It's STILL tough and not getting better - so how are we coping?

westcoastscot · 16 July 2010 at 8:28AM

slight change of subject but I wish the howling gales and rain would stop - trying to get my winter veggies planted and its hellish!
WCS

dubgirl · 16 July 2010 at 8:34AM

JackieO wrote: »

I am a pensioner, and probably of my age, was brought up in an era of always having a little bit tucked away for a rainy day.I manage fairly well at the moment, but do watch all the time the prices of things .There are only so many things that one can 'downsize' to labelwise.I cook from scratch virtually all my food ,mainly because I'm not keen on processed food and like to know what I'm eating I suppose in my food bill the fresh fruit and veg is my biggest expense I can streeeetch meat to a good distance at times :rotfl:but fresh fruit is not stretchable.
I make my own cakes and I suppose the heating bills are probably the main worry for most pensioners.I talk each night to my DD's ma-in-law who lves in London and she tells me how her and her husband have had to cut back on lots of things over the past few months,but the utilities heat,light,phone are the things that are hard to economise on. We have just had a quite hard winter and I think we all dread another like it.I don't waste cash and am careful with what I buy.Being a pensioner means that you can't 'do overtime' or 'extra hours' If, like my friend Margaret, she has to think twice before she buys almost anything now.
I can live on what I have at the moment and don't go without much but then I have few overheads and don't have the expences that a lot of families have .My youngest DD has five children and both her and her husband woork to feed and clothe them I help out where I can and the children are very good and sensible and know that if mum says no its because there's no spare money for them. I do believe that things will get tougher and we haven't 'bottomed out' from this recession yet.With pensioners, any savings we have because of the poor rates of interest means their value has been eroded and often what you hoped to get at the end of the year in interest which maybe you thought would help pay for Christmas and extras for your family suddenly isn't there anymore.As I say at the moment I am o.k. and can live within my means but a big heating bill or a sudden unexpected expense could change it all around.Most pensioners live(or exist) on less than £9k per year There are those who have more, but the majority that I know some even have less so something like a new winter coat or some shoes could put a big hole in their budget.At Christmas for presents for my older friends I do buy things that I know will help their budget out during the coming months .I make lots of my presents and do small baskets of 'treats' of nice soap,shampoo,ect or home baked cakes or shortbread.A nice box of chocolates are nice to receive but a nicer jar of jam or marmalade is better and lasts longer.So if you have any older friends this year try to perhaps buy something that they wouldn't normally buy,in the past I have bought a tin of salmon and some small tins of peaches or apricots for my friends and they are appreciated far more than a tin of Roses believe me.:D

Thank you for the suggestions re presents that is really helpful. Just heard this morning on the news about bus passes being cut back by raising the age to 65 and becoming means tested x

mardatha · 16 July 2010 at 8:46AM

Sequeena, one meal isn't enough -or necessary pet. Make a big pot of soup & eat it with cheap bread; make porridge; make filling puddings like semolina or rice

Jamanda, I love the "siege mentality" bit - it is war really isn't it !
Westcoast - this isnt summer, this is a joke ! Even for Scotland this is NOT FUNNY !

the_cat · 16 July 2010 at 8:52AM

Hi everyone

Just popping in to say hello! I have lurked on the old thread regularly and posted occasionally (on the rare occasion when I have found something useful to say:o)

Things are ok for us atm, mostly because of the stupidly low mortgage rates and the fact that job losses have not affected us so far. big hugs to all of you who have not been so lucky

However after a major redundancy scare a few years ago, me and OH had a big mindset change and chipping away at the mortgage has become a major priority. I figure that the more I can manage to pay off while the rates are lower, the less pain there will be once they go back up again. Plus we both have developed a pathological fear of losing jobs in the future and prefer nowadays to just use what we need - you never know what is round the corner!

So although we on paper have a surpluss of money, we live on as little as we can get away with and squirrel the rest

For the first year I now have an allotment (and currently a huge glut of courgettes:rotfl:) and have taken to trawling boot sales more frequently. I would like to support charity shops but the ones round here and very expensive (£15 for a summer dress second hand is expensive, right?) I enter competitions and have had some nice treats and days out through that, plus some nice presents to pop in the gift cupboard. We have put off doing some work around the house whilst we save, but will probably have to do some next year.
Ideally I want to batten down the hatches to save this up in addition over the next few months. so expect to see a lot of me!

Cat

Needhelpsaving · 16 July 2010 at 8:58AM

Hi all,

I too seen the last thread, but never really participated.

We are not doing too badly, my OH has managed to hang on to his job, where I was made redundant, then was taken ill and now have taken any job I can. I used to work in HR, but am now a security officer, some people have looked down their noses at this, but they don't seem to understand that you have to do whatever you can to pay your bills at the moment. I count myself very lucky that I have found another job.

We are not sitting on this good fortune and are having the boiler replaced (we are constantly having to stop it from dying) and are OP'ing on the mortgage to try to get the bills down, that way if we come into hard times again we are not in such a bad situation.

I could do with some help on saving money around the house as I have merely dwnshifted on groceries as opposed to substituting for other cleaning goods etc - any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Any way, i'm going to shut up now!!! lol.

westcoastscot · 16 July 2010 at 9:22AM

Same for you over there Mardartha?? My garden is flattened and everything has gone over early - we always get wet summers but this is more wintery than summery.
jeez its one foot forward the other back isn't it?
congrats on your yoghurt - saves a fortune doesnt it???

downshifter · 16 July 2010 at 9:23AM

Needhelpsaving wrote: »

We are not doing too badly, my OH has managed to hang on to his job, where I was made redundant, then was taken ill and now have taken any job I can. I used to work in HR, but am now a security officer, some people have looked down their noses at this, but they don't seem to understand that you have to do whatever you can to pay your bills at the moment. I count myself very lucky that I have found another job.

I can really identify with that - unfortunately - and it shouldn't be - but we are so often classified by others, and by ourselves too, by what we do for a living. I see 'them' (the managers at the education centre I work at) going in to management meetings with their cakes and lovely coffee, and can't help thinking, I used to go to those, I used to chair those kind of meetings. Now they would see me as one of the lowest support workers, not knowing that I did all that in the past.They're very patronising if they even bother to talk to me! I also work in a shop, and people there only know me as a shop assistant with no other knowledge - and yet I have skills that could help them in areas where they flounder, - strategic planning and people management for example. I know that we should build up our self-esteem so that these kind of things don't matter and we shouldn't care what people think etc etc, but sometimes it's hard to do that, and as Needhelpsaving says, being looked down on is no great fun.

My daughter and her partner have just been made redundant - they worked for the same company. She went to sign on and the woman was totally horrible to her. My daughter was forced to say - Just because I have a 4 bedroomed house and a car (neither of which she can sell, not for want of trying!), I've still been made redundant - I haven't quite had time to move into a council house yet!! Very cheeky child I have, but surely the jobseekers woman must realise that she needs advice and help as much as anyone else. There but for the grace of whoever.........I don't understand how the economy is going to improve with so many redundancies around.

However, welcome Needhelpsaving, and to all the others who have turned up here overnight, fantastic. This is one of the most understanding and supportive threads on this site, no-one will look down their noses at you, in fact, we will do the opposite and really admire and respect you and everyone else who is trying to do their bit.

DS

mardatha · 16 July 2010 at 9:39AM

DS, I know these feelings so well .. try being a nurse who took a job as an office cleaner ! But my husband was the boss and did most of my work for me (I had ME and couldnt cope at all with my old job), and plus we went to work in the same car and halved the petrol. So we were much better off but I didnt like the prats who looked down their noses at me.
That was a bank HQ and I cheer meself up by wondering where they all are now

....

Larumbelle · 16 July 2010 at 9:40AM

Wow, it's taken me ages to read through all the posts this morning! Welcome all the de-lurkers, It's good to have you here :j

There was so much stuff I wanted to comment on but I don't know if I'll remember it all now...

JackieO, you are an absolute inspiration. I know what you mean about getting presents that are practical rather than just a box of chocolates or something. I used to make 'treat' hampers for the lady next door, she used to love them,especially the home made bits and bobs that arthritis prevented her from making herself any more. She was a fantastic source of OS information, though her attitude was very different to yours, JackieO - her view was that you younger people should go out and get a credit card rather than scrabble about to save a few pence

. She definitely reacted against her experiences rather than responding to them. Unfortunately she passed away a few weeks ago. I miss her very much.

Sequeena wrote: »

We're surviving on OHs wage but it's always one thing after another. I'm down to one meal a day this week just to make sure we can get by and I've been struck down with gastroenteritis so I'm very poorly :mad:

Sequeena hun, :grouphug: I've been there. And you know what? Starving yourself is absolutely THE worst thing you can do. It's PROVEN that not getting enough foods, or the right foods, causes depression AND makes existing depression worse. So don't be a hero. Get some proper food down you. Food should be the last thing you stop spending with, along with the roof over your head. Trust me, everything else is detail.

the_cat wrote: »

So although we on paper have a surplus of money, we live on as little as we can get away with and squirrel the rest

That sums things up for us, too. The thing about having been at rock bottom is, it no longer fills me with the same fear. I know I can survive. But I also know that it's incredibly difficult, and that I have to do everything I can to try and cushion the blow this time. Things have been worse for us, and I am concentrating all my efforts on preparing them for when (not if) they get worse again. Oh, and £15 is daylight robbery :rotfl:

v8monkeyboy wrote: »

To be honest, if it comes down to it, I would rather work 7 days per week than have his health ruined by going back there, even for 6 months.

HAD to mention this. It made me melt. It's why, however tough things get, you'll always cope somehow. Adversity either pulls people together or tears them apart. Unfortunately a lot of relationships won't survive these tough times.

jackieglasgow · 16 July 2010 at 9:41AM

I really like this thread

although its moving almost as fast and as scarily as the Flylady thread! :rotfl:

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

It's STILL tough and not getting better - so how are we coping?

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