What woud you do? Work more? or have less money?

[Mumof2studentnurse]

Hi,

I'm currently going through a separation/divorce, and as if that’s not emotionally draining enough, the financial reality is now hitting hard too.

I work full time as a nurse, Monday to Friday, 9 - 5.
I’m not yet on the nurse bank, I've been watching for openings, but nothing’s come up.

Alongside nursing, I’ve kept a part-time job I held for years before qualifying as a nurse.

Just working my nursing job, I’d qualify for some Universal Credit to top up my income, but I’d need to budget every single penny. There would be no room for unexpected expenses, car repairs, home maintenance, new clothes for the kids, it would all be a stretch.

If I keep both jobs. I wouldn’t get UC, but I’d earn about £500 more per month. The downside is I’d be working 7 days a week, and every weekend, which would take away time with my children, but I would have some spare money to treat them - or just have money set aside for emergencies.

I’m actively looking for local work with better hours, but everything I’ve found so far is on a rota system—hard to manage with childcare.

So, I’m torn. Do I:

Work two jobs and sacrifice weekends with my kids for an extra £500/month?

Or

Stick with my nurse job and UC, but struggle financially and constantly stress about money?

I’d really appreciate any thoughts or advice from those who’ve been in similar situations, or just from anyone who’s had to weigh up time vs. money like this.

I'd stop the part time job that means your kids won't see you 7 days a week, and look for evening work using your nursing qualification that you can do after the children are in bed. I'm willing to bet as a qualified nurse there will be something you can do online.

Something like this
Telehealth Triage Nurse

Thanks so much for your message. I am weighing everything up and I think i am putting pressure on myself to find a solution right now, today. Maybe taking a few months to explore some other options would be helpful.

You can't work 7 days a week, you'll burn out!

I’d definitely go for fewer hours, and less money, for now. See how you get by. If you can hang on for a few years while your kids are young (?) you won’t regret the time with them and you can dial it up again later. If it proves unmanageable, you could look for something you could do from home in the evenings as pp suggested. It’s really hard, sorry that you have to make this decision. As a mum and a nurse you are very valued!

I worked 7 days a week in my early twenties. By day 42 I was entirely fucked off. Please don’t do that. See your kids xxx

Do you have any savings? If not, I would do the 7 days for a short while to build a buffer. I personally do surveys, could do them while the kids are in bed for some extra money without leaving the house

Hi, how would I start with these surveys please? Any good sites, is it possible for me to make £10-15 a night?

looking forward to your response x

First - I would like to say I really don’t understand how we can live in a society where nurses don’t make enough money working full time. Mind blowing. Second I would say - it really depends on where you are in life - I used to work crazy long hours around the clock in my 20s but as I got older I honestly couldn’t be bothered anymore. I know it sounds terrible (and I was lucky financially). But working yourself to the bone has ramifications later on in life in my opinion

I don't think working 7 days a week is sustainable

I've been working 7 days a week for the past year. I done this to help pay off debts - my husband worked 4 days a week...and then recently left me for someone else. So i do see that i was being taken advantage of financially because he never contributed to the debts, i was the one trying to pay them off.

Once our house sells/or he releases equity for me, i will have enough to get rid of all the debt so that's will be a massive weight gone. (but there wont be much left for savings)

Looking through all the statements the debt was mainly my husbands lifestyle - boys trips, new clothes every couple of weeks, weekends out with the lads, and huge amounts of alcohol. We were together for 15 years and we have 2 kids, so its not always clear to see when you are being taken advantage of, but I can see it now.

I am looking for any way at all to progress as a nurse. I will be finishing my masters degree this autumn so im hoping by next year I can be considered for better paying jobs or have more opportunities.

I could maybe do another 6 months of 7 days to build up a little savings cushion.

I am looking for some work from home type roles that I can do for a few hours once the kids are in bed.

Thanks for the suggestions and replies.

Fewer hours less money,
your kids will grow up and you’ll miss so much working 7 days
you’ll be exhausted working 7 days

I’m a mental health nurse in NHS and have flexible working so work set shifts , I am part time so do two 12.5 hour days as we have the long day model

How much of a buffer do you currently have? I think anything beyond medium term you need to drop your hours but I'm wondering whether it might give you a bit of peace of mind to keep the second job for another month or two whilst trying to live as if you are on the UC budget, one to make the financial shock of the drop in income less but also to give you a bit in savings to give a little financial resilience.

I did 70+h a week working 26 out 28 days in a previous job and it was brutal and hard going but knowing it was time limited helped.

How old are dc and how mucb will the father be looking after them? Have u calculated what you will get in Child maintenance?

If you can would definitely suggest not doing the extra job/7 days and spend the time with dc . Maybe some bank will come up, or you'll find once you are in control of spending you can budget better...