Live on £4000 for a year - Part 3

bails

Hmm, reckon there's a way round it somehow Mumzy...I'm having a think, can you hear my brain whirring? Back in a min... Okay, I reckon the 12.15 - 3.15 is the least problematic so let's start there. How far is college from your son's school ie how long will it take you to get there? Does the school have any afterschool options which wold allow him to stay for an extra half an hour til you arrive?

Frugaldom

mumzyof2 wrote: »

...makes me mad as goverment want people to come off benifits but when they try they make it as hard as possible for people who have not got good grades in GCSE and need to go college.

rant over!!

Mumzy, no wonder you are having a rant, that scenario is ridiculous! I have noticed in the past that 'they' always seem to assume that everyone has someone to help and/or support them. They can't seem to understand that many people are completely dependant upon themselves! That part makes me mad, too! Have you ever considered self-employment? I am sure you could get financial help setting up, my DD went via the Business Gateway for a start-up grant and also applied through the Prince's Trust (or whatever it is called nowadays.) In the beginning, whilst eanings are being built up, you would be entitled to both working tax and child tax credits, you'll have your single person discount on council tax. Mind you, DD needs to fit her work around nursery times and still needs help with child minding, as nursery closes during school holidays. Hmm...

Is there anything you like doing that could earn you an income but also fit in with school and nursery times? Like being home-based, selling online, home help, cleaning, ironing, personal shopper, sewing, mystery shopping, catalogue distribution, leaflet drops, surveys etc, etc, etc... ?
What could you do whilst the children are at home, that's the biggest question. Does their dad ever look after them?

Oops, I forgot to add the most mportant part... then you could home study!

mama67

Burlesque_Babe wrote: »

Just been round watering down stuff. Added a splash of water to my hair conditioner which was particularly gloopy, fabric conditioner, washing up liquid (again!) and clothes washing liquid.

It's amazing how unecessarily thick they all are when you realise a top up of water at 1/4 empty doesn't affect how well they work!

With alot of these type of products I have kept and old empty bottle and when I have to open a new one I immediately pour half into the old one and then top up with water.

So all bottles are half product/half water.

Its only pennies saved each time but those pennies add up.

bails

Ooh, I forgot to say - former house owner reckons that hair is a good slug deterrent! She's off to her hairdressers to get some so I'll let you know how it works (I'm thinking the hair will wash away?)

mama67

shaz_mum_of__2 wrote: »

The plan is to try and live off hubbys income and save my grant in a high interest account and possibly pay some extra mortgage payments


I daresay the plan will fly out the window come christmas:rotfl: :rotfl:

Will have 1 less to feed come september when 16yo goes but lose child benefit even though he is technically in full time school (army colleges don't count) although we have agreed he will pay some sort of board all the time not just when he is home (my parents think this is unfair i say i am preparing him for the real world)

We do gain a little as students dont pay council tax so a 25% reduction on bill (about £300)

We have shopped around and got the best deals possible i think except phone ..........we have BT line and no other supplier so stuck with them ...we get calls and broadband somewhere else though but have to pay line rental could save another £20 pcm if the cable co laid cable a few hundred yards further!!

We cancelled all fees for bank accounts ,fees incurred by not paying by DD,etc


Have earned £75 of amazon vouchers from a cashback site and stoozed almost £8k earning us almost £400 interest so far(have just transferrred the"debt" again to a 0% card for 15 months

The only 2 treats we have now are a DVD club membership and the wildlife club membership

we both have mag subscriptions paid with clubcard points too

MY point ......yes there is one is we have now saved money .how do we now make some extra ????

toyed with ideas book sales,car boots ,jams and chutneys,raising bedding plants and veg plants ,building birdboxes/tables i would like a craft based hobby busines like selling gift baskets and various spring ,summer, christmas fairs but the outlay would be quite big but hope if keep local there would be follow up work

Any other suggestions ??

Sharronx

Shaz,

For books try here there's no listing fee and you are paid a flat amount of £3 per book with an allowance for p&p on h/b books.
I have used these to list some of my h/b books, have sold a couple; they stay listed for 6 months but you can remove if you sold through a different source.

Burlesque_Babe

afternoon all. Some outoings today unfortunately - £36 Virgin for phone/bband and cable TV (will my area ever get freeview?!) and £30 to pay off CC I'd put something on.

Today was going to be a NSD but I need to get my doggy some food. Even though he lives with his Dad (my ex) the arrangement has worked out to be I buy him the dry food and some treats and he gets him his main box of treats, his dentastix and his fresh chicken (he has the Tesco Value thighs roasted off, 2 a day mixed in to his food). I don't mind sharing the responsibility though and it's only 3 or 4 pounds every month or so.

I've got mince, potatoes, gravy, leeks, baby onions, carrots and swede in the SC and I'm going to ladle it into giant yorkshire puddings for dinner.

I finished off a huge tub of Lidl scrummy yoghurt yesterday and I've washed the tub. It's like a child's bucket complete with lid and handle. It holds a litre so I'm maybe thinking - put a hole in the bottom and grow something food wise on the window sill???? Suggestions please for anything that is unkillable?!!

Brighton_belle

bails - I made some more yogurt last night but this time put in 4 tbsp of dried milk instead of 2 and it came out lovely and thick:j . OH's mother puts out hair in the spring for the birds -they take it to make nests!!
Went to my mosaic class in town today and came home without feeling obliged to spend any money in the shops:j .
OH had collected his tent from his parents attic: could this mean he is actually thinking of us 'going away' somewhere (he doesn't do holidays:D ) Really excited, although a little uncertain of the sleeping arrangements (i.e. does tent come with feather bed). We're going to put it up at my parents this weekend, as we don't have a lawn', just to sse what condition it is in (hasn't been used sine 1987 apparently:eek: )
1274 - i'm with everone else - definitely go for it, especially if you don't much like your current job.

shaz_mum_of__2

mama67 wrote: »

Shaz,

For books try here there's no listing fee and you are paid a flat amount of £3 per book with an allowance for p&p on h/b books.
I have used these to list some of my h/b books, have sold a couple; they stay listed for 6 months but you can remove if you sold through a different source.

Thanks mama67 but link not working

have you seen this

http://www.wrawby.org.uk/

looks like a fun day out and not too far from you (or me)


Shaz

Frugaldom

Hi guys, home early here as the show was practically a wash out! Never mind, we did get to see all the animals whilst the rain lashed down on us and the local cheese company had a stall selling their seriously strong cheddar (yum!) for £5 per kilo! I think I did really well - we walked to the showfield, HS paid the entry fees and all I spent was a tenner - on cheese! :rotfl: No cowboys to be seen this year, as it was a motorbike stunt team instead. Not sure if they were going to be allowed to perform because of the safety aspects (or lack of) with bikes, crowds and mud. Beer tent was busy, though, and the 'kids' are still insisting that tonight's dance will go ahead as usual. DD was grumbling because she didn't have pink wellies to wear! :rolleyes: My little princess, I'm so proud! :rotfl:

BurlBabe, if I was you, I'd grow a pepper plant in the bucket. These are really easy and chances are that you'll have a pepper in the house that you can use the seeds. And happy camping! Hope you get the chance to try out that tent!

I guess now that I'm back home I should get something constructive done - maybe I'll bake some little sponge cakes and some oat biscuits. Or maybe I'll juggle some figures to see where else I can cut back on spending. Must go and update signature to reflect the cheese haul now.

mumzyof2

College is about 20mins bus ride there is an after school club and i think its £6 but on top of the nursery fee's of £28 for a day or £16.50 for half a day there is no way i can afford it if i cant qualify for the free childcare.

NYK i dont know what i could do really, mystery shopping i could do but it might not provide me enough money to come off benifits. I would also sell online but dont have enough money to start it up. No there dad doesnt look after them TH|ANKGOD hahaha. I dont want him to either!