Desperate for money- help me figure out what I can do, please.

[NCfor2020]

Hello, just that really. I have got £212.09 for the rest of the month. Have to feed three people and a dog. DH vapes. DH has been on a reduced salary since March, back to normal end of this month. I am looking for a new job.
Help. How can I earn more money quickly?

Sell things on your local buy and sell page? I made £50 last week selling a Switch game and some headphones. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was.

I'd suggest DH realise that vaping isn't a priority for a start

Hopefully your dh considers this situation his equal and shared responsibility.
How much will his vaping cost until he’s back on full salary?
Can he get an advance on next month’s salary?
Have you family or friends who can lend you money for a few weeks?

Have you looked at things you can ebay to generate some cash quickly? Sports equipment? Fashion items? Have you checked your energy accounts to see if they are in excessive credit? If so, ask for some of it back.

Can you ask for a mortgage holiday or move to interest only? Payment holiday on loans? Can you move to lower cost phones? Scrap gym membership, pay tv and any other subscriptions.

You have £53 a week which is doable for food. This is baked beans on toast month. Shop in Aldi. Cut out alcohol, buy basics, home cook veggie curries, cheesy pasta etc. No takeaways, no pre-prepared meals. Get your mum to advise (she'll love it). If your DP moans, suggest he cuts back on vaping. Walk more, don't use the car unless absolutely necessary.

You'll manage fine. Most of us have had to do it at some point.

Good advice above. Is everything paid apart from food? It is doable but won't be easy. Big bags of pasta, rice, potatoes go a long way, cheap veg, shop at the end of the day when reductions are made and freeze as much as you can. DH may not be able to afford to vape but you will all be fed.

Food bank ?

Start with Informing DH he won't be vaping this month...... The rest is tight but doable if its just for food.

And have a clear out, see if you have anything worth selling.

Find the make £10 a day thread on here, there's loads of ideas like surveys and work from home opportunities but it's doubtful if you could get any pay outs during the month.

Look up community pantries, in my village you can get a veg box for £3 and pick five fareshare items for £2.

Do you have any clubcard, Boots advantage or other loyalty scheme points?

Vaping is a hell of a lot cheaper than smoking so he's saving money there. Aldi is great at saving money. Could your husband get a sub from next month's salary?

Do some babysitting for someone?
Ask a family member/friend for a loan?
Sell things you don't need?
Batch cooking should help you to save.

Write a list of exactly what food you have in fridge/freezer/cupboard. You might end up with some quirky meals but I expect you’ll get at least a few meals.
Make a meal plan and shopping list. Stick to it!
Vaping goes.

Vaping is a hell of a lot cheaper than smoking so he's saving money there.

What a totally ridiculous unjustifiable statement. This family are struggling to feed themselves!

Not vaping when you're families finances are on their knees is even cheaper.

Assuming that is for food and spends it seems doable with careful budgeting and stretching batch meals(make exta pasta sauce and freeze for later, buy discounted shortdated items and freeze) . How old is dc? Not foodbank territory. Ironing, gardening, cleaning (in demand atm for C19) - what experience do you have?

Your!

OP do you have any transport costs to come out of that or is this just for food for all of you? If so it should be doable so don't worry.

What food does dog eat?

Is that everything paid except food ?sell stuff of Facebook eBay. My local Facebook pages seem to have people giving away food so look out for that.

I would never normally recommend getting into debt but one way of getting through this would be to get a credit card where the due date for payment is after next pay day. Therefore you wouldn't spend your £200 on food/petrol in August-you would pay for it on a card to be paid off after pay day. You have to be disciplined though and set up a direct debit for the full amount. We did this years ago when our neighbours told DH that the entire old fashioned monstrosity of a fireplace came off with the removal of 2 small screws and of course he had to test it out when we had no money for a new fire/fireplace. We got a card that gave us extra nectar points, set up a direct debit for the whole amount each month and used the food and petroleum money to pay for the fireplace. It is actually a good way of tracking how much you do actually spend on food and petrol each month.

What a totally ridiculous unjustifiable statement.

Now when you vape it isn't.

Cancel vaping.
You both try jobs. I dont know what your skill sets are.
Ditto sell stuff you can go without.
Live on value price pasta, rice and dried lentils or go to a foodbank.

Go to your GP and get a food bank referral

Involve your kids in the cooking so they want to eat the food you make

If you live near a Sikh temple they will give you a free meal each day

How much is the vaping actually costing? You can make your own juices for vapes.

Hopefully your dh considers this situation his equal and shared responsibility.

He's the only one working, I'd say he's done his share of responsibility.

He's the only one working, I'd say he's done his share of responsibility.

Exactly, then to be told he can't vape. Wtf!

Eh? Hes also the one with 3 children, a dog and a reduced salary since march.

Vaping is not a necessity. No wonder people in this country are up to their knees in debts.

you can get bottles of vape juice for £1 in the likes of home bargains and b&m

I saw on here a suggestion to use milk and more for a short term cash flow problem. It isn't the cheapest but you don't pay til the next month. Might help stretch the food budget a bit.
Also lots of food banks are relaxing the rules currently, you don't need to be in dire straits 'just' struggling.