help me - need to find a way of making or saving £40 per week by April...

[juicychops]

i started working last April and as an insentive get £40 per week from Work and Pensions dept for returning to work for 1 year.

so this is going to stop in April and this is basically the only money i have spare per month after all bills, nursery & rent are paid. this spare money goes on things such as things that pop up such as birthdays, savings, extras if i go over budget for shopping/phone bill/petrol, treating me or ds to lunch out, clothes for ds, road tax.

i dont know how the hell im going to cope when this stops. My car insurance was due to go down a bit in July when its re-newed which would of saved me a bit, but wont now as i crashed it on Boxing day so if anything will probably cost me more than it does now.

feel a bit low concerning money at the moment. i know there is always someone worse off than you, but i have alwaysworried about money and now i have a proper reason to! i cant see what i can cut back on

Aren't you about due for a payrise then, if you have been there for a year - how about asking for say £50 extra a week and being beaten down to £40.

Well done for getting back to work btw - it's a great thing you have done - so hard when you haven't worked for a bit.

Maybe change you car for a smaller, cheaper to run and insure one?

i will get a pay rise in 2 months but it is £20 per month. But as i am a single parent and on tax credits it will just mean that come next tax year my tax credits will go down slightly so i will be no better off.

i only have a Ford Fiesta which is quite cheap to run. Im still in my first year of driving so thats why my insurance is so high. I pay £91 per month and that was the cheapest i could find after a lot of hard hunting

that is an old p reg ford fieast, not a new one!!

I know it's personal, but people will be better able to advise if you give some info about where all your money currently goes. How much is your food bill? Your utilities? etc etc.

bills per month...

rent £235
council tax £70
elec/gas £60
mobile £35
contents insurance £18
mobile insuranc £28 per quarter
internet £18
phone £25
tv lisence £11
shopping £25 per week so about £100 per month
petrol £25
car £91
red cross £6.50
nursery £50 per week so about £200 per month

at the end i have about £200 so once my £40 per week stops il have about £10 per week spare

I'd get a PAYG mobile for emergencies and leave it at that

that would save £35 unless you are tied into a contract for ages

Also you know you car insurance have you looked on www.moneysupermarket.com & let them find the cheapest insurance?

that is a lot on phones

£60

plus insurance

wow

Have you applied for housing and council tax benefit? Always give it a go, you never know!!

gas & elec - Uswitch!! See if you can get a better deal.
Mobile - is that pay as you go or contract? Have a serious think about how essential it is and how you use it - is it mainly for incoming? How can you save money there?
Insurance - again, when it's up for renewal, shop around. - why are you paying seperate insurance for your mobile? get a contents policy that includes your mobile (in or out the house)
you can get internet cheaper than £18 a month! half in fact - these can go with telehone deals that get you free evening and weekend calls if you don't already do this- uswitch again!
Shopping - bloody hell. you do well there!
red cross? Is that a donation? Drop that and add that £6.50 to your shopping for extra fruit & veg!!! Nobody who has £25 a week to feed their family would be thought ill of for not donating to charity!
Have you looked into other nurseries or are they all the same price?
Are you getting all the tax credits etc you are entitled to? You don't have to wait until the end of the year you know, you can phone them at any time if your circumstances change and they recalculate and adjust your payments.

Just my thoughts, probably no use, you have probably done all this already anyway!

god yes mobile insurance?

my phone didn't cost £28

are you getting all the help with rent/council tax you should be?

Your phone insurance can be tied to your household insurance for a couple of pounds a month.

Go PAYG on the phone - that's tonnes of £ you pay presently - and then you can shed the insurance as well.

Do you get either working tax credit or childcare vouchers towards nursery costs?

Do you take your own lunch to work? I find I save a fortune if I can avoid buying sandwiches etc on the days I'm at work.

Yes definitely ditch the mobile insurance. A complete scam really, and am that so many people still fall for it.

But if you want to make £40 a week extra, then take in a couple of bags of ironing to do.

my rent is £470 i pay £235 and housing benefit pay the other £235. not entitled to council tax benefit.

my mobile contract is for another 12 months but its a lot cheaper than it was when i had pay as you go as i text a lot and have a good deal. the excess on my phone insurance is only about £16 but with my contence insurance its about £60 so thats why i pay the £28 every quarter plus i get £60 cash back every 6 months. i wouldn't have no insurance as im likely to loose it or drop it down the toilet. Or ds will play with it and bugger it up!

i want to change my phone and internet but im tied to NTL because they gave me a 'Free' ntl box a year ago as a free gift for being a good customer. i never ended up using it so chucked it and now they want it back before i can cancel my contract with them or pay £150 for the box. i am yet to write a letter of complaint to sort that out and try to get excused from paying as it was a free gift!

my contence insurance i have just changed to HSBC which is only a few pounds cheaper but i get the first 3 months free. so that will save me £18 for 3 months starting next month but then it will be back to £16 per month

i feel too bad cancelling a DD to charity! its only less than £2 per week

i didn't try moneysupermarket for my car insurance but did do confused.com

ive just paid £50 for a 10 week web design course so that once ive done that i can do some work for my mum's boyfriend who is a web designer

TalkTalk I think still do the £22 per month with free local and national calls and broadband as well it you're not locked into your broadband contract.

X-posts

ironing a good idea

i'd happily pay £10/hr

must be loads of others willing to do same

do you have 4 hrs a week to spare?

arf - my post sounds as though i'm offering to bring you mine

ive had an ironing add in my 3 local shops for the last 8 months and only had 1 person's ironing to do! and my mums

i feel like i have an answer or excuse for everyones ideas! i dont mean to sound negative

once i have sorted out my letter to NTL and hopefully get the charge taken off then i can sort my phone and broadband out which will save a bitand once im working for my mum's dp then that will be a bit extra.

i just want a big idea that will save me loads to put my mind totally at rest!!

maybe the lottery tonight

i hate having no money