There's definitely a stigma to seeing a counsellor and trying to heal from past domestic abuse, whilst been on reduced hours. The HR policy within work stating my sick record is high, but I know I am doing best I can for my son and I xx

We cannot afford the £3.66 chocolate eggs but instead we boiled for 30 mins some eggs then once cooled we decorated and painted them. My son 12 but time together is important. This can be hard when social media “create different social pressures“ of expensive eggs or lots of days out etc. I feel sometimes I am not “good enough“ parent as I cannot give my son “those experiences“ xx

Universal credit have ask me to upload a CV.

I have worked in retail for many years and as well as doing short courses and raising a young family.

I feel being on a a low income and raising 2 children under the age of 10 gives me little time and finances to better my further education prospects.

There is very little support for mothers over the age of 35 onwards to go to college or even university part time.

This is so frustrating.

Well okay easter hols early this yr kids will eat us out house as normal x

Just sooo tiered. Need a decent night's sleep xx

I'm concerned that whilst on the one hand the Government are working really hard on the Child Poverty Strategy, their recent announcements of cutting to benefits will plunge lots of people into poverty. Many of whom will be children.

This is because their own recent impact assessments says just that. Their impact assessments state that their planned cuts will force people even further into poverty... 50,000 of whom are children!

This seems to contradict the aims of the Governments Child Poverty Strategy entirely.

Kids are off for Easter and the food I bought on Wednesday (it’s now Friday) is gone! I can’t afford to keep up! I hate it when they say “ugh there’s nothing to eat"!

Hey diary,

I got to my off car park today at 7:35 am in time for an 8 am start. At 8:27 am I received an email from school informing parents of a school closure. Emergency stuff calls for emergency actions such as multiple calls to ensure my baby was ok. Hmm!

If I had super powers I would ensure I am everywhere sorting out multiple things.

It’s scary how much mental space money worries take up. At the end of last week I was owed over £100 in expenses from work, and the system showed them being paid on Friday. I kept checking my online but all it showed was that I was already over my overdraft limit and had several credit card payments due.



I had to, yet again, borrow money from family to cover these and then managed the weekend by doing a digital equivalent of looking for coins down the back of the sofa. I checked all online accounts and cards, any survey sites that might have payouts and found all the coins I had in the house and paid them into my bank account.



The expenses were finally paid yesterday morning, but I haven’t been able to think straight for all the mental sums and robbing Peter to pay Paul. Do employers realise that it’s incredibly hard to focus on work when wages are so low and leave us in a precarious position every month?

Good evening.

It's s a very cold day in Darlington...

I’ve been looking at grants on turn 2 us but there still isn’t a lot I can apply for myself. Often I need to get somebody else (a third party) to do it on my behalf. I would use citizens advice but they are so over used. You can barely get through to anyone anymore.

This half term has been a quiet one, mostly due to the soaring cost of days out, making it difficult to plan anything big. With prices through the roof, we’ve had to keep things simple, which has unfortunately led to two very bored children! Despite the challenge of keeping them entertained without breaking the bank, we’ve made the most of it where we can. While it hasn’t been the most exciting break, sometimes just getting through the week is enough!

Good day everyone. The government needs to do something about the job market because is so bad, I’m currently working with agencies but I need a permanent job. I have applied for so many jobs that I know am good at, but I never any feedback. Many companies need workers but they are not employing people. This very annoying ,and I hope things get better soon..