i was when studying. The recent NHS payrise left me worse off, as it bumped me into the next pension bracket, so the little i got backdated last pay, i now owe in pension arrears from April when the pay rise was back dated to. This amount is more than i received in back pay last month.

Life is just impossible. I cant give my children any standard of living, despite working my arse off to improve my career and do as many shifts a week as i am physically able to do.

What would you do? Genuinely? My only potential plan at the minute is the WFH pip assessor roles, its the same money im on now, but no travel costs. Keep my bank job to pick up an extra weeked shift each week. But its a job role i struggle with morally, and i would lose the patient contact element of my job for the most part. And A&E was my dream job, i love it, and the experience is vital for my future career aspirations.

I think asking my parents to help with a moped first and paying them back would mean i can pay them back less than what salary sacrifice would be a month. I also havent driven a car in so long, that a moped seems a better way for me to get back on the road.

I personally would get a moped.

In terms of the subscriptions, could you switch to one per month and then once they've watched tons on that one move on to the next? That's what we do.

Have you thought about agency work in place of some of the bank? Theres not as many shifts as there used to be, but you’ve got very desirable skills as an ED nurse. You wouldn’t get 2-3 a week, but even if you picked up 1 a month, it’s much better than the bank shifts pay. They’ll also cover transportation costs to get to and from shifts.

Also moneysavingexpert.com is a fab site for guidance on how to save on your outgoings and how to make more money on the side.

You can still claim PIP if you work full time. Many people who do claim are in work.

It's worth having a look at the points scoring criteria to give an idea of how he might score. It depends more on what support he needs, for how long & how often than his ability to work.

If he needs support every day even if it's just prompting then it's worth trying to claim. You don't lose anything from putting in a claim.

• Hi I found this it might help.u NHS Liftshare
• A community that allows users to get to work by car sharing. Some hospitals that use NHS Liftshare include Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Cardiff and Vale University Liftshare, and East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.
• NHS car lease scheme
• A scheme that allows eligible NHS employees to lease a vehicle for personal use. The cost of the lease is deducted from the employee's salary.

Check out entitled to and listen to taxman to play around what help you would get doing part time hours. You may be better off and not on your knees with exhaustion.

How much is the pension? If you opted out for one year would that let you get some affordable transport?

Then apply to the benevolent fund mention they'd probably support helping towards some transport. And get some food bank support short term to get things off the ground

Also, staff car parking is i think £35 a month for the pass, a moped i can park for free next to the bike "stands"

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Be a private carer? In what little spare time you have.

The NHS participates in the cycle to work scheme that you could use to buy and electric bike, or alternatively the NHS also has car salary scheme that you could use to buy a car if you were able to drive.

Both schemes work on a salary sacrifice basis where you have a loan, but payments are taken from your pay before tax is deducted.

I think the older kids have to contribute. Really they do.

Try to swallow your pride and get lifts. Use foodbanks or Bread and Butter Scheme. Ditch the subscriptions. Make a few quid on the side.

Op I would go to citizens advice and challenge this tbh. Ive had a number of young people with autism who are able to study and work who can live independently who are also claiming pip but didn't get it first time around.

OP his needs are higher than mine. I’m a highly educated autistic women in a professional role and also have to cope with the caring responsanilities of being a mum to a young child. I’ve successfully claimed PIP for over a decade.

I think your being far too rigid in your thinking regarding this and should at least try as it’s a lot of money

My daughter has autism. She works full time but qualifies for pip. Pip is not based on whether you work or not.

My nephews get it too and one of them even gets high rate mobility so he qualifies for the motability scheme. Now that would really transform your life!

It is worth exploring. You probably do so much for your son but the thing about being an adult is that he should be able to do it himself.

Take a day's holiday, make an appointment with citizens advice and make very sure you are claiming all you should. You say your eldest is working - are you taking reasonable rent? Ask colleagues about lift shares. Just put a notice in the staff room. Use food banks when you need them -that's what they are there for - citizens advice will be able to advise on that too. I think your drive is admirable and you are clearly a damn hard worker. I am sure it will get easier but perhaps you need to look at the possibility of moving closer to work or move into a less frantic area of the hospital. I am pretty bloody sure I wouldn't be able to cycle home after a long shift either by the way.

Your deductions seem high, might be worth double checking your tax codes are correct

Is there a Macdonald’s near by that your kids could apply to? They pay £8.60 an hour for under 18’s and are a decent employer. They also get a free meal in each shift

I’d approach one of the charities who support with PIP and discuss whether they think your son would be eligible. They help with the form and any appeals/tribunals (which, unfortunately is something many PIP claimants have to go through) if they think he’d qualify. They ask for a donation which may be a percentage of any back payment but not more than about 17.5% as a rule.
Obviously this wouldn’t alleviate things in the short term as it takes a long time to get PIP but in future it would really benefit your family, and your son in terms of his long term independence.

I'd keep my main job, apply to do the PIP assessor job WFH so you'd be less tired and just do the odd bank shift which would cut down your taxis. Any chance your teen at college could get a part time job or babysit for people some Saturdays? If they did you'd not have to fund them quite so much. I know it's hard but it won't go on forever. Before you know it they'll be grown up and gone. I think people like you doing 2 jobs and bringing up your kids on your own should get more support fwiw.

Hi apologies if already mentioned but have you thought about nursing in the care sector? Are there any nursing homes local to you? Worth exploring even if a ‘not right now’ option .

Wow you sound amazing OP, your work ethic is fantastic.

Could you move into primary care, do you have a local GP that you could walk to? There are clear pay progressions and you could still pick up bank in the hospital if you need to.

Can you move closer to the hospital to save the cab fares?

I know this doesn't help, but it'll get better I promise. Your work ethic will pay off eventually. Bloody well done you, passing a nursing degree with three kids as a single mum is truly inspiring, I'm honestly in awe at all you do to provide for your family.

Do you have family who can help at all?

Goodness OP, it seems like every option being put forward is closed off to you! So just wanted to say thank you for all your hard work x

Because morals are the most important thing when you can’t put food on the table for your kids.

Take the job OP and think about your children