Ideas please ?

[Solutionssought2026]

Income - 600 universal credits
710 child support
104 child benefit
Outgoings - Mortgage 663
Gas/electric/water £130
Petrol to school £40pw 240pm
Insurance £47
Internet £40
Mobiles x 2 £40
Life insurance £100
any ideas how we stay alive on £204 a week or how to make some super fast money please? I’ve got everything I can think of on Vinted if it’s not nailed down.
I have sciatica and a broken great toe which limits my mobility
I’ve had corporate roles HR/Finance for the last 30 years and I can’t even get an interview.

OP kindly I don't think you have a choice anymore.

You need a job - you can dress up a step down if needed. E.g. Keep looking for new jobs and don't put it on your CV, aiming to leave whilst still in probation. Alternatively you could say you took a step back whilst dealing with a health / family issue.

Unless you sell up and rent and live off the house proceeds I really think you need to take anything you can get for now. ❤️

I’m getting frustrated with people because as I said in the opening post I have been applying for jobs everywhere for months. I applied for 40 jobs yesterday and I appreciate it’s a Sunday and it’s only 9:35 am on Monday.
But I’m not anticipating any of them getting back to me.

Despite being more than qualified for all of the roles having performed them all previously.
I’ve had some lovely helpful PMS from people so the thread has been valuable from that perspective but I don’t need a pile on telling me to go and scrub toilets in Asda with a masters degree. Because I very much doubt I’d be deemed Qualified to do so.

I don't necessarily disagree with you. Wages are generally shit in this country. People's standard of living is decreasing over time. We're supposed to live on less and less as wages stagnate and costs rise. However, right now, the reality is you're living on a very small income... people often take jobs with lower salaries than they're worth or lower than their previous job... because you know, they have to live. It's reality. It's shit and not fair but c'est la vie.

There are loads of highly educated people doing minimum wage type jobs... myself included. On the plus side, right now my income is greater than yours op

The job market is the worst I've ever seen! I also have a corporate background (STEM / engineering) and I can't get an interview either.

I am having a bit more interest since dumbing down my CV until it looks very basic ☹️ maybe you could try that?

(I have kept my original CV in the hope I might find a job similar to what I had)

Great so we’re back to the might as well cash in the life insurance and give the kids a go.
Thanks for sharing

Sorry op but your attitude is shocking. This is the reality of the economy and the job market right now...no one here can change that for you. You're not the only one in this situation. You have a child to support....get real and put on your big girl pants and stop wallowing and moaning about how clever you are and how unfair it all is.

Before my redundancy I was in Canada and I met engineering colleagues living in their cars while having a full time job.

My redundancy is still shite. And I am gutted that my CV and degree in STEM is useless. I don't even know what I'm trying to say other than "you aren't alone" but a NMW job will look better on your CV than nothing at all 💐

Do you really need internet as well as 2 mobiles ? Talk to school about options if you give something up temporarily

40 a week on petrol to school - ask the school is a lift share an option - can they recommend someone else who is struggling - bound to be

round here the jobs are in hospitality - naff hours for a family often - but a job nevertheless ( assuming sciatica and toe are temporary ) . You get to keep 50p in the pound from memory so a low pad job still leaves you better off . Summer is coming up and there are vacancies in all our pubs and cafes

You are in your 50s? How old is the child ? Is there any job they can get to help ?

It's horrible and it fucks with your self esteem and has given me a hell of a fright. And an existential crisis 🤣

In the middle of his GCSE’s ?

Am I speaking Japanese or something?
I’m applying for minimum wage jobs and not being offered an interview that was in the first page.

Yes in the middle of his GCSEs if needs be

life isn’t always ideal sometimes it’s sucks but an extra £50 a week would be a huge help - and the work would make him more attractive to a future employer

when you are up shit creek without a paddle you have to fashion one out of passing wood if you want to escape

If he was put into that scenario he would go and live with his dad and then I would be £700 a month worse off not to mention losing the universal credits eventually and the child benefits so then I would be homeless pretty fast, it’s not a helpful suggestion.

It’s taking hundreds of applications for many people - that’s the world at the moment

look carefully at your applications - what gives away your age? Your sex? Is your application going to get past the AI ?

ans small cafes and pubs - walk in and ask for a job

You don’t want ideas do you?

I think this is a huge part of it that people can’t get past the systems so actually my efforts should be concentrated on getting past the systems and helping other people too
And charging for it.

Not stupid ones, you can keep those to yourself

@Solutionssought2026 make a copy of your CV.

Rename the copy and add a B at the end for "basic". Try and take out any corporate speak and replace it with something basic and mundane with the same meaning. I literally had to take out 5 bullet points explaining that I was responsible for budgeting projects (on multi million £ projects!) and quantity surveying / estimation and replace it with "Financial administration" 🫠 honestly, I cried.

Just see if it helps. It might not but you never know. X

Don't you get a bit of help with mortgage interest if claiming out of work benefits? Is this still a thing?
I'd definitely speak to your lender and see if they can help you reduce payments by extending the term or even a short break etc.

You’re right mine is definitely too wordy at the moment. I just feel like I’m banging my head against the brick wall.

I worry you're in the same part of the UK as me! The job market is so bad even pub / cafe work is hard to find because fewer people are eating out these days (there's another thread about that!)

If anything, they're actually closing down and I live in a tourist destination!

Yes, I’m already claiming that so effectively we’re on an interest only Mortgage now
I don’t know how much more help they can offer
The mortgage will just get paid, no matter what. And everything else can just faulter as a necessary.

@Solutionssought2026 I promise I know that feeling. You could screenshot your CV (the most recent page) and ask Gemini or Chat GPT to dumb it down and make it basic to match your local job market.

See what it says. But take what it says with a pinch of salt.