working for less than benefits

Get another job? Release equity on your house? Take in a lodger?

Sorry not to be much help.

Go to CAB. THEY MIGHT HELP.

Indeed, CAB (Citizens' Advice Bureau) is he way to go. There are fewer of them now as funding has been curtailed, but there will be one reasonably near you.

You need to say more.
It seems dire, but give us more info
and I'm sure gransnetters will come up with
some great / positive suggestions.

I went to cab a few years ago and was told 'your not hard up, sell your house, sell your car and then run up some debt as we cant help you until you have debt,'
I always believed that they helped people to avoid debt, anyway you cant just sell ahouse like that, it takes months if you are lucky and can afford all the repairs, then there is the question of where to live, I cant get social housing as I have no young kids and I don't want to go into old folks housing as Im not 60 yet. If I sell my cat I cant work and then can no way afford private rents so its a catch 22 situation. I cant release equity as I am mortgaged till my seventies. Anyone else got these probs

I meant sell my car in the above post. I have 4 cats and would not sell them even if I was starving(which I'm not quite )

I don't believe CA said any such thing!

You don't know what they(CAB) are like river walk, please don't call someone a liar on a public message board like this

Several Gransnet posters are volunteers with CAB. Are any of them around to make any comments on what seems on the face of it a harsh reply to cactus60 ?

What exactly was your question to them, cactus60 ? Was it to ask how to avoid running up debt? How to deal with it once you had it? How to find some way of making more money? How to spend less? How to manage what you have so as to make the most of it? You did not say.

You don't have debts cactus ... that's good.

Have you considered releasing equity on your house??

I no longer volunteer at CAB - too many changes to keep up with - but I know that neither I not any of my colleagues in our Bureau would have given you such short shrift, cactus. You might like to try the Money Advice Service which has a great web site - just Google it - which gives many tips about how to maximise your income.

cactus If you often work for nothing then my first suggestion is to look for any job with a guaranteed income. I suggest too that Aka's advice of taking in a lodger would be an obvious solution. You can receive up to £4,250 tax free under the 'Rent a Room' scheme.

its not as easy as you all suggest, you need to own your house outright before u can raise equity, I have a mortgage. I couldn't take a lodger as Im at work and I would hate a stranger in my home unless it was someone I knew (an idea). as to taking any job with a regular income, can I ask any of you have you tried to get a job recently in your 60th year with only experience for 20 years in the same job with no transferrable skills, however I do try, I keep on applying . guess I will just have to keep on buying the lottery tickets. lol

cactus you have been given wrong information with regard to equity release as long as you have more value in your home than you wish to borrow you can have equity release trust me I have worked in home sales for many years,but before you ever decided to do that type of thing you would need to consult a really good financial adviser.With regard to sicial housing they are not all "old folks housing" as you call it most associations will rehouse you to a 1bed place if you are over 55 and most skills can be transferred with a bit of pre-thought,have you people skills then look at maybe customer service with one of the big supermarkets they take on older ladies/gents as they value their work ethic,I started my own part-time catering business by chanse and am fully booked until May this year most week-ends and it only takes up 3 days a week and earns me more money than I did when working full time. best of luck to you.

^ social housing ^ spelling sorry.

I'm not sure you're right about that, glamma. Most equity release schemes require you to own your home outright, or have very little left to pay on the mortgage.

There may be other ways to raise money on your home, but they may not suit cactus's requirements.

You seem to be in a catch-22. You can't guarantee your wages through no fault of your own. If you have a mortgage already, would it be possible to remortgage to a better rate? I would definitely consider a lodger too. As needs must!

I spit flames when I hear of people on zero hours contracts. You can't plan or organise your life around them, you can't control your income.

Have you thought about contacting a credit union?

Hope you sort something.

38 degrees has a petition to get Vince Cable to have a proper look at zero hours contracts, as opposed to a secretive government one at the moment.
Please sign up to it if you feel like you do, gettingonabit.

I used to volunteer with the CAB. Did your adviser run a benefits check? If you are doing at least 24 hours per week work on average you may be entitled to working tax credit and/or council tax credit. The system can cope with irregular hours, but you would need to be careful not to spend any overpayment if you start to earn more, because they will claw it back at the end of the year.

We have a lodger. It took a bit of getting used to, but its fine now- and she loves to look after our cats, so that frees us up a bit!

Ana my mistake there sorry was thinking about remortgaging where you can arrange it by having equity in your property,not the equity release scheme where you don't pay it back until the property is sold,getting muddled in my old age.

https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/zero-hours-government

This is for signing up to to get Vince to look at zero hours contracts.

Glam you're partially right according to an article in The Telegraph the other day.

You can take out a loan (because basically that's what it is) that first pays off the mortgage then the rest is used as you wish, then paid off when the property is sold.

Of course it all depends on size of mortgage and current equity in the property, etc.

Thanks Durham.Survey done.