Resources for the Poor
Alright we’ve covered it before, millennials are burnt out, in shitty underpaid jobs and many of us still trying to crawl out of generational poverty. It sucks, right? But this post isn’t going to wallow or reflect on our struggle, it’s just some straight-up useful resources for those who are short on cash. Most of these are UK-only, but some Googling may reveal similar schemes and apps near you. Let’s get into it.
Quick disclaimer: this is not a sponsored post, these are all personal recommendations from Boshemia cofounder Sarah L. We would love to hear your own recommendations!
FOOD & FREE STUFF
OLIO
This app is designed to prevent waste, so what gets listed on here is stuff which people don’t want anymore but also don’t want to throw away. Sometimes it’s unopened stuff, sometimes it’s something they tried once and didn’t like so didn’t touch again, sometimes it’s half used but still good. Sometimes it’s technically out of date but still fine, like tinned or dried goods. Sometimes people list things they’ve grown in their garden. The main thing is, it’s free. People list what they have through the app, and you message to say you’re interested and arrange to collect it. It’s really as simple as that.
The app even has dedicated teams of OLIO Helpers who go around to cafés such as Pret and Friska to collect their out of date items at the end of each day, and list them on OLIO for anybody to claim.
This app has a food section and a non-food section, where you’ll often find toiletries including tampons (half a box left, wrong type purchased), household cleaners, garden stuff, stationary, etc.
Again, it’s all free. The app is free, the listings are free. There is no catch. It’s just free. There are millions of OLIO users across the UK so chances are there will be at least small community in your area.
Fill your boots.
Food Banks - The Trussell Trust
It’s a sad fact that food bank use in the UK is skyrocketing, but they’ve been the saviour of many many people living on or below the poverty line. Use this link to find your closest, and how to claim a box from it.
Too Good To Go
This is a similar idea to OLIO, but there’s a small cost involved. Restaurants and cafés sign up to be a part of the app, and charge a small amount (usually less than £5) for a bag of leftover, unused food at the end of the day or dining period (sometimes there are breakfast and lunch pickups). It’s a total surprise goody bag, but they cap the number of people that can claim one so that there’s a fair offering.
Good if you don’t mind a little surprise for cheap from one of your favourite cafés.
Facebook Marketplace
There’s an option to ‘show free listings only’, and you can get some really good stuff on there if you’re quick or lucky. People will often post small pieces of furniture or clothing on there, generally when they need it gone quickly. You can also search by radius, so you can make sure it’s within your ability to collect. Seems to be very good for baby stuff, so a good place for new mums on a budget to fill some of the essentials, like cribs, muslins and bottle sterilisers.
The Bootstrap Cook
Jack Monroe’s story is amazing, and her food is even better. Her blog, stuffed with cheap and delicious recipes, began while she was a single mum trying to feed herself and her son on a budget of £10 per week whilst keeping it interesting. It’s since become multiple cookbooks, but the blog lives on, and it’s amazing. Well worth a look if you’re cooking on a bootstrap. (I also thoroughly recommend following her on Twitter, she’s an absolute treat).
easy extra income
Cat in a Flat
Cat sitting. Not for those who don’t love cats, obviously.
You set your rates, people contact you to book your cat sitting services. Usually you’ll go in once or twice a day, depending on what you agree with the owner, and feed the cat. Simple. Bonus is that you get to enjoy cat cuddles!
The site takes a cut, and as a rule I would really only recommend accepting the jobs that are within a convenient distance from where you live, or aren’t a huge detour, especially if you don’t have your own transport. The site takes a cut for matching you and processing the payments, but the nice thing is that often these cat sitting jobs will turn into regular, repeat gigs if the cat owner is happy with you. When this happens you can arrange all the bookings and payments outside of the site, so you keep 100% of the money. Depending on the length of time and the frequency of visits, and the rates that you set, you can earn a nice extra little boost for not much work at all.
Online Surveys
Some of these are better than others, and they aren’t a huge huge moneymaker but they will earn you an extra £5 here and there. You sign up to the sites (NEVER do any which require you to pay to join), and they will offer you surveys with paid rates attached. These can vary wildly from 10p for a two minute survey to £5 for a 30 minute survey, and literally anything in between, but you can generally build up a small little bank of money by doing a few each day. The most typical payout for one 20 minute survey is a few pounds. They’ll generally have a threshold that you have to have reached before you can cash out, which is worth noting. Good for filling up commute time.
Ones I recommend are Curious Cat (app, go here for App Store and here for Google Play), YouGov, Pureprofile and MySurvey. You can find a detailed breakdown of these here.
money management
StepChange Charity
This is one for getting out of debt. If you’ve got credit card or overdraft debt, or literally any kind of debt, they can help you to clear it instead of being swallowed and consumed by it.
You fill in an online assessment form, with details of your income, benefits, living costs, bills, and any other dedicated expenditure you have. You then fill in the amount of debt that you have, what type, and who with. You will immediately be presented with a Personal Action Plan, which details a recommended plan of action and two alternatives.
The most common type of plan they offer is a Debt Management Plan (DMP). This is where the charity manages the debt on your behalf; they write to all of your creditors to let them know that they are now managing the debt, and instead of paying your insanely inflated interest and minimum repayments on your debt you pay a much smaller, manageable, agreed set amount to the charity, who then allocate and pay it to your creditors. This amount is calculated from the expenditure you put in - they will never suggest an amount which doesn’t fit into your available funds. When you complete your online assessment they give you an estimated time frame that your debt will be paid off in if you stick to the payments they have suggested. You can cancel it any time, but the debt responsibility comes back to you if you do so.
They can also offer alternatives that can write off your debt, but these come with extra conditions and impacts, such as your credit history, your ability to start a company or own property, and more. These should be very very carefully considered, but the charity offers full, free support at literally every step.
This service is free. StepChange are a charity. They take no cut of your payment and charge no fee.
Monzo
You’ve probably heard tons about this by now, but it’s an actual work of genius in my opinion. It’s literally just a bank account, but the app is designed to help you to budget and see really clearly exactly where your money is going each month.
I especially like the ‘Round Ups’ savings pot function that is available. Whenever you spend an amount that doesn’t make a whole pound, it rounds up the difference and places it in the savings pot. So, if I spend £5.34 on some shopping, it’ll round up the spend to £6.00 and put the extra 67p in a savings pot. This is a super easy saving tactic and I find it really helpful having that little pot available to boost me whenever I’m short on money.
Honey
Another one you may have heard of already. This is a browser extension which automatically searches the internet for voucher codes to apply onto whatever website you’re shopping on. Super helpful if you’re trying to shop on a budget.
mental health
Meditation Apps
Headspace gives you 10 free sessions, and Calm is another good one. There are also some great meditations on YouTube, which can help with feelings of stress and low mood which accompany money issues. I personally found the Headspace ones really good, but it’s a matter of personal preference with which ones speak to you.
DistrACT
Free app providing support for people who self-harm or feel suicidal. It provides quick, easy, discreet access to practical information and support. Search for it in your app store.
Kooth
Kooth is a free, UK-based, online counselling and emotional wellbeing platform. You can live chat with their registered counsellors anytime during their online hours, and when they’re not they have a lot of free resources available around managing mental health, including a community support forum.
NHS Self-Refer Talking Therapies
Most places in the UK will have one of these. Where I am it’s called Bristol Wellbeing Therapies, but you can find your local one here. You self-refer either by phone or email, complete an assessment, and have a 30 minute phone consultation to figure out what your needs are and what avenues are open to you. They offer a really big range of types of talking therapies, courses and counselling, and you can try as many as you like until you find the right one. If you try something and realise it isn’t for you after a session or two, it’s no big deal and they’ll offer you something else.