Anyone else tired of being paid then being penniless again a few days later?

[Tiredofbeingbroke879]

So sick of struggling every day.
I get paid and within a week I'm overdrawn again. I'm a single parent I was working part time but have started a full time job and my universal credit has understandably lowered. I receive the housing element and childcare reimburse but then it's just a cycle.. My pay goes onto childcare, bills, food, petrol, things for DD, I'm also court ordered to share half the cost of a contact center every fortnight so my abuser ex can have supervised contact with DD.. When we fled away from him I literally had to start again.. I've got furniture on finance...got two more months to pay that.
I just feel like without my overdraft I'd probably be screwed.
My ex has started paying maintenance via deduction of earnings but it just clears my overdraft.. Was thinking of switching the payment details to a saving account and grinning and bearing the overdraft but i get charged every single day I'm in it. Its so depressing. I need a new car, new clothes, just don't want to keep struggling and working. I don't want much just to not be overdrawn every month literally a few days after pay day.

That sounds tough. I remember being a similar place after I left my abusive ex. But it gets easier I promise.

Keep gritting your teeth and keep going.

Your furniture payments will be done very soon and then it will be easier to make a dent in your overdraft.

You are now getting maintenance and only 2 months of finance payments you are slowly going to see your finances improve, hang in there!

I was you after splitting with my ex. It was tough! Second the poster who says it gets better. Look for ways of upping your income without taking up too much of your time.

I think many families with young children are in the same position and it is soul destroying. When our girls were little and we had childcare to pay we were always overdrawn. We never managed to make our money last the month. When we did get paid a chunk went straight away to clear the overdraft.

It did get better, as childcare costs went down, wages went up (sometimes!) and we eventually did get out of using our overdraft. Our girls are grown up now and life is definitely easier and more comfortable. I've never forgotten how hard it was to live month to month and be terrified of bills and unexpected expenses coming in.

Hopefully when you pay off your finance in a few months, life will start to feel a bit better and you won't feel so overwhelmed.

i lived like that for 10 years as a single mum. Eventually I decided this couldn't go on and I went to university to get an NHS degree, worked my way up the ladder and now I'm on a very good salary with a good pension to retire on and have no money worries. My son has long left home now.
You need to sit down and think realistically about how to go about getting the best career that you can in the long term for your future.
These times will pass.

I remember my rusty heap of a car sitting outside for 6 months because I couldn't afford to get it fixed and not even having a change of clothes.
If I hadn't been provided with a work uniform I do not know what I would have worn each day!

Keep going OP. Not long to go.

In two months, your finance on furniture will be paid, giving you that amount extra. Your ex is paying maintenance now so you have that coming in as well.

Can you look at your food/phone/insurance/broadband and find any savings there? Pull out your summer clothes now and see what can be revamped.

How soon will you need less childcare?

It sounds really hard.

Have you seen a debt advisor to help you. They can do amazing things to help reduce and clear and make debt manageable and most important, to make you feel in control again. There is no judgement but help that makes a real difference. Look for Money Advice Service or Debt Advice.

If your furniture is almost paid off, you’ll be a bit better off in 2 months. Key will be to not be tempted to buy anything else on credit/instalments, even if you really feel you need it. If you need something, instead look on eBay for 2nd hand or go to one of the furniture charities where there are often almost new items for a tiny fraction of the price of new or even free.

It’s the money funnelling into what you owe that means it’s all gone within a couple of days isn’t it. It’s really good one of those payments is about to end and doesn’t have months or years to run. That’s an achievement that you can be proud of...you’re almost at the end of that.

There’s no quick fix as you know. Childcare fees will reduce over time. Training can allow you to earn more but takes time.

Don’t decide to give up work. Keep going and know this really awful phase won’t last forever. Childcare does end or drop substantially.

Are there any more savings to be made on utilities, phones, food shopping? Are you entitled to any more help and benefits?

I really think going and talking to a free debt/financial advisor would help you. They can almost always find some ways to help you with budgeting and particularly to reduce outgoings to debt, so that life feels better. You need to loook into it and book to go. Feeling miserable won’t bring change, but making an appointment and talking it all through is the first step to progress. If you get onto that next week, see someone next month and they start helping you, things could be much better in 4 months time. Or in 4 mo this time you could be in the same position and still not have made the call.

Good luck. .....it feels like a tunnel you can’t get out of. People can help you get out.

Thanks everyone. It's more so outgoings than actual debt.. I have a credit card with a 1k limit and I bought furniture on 1 year interest free credit.. Once that ends I will be about 160 pounds better off. Once I can stop paying for the contact centre I'll be 170 pounds better a month too but who knows when that'll end. Just feels a bit never ending, council tax has gone up, little one needed new clothes. Feels like we're always going to struggle x

Double check that you are using all financial help you can get for childcare costs. The different schemes interact with each other, so some cannot be combined but some can.

Your ex's payment clearing your overdraft is good, I would keep it doing that for now. You need to break the cycle of using the overdraft so you need as much money going in to the account as possible.

Your furniture finance ends soon which is great as it gives you the money you were paying to that to go towards clearing the overdraft and then to your next step.

Once the overdraft is cleared aim to build up a starter emergency fund, such as £1000, so when something goes wrong with the car, which it will, you have some money to pay for a repair. The emergency fund is there to stop you going back in to debt.

Do you like listening to audiobooks? If so do you listen to podcasts? There are various podcasts about finance from people around the world. The Ramsey Show is a popular one from the United States. Meaningful Money is from a UK financial planner. If you prefer video then YouTube has channels for both of these. Learning about personal finance does not have to cost money. Posting on Mumsnet, reading blogs, listening to podcasts, watching videos, you can get a lot of knowledge about how to get out of debt.

Childcare schemes interaction.

If you use a credit card to manage cash flow instead of an overdraft it doesn't cost anything if you pay it off every month and is seen positively by your bank, unlike overdraft use which is a sign of poor money management in their eyes. Doesn't make sense but it pays to play the game.

Could you get an 0% credit card and balance transfer off your current one so you can reduce the outgoing immediately and pay it off over longer?

Is there anyway to review whether you have to continue to pay towards the contact centre?

Triple check your UC award is correct.

How old is your DC?