Struggling with money - any advice appreciated

[JoJo8411]

I am a single mum (father doesn't provide for LG) I work, I get child tax credits, child benefits and about £8 working tax a week. I am constantly living in my overdraft and my mum has to help me out to get me from week to week. I buy what's necessary I don't spend on things that aren't needed. I spend absolutely nothing on myself. My mum has to pay for my lgs school dinners £11.50 a week as I can't afford it and according to my local council I don't qualify for free school meals because of the £8 working tax I receive. I don't have any luxuries that I pay for so I have nothing I could cancel/stop doing to save money I.e. Subscriptions, haircuts, nails etc...however my income just covers my outgoings leaving me with no leftovers at the end of the month. According to Dwp I am getting everything I'm entitled to. I can't continue to live like this but I honestly don't know what else I can do.

Cms is beyond useless. My lgs father walked away 5 years ago and has apparently got no employment history since then, there's no way he has no income but there's nothing Cms can do.

I don't even know what I'm asking you guys for... I am just totally lost and living in this downward spiral. I feel like the worst mum in the world because I can't do things with my LG that other families do, holidays, days out etc. What really got me was the school meals my LG was miserable on sandwiches and she wasnt eating them saying she was doing lunch clubs when the truth was she wanted school dinners and didn't want to ask because she knew I couldn't afford them. That broke my heart my 8 yo shouldn't have to feel like that.

I am totally lost...

Can you give us an idea of how much you get a month and how much is your outgoings? Make a list etc

Hi @JoJo8411,

We're sorry to hear you're going through such a difficult time.

Our users, over the years, have offered invaluable advice about financial hardship and we've put together a webguide, so that people experiencing difficulties can find all the relevant information in one place.

You can find our webguide here: Dealing with financial difficulty.

There are lots of organisations listed which could give you some support, so please do take a look. It's also worth checking out Gingerbread's website which is a charity set up to help single-parent families.

Sending good wishes

Do you have debts? What are you outgoings? If you earn enough to not get much in the way of benefits you must have very high outgoings on something to be struggling so much?

If your tax credits are £8 per week we’d presume your wages/salary is higher

Using a budgeting website like the money advisor service so you can see where your money is going

Is your rent high? Can this be lowered?
Are your utilities high, can usage be lowered?
Food shopping etc

What are your big ticket items like rent/mortgage, car loan, debt repayment? Could you overhaul these? Could you move jobs to earn more?

To be honest, my lot were on sandwiches when they probably would have preferred dinners, because of cost. Fortunately in my kids’ school sandwich and dinners kids were allowed to sit together so no social isolation.

A list in incomings and outgoings would be helpful OP? Ten we could see where your money is going and help out with suggestions etc.

OP, you may be better off on UC.
Do the calculator.
benefits-calculator.turn2us.org.uk/AboutYou