At the moment I have around five weeks' worth of expenses in the bank. I will get paid in a week or so, meaning my emergency fund is only a month. This feels really uncomfortable (this has been my life for about six months) but it is a cushion of sorts, and that means I'm in a better position than many people. At the same time, it renders me pretty unable to make any sacrifices in order to improve my situation.
I have already had to decline the extra shifts from my own employer, as they're just not worthwhile unless they are at least a few hours. And if I say yes to the longer ones, I'm literally working well past midnight - this is a problem as one of my jobs' alarm systems would wake the neighbours just from unlocking & relocking the building... and secondly, do I want to be out at my remote job at 4am? No I do not. If I take a couple of those shifts, I lose my tiny council tax subsidy.
In the above examples it's only a small difference of income that I'm unable to accept the work. But I know parents forced out of work completely because the upfront fees for childcare are impossible. It doesn't matter that it'll get reimbursed later. It is the simple fact that the bill can't be paid with air.
This crock of absolute shit that people are better off in work just doesn't hold true. No rich politician would be happy with a 63% tax rate. But that's the effective tax rate if you find extra work while employed part-time but also on Universal Credit. Did you just take on some extra work, and earn 100 pounds? Great, but you're only keeping 37 of it. £3.04 per hour sounds good, doesn't it? Do you think that wage would entice any politician to do some extra work? And remember, you have to pay the bus fare, or fuel your car, long before you get paid. You can't put an IOU into the petrol tank. You can't buy work clothing on a promise.
An agency has given me some work for a local event coming up. As I missed a day of work for my recent medical thang, it's actually worthwhile doing. How ridiculous that I had to calculate that before accepting the job.
So this is all a major speed hump. I would like to be on a bigger income, but I'd like to do it in a big jump so I no longer need to even think about Universal Credit or my council tax, so that the income limit is a long way behind my income.
The most frustrating part is that I actually earn enough for a mortgage - which would lower my housing costs - and I have seen suitable properties. But it would require I pay out my interest-free credit cards. I could do that, but there goes my emergency fund. If I had an extra 10 hours of work per week, I'd feel safe to do that, and the caravan sale will cover deposit and solicitor fees.
Ho hum more job applications need to go in.
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