im so broke..i ran out of food today.

[penniless]

and i cant afford to buy anymore
im a regular but ive changed my name because im a proud person.
my dh walked out on me a year agoalthough he hangs around a lot still..he pays maintenance which takes me over the is threshold. so i only get tax creditsbut when we were together i took out a loan..a few years ago when i was earning and now im left with the payments to manage..ive just registered as self employed but im not getting any worki spent a lot of money getting my business up and running now im not getting any return im 500 pounds overdrawn at the banki cant stay afloat anymoreive no money for christmas prersents, no money for anything, the fridge is empty, i cant put petrol in the car,o told my mum today because id got so desperate but she wasnt interested, im so unhappy, how the hell did i end up like this, i dont want sympathy, just wanted to posdt it and get it off my chest

i know the feeling penniless, i have tea for tonight, and enough money to buy milk and bananas for the kids but i am desperate for loo roll and a couple jars of baby food. its so annoying i get paid monday but no one i know can or will help

Hi I have been reading your story with intrest.My sister in law was in a similar position.She went onto income support and also got dla,her mortgage.she only has to pay the intrest on it for now,this is now 5 years ago,she has started working but because she had a breakdown,she doesnt actually claim a wage as such,so none of her benefits are touched,she was a very proud woman like yourself,she used to be a supervisor with over 200 women under her,but she has managed to come up the other side,wish you well.

i am currently on benefits and might i say it drives me insane. the government dont allow for things like children growing out of their clothes, christmas or birthdays. i am a single parent of four and currently receive 210 per week in benefits. after i have paid the gas, and electric, and water, and tv license and phone, and internet and paid for my driving lesson, i am left with about 60 pound per week to live on. this has to pay for any clothes we may need, any school trips, fun days, swimming sessions etc, and food and anything else we might need. this year i have managed to spend approx 100 on my kids (all of them) not each, and really am dreading christmas. i do get some money middle of next month approx 250 pound so that will all go on xmas for the kids, wouldnt bother if it was just the babies but eldest two are 7 and 5 so they know what is going on. im so sick of having to struggle to buy food and other things but there doesnt seem to be anything i can do at the moment

re dla

post

you are also completely welcome to email me on [email protected] and I will take a look at your form if you want. or tell me more and I'll give you an idea of your chances.

the thing is I haven't actually done one of these for around 18 months, although I have kept up to date...but I doubt its changed that much, and if you can't get to your cab or have been put off...I'm happy to take an amateurish look, is what I'm saying.

(don't feel you have to at all...but the offer is there...there are also lots of people here who have been through a dla claim who can prob also help)

its standard practice to ask for a gp report, btw. Actually its kind of good, suggests that you have not been turned down out of hand. Its quite unusual for someone to be granted dla just on their own say so-they usually want a report from someone.

You can also submit additional evidence, btw.

one prob with dla is that is very easy to give info that talks yourself out of it.

oh and sorry if this has been mentioned but in a situation where you have actually no food, if you are desperate, a crisis loan is an option.

thanks fillyjonk for the advice, im afraid i was under the misguided impression that i needed to be in receipt of income support to receive a crisis loan..will look into it.
re the dla, if and more likely when, they reject my application!..would you consider looking at my appeal before i submit it, or forward to someone else?

fillyjonk..have emailed you

have just sold my mobile on ebay to raise some extra money, the downside, the buyer has paid in echeque which takes 10 days

have just sold my mobile on ebay to raise some extra money, the downside, the buyer has paid in echeque which takes 10 days

how much is the cheque for? if its a decent amount it may be worth taking it to one of those cheque cashing places....im not sure how they work but i think they charge about 3% of the value or something.

it depends one whether you could hold out for the money though realy.
Have you contacted your local sally army? they often do christmas hampers for families in need.

no its an echeque..which means they make a paypal payment from a paypal account which isnt funded by a debit card, so it takes longer to go through, i dont actually have a real cheque iyswim.

Thinking of the post about the salvation army, what about your local church???

Some churches do parcels for families in need.

Worth asking.

Has your HV had any advice to offer??

penniless, just picking up again on you temporaily cancelling some of your direct debits for utilities to give you some emergency cash while you sort out your benefits etc.

You said when you phoned the phone and utilty companies they asked for a debit card payment there and then or you risked disconnection. (I am assuming you have been making regular monthly payments for many months).

Did you then ask the representative if you could spread the missed payment over several months? IME (and over the years I have done this quite a few times when we are faced with a temporary cash flow crisis) it has nearly always been possible to do this, as long as you have a regular payment history. (However with phone companies, this is less possible IME). I have cancelled say, a gas dd, phoned up a few weeks later to explain and set up a new dd arrangement. First I will be asked for a debit payment to cover the missed dd payment. This request seems to be a standard request but does not mean there are no other options. It is up to me to then ask if I can spread the missed payment over the new monthly dd I am about to set up with them (payment often spread over 12 months). IME companies routinely agree to this, but do not offer this option unless asked to. I then set up a new dd, giving a date a few weeks later in the month and that's all there is to it. I believe many utility companies have a built in tolerance of people missing a set number of monthly dds each year. It is not a huge crime to temporarliy stop paying.

In fact on one occasion I stopped both electricity and gas dds after 5 years of regular dd payments, to find that I had overpaid so much, I did not owe either utilty company anything for a whole winter and spring! The dd amounts had been based on estimated use and these IME are often higher than actual use. So if your gas and electricty meter has not been read recently, it might be a good idea to get a proper reading.

I am not saying missing dds will be a long term solution but might help in the short term until other help is in place.

Also, with claiming back bank charges - yes, I know the fear of feeling you will fall out with your bank, but please read the threads here on other mumsnetter's experiences and look at case histories on the money website links and you will see lots of people have this same fear, go on to politely request a refund in charges and do get refunded without the banks hitting back in ay way.

tigermoth-i didnt phone the companies they phoned me, in fact they hounded me, i was told pay or be disconnected, at the time i was in the process of buying my new house so didnt want to do anything that would jeapordise(sp) it.
re the bank charges, ive done the letter requesring the bank charges, they have written to refuse, the next step is court action which is why im a little scrared, what annoys me is that i was only claiming 300 pounds.

With basic utilitites like gas, electricity and water they MUST allow you to pay by installments as theya re seen as an essential service.

i think if you call them and offer a payment plan rather than wait until they chase you they will look at the situation more favourably.

On the back of your bill there should be a paragraph asking "are you having trouble paying your bill" and a phone number, give them a ring and see if there is anythign that can be done to help you for the short term.

With basic utilitites like gas, electricity and water they MUST allow you to pay by installments as theya re seen as an essential service.

i think if you call them and offer a payment plan rather than wait until they chase you they will look at the situation more favourably.

On the back of your bill there should be a paragraph asking "are you having trouble paying your bill" and a phone number, give them a ring and see if there is anythign that can be done to help you for the short term.

thanks for the advice fattymuma, i will look into it

I've heard that many people don't pay their water bills because apparently you can't have your water supply cut off, anyone know if this is true?

The girl who livid above me never paid for about 2 years then moved out they never did anything apart from keep sending letters, she did'nt pay the gas either, they only came round to cut it off a short while ago and that was after about 1 1/2 years , they had to get a warrant to enter etc and the fella said it takes months, by then she had gone anyway. All they do is install a prepay meter and load the debt onto that then its paid back slowly per week.

Hi how are you doing, did you have any luck with the crisis loan etc, just to echo what others have said on here , you can stop direct debits , I have done this many times myself and only have my mortgage payment come out by direct debit everything else I pay by cash at the Post Office etc saves getting into o/draft and bank charges etc when mistakes happen.

just an update, im still waiting on my dla application and have currently cancelled my gas/electricity and water rates..so will wait with interest to see what happens.
i cant get to the job centre at present as my car is off the road, however im going to phone them up tomorrow.
and would like to say to everybody that has helped me in whatever form, thank you so much.
it means a lot.

Hi I am pleased to see you are taking action I know its hard these things can drag you down, you should be able to ring your local job centre and ask them for the crisis loan tel no. at my one I had to do it over the telephone only benefit to going to the job centre was they let me use the phone to ring through and apply then I had to go and get a ministatement from my bank account to prove the zero balance and then the issued a giro payment the next afternoon. Think about changing your bacnk account your loan thing can always be paid out of a new account , then you could make a arrangement with your current bank regarding your o/draft they have to show willing to help you if you show them what you can afford, remember they would only get that if they took you to court as you have to be able to pay for your priority debts and your o/draft is not classed as a priority debt, it would be your mortgage, secured loan, council tax, utilities , food & clothing etc and then what ever is left over to them.
I would also stop the internet and phone I know its hard but its not a necessary expense especially when you are struggling so much , bugger the contract they too are not priority debt and they would not get anymore than you could afford if they took you to court and most of these companies won't if you make an arrangement to pay them off or let someone like the CCCS who are government funded negoitate on you behalf. Take care

hope things get better soon, penniless. I know it's a worry to cancel utilities direct debits, but if it's a question of putting food on the table than you have made the right choice, I think. I really hope you find you can get more in the way of benefits - there's been lots of hopeful advice on here so fingers firmly crossed for you.

This thread made me stop lurking and actualy join up - because of how selfless a lot of mumsnetters are in this thread.

I'm a single parent to three and have received no maintenance for over two years as my ex is a non working alcoholic. I just wanted to post that you're seriously not alone - there are times when all of us go without tea or take bread and marge sandwhiches. it does happen to us all and you shouldn't feel ashamed because of it. if anything it's your exes responsibility to provide for the children as well, i don't care if he has a low paid job!

the other thing i wanted to mention is that I work for the DWP and have knowledge of JSA and (limited knowledge) Income support (but i xcan look it up!) . If anyone needs any help with either of these benefits please contact me and I'll so my best to help you out I'll post a wee thread in whatever introductions bit you have ( once I've found it!) saying the same..

Hi penniless how are you????

How are you coping?

Hope you're ok, as haven't heard from you in a few days!!!