It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

Gigervamp

Found out yesterday that my DD's being made redundant. She only got promoted to the assistant manager job a couple of months ago.

Couldn't have come at a worse time for her. She's currently looking for somewhere to live because her dad (who she's living with) is moving down to Kent (they live in Essex atm).

It seems like everyone else knew about it before she did too. It was on the news before her work told her. (She works for Birthdays.)

Yategirl

Oh no Gigervamp hope your dd manages to find something soon...

my dh was finally made redundant and finishes next week... it's wierd.. somedays I feel positive that we will be ok.. it'll be tight but we will be ok and other days I feel really low with it all...

bellaquidsin

Yategirl sorry about that. My DH was redundant in 1990/91 and was out ofwork for 10 months. I know what you mean about feeling positive about it some days and no so on other days, but you do settle in to it and make the most of what you've got.

He eventually got a job at a place he had worked for through an agency. They were reluctant to give it him as it was so low paid and much less than what his previous job had been but he managed to convince them that it would be OK for him and has been there for 18years.

He is just about to retire (in three week's time) and his salary now is £16k,
I have only just realised from reading this thread recently just how low that is.

We have been very well blessed in many ways and I have come to know that God's blessings don't always come in pay packets. My father was very generous while he lived and I had the legacy of him and previous relatives living quite frugally when he died.

I know these circumstances are perculiar to us, but you never know what is round the corner. I do hope it all works out for you.

I am now busy trimming sails and cutting corners ready to manage on the £14k that our pensions will amount to, there is a perverse satisfaction in 'managing' but some days it doesn't feel so jolly.

Bella.

sammy_kaye18

Hi People

Wow i only just re found this thread and have been catching up. Thankfully my job is still where it was and boyfriend still has his for the moment and so does my mother(thankfully)

Well at the minute me and my little family are getting ready for a bit of a rocky few months. Anyone who knows me knows my boyfriend lost his site back in 2007 and practically went blind in one eye overnight, last year he had a partial graft in his eye which didn't work and now he has finally got some good news and a donor cornea has been found. He is going to be getting his cornea transplant on June 22nd the day after his 30th birthday- hoping it makes a difference but he might be off work for up to 4 months which i know means he can claim sick pay but it will be a drop in our income so at the minute I'm trying to make sure everything is either paid up to date or ahead of itself. As of next month i have paid a debt off and should have about £150 a month left over, although next month (June) I see it mainly going on extra food so i don't have to leave boyfriend alone too much and his birthday present) but then as of July Im hoping we can actually start to get some savings together.

Its also my little bens birthday next week - can you believe hes 5 already - those who knew me when i first joined will remember me heavily pregnant! Im very thankful though that we are ok at the minute and had praise from my in laws the other day saying how well i'd raised my son as a young mum that he is thankful for what he gets and not spoilt in any way like her other 4 grand kids. I try my hardest to get him his one special gift on special occasions but other than that he doesn't have loads but enough that hes happy. Like this year because ive managed to get ahead with council tax payments I was able to afford his DS which was on a deal when i had a council tax free month - ive brought no games for it but other family members have and i know he'll be over the moon with that - apart from that he has 3 other presents from me - a watch, a toy motorbike and a little dress up costume - but I know he'll be happy with his lot..

dubgirl wrote: »

I know i am going to have to go back to my budget and tweak it again. I do all the usual things of cooking from scratch etc. Are we going to reach the stage of some folks not being able to afford even the basics!

Yes, but it will only be that MORE of us will be having this problem. People on low incomes, or who can't budget have been doing this for years.
And this is also how the majority of the world still lives. Food or heat, heat or roof over you head. Feed the children not yourselves etc. We will be hearing all of these this year and next I fear.
chev

I agree - I think a lot of people are getting this war and tweaking budgets and making decisions such as the or food etc. I already have a list of things to do to get ourselves ready for winter even though its only May - I figure its better to be ahead and with boyfriends surgery pending I cant rely on his wages really being that as its his sight and he drives a car transporter they could decline him back on health grounds because if it goes wrong he can be classed as partially sighted and have his license taken off him so for us every little thing takes alot of consideration but im thankful that we are still able to have heat when its needed within reason and food, roof over our head etc. I for one though am watching my budget tightly again although i think my £100 shop has long gone but i need to get back on the OS bus - i watch every penny as it is but i need to tighten things up a bit now.

Karren
I wish my parents and in laws were like you! My mum is very very selfish and soon as i was 17 I was out on my ear! And OH parents have emigrated but they would never ever have helped liked that if they could have afforded too, the attitiude is whats mine is mine thank you very much!!!
But I adore my children and hope that I can help them to have an easier life that Ive had so I quess they did teach us a lesson, how to be better paretns than they were.

My mother was the same as soon as I got pregnant at 18 i was out on my own - thankfully though i have loving in laws who took me in and then later took me and my young son in again. So i know i can depend on her and am already in the process of trying to do my best to provide for my son even though hes 5 - i make sure he's fed, clothed, watered, safe and warm by working c@appy jobs to provide for him - and I do my best by him on his birthday and Christmas.

Ceridwen
I would class it as "less than national average income" (currently about £25,000 pa I believe?).
My scale runs =
- less than national average is low income
- NMW or not much more than is "peanuts".
So I rate less than £20,000 pa as very low and less than £15,000 as "totally shocking".
There is also a bit of a subjective element to this - in that some parts of the country exacerbate any low income problems one has (ie because they are particularly dear to live in) - tell me about it...as I'm in one of them......

doh! Ceridwen you'd love my little household then - we manage on about £11,000 a year between mine and boyfriends jobs. Then when you think our water, rent and council tax for a year comes to £3930. It leaves us £7,000. Then £960 is maintenance for his other son so we get about £6,000 a year to look after me, boyfriend, step son on weekends, dog, 2 terrapins, run a car and any other payments - ie birthday Xmas etc - yikes! Ben gets looked after by his child benefit and tax credits but now he's five and in full time school a lot of this goes towards clothes, uniform, shoes, packed lunches, he has dinners 2/3 x a week, school trips, plays, donations etc


I am already getting grief form family for thinking about Xmas so soon (yes i said CHRISTMAS!!) but to be honest if i don't start saving now then i wont be able to afford it because some dreaded nasty bill will crop up no doubt. I want to make sure we can stay as warm as possible on little money though as im not expecting a marvellous summer and if all prices keep going up then it will be a struggle for us to afford big bills.

cheerfulness4

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

I already have a list of things to do to get ourselves ready for winter even though its only May

I've done exactly the same! I figured that it was best to make the list while everything was still fresh in my mind about what could have improved the preps we made last year.
Also thought I might stand a better chance of getting those thick, long winter curtains in the charity shops for the doors if there weren't loads of others doing likewise. :rolleyes:

Hope all goes well for your b/f.
Oh and I have to say I have your £100 menu planning and shopping list printed out in the front of my recipe folder. Prices may have changed but the good ideas are still there.

Gigervamp

Nice to see you again Sammy Kaye.

Hope your bf's surgery goes well.

sammy_kaye18

Oh and I have to say I have your £100 menu planning and shopping list printed out in the front of my recipe folder. Prices may have changed but the good ideas are still there. /QUOTE]


awwwww...... thanks cheerfulness - thats made my day.
Have to say I have been looking at curtains but my hallway is currently the dogs bedroom in the night and being that hes 9 this year - if he has an accident he tends to pee up the nearest available thing so need to get a short curtain i think that can cover the letter box to keep draughts out but is out of reach form him. Also my list is on the computer so i can delete or add to easily etc as i go and ive made sure to get bits and pieces too for my step son who comes on a weekend. Hate to think hes going cold whilst rest of us are sat cuddled up. Was thinking I might make a cuddle hamper for my sister with nice smellies, PJs, Blankets, water bottle, hot chocolates etc for Xmas as she's 22 and a single mum to 2 young girls and making the girls there own mini ones too with those teddy rice pack things too.


Gigervamp - nice to see you again hun - i do wonder when im walking around Bridgend if i see someone else looking in the bargain section if its you. lol x

Thanks for the well wishes for my bf peeps

kidcat

Hi Sammy kaye, I too have started to think of Christmas, and have managed to save over half of my Christmas food shopping money on a Christmas Savings card, I am hoping that once I have managed to reach the top up limit, I will begin a new card to take advantage of the top up again. I have managed in recent weeks to up the amount I put onto the card and am hopeful of completing three. This would cover all my Christmas food, any clothes and some presents, and may (if I am really careful) contribute towards a new TV for the living room in the January sales!
Our current TV is dying and may well not see Christmas but I did think it better to be prepared and take advantage of Asdas top up scheme!

Hving made baskets for everyone last Christmas I have decided to try something similar again, however I do plan to start earlier and with that in mind have started looking for ideas.

I hope your BF op goes ok, I will remember the date and be thinking of you all.

sammy_kaye18

kidcat - i know -its terrible and like i said my family and friends think im a nutter for thinking about it so early but if i dont now then like i said there is no way ill have saved enough.

Hoping to have (if im really careful and literally pay bills before anything else) I should have about £200 a month left over if im good with extra shifts. Hoping i can put about £150 as of July away into a savings account so I'll have about £900 for Christmas and then put about £20 a month onto a stamp saving card with Mr T so ill have about £120 for food/treats/pressies.

Im not planning on spending all £900 for Xmas btw - I want to actually get some savings going as I haven't had any since I was about 18 so I'll probably spend about £400 - £500 max! and hence why im starting now to see if i can grab any bargains. Am just going to add a cuddle basket each to my Xmas gift list for sister and nieces though lol


Oh dear

was thinking about this a bit too much and now have cuddle hampers for

my sister in pink.
my oldest niece whos 4 in princess things
my young niece who will be 2 in fifi and the flower tots
my grandad who has arthritus in blue
my nan whos 65 in pale yellow and green.

doh!

bellaquidsin

Hi Sammy,

Nice to see you back and still keeping your end up - you're a marvel.

Hope all goes well with you BF.

Bella.