Is anyone else struggling at the moment?

[hugsandpugs]

Feeling so fed up of struggling week to week and trying to stretch money to cover all the things that need to be paid out.

We currently only have husbands income coming in as I’m out of work due to migraines.

On average our monthly income is around £2,200 including child benefit and though it may sound a lot we are currently dipping into the tiny bit of savings we have just to get by!

There is 5 of us - me,hubby and 3 children & the food shopping alone crucifies us! We are lucky that our mortgage cost is fairly low but the rise in everything else is meaning every month is a struggle.

Just want to know I’m not alone 😣

Hi op. You are not alone and I am sorry you are having a tough time i am sharing a link that might be useful. They can help with what to say to GP and steps GP can take to try to help more with migraine. It is very tough with migraine. I have vestibular and 'normal' migraines and it can fluctuate massively throughout the day. I am completely unreliable! I have a monthly injection and a tablet to take for breakthrough. This is through Neurology. There is a pathway for the GP to follow.
https://migrainetrust.org/
They can also talk to you about extra support available including PIP ( which is not just an out of work benefit, many people do work whilst receiving PIP) and there is also an online checker called Turn2us which,after you have answered questions can often let you know if your UC payment is correct and highlight other support if available. Entitledto.co.uk is a similar website.
Take care op.

I’m sorry but I feel you are making a few bad decisions. Plasterers don’t need qualification proof , they show their work . Plasters are earning 250 a day minimum where I live and that’s his weeks wage in less than two days . contact CAB and see what benefits you can get. But having a trade and working in a factory is insane to me he could even go on a site as a subcontractor and have pretty much guaranteed work. Post his skills on my builder… local Facebook pages and before long he would be up and running especially with his own equipment. In 7 days he would earn his months salary

Can't you get PIP as well?

I just asked AI (so take with a pinch of salt) what level of income would be considered as below the poverty line in the UK as a family of 5 and it said £2750 a month (net). So no OP you’re not lot wrong, your income is very low, and likely not sustainable for the 5 of you. Honestly I was shocked to see your figure and assumed you’d be topped up elsewhere.

Please ask your school to investigate if you are eligible for free school meals. I am sure you will be.

Please also reach out to the school if you are struggling with the cost of uniform etc. there is a good chance they will be able to help.

Thank you so much for this. Useful websites for me to look at 😊 sorry to hear you suffer with migraines too.

I will take a look at these websites tonight before I head to bed

I think he’s just been worried he wouldn’t get the work in and then we would be struggling to get by etc! Sounds like a big and bold move needs to be made though which will hopefully better things for us.

I have spoken to DH and he said while he wouldn’t want to do plastering full time (he’s just turned 50 and not as supple as he used to be 😆). He is open to doing some plastering work alongside other work as he can do various different things - rendering, painting, building garden walls fences/ponds etc. So our plan is to get a business page set up over the next couple of weeks on Facebook and potientally looking at getting some cheap business cards made. Could then ask local shops if they would mind us advertising a card in their shop etc.

He said he’s open to taking on some weekend work at the moment and see if it progresses enough to give up his current job & do it full time.

I will do this. I do think it’s silly that two of the kids are eligible and one isn’t! Random rules from our local council that doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense 🙄

I’ve not tried yet, I can go down that route but I think it would be a long fight as I’ve heard it’s very hard to get pip especially for migraines

Wow is it really? Tbh I always think to myself I know a lot of people are more worse off and in actual poverty but still it isn’t a comfortable way to live watching every £1 and where it goes basically.

The children's needs will always come first though so if I’ve got to sell some of my things so they can do things they enjoy then so be it.

The boys enjoy going to the gym and rugby and my girl attends a local theatre group so whilst they cost money it’s well worth it as it’s good for their development and wellbeing 😊

I really hope things can improve going forward though. I wouldn’t like to be rich but just having a decent amount of disposable income in the bank would be much better for my mental health for sure.

My friend suffers from migraines and takes Sumatriptan and says it's been a lifesaver! Maybe you could ask your GP for it?

That’s basically what I’m on now but in the nasal spray form as it works faster and less side effects.

Its brilliant if I take it at the aura stage of the migraine but if I miss that window and the pain & other symptoms kicks in it only works to take the edge of.

I do find the triptans more useful than preventatives though

Can’t remember which mumsnetter suggested the HelpU tariff for Welsh water. I’ve just done the eligibility checker and it needs to be £20,000 or under annual income to be eligible so we are not eligible :( worth a go though.

Checked out the broadband social tariff but we are already on a deal with our sky broadband at the moment so it wouldn’t be any cheaper. Again was worth looking at though!

Try changing the preventatives. Propanolol gave me bradycardia so badly I thought I was dying. Pizotifen is much more useful.

And ignore the people telling you to get back to work whilst still so ill. No one can work when throwing up, nor with aura leaving you functionally blind.

@OopsImUpsideDown thanks so much for the info on the water rates! Seems we are ineligible for the helpU tariff as slightly over the threshold but I have just managed to apply for the water sure bill cap. It says we will get a decision on that in the next 10 working days so fingers crossed! 🤞

Pizotifen.
Pizotifen.
Pizotifen.

And if that doesn't work, lobby for topirimate, but you might need to get an IUD to be allowed that.

propranalol done the exact same thing with me slowed my heart rate down so low I thought I was dying too and I already have a low heart rate anyway! Scary.
😦

Pizotifen is the medication my little girl takes that was prescribed by her consultant for her migraines. I didn’t know it can be used in adults too I’ll chat to the gp about this. Do you have any side effects with it?

I know on my worst days they absolutely floor me!

Assuming no allergies, five Tesco meal deals would be cheaper even before the Clubcard discount.

Sorry to focus on this but on this income you cannot afford to be spending £120 a month on one child’s school lunches. Madness. A pack up is 100% less than £6 a day. Smart price cream cheese or marmite or jam sandwich. Apple. Banana. Bag of own brand crisps. Maybe an own brand Kitkat or something as well. The crisps and biscuit bar would come to around 35p, banana and apples can be as little as 15p each plus the sandwich. May even come in under £1.

Also sorry if you said this somewhere but have you worked out where the missing £200 a month is in your husbands wages?

Yes, adults can take it, I'm in my 40s.

You have to be "ramped on", so you start with 500mcg and get given more every few months until you are on the full 1.5mg.

The main side effect is that you cannot drink much alcohol on it as it will go straight to your head. The leaflet recommends teetotalism but, after a decade, I can drink up to one pint and walk in a straight line. At first, a half would make me wobbly.

The other side effects are that it makes you drowsy and gives you a dry mouth, like a great many other antihistamines. Take it during the evening and keep a bottle of water by the bed.

He is a plasterer???? They are earning that much per DAY in Ireland!!!

They are so short of plasterers that they don’t even have enough of them to train new apprentices. Move over here.

Oh and yeah we’re south east but we pay £400 day rate for a plasterer…!

Please contact https://www.nationalmigrainecentre.org.uk
They were amazing in helping to sort my DD’s migraines

There isn’t £200 a month missing? I didn’t write down the exact figures tbh just said a rough figure.

His actual earnings are £443 a week give or take a few pence which goes into our joint bank account as that’s where the bills come out of.