Getting to know you........

Molly41

Susie,
Dont give up on your dream of becoming a midwife. Im now a retired midwife and miss it dreadfully - its a passion and a vocation. When things have settled down revisit your decision whilst you still can otherwise you will regret it. I believe that you have five years to complete the course from the start day xx

JulieGeorgiana

((HUGS))

Welcome x

Penelope_Penguin

skintsusie wrote: »

Hi all, im Susie and im skint! (this is like an AA meeting)

Looking forward to getting to know you all xxx

Welcome :beer: I'll add this to the thread where everyone introduces themselves, so you can see who we all are

skintsusie

Thanks for moving my thread I had no idea where to put it!!!

What a lovely welcome.

Molly, thanks for your kind words. I will never give up my dream, I love it so much and it definetly is a passion and a vocation, I can't imagine evr doing anything else.

Ollie, I have had specialist advice. My housing association has put me in touch with their financial inclusion officer who is lovely. We went through our budget and debts and drew up a plan. He was great and I felt alot better after seeing him.

amyp78

Im Amy, 32 with 2 kids (8 & 14) and live with my OH.

Been a lurker around here for the last week. I am really bad with money just seem ot spend when I can't but really making an effort to change!

My OH lost his job in Jan we went from £40k a year to benefits, we have ben lucky that the council have been great and sorted out our rent & council tax within a week!

I dont work as my son has SN and hospital appointments which makes working very difficult (childcare etc). I have started to sell books which is flexible and giving me pin money. My OH runs a small Ebay business which gives us a little extra each week to help with bills. I am an OU student studying Psychology (want to be a chartered psychologist).

Made big changes got on a debt plan with CCCS and at the moment paying what we can afford to (despite Lloyds TSB being a pain!) We are shopping at Lidl/Aldi mainly so we have at least halved our shopping bill. I am getting addicted to Freecycle, coupons and special offer hunting!! I'm doing a 'homemade xmas' this year with the children having a main pressie each and then some bits and bobs but not spending silly money.

Anyway I'm rambling a bit!

Amy xx

skintsusie

Hi Amy, welcome.

I know how it is going from a good income to next to nothing so totally understand.

Are you enjoying bargain hunting ect?? I am really starting to enjoy making things stretch and looking for bargains. I dont think i could ever go back to the spending i was used to, i realise now how much we wasted hence when we needed it there was no savings to fall back on.

If you are like me you will spend hours on here!

amyp78

Hi!

It's a big step down isn't it? The kids haven't noticed any change just me cooking alot more which they love esp the baking!

I've had a really good bargain day today. Got £17 off cinema tickets thanks to Nectar and vouchers. Won £10 at my daughter's swimming class (they do a 50p lottery but only been playing for 3 weeks lol!!) and got some bits off Freecycle too. Did treat myself to a slow cooker in the Argos sale to help with low cost dinners. My friend also gave me a 25% off Dorothy Perkins voucher so I got a cardi in the sale as I really need one, came to less than half the original price!

My OH is a MSE widower lol!! I do spend ages here and I am spreading the word! I'm like you, I don't think I could go back to how I was. I was terrible with money but now I am trying very hard to stay on track. I get a real buzz now not from spending but seeing how much I have saved. My OH is picking it up too and even noticed something cheaper which I missed today in B&M lol

pupsicola

I am a lone parent to two adorable little boys

Left an abusive marriage 4 years ago and been getting back on my feet ever since.

I do voluntary work at a school whilst training to be a teaching assistant. Want to show my kids that you have to work hard to get anywhere in life.

I have learnt so much useful advice from everyone on this forum and would like to say a big thank you to you all :beer:

amyp78

Hi pupsicola!

Welcome and cheers! :beer:

I left an abusive ex 6 years ago too and although it was hard at first, I am so much happier and so are my kids.

Beware budgeting gets addicitive and you do start to develop slight OCD when it comes to prices!! :rotfl:

I'm awake at this silly hour as the OH has gone to his first car boot to sell some bits and bobs (it's even rubbed off on him!!)

[Deleted User]

amyp78,pupsicola & skintsusie welcome to you all.You have just joined the best support group you can get .We are all here to help and if you get stuck for ideas on how to make a shilling do the work of twenty then you've come to the right place .We are a very helpful lot in here, and are always around to listen.
I have been frugal through habit and inclination for most of my long life and would find it hard to break the habit now. I just prefer to spend my cash on other things ,like my grandchildren ,holidays ect and I do enjoy making something out of almost nothing .I hate waste in any shape or form so try to make the best use of what I have and like to steetch things so they go further.I also prefer to cook from scratch as I am not keen on chemicals in my food and like to know exactly what I am eating after all you wouldn't put 2*petrol into a 4* car would you so I try to think of myself as having the best I can without breaking the bank in the process. Its amazing what you can eat without it costing you too much and far better than processed pre-frozen rubbish from the supermarkets.I have no objection to supermarkets but I try to be selective in what I buy. Cooking is like any other skill, you learn and that is you learn as you go along I am still learning after cooking my own food for well over 50 years and the recipes and tips you will pick up here will be invaluble .None of the 'take half a dozen eggs and a side of beef ' but practical stuff that can be bought from virtually any shop in the land No frills or pretentions just good honest basic meals that you and your families will enjoy.The recipes on here have all been tried and tasted by the people who are going to eat them and you can't get a better reccomendation than that.So dig in and enjoy and I'm sure we will be able to help you save some cash over the coming months
Cheers and welcome once again
JackieO xx