50p a day til christmas, healthily?!-Weezl's next challenge (part 2)

jtb2412

Hi cw18 ..... sorry to hear about your impending redundancy xx :grouphug:

I'm sure you can do this, but your in good hands on this thread ! I'm sure everyone will have lots of ideas to help. You've probably already thought about this but what about sending off for loads of freebies (good lot of them on the freebies board and usually household products so might help cut down a bit there?) Keep us posted on how you're doing !

Mrs M .... I dare not look at the jam maker ! I've got a perfectly good preserving pan (trying to make it sound as if I couldn't possibly entertain the idea of getting one of them ! haha) I wish I had a big storage place to stockpile for the winter - I envy you ! Most I can manage is about 3 weeks worth - might try for a month in October, i'll see how much I can run the freezer down before then ! :rolleyes:

Some bad news on the allotment front i'm afraid ....... we're still a heck of a long way down the list (boooooooooooo) and we can expect to wait for about a year before we get one !!!!!!!!!!! (BIG BOOOOOOOOOO !)

So .......... hubby has 'worked from home' today and has moved the pond to the other side of the garden :eek: . Fish seem to be doing ok and it will free up the whole south side so we can grow plenty more ! Only problem with doing that is I need to buy some plants/grasses to make it look nice. Where it was before had loads of small shingle (never liked that - done by previous house owners) so I need to find something to do with that too ! Bit of work ahead of us but looking forward to the finished product.

Good job we're on a food budget - going to need the extra cash to do the garden (again ! :rolleyes: )

Had chilli tonight (made with Mrs M's famous passata) and it was absolutely delicious ! Got enough sauce to make another one with on Weds . Just put a coconut loaf in the oven too so might have to have a small slice later with a cuppa :drool: .

Hope everyone has had a lovely day and enjoyed the sunshine !

ifonlyitwaseasier

oooh a new thread!! i've missed so much on the old one,

CONGRATS TO WEEZL & AM! :T :j :T :j :T

so happy for you both!!!

i promise i will try to catch up on the old thread and keep up with this one from now on! dib dib dib, dab dab dab etc

cw18

jtb2412 wrote: »

Hi cw18 ..... sorry to hear about your impending redundancy xx :grouphug:

Thanks

It's not actually come as a huge suprise -- they've had no work for me since 3 days before they announced redundancies.... and that was back in the middle of May. I've been on "gardening leave" since then, with the only requirement being to go into the office once a week to do my timesheet and check my emails -- which I can do in a little over 30 mins from turning on my PC to switching off again

If they don't find me a role in the office by the end of this Wednesday (unlikely with 36 jobs still to be shed) then I get my official redundancy notification...... though I will be "working" my notice which means my official end date is actually 26th November. I don't expect to actually get called into the office during the notice period though

In some respects (other than the big drop in income) it's not actually a bad thing to happen. My hubby has cancer, so I'll be staying home as his registered carer instead. Saves the headaches of trying to get unpaid leave to look after him, which would mean no income at all (you can't get benefits if a job is held open for you) and without any capital behind us. So I'd have had to consider handing in my resignation at some point in the future, and then that would have been treated as putting myself out of work -- so benefits could be blocked for several months and still no capital. Plus hubby would then complain about me having resigned and left us with no money, and I would possibly have resented having to do it. Being made redundant takes the decision out of my/our hands, so removes some of the ill-feelings there could have been between us

jtb2412

Wow CW18 ...... you've had a really tough time .... I'd never have guessed as you're always so positive on here ! I think it's when the tough times come that we really come into our own. Makes me feel guilty for moaning about not having an allotment when you have much more to worry about . If you ever need to bend anyone's ears ..... I've got big ones (ears that is ! lol) xx

ceridwen

cw18 wrote: »

Getting worried about the budget I need to try and stick to

I reckon that in order to keep our spending within the Benefits Agencies "permitted" level once my redundancy goes through, and after paying all our regular bills, I can't afford more than £2.50 per person per day -- and that includes all household bits (washing powder to bin bags to light bulbs) and hygiene product (loo rolls to shampoo), but doesn't leave us anything for bus fares if hubby and I want to go out (he has a disabled bus pass so would only have to pay for me), nothing for either of us to go out anywhere that needs money, nothing for his beer or any cigs, nothing for birthday or Christmas pressies, and nothing for any house or car repairs. So I really need to get it below that £2.50 figure, as even pennies a day below that will soon add up towards some of the other bits.

Just finished updating my 'accounts' for this month, and am now going to have to go over it trying to find anywhere I can trim back. The only household bits I've picked up are some dishcloths, a couple of muffin trays, a bag of 16 loo rolls, and half a dozen cheap energy efficient lightbulbs. There's no personal hygiene products in the total at all (have a small stockpile already). Also hardly any meat, as I've been using from the freezer.

At £2.50 each per day, that would give me £112.50 to the end of tonight -- and I've managed to spend just over £86

If I include the mini oven I got from Aldi, then my total goes up to just over a rather shocking £104 !!!!!

Well...I've been on benefits back years ago and they were enough to live on then - JUST. But I do know they have been cut a lot since. This "permitted" level to live on - I presume you are referring to the amount of capital you will have (after allowing for receiving redundancy money) having to be apportioned out weekly to the same amount "dole" money would give you until you are down to the low level of "capital" one is allowed if on benefits?

If this is the case - then I do wonder myself whether its possible to claim Unemployment Benefit as such (whatever they are calling it these days - think both that and Income Support subsequently are called "Jobseekers Allowance" these days?) for the 6 months I believe one is allowed to claim it with no problem - and, at the point, at which it formerly switched to being means-tested "Income Support" is it possible to stop your claim for the duration - whilst you lived on your capital at a reasonable level (rather than an equivalent to dole money level) until your savings are down to that teeny measly little "allowed level" of savings - and then put in a claim again?

Dont know the ins and outs on this - as it has been literally decades since I was last unemployed. I dont know how many years worth of N.I. contributions you have to date and whether this would affect it - as I know it might be a possible route for me to take if I were in that situation (as I already have over 30 years worth of N.I. contributions safely "under my belt").

Think it would be worth putting a query on this over on the Benefits Board and see whether this would be possible - no point in struggling to survive on benefits level income unless and until one absolutely has to....

(one leetle possible economy I noticed there - not buying bin bags any more and just putting rubbish straight into the dustbin).

EDIT: you do need to check your benefits due situation independently - and not take their word for it. Voice of experience time! I've turned round and told THEM how much they were due to pay me and how it was made up before now - which was more money than they had told me. I was the one that was right.

In_Search_Of_Me

hello lovely people..how we gonna cope without our lovely weezl eh?! Good for them to have some chill time though as both have been working very hard of late and I do worry bout them overdoing it so will do them good to have a break. Hopefully mrs w will come up with a plan for me tricking myself into not spending money!
I have ascertained that there is a certain thrill to shopping that can only be euquated to one other experience which I wont metion. How then to get the same thrll while spending no money...there lies the problem...
Hugs for you cw...sure it will come as a relief to be done and to be able to spend time with oh...puts things into perspective doesent it?
sorry to hear re allotment. Wish you were closer to me as could really do with help on mine. My friend came for lunch (chicken curry, coconut rice, choc brownies and ice cream - all hm plus sent off with jam and chutney). Anyway it worked and will help when they can which is fab new...alas the weeds have grown somewhat since I was last there...will maybe go up for a bit tomorrow and pull some weeds as I hear that there is an inspection due and dont want a weed order...
Great that you sorted the jam pan mrs m...it does look so easy but I certainly couldnt justify the cost!!
Those who havent already done so dont forget that I am doing a baby shower for the weezles...I've a spreadsheet so I know who has said what and I know that both of them will be so touched...things like this I feel restore faith in humanity and with all the trying times it means so much more...a much loved Fergus even before he is here!!

echelon101

Quick question did you ever consider multi-vits or are they too expensive?

In_Search_Of_Me

sorry echelon but who does the ? relate to? I have to say I take multi vits as never 100% confident that I've covered everything and tend to be low in iron but try to get them online (via quidco of course!) when I can!
oo crossed posts all over the place...c do you have compost too? I noticed that I've cut down alot since composting (with my bokashi bucket that was given by a friend) and use less black bags but have to use em due to cat litter...

cw18

Hey! Life happens :rolleyes:

And at times it sucks too :eek:

But we're a lot better off than some people..... we have family within an hour or two by car, we have a house, and we shouldn't be in any danger of losing the house or being forced out of it for at least 3 years

So things aren't all bad

I'd love an allotment, so don't blame you for moaning about such a long wait. Unfortunately I daredn't even put my name on a list, as I don't know that I'd have the time to dedicate to it -- even if I managed not to put my back out again while working it !!!!!

My current plan is to get some containers and grow things in them in our back garden which is roughly 10x10 metres and south facing -- but whether I actually get any crops from them really depends on how successful I am at keeping the dogs off them (especially the dalmatian who loves raw fruit and veg) LOL



Think I'm going to have to go back through the recipe index and cost up a few of the things I'd previously discarded purely 'cos I didn't expect people to try them. Hubby and son have actually tried a couple of new things in the last couple of weeks I expected complaints about -- but not a peep from either of them

cw18

ceridwen wrote: »

This "permitted" level to live on - I presume you are referring to the amount of capital you will have (after allowing for receiving redundancy money) having to be apportioned out weekly to the same amount "dole" money would give you until you are down to the low level of "capital" one is allowed if on benefits?

that's the one..... I've managed to find out exactly what we'd get if we had no capital at all, so know what we have to stick to (including some non-means tested benefits we'll have coming in). Can't claim JSA as I'll be claiming Carer's Allowance instead. Not restricted to 6 months, and don't have to apply for jobs or attend interviews -- which means I can't get into trouble for missing appts if hubby's having a "bad" day.

ceridwen wrote: »

(one leetle possible economy I noticed there - not buying bin bags any more and just putting rubbish straight into the dustbin).

Eeek at the thought! We don't put our rubbish straight out -- it goes into a kitchen bin first. So I'd have two bins to wash out (kitchen and wheely) which would bump up our water bill. We normally only use 1 bin bag a week anyway -- for gathering up round rooms I use carrier bags (we have an old mountain of them), and for major room clear outs I tend to use the bags that charity collectors push though the letter box in the hope you'll fill them and leave them out on collection day.