We couldn’t afford Christmas this year
Working part-time with Kleeneze has helped pay for Christmas.According to our survey, with a third of mums now considering taking a second job to top up their income, Christmas is forcing many cash-strapped mothers to seek extra work to pay for the festive season.
Having been on maternity leave since January from her administrative role at Solihull College, Anne Richards was worried about meeting the cost of Christmas and so signed up to Kleeneze.
“When our second child arrived, I started worrying about things like the cost of Christmas, birthdays and childcare,” remembers Anne. “I was on maternity leave when the Kleeneze catalogue came through my door. I saw the bit about earning extra money and thought I could give that a try now I was on maternity leave.”
Anne’s sponsors found out that she wanted to earn £200 per month and quickly put her on a retail plan that would achieve that.
“Everything they said would happen has. I followed the plan to the letter. To be honest with you, I was happy to just get my initial investment back and thought if I could get an extra £200 a month then that would be great.
However, in October, we came out with over £460, so it’s just brilliant. They’re just little goals, but they make a huge difference to me and my family.”
Earning an extra income is a tricky prospect for those with family. Finding hours to suit your needs, as well as a work-from-home business has become increasingly difficult.
“I don’t think I could have found anything that would have fitted in so easily around the kids. Maybe I could have taken something at night, but even those jobs are hard to find. Kleeneze has fitted in perfectly. You can work the hours that suit you so I knew I could fit it around my eldest son’s school times and I can actually take my youngest out with me in the pram when I’m delivering and collecting catalogues. It is hard work, but then you don’t get something for nothing.”
For children, Christmas is a magical time. The build up, the presents and the Christmas adverts mean that lists to Father Christmas are getting longer and more expensive. LeapPad Explorer retailing at £79.99 and Ninjago Fire Temple retailing at £91.99 are just two of the items you will find in the current top ten Christmas toy lists.
“Thankfully my son isn’t too bad for wanting everything so far,” laughs Anne. “I think all the adverts on the TV do put on added pressure, but now we’ve got two I did start to worry. We’re not ones for going crazy at Christmas, but we’re sorted now. I’m so glad I started it when I did. We’ve saved the money for Christmas and it’s one added additional worry off me.”
Anne’s maternity leave finishes in a couple of weeks and she’ll be heading back to her job at the college. She’s not going to be giving up Kleeneze, though.
“I will definitely carry it on,” she says. “The reason that I started was to earn extra money, but if I can do it full-time in the future, that would be fantastic. As I’m going back to my job at the college part-time, I went to see the childminder the other day, and found out that’s going to cost us around £400 a month. If I could be doing something that meant I didn’t have to put them into childcare that would be great.
“However, it’s fantastic to know that we’ve got the vehicle to earn money for those unexpected expenses now, as well as things like childcare. Ok, I miss EastEnders, but that’s never paid for me to do anything anyway! It’s good to know that the business will be there for me whenever I need it.”
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