Advice please

[crystalballx]

So I'm nearly 30 years old. I'm a single parent I also work part time, I can't afford a car I've not got my own house I'm still renting and I'm struggling so much with debt and surviving. I haven't ate proper in a week to try and keep my girl fed. I'm entitled to no benefited apart from the Normal child benefit which is like £20 a week. I'm not even eligible for help towards the rent and I have no one to help me. I guess I just want to know if anyone here has been in a similar situation and if they have any ideas on how to make money in the side? (Should add I'm not looking for handouts ATALL)

I'm just stuck and I know this is a tough time on everyone atm I do feel bad for everyone who has been hit with this awful situation the world is in right now. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice on making extra cash from home or where to look. Thankyou in advance!x

Have you spoken to citizens advice, they can do a benefits check on your behalf.

@crystalballx
I'm so sorry to hear this
You could always speak to your health visiting team - they have access to different things and can give vouchers for the foodbank etc but can also check you are getting everything you're entitled to.
Which area are you in?

Does your dd’s father pay maintenance?

Are you sure you’re not entitled to anything? How olds your LO, what’s your salary?

You're a single parent only working part time. You're surely entitled to something. How many hours do you work? How much do you earn?

Most 20somethings I know are in a similar position as you re renting & debt. How much is your debt? What is it for? Are you paying any of it off?

I've been to citizens advice and they did a benefit check but it came i wasn't entitled to anything because of how much I make a month, I make around £700 a month working part time which they said is more than enough but my rent and count tax comes to just under 500 a month and I'm paying of debt and need to pay my utility bills, shopping bills etc which is
Cost way more than what to have left after rent and council tax. I've tried to look for a cheaper rent but the area I'm in is pretty expensive and can't move due to work. Believe me I tried everything i wasn't even entitled to the best start grant for my girl when she was born, she's three years old now.
My ex gives me money when he has it kind of thing so some months I get nothing and sometimes I get enough to pay for her stuff for the month like food.

I've been looking online to try find extra work I could do at home I just can't find anything at all it's just starting to get very frustrating, I'm hoping to go full time in work after Christmas as that would help a lot I just need something to help me out until then :) I just don't know the right places to go x

Can you increase your hours at work?

Go round your house and box up everything you don't need and set yourself a monthly target on Facebook selling sites or ebay. There's a make £10 a day target 🎯 thread on here

Speak to your Health Visitor and get a foodbank voucher to help you out - don't feel bad accessing the help, when things are better you can donate some stuff to them to help someone else

Why wait until after Christmas to work full time? If you need to do it now I'd be doing it now and getting things sorted.

I'd also contact step-change or Christians against poverty or another debt agency and get any debt consolidated so you only have to make one monthly payment.

I've done Avon before for extra money but you have to sell tonnes to make anything much - I'd avoid that.

Who ever did that benefit calculation for you was incorrect.
Based on what you said single parent with 1 child earning 700 a month you will be entitled to universal credit as well as child benefit.
A rough calculation based on what you have said in your posts (I've assumed rent of £450) shows you would get around £200 a week in universal credit payments.
Have a look on 'entitled to' it's a pretty accurate benefits checker that you can do yourself, obviously putting in your exact circumstances.

Yeh that doesn’t sound right at all that you get no help!

The calculation by CAB doesn’t sound correct, make a claim for UC today. It’ll be 5 weeks for your first payment but you’ll be able to request an advance which is repaid monthly.

I’m not sure how different UC us from tax credits but I was earning more than you a month as a single parent and was entitled to help on tax credits so I’d be really surprised with your not entitled to anything

That benefits calc isn’t right unless you’ve debt to them?

What haven’t you gone to CMS?

I think you've been badly advised.

For Universal Credit, you'd get £409.89 for you and £235.83 for your DD (£281.25 if she was born before April 2017). That's £645.72. Then you'd get an amount for rent.

If you earn £700 per month, the first £292 is disregarded, taking your earnings down to £408. 63p of each £1 is deducted from your claim. £257.04 would be deducted.

£645.72-£257.04=£388.68

So you should get a minimum of £388.68 plus whatever they award you for rent, plus potentially £45.42 if your DD was born before 6 April 2017.

What others have said - unless you have loads of money in savings that you haven't mentioned, I would strongly suspect that you are owed some Universal Credit.

Check on this calculator and get a claim in asap! It's not a handout, it's your entitlement as a tax-paying citizen.
www.entitledto.co.uk/benefits-calculator/Intro/Home?cid=26fd7b60-8df6-4c56-85d0-32b5a779dd42

Have you also made sure that you're getting the 25% single adult discount on your council tax?

Thankyou everyone for responding you've all helped a lot I think the calculation might be off a bit too so I'll go somewhere else for another calculation to see if I can get any extra help!

I can't go full time this year as my work said there is no availability until more than likely after Christmas/new year for a full time
Position or I would go full time :)

Thankyou again everyone :)

Did CAB actually say "That's more than enough to live on"?

I must say I find that a bit

Which part of the uk are you in OP? X

@crystalballx please don’t wait to do another calculation- just apply today and you will know for definite in 5 weeks. There aren’t any penalties for applying and then not being eligible. Would hate for you to delay your potential entitlement when there is no reason to

You don't need to go to someone for a calculation. Just apply for it!!

Hello everyone

We've had a number of reports from people concerned about this thread so, as we usually do in these circs, we're putting our heads round the door with some important reminders.

Sadly, we at MNHQ can't know with 100% certainty that any poster is genuine, no matter who they are or how long they have been here. As frustrating as it is, we're not able to vouch for anyone here.

So we always ask users to remember that not everyone on the internet is who they say they are – and remind folk not to give more to another poster, either financially (in cash or gifts) or emotionally (in time or care and support) than they'd be prepared to lose if things went wrong. We strongly advise against parting with any cash or giving away your personal details, and if you receive a PM which makes you uneasy - report it to us and we’ll take a look.

Sorry to hijack your thread briefly there, OP – we really hope you get it all sorted soon. In the meantime, you might find some useful information on our guide for dealing with financial difficulty

I find this type of moderation on mumsnet so odd

Who cares if the OP is telling a long tale, why are people so invested in whether she's telling the truth or not

If you believe her then offer advice if you don't believe the OP then simply ignore the thread

Either way it's not something worth getting frustrated over

I think it’s inc case people send money.