Rookie Error! Advise/handhold needed

[LittleLostOne]

Currently on maternity leave and having the lovely back to work talks (currently on a zero hour contract when I return)

Sat tonight and looked at what hours I’ll roughly be earning over the school holidays and with the hours I’m available and realised that the maths doesn’t add up. Turns out when I’ve added a line to my spreadsheet at some point it’s shifted the formula. Absolutely zero savings as our boiler breaking the day I gave birth wiped them all out and we’ve not been able to replace them

So between me earning less than I’ve predicted and the missing row I’ve got 70 days to find £968 (£13.82 a day 🙈)

Im doing my last two KIT days this weekend and hoping someone rings in sick and DH is working as many hours as he can legally with his job) and sometimes he puts more in than we predict which his bonuses and I’m hoping on my working days I get more hours than I think I’m going to get. Also planning on the begging bowl with childcare and picking up a couple more hours if I can. And I’ll be able to cut a bit off the food shop each week (although with 5 of us and one still needing baby milk and nappies there’s only so much I can cut)

Financially there is very little I can cut down on the spreadsheet. I’ve already cancelled any extra spending and reduced down everything I can and I’m hoping we both earn more

So any top tips on saving money? Or anyways for making things stretch further? Or anyways for making any extra pennies? Very much in the every penny count stage and would love some ideas that I might not have thought of!

As someone uptrend said, check out utilities in case you are overpaying. South West water have a nasty habit of doing an estimated bill which then increases your direct debit. For a few years in a row I had to keep ringing them with the actual meter reading and getting £50 taken off our direct debit. You could check out whether switching suppliers might make it cheaper as well. Octopus are very good. Also check out insurance....we are a bit lazy and had just allowed our home insurance to roll over for a few years. Turns out it was much cheaper with another company.

What about advertising to do some ironing? I used to pay someone to do all dh's shirts and the kids uniforms. I hate ironing but, if I set up the ironing board in front of the TV so I can sit down and do it then it's less of a chore ( I know most people on here seem to take great pride in not owning an iron and manage crease free clothing without on but I haven't mastered that yet. Clothes dried to a crisp in the conservatory definitely need an iron).

You could also get the kids to do car washing in the neighbourhood for their pocket money.

Google software testing. you can do it online in the evenings
its a lot of work for not much return but you could make a bit of money from it

Check if you’ve accumulated any balance in your energy account, and claim it (it comes within days for octopus)

on buying school uniform, I think the Asda sale has started and Aldi are doing their bundles for a fiver.

Thank you for everyone who has suggested things! I cried and got a head fog yesterday!

Everything has just been renewed so I’m the lowest in my bills im going to get and I’ve got money in my TopCashback/quidco but it’s not payable yet so it’s no good to me 😂

Definitely no hidden money in the utilities! We’ve just switched and I owed them money 🙈

Unfortunately baby sitting or the kids doing car washing won’t fit in with our lifestyle. DH works shifts and is out on an evening and my contract when I’m working means I work so many evenings a week. And the kids are too young for car washing

im off to Aldi for uniform tomorrow (don’t actually need too much of this as I’ve already ordered his jumper and I’ve got a couple of tops/shorts already)

Going to do a house purge today and tomorrow between working and see if I can shift anything extra. And I’m going to have a look at switching accounts too!

Living in hope that both our wages are more than I think they’re going to be but I can’t wait to find out and would rather start planning now! Also going to see if I can find someone to watch my kids so I can pick up a bit extra

July and August are always tight because I work less and we have a birthday and both MOTs and i honestly thought we were doing okay this year despite me not working!

im honestly so thankful for everyone for that has come up with extra ideas (even those that I can’t do for practical reasons)

anymore ideas are very welcome!

I know you say you don't want more credit and that's fair enough. But do you have anyone who may be able to help you? Even if only to tide you over until you're back on your feet? I've bought uniform for my sisters kids when she's been in a tricky financial situation before and was v happy to do so and just wish she'd asked sooner rather than stressing about it!

can anybody help you eg my mum used to buy school shoes at Clark’s village to help me out and get their hair cut each August you can spend £100 on just these for 2 kids!

That’s a lot of stuff on vinted. Can you renew and improve the listings with better photos and descriptions if that’s possible?

School should have a second hand uniform shop. You could get minimum now and check I with School when they start. Our primary would sell items at 50p as they where all donated. So it could be worth only getting the bare minimum for now.

Also check out approved foods, not sure how much cheaper they would be but they do sell nappies and baby milk. It's all stuff near end of date but worth having a look.

Supermarkets do really good school shoes now, I'd avoid Clarks and go with Sainsbury or Marks and Spencer Much cheaper and the quality is good, Materlan is another option to.

Thank you again.

With credit, I don’t want any more debt. I’m already in some and it is manageable for what I earn in a normal month. Any more and my kids wouldn’t live their best lives!

We already owe money to my mum (currently on pause when on maternity) and I asked my dad today but his money is all tied up with retirement (asked him about help for fixing the car when it’s going to fail but he can’t help)

Ive missed the uniform swap at school due to an appointment, but we don’t need much with what I’ve already got (only need 4 polo shirts and 2 pants) and some shoes so I’m not overly panicking over this! Lucky only one uniform to buy and the kiddos have home hair cuts 😂

I have a huge amount on Vinted. I think when I last looked it was at 462 items 🙈 and I have more to add. I’d kept everything from the first two and my third was of the opposite gender. It was over 600 a couple of months ago but I deleted everything and started it again which I think is what I’ll do when it hits August

I have managed to hoard my life for years so it’s a slow process with the mindset!

Have a look on your Council’s website and see if they offering the Household Support fund. Lots of councils do it differently but ours used to give £100 cash towards utilities and supermarket vouchers. You got more depending on number in the household. You need a referral in our area but not that hard to get with a bit of persistence, some schools do the referrals for example

Here's an idea from a Guardian article -

“Type into ChatGPT: I have a loyalty card (use any example you want). Are there any hidden benefits I can use here, such as double-points days, referral bonuses or rewards?” advises Harriet Meyer, consumer journalist and creator of AI for media. “I found I had £50 worth of Nectar points I didn’t know I was entitled to. Or try, ‘I’m buying XX. What’s the best combination of cashback sites and discount codes to maximise savings?’” You could also upload an image of your supermarket shop and ask how you can save money on your food bills.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/jun/29/tips-save-money-free-coffee-theatre-ticket-discount-birthday-upgrades

Sell on Facebook Marketplace or car boot sale or local table top sale