It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

oystercatcher

happytails wrote: »

I cant pay my overdraft with a shopping voucher can i . OH bought me the WII out of his Xmas bonus as it is the last thing we will ever be able to buy that is 'luxury' and its something we can do together that only costs the electric it will use and the whole family can play it when we've nothing to do (which i can see being quite often when you have no money to go out and spend).

Sarah

I'm sorry Sarah but that Christmas bonus should have gone straight into the debt fund. The voucher should have gone on family or baby essentials. OH should be buying you essentials for Christmas as well.
When times are hard frivolous toys just don't get bought !! How do you think people amused themselves before computer games ??

The sooner you pay off your debts and start saving the sooner you can afford your own place and be independent agan. Every penny counts.

Oystercatcher
(and a hug 'cos we're all moaning and I know it's not easy !)

mummysaver

Good afternoon!

Had a look for the stockpiling thread, but can't find it, I just get lost and distracted by other stuff lol! Any linky would be appreciated, thanks guys!

I have a pretty well stocked first aid kit, always someone in need of something, be it plasters for a scrape, antiseptic spray, bandage for and imagined sprain (amazing how a bandage makes it feel better!), cough and cold remedies, eye wash, eye drops and that amazing new spray, paracetamol, sure there's more! I always keep stuff in the car too, and usually have a small amount of stuff in my bag! Best to be prepared!

Don't think I shall be doing any big food shops for a while, have so much stuff that I can't believe we've actually eaten anything over Christmas! Trying to use up some freezer stuff so I can get the turkey and duck stock in there - much more reduced than usual, will be freezing it in ice cube trays and decanting into bags, I feel like Marco Pierre White, except my stock isn't in little pots! Have big flour stockpiles, I'm still seething that Tesco think it's okay to put up bread flour by so much, how can that possibly be justified?

Icemaiden - I like the idea of your annual food budget, I shall be interested to see how it works out for you. Perhaps if you don't want a separate bulk budget then you could divide your annual budget into 3, most bulk buying would cover about 3 months I'm guessing, or could be spread over them, so perhaps a review in March might make it easier to work out how you were doing, and allow for the system to be refined if necessary?

Sarah - I'm so pleased that you are all able to stay together at your parents. Please don't get to upset by criticism of your spending on here, but I think most of us have been in the position of having very little or no money, and we just don't want to see you make the same mistakes we've made in the past!

Reverbe - please go and visit the CAB or check out that entitledto.com, I'm sure you would be better off financially than you have been told in the past. Good luck!

Well, now that our heating is fully functional again, we were all way too hot with it on as we used to have it lol! So have put it on 7 degrees permanently at the mo, I'm sure having it on a very low heat constantly must cost less, or at least no more than trying to reheat a cold house! Anybody know if this is true?

Sylvan

rosieben wrote: »

I've always kept a good store cupboard, living in the boon docks and no car makes life complicated - its a relief to not have to worry about running out of food if I cant get to the shops, and when we get power cuts its reassuring to know where the candles and torches are (with plenty of batteries and matches in store too of course!);)

The thread you mention is quite funny, but I'm a bit mystified to see one poster finds it amusing to keep first aid stuff in the house? Is it just me or does anyone else keep first aid stuff?

How could anyone NOT keep first aid stuff in the house? Even if they live right next door to a pharmacy there surely wouldn't be time to rush out and buy it when it was needed?

Does anyone else keep a spare car battery in the house, and blankets, biscuits, water, a camping stove and kettle with the first aid kit in the car?

oystercatcher

Sylvan wrote: »

How could anyone NOT keep first aid stuff in the house? Even if they live right next door to a pharmacy there surely wouldn't be time to rush out and buy it when it was needed?

Does anyone else keep a spare car battery in the house, and blankets, biscuits, water, a camping stove and kettle with the first aid kit in the car?

I don't keep a car battery, that's what I pay the RAC to sort out for me! We have camping equipment easily accessible in the garage for use at home.
In the car I have blankets, water, a wind up torch and a few tealight candles with a small jar and fuse wire (for hanging jar up with) a collegue at work who had lived in Canada said that having a tealight in the car could make the difference between life and death if people were stranded overnight out there. If I am travelling long distances or it's particularly snowy then I add food supplies. First kit goes without saying and it's topped up with more stuff than came in it!
I don't worry too much about being stranded in the car as urban sprawl is never far away. However it was only two or three years ago I remember friends and neighbours being stranded overnight on the A1M due to unexpected heavy snow. I use narrow country lanes to nip between the local towns and I guess they could easily become blocked!

Oystercatcher

rosieben

Stock piling thread is here

nykmedia's excellent 'Live on £4k for a year, 2009 Challenge' thread is here

[Deleted User]

Sarah happytails is getting a rough ride at the moment and lots of the comments sound like me, telling my own 3 but sometimes it is best to just say it and stand back, with mouth shut. I think Sarah needed a pick-me-up and sometimes it is hard for others to watch mistakes being made.

We all learn from things that we have done wrong and for a start, I wish I had never been sucked into qvc all those years ago but I was and ebay was the eventual winner. I learnt and I moved on and that is life. One of the other things I learnt is that money makes money and that is why saving a penny is much better than owing a penny

Anyway, I am happy to say that I now have 2 single duvets and 2 duvet covers from 1 large duvet and cover and I am even happier to say that I have finished. Oh that sort of job is so daunting sometimes but now I can justify getting the climarelle duvet I have been wanting

cw18

Icemaiden wrote: »

I have always followed, if not participated in, the monthly grocery challenge in order to keep my food spending in toe but quite often found I was either over my budget one month due to grabbing bargins or stocking up, and then under another another month due to using up etc...so not really giving me an acurate figure of what I was spending.

I run my "grocery challenge" by costing what I use. (This includes the odd bits I have to throw away - which is why I mainly use frozen veg and tinned or dried fruit these days). I add in a full packet when I open it if it's something I don't weigh to cook (such as cereal or gravy powder), even though that may span two months or more, as that's when I'd have had to buy it. I find this method gives me a feel for how I'm doing month-to-month. But things I weigh out like rice and pasta I "cost" what I actually use.

But I'll also have an "annual" budget in 2009, as I'm signed up for the "live on £4k" challenge too.......

cw18

Sylvan wrote: »

Does anyone else keep a spare car battery in the house, and blankets, biscuits, water, a camping stove and kettle with the first aid kit in the car?

No!! The closest I come is a 'jump start box' I keep in the car. The breakdown services get annoyed if you keep calling them for a non-start, and I don't want/can't afford to wait around for an hour every time. It's worth it's weight in gold, and is the best spent £20 of 2008 for me :T (Note to self: must charge it back up, as it's been used 3 times since last charge!)

happytails

I would never spend a christmas voucher on essentials - its just something the family have always insisted we 'treat' ourselves to something with. Besides we have almost everything for baby/family and probably too much stuff for the space we have to put it all.

Yes a Wii is expensive and may i point out my OH bought it me, i would never have said 'oh lets go and get a Wii' - i was angry he'd spent the money on it but i love it all the same. Regardless of the many people saying we could have bought more important things - its done now and i dont regret it because its something we can use for a long time and enjoy.

Anywho, that crappy car i got wouldnt start this morning so had to drag my brother down to jump start it - think im just going to whack a for sale sign in it, draw even or if im lucky make a profit and get rid of the thing! Its not like we will need a car living at mums, 3 'taxi's' and good bus routes should do us for a while

Sarah x

pagangirl

rosieben wrote: »

The thread you mention is quite funny, but I'm a bit mystified to see one poster finds it amusing to keep first aid stuff in the house? Is it just me or does anyone else keep first aid stuff?

I always assumed that everyone kept a basic first aid kit - I do, probably comes from my mum always having one - used to hate iodine when i came in with cut knees etc - (always was a tomboy)!:o Can't imagine anyone who would be without one - common sense I suppose - some of us have got it, ands some of us ain't :rolleyes:

Happytails - don't think anyone was trying to upset you by saying what they did, although you did suprise me too with what you spent that voucher on. It would have better to have kept it for when the baby arrived and seen what was needed then. We've probably all been there and done what you did at some point in the past. Its easier to look back with hindsight !