How does everyone cope relying on centrelink alone? My partner has jost lost his job yesterday. On monday we are heading to centrelink to apply for payments till he or I manage to find work. Feeling so lost as to what to do such a shitty think to happen before christmas and I'm now left stressing how I'm going to be able to feed my babies. Any advice would be amazing
6 Replies
It will be tight compared to a working income, you are going to need a strict budget and there's no room for cheating but it is survivable. Look into deferring some of the bigger payments (mortgage, car if possible) due to hardship, get in early before defaults if you can and hopefully one of you is in work before the time is up. If you haven't yet started on preparing for Christmas it's going to be a small one but that is not the end of the world. When my son was very young we had $5 gifts, I was a SAHM not financially supported by my partner so I did what I could and while they weren't memorable Christmases, they were stress free Christmases which made them happy ones for us. Do not get yourself in more debt for gifts etc, make do with homemade gifts, fresh food and free activities. It might not be too late to access help through charities for a few small gifts or some festive foods too.
Before you head to Centrelink on Monday, you and your partner should both apply for jobs over the internet.
Bunnings.
Coles.
Woolworths.
Bigw.
Anything like that. That way you've already started being pro-active.
What field of work is your partner in?
Google all jobs in your area.
Start writing up and printing resumes.
Buy a few small gifts for the kids whilst you still have a little money.
Buy a small ham/roast now for Xmas day and freeze it. That way you have your main dish sorted.
You will have to start meal planning and cut back on unnecessary items such as Foxtel, takeaway food.
You may not receive payments for a couple of months.
We've already spent the whole weekend applying for every job advertised locally and getting on woolies coles even mcdonalds and applying even for unadvertised positions. I had an interview last week as well so hopefully get that position.
Thanks so much
He should have a least 1 pay period notice or be paid out that period. Obviously, you still need to get organised but this may help a little
I hear your pain Hun. Hubby lost his job a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully I am still working, albeit a much smaller income it's still something. Worst part is he won't get anything from Centrelink because I'm working. We have had to cut right back in things and have gotten into hardship payments for our car loans, which we did as soon as we crunched the numbers so we were on top of it all. Thankfully we were already prepared for a smallish Christmas, quick trip to visit rellies, so we have managed to sort ourselves out sufficiently for s couple of months. All you can do is keep applying for everything, even if you think it is above your experience, tailor your resume for each job if you are able, so that you can make your relevant experience shine the most. Good luck! Please don't feel like you are alone, there are plenty of us not having an easy time this Christmas.
I won't lie, it can be really really hard. Best thing you can do is sit down and figure out all your expenses & see if you can survive paying them all, if not you will have to call and talk about financial hardship options for your bills and payments. Do this first, BEFORE you have trouble keeping up with payments, these places are usually great and ask you what you can afford to pay them, so don't stress. If you have a mortgage they can put it on hold for 3 months I think? Otherwise, it's really just budgeting and sticking to it. It's tight, but I'm sure you can make it work. I hope you are back on track soon x