Money & UC

[hipmom1]

Good afternoon,

I’m a single mum.
I have two children. 7 and 2.

I’m currently not working. I lost my part time job during lockdown, and really struggled to find work since. I generally suffer with social anxiety so anything where I have to work in a shop/supermarket (with the public) I struggle with.

I receive a standard allowance from UC of £342 and £517 for my children plus £35 a week child benefits.

I’m really struggling financially. My mortgage is £365 a month, my council tax is £150 a month, Gas and electricity £100 a month, £25 a month for water and £49 for Virgin Media (This is apparently the lowest they can get my WiFi, Phone and TV down too) I also have house/contents insurance, TV licence and phone (£20 a month)

Basically once I’ve paid all my bills I’m left with around £50-60 a week for shopping. I’ve managed to get my shop down to around £45 a week including cleaning and toiletries.

I feel so down. For school this year I relied on a feee charity for second hand school clothes, and have managed to get a couple of outfits from a freely given for my youngest son.

I have their birthday and Xmas coming up and I literally have no money to buy them anything. I’ve explained to my eldest for his birthday we’re just going to watch a movie at home and I’m going to try and budget a take away in so he’s at least done something for his birthday but I can’t afford any presents.

I just feel so low about it all, whenever I do the school run I see all these children with new school bags and bikes and my son is constantly asking can he have a bike or a fancy school bottle (just had a spare one I found in the cupboard)

Tbh I don’t really know what the point of this post is but is anyone could give me any advice or tips I’d really appreciate it. I am actively looking on Indeed and Facebook for jobs that’s are available. I’ve applied for about 10 different jobs over the past week so fingers crossed something comes available soon!

Thank you everyone so much for your help.

I didn’t even know about 25% discount on my council tax. I’m definitely going to contact the council tomorrow and ask them about some support towards council tax.

I’ve never heard of the healthy start vouchers before so I shall also look into these as well.

I’ve been informed I’ll be eligible for a £140 payment from the energy company as well so another thing to add to my list.

As you can maybe tell a newly single mum as well so never had to claim benefits before as my ex partner earned too much so still a newbie to all this.

I’ve heard UC can only help towards mortgage after 9 months of no income and it’s a loan they give you which you have to pay back.

I’ve been informed that in 2 months time I maybe eligible for a budgeting advance loan as I’d have been on UC for 6 months then so that could maybe help towards some bills.

My son will get him 2 year funding for nursery in January as it’s the term after they turn 2. So thankfully childcare will be easier then. Xxx

Oh bless you. It's so hard! You might be able to get the council tax discount back dated a bit.

When you contact the council, ask if they can backdate your 25% single person discount (to the date your ex-partner moved out) and your council tax support (usually it can only be backdated by one month max but it's worth asking if they'll backdate it for longer ie to the date you started claiming UC). Some councils have discretionary council tax support schemes, so even if you don't qualify for the backdating, you might be able to apply for the discretionary scheme to cover the shortfall.

I’ve heard UC can only help towards mortgage after 9 months of no income and it’s a loan they give you which you have to pay back.

This is correct although the terms of repayment are relatively generous. More info here: www.gov.uk/support-for-mortgage-interest
It only helps with interest though.
I'd be contacting your mortgage company to get the mortgage on interest only ... and perhaps a payment holiday until you can increase your income. Citizens Advice can help with this and budgeting. Also making sure you are getting everything you're entitled to.
Eg. Are you with the cheapest energy supplier? If you're with one of the big six you could save a lot of money by switching.

Have you applied for the 2 year old funding?

Hoping your council is like mine in that as you have a child under 6 you may get 100% of your council tax covered from the time you claim ( backdate is usually 1 month)
Also government has given for all eligible for council tax support/reduction an additional £150 reduction ( called a council tax covid hardship payment )

Also worth checking with local churches re toys etc as we as a family always pass on items for presents for Christmas most often new and they are given to families in the community who need a little extra help at this time. Maybe churches local to you have the same time if schemes
Ours are from all different denominations too

Good luck with everything

You won’t get an advance for bills, and to be honest you’ll be worse off as you’ll be paying that back every month. Explore all other options first.

@CatToddlerUprising Yes, I have the code ready for January, he’s got a place at a nursery just can’t start until January due to when his birthday falls. (N)

@MiddlesexGirl I’ll look into it but I don’t think I can take another payment holiday, I had 3 months payment holiday during lockdown. If I ever got to the point I couldn’t afford the mortgage there is an option to dip into my children’s inheritance from my Grandparents but it isn’t me that has access to that money and the boys can’t get it until they are 18 so it’s something I’d have to look into if I ever got to that point as this house once old enough will be put into their name... well that’s always been the plan anyways.

I’ll definitely get on to council tax though. Hopefully that will be a big big help!

Advertise on Freecycle for any unwanted toys or even a bike. Local charity shops may have cheap toys/games as many people had a clear out in lockdown. My boys used to love a games night or even just a game of cards ( we used to gamble with pennies !)Will family and friends not buy gifts for birthday/Christmas or even pay for something like a trip to the cinema (assuming they are open). When I had no money I found my children enjoyed some of the cheapest activities.

YY to most things PP have suggested...

• Council Tax Reduction via local Council (ask about backdating it too)
• Healthy Start vouchers
• Warm Homes Discount via Energy Company
• Enquire about Low Income Tariff / WaterSure from your Water Company
• Apply for Free School Meals (and enquire about any additional support, or School website should have some kind of statement about how they spend / use Pupil Premium to give you an idea)
• Virgin do an "Essential Broadband" package for those on UC (capped at £15 I think?)

The Salvation Army can sometimes help in these situations, maybe not for birthdays but they do give donated Xmas gifts to children who would otherwise have nothing.

You can apply to your electric company for £140 warm home discount.
They deduct it from your Electric bill.
You can apply for it now. It can take a while so do it as soon as poss.

Hi, I am in the exact same boat but I one child. I have had to get extremely creative, so feel free to pm me and I would be happy to bore you with the list🙂

Why is the house going to be put into your children's names?

@StitchInTimeSavesNine Oh this isn’t something that would happen until I’m a little old lady, lol! In my will I have left the house to the children with any money I have.

Oh OK, that's pretty much what we all hope to do, leave our house and money to our children. Some people do think it can be a good idea to put the family home in their dc's names and it's rarely successful.

I would ask on your local Facebook sites if anyone has a bike they don't need anymore that they would give you as people will sometimes be glad to get rid of them for the storage space. He will most likely need a 16 inch bike if he's seven.

Definitely apply for a council tax reduction, you will at least get a single person discount which I think is 25% but some councils are doing a Covid-19 relief fund for council tax too. I unfortunately lost my job too and my council tax has been reduced from £130 to £13.

You may me able to apply for a warm home discount scheme with your energy supplier so they give you a one off payment toward your bills over winter.

You can apply for Start for Life vouchers for your youngest which will give you vouchers to use for fruit and veg, it's not much I think maybe £4 a week but will definitely help.

When you are able to leave Virgin Media, consider just getting a freeview box for your TV so you're not paying monthly for TV and then places like NOW TV broadband, TalkTalk and John Lewis Broadband do WiFi for £18-20 a month.

Also people often have toys, kids bikes etc on Facebook marketplace or Gumtree for quite cheap

Tbh neither of them really want for anything. My 7 year old has 2 bikes, scooters, Xbox, a switch, he’s got a Nintendo console they both have a play room filled with toys, I mean we still have toys unopened from Christmas last year because I used to go over the top with Christmas and birthday, but that’s because I could afford to. We currently have 12 tubs from ikea filled with toys and boxes under their beds. I have a play kitchen from when my eldest was little that I kept so my youngest now plays with it so he doesn’t need anything as everything my eldest had I kept. My attic is filled with clothes for my youngest until he is 6.

Can you sell some of the toys, a 7 yr old doesn't need that many electronics/ toys

@notapizzaeater I could do, a lot of it is just second hand stuff from their older brother or stuff their Dad left. For example to xBox was their Dads, he left it and mainly it’s downstairs and used to Netflix and YouTube. Their older brother is 14 so I still have a lot of stuff here from when he used to stop, my ex had 50/50 so he would be here every other week so a lot of it stuff he’s outgrown or stuff my eldest has outgrown. Some bits I’d need to ask their Dad permission about selling as its stuff from his son so I don’t want to go in selling stuff his mum might want back to sell herself or for her own children.

You should only be paying 75% council tax as you are the only adult in the house. Where l live we pay it for ten months but they let you spread it over twelve if you need to. Sounds like you are doing a really good job xx

Tbh neither of them really want for anything. My 7 year old has 2 bikes, scooters, Xbox, a switch, he’s got a Nintendo console they both have a play room filled with toys, I mean we still have toys unopened from Christmas last year because I used to go over the top with Christmas and birthday, but that’s because I could afford to

It doesn't sound like you have much to worry about then as they lot will entertain them or you can sell some things. In your OP I thought you meant he was asking for a bike as he didn't have a bike, not that he wanted a third bike.

I’ve had a phone call. Job interview over the phone on Friday. Yay! 33 hours a week so more than what I did before which is brilliant. I’ve had another email from a job I’ve applied for as well.

@hipmom1

I’ve had a phone call. Job interview over the phone on Friday. Yay! 33 hours a week so more than what I did before which is brilliant. I’ve had another email from a job I’ve applied for as well.

Well done, sounds like you are doing really well with the applications. good luck with the interview.