Can some one help me with budgeting and how to make this work until january please?

[Tyrannynormus]

Between now and january 11th I have £3000 (I will get child benefit each month aswell but I'm hoping that will cover birthdays and christmas so I'm not including it in my overall budget). I need to move house so I have £500 for a deposit to pay, plus 3x rent at £430. After I've minused off any bills that come out of my account I'm left with less than £600 to last 3 months for me and DD clearly it's not going to work and I'm desperate trying to find some sort of employment. I'll get some child maintenance too I guess but I'm pretty sure I'm still going to be short.
Any suggestions on how to start making a bit if extra money or how to make what i do have stretch?
So far I've started keeping an eye on facebook for anything free for the house
I've made some profiles advertising my services tutoring
I already matched bet, but I'm gubbed from the main ones so it's not a reliable source of income

I'm a student and I need to change my finance application but I'm not actually sure if I'm entitled to any extra money as a single parent so I dont think I can even rely on that

Does your uni offer any sort of hardship loans or grants?

They have hardship fund but it is very specifically to cover every day living costs only, and only as a last resort. So I think I'd have to wait until times were really desperate before I could apply, rather than apply now before times got desperate iyswim?

Could you offer baby sitting services, or dog walking services, or domestic cleaning via Facebook? You might be able to study/listen to lectures while you do that.

Freecycle is a great places to get stuff you need, if you are patient.

I've posted on Facebook in the past looking for a dog to walk, for free, as a regular thing as I miss having a dog and the exercise would be good.. no takers, so I doubt I'll have much look getting paid for it

I'll give the other two suggestions a go though. My lectures are quite sporadic throughout the week so perhaps I could listen to them alongside doing something else

@Tyrannynormus

They have hardship fund but it is very specifically to cover every day living costs only, and only as a last resort. So I think I'd have to wait until times were really desperate before I could apply, rather than apply now before times got desperate iyswim?

I think I'd apply anyway tbh. It's been a long time since I was undergrad, but I definitely applied for hardship before I ran out of money- I was able to show that I would run out of money and they awarded on that basis.

The £10 a day threads on here have given me some really useful ideas in the past if you haven't had a look at them already?

Oh I've just looked at the application form for the hardship fund. I would have to supply three months of bank statements for all accounts. My matched betting is possibly going to complicate that I guess?

How old is your DD?

Almost 2

So you have £3000 and after your deposit and first rent payments you have £1240?
Then after essential bills you have under £600. Is this £600 just for food or is it for travel and other payments too?

Who do you have to buy for Xmas and birthdays? I would explain your house move to anyone you would normally buy for and explain you cannot afford it this year. I would also massively cut back on anything you were planning to buy for your DD. She won't remember this Christmas. Charity shops often have nice toys in and gift her presents she needs like clothes.

Food shopping can definitely be done on the cheap. I manage to feed me, my dad and my 2 year old on about £30 a week. We don’t eat any meat to save money. A pack of lentils is £1 and lasts for weeks! And make sure you are shopping at Lidl or Aldi.

I only tend to plan for 3 dinners a week and then the other days we have left overs or something easy like beans on toast or something from the freezer.

Also make sure you are not buying your daughter too much for Christmas. She really won’t mind. I’ve spent £6.50 on my daughter this year and she has got 2 puzzles, 2 games and a dolls house, just keep your eye out for cheap stuff. I’m sure other people will buy your daughter loads.

Also keep track of what you are spending and what you have left. I wish you all the best

What is coming out of the £600? Bills, travel, food?

Is there a deposit to come back from where you are now?

I may have explained that a little badly. I have £3000 until my next student loan payment in January. Out of that I have to pay the deposit and 3 months rent. My monthly out goings are £100 for car insurance, £23 for phone bill. £60 for credit card, £30ish for tv license an car tax.
Gas and electric will be prepay, and then obvs water bill to pay. Which doesn't leave me a whole lot left tbh.

Travel, I have petrol to pay. Bo deposit to come back. I have £60 to pay for DDs child care. ExDP has said he will pay above the minimum for child maintenance which is helpful

Where abouts are you based?? X

Have you checked that you are claiming all the benefits you are entitled to?

If I have understood correctly, I worked out that over the 13 weeks you would have between £32 and £38 for groceries, petrol and pre payment gas and electric. I think you are going to need to add the child benefit to this pot. That would give you £53-£59. How much are you roughly spending on G&E and petrol? Could you potentially walk uni?

There are some websites that list bursaries or grants for students. Sometimes there are specific requirements- eg for children of grocers.(Leverhulme trust I think) Money Saving expert hassome links.
It might be worth a search to see if there are any you are eligible for.
Also as a student parent, are there any benefits you are entitled to?
www.gov.uk/parents-learning-allowance
When will your Ex DP start giving you money?

West yorkshire.
I don't get very much by way of benefits, I need to claim UC, but my maintenance loan and grant (until I get it removed and claim the parents learning allowance) means I'll get very little extra from UC. Less than £100 a month, which although it will help still leaves me a bit short.
Still in talks with ADP over child maintenance, as we are on good terms I'm hoping he will be ok with me and that will see me through

The UC thing is complicated, my and exDP are still moving together till I move out. I havnt told them we have separated yet as I've paid for DDs nursery fees, if I cancel out joint claim I wont get the money back from them which I need to pay for next months nursery fees?
Until I have a separate address and no longer have financial ties with exDP I cant claim the childcare grant, but because I dont work UC wont pay my child charge for me. It's a nightmare tbh

You need to do a spreadsheet which includes all your costs and all your income, including child benefit and child maintenance. I don’t understand why you are not counting that?

Ok I've done a spread sheet and included pretty much everything I can think of and added what I'm hoping to receive on child maintenance plus child benefit.
I'll be left with £81 a week for food, gas, electric, water and petrol. Plus any other expenses such as clothes, birthdays or what ever else might crop up. And I need to furnish the house. So I'm still going to have to make some extra money somewhere

That's not a lot tbh. Do you have to move right now? Do you have an interest free overdraft as a student you can dip into?

I could stay where I am, but I'm living with my ex partner and my financial situation isnt likely to massively improve anytime soon so it's either take the leap or just keep trudging along as we are. No I keep trying to open a student account but I keep getting told no, I'm hoping to call in branch to try sort it which would hopefully help out a lot if I was accepted for one.

I'll be left with £81 a week for food, gas, electric, water and petrol

Will you be on a prepay meter for gas & electric?
Water is usually a bill or direct debit?

How much will you spend on petrol?
Groceries for 1 adult plus a 2-year-old should be fairly cheap.

It’s just a couple of months, so you won’t be able to pay for extras like birthdays or whatever else, and furnishing the house will need to be free stuff to begin with.

It’s very tight but temporary, I think?