It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

wilbur98

Happy New Year everyone.Hope it's a good one in mind,body and soul.I for one am going to try and do all i can to protect my family and try to relax more.Looking back i spent far to much of last year worrying about things i had no control over and it made me ill,so no more of that.I love this thread and have read for a long time,only now had the nerve to post.
Blessings
m

mummysaver

Happy new year to everyone, may 2010 be the year when all our dreams and hopes come true!

Charlie's Aunt, what fabulous news about the job, I can only imagine the difference it must have made to you all and your Christmas! xx

Wilbur, welcome to posting here! Everyone is always soooo supportive and full of amazing ideas, it's surprising how just when you think you've done all you can that someone else comes up with something else to try, and incredibly welcome too! This thread has been a real help to me more times than I can remember! xx

Well we still have no heating (hope yours is sorted a bit quicker than mine Rummer!), have fingers crossed for next week! Been incredibly cold, but kids have still been brilliant, even after going and spending a few days with their dad, they didn't moan about lack of heat here! Supplies of blankets and throws have been lifesavers, not to mention the extra duvets and all the other ideas we've gained here! I'm just holding onto the thought that we are saving a fortune in gas! Prob not helping the electricity bill, but because our gas isn't mains, electricity is actually a fair bit cheaper at the moment!

To finish off the year we had a car crash, thankfully we were all fine, which was incredibly lucky given that we were on the M5 in the rain and it was getting dark! Unfortunately the car hasn't been so lucky, but with insurance and some specially put aside savings for this kind of emergency we should soon be back on the road.

For 2010 my plan is to look on the bright side and not to worry so much, and try to enjoy the ride far more, rather than worrying about where we're going constantly!

xx

pagangirl

Happy and (hopefully Prosperous) New Year to all :hello:

Nice to meet you wilbur 98 - everyone one this site is really friendly - hope you post some more !

Mummysaver - accident sounds scary - glad all ok - shakes you up tho dunnit - hope your new year gets better.

Well its back to square one for me, coz job finished New Year's eve so now skint AND jobless - not a good start to 2010, but can only get better. Back to Jobcentre on Monday ! :rolleyes:

andan

Charlies aunt, great news about the job, i bet that has made a real difference to your Christmas and has come at the right time.

Nice to see you on here Wilbur.

Mummysaver, poor you re the car accident. Glad no one was hurt, sounds scary though.

Well our lodgers moved out a few days ago. My OH's work still hasn't picked up, but luckily thanks to advertising our rooms again, we have one new flatmate moving in next week and someone is coming to look at our other room next week too.

Hope everyone else is doing well and has had a good christmas and new year however they have decided to spend it.

sammy_kaye18

Hello all!

I have returned to you lovely people on the OS threads. I have had a bad few months after my bad news in August and went on a downward spiral, all forms of money saving, saving, caring went out the window basically but I am back now - full of the joys of.........well cant say spring as im currently surrounded by snow but you get the idea.

Am off to reread over the last month or so to see what you have all been up to.

Madartha! hello stranger!

Was shocked last night to see so much panic buying but I guess the village here has good reason. We are in a welsh valley for those who dont know me, and there are 3 entrances into my village, one is a twisty road around the edge of a mountain in the wrong direction, one is a nice straight route prone to landslides, the other is along a high road with a very sharp bend and then a STEEP :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: hill to get down to village level. But we currently have snow/ice at the minute. The 'easy access road' has had a major landslide on it so its in passable so everyone has to use the high road and the hill was ice sheeted yesterday and there was about 3 accidents (its a case of if you crash and go through a barrier though you'll end up about 100ft below in soemone's back garden. So needless to say the big arctic lorries that carry the coop deliveries cant get a)round the bend or b)through the streets at the bottom of it and if they hit ice :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: so needless to say last night we had no bread, no rolls (not even part baked!) no potatoes, no fresh veg of any sort, limited milk, no salt, barely any toilet roll! and the tin aisle had been demolished! now I get there's panic buying and we are the main shop to 85% of the village but that was ridiculous! Luckily I'd picked up bread that morning when I saw delivery go in and I have enough flour yeast etc to hand make my own later if need be but cant imagine how a lot of housebound / elderly people are coping. My heating too is going to be shockingly high this quarter as its the first time ever ive had it on timed and it goes on an hour and a half around boys bedtime (on at 7, off at 8.30) but then its back on from about midnight until 5am because its just too bloody cold. plus I've bled our radiator countless times and it just still point blank refuses to warm up! so our room is Baltic! might see if i can find our small fan heater out to use in there because council are useless quite frankly around here - been waiting for bathroom fan to be fixed since April!

Apart form that
OH eye is much better now - hes been referred for every 3 months check-up so that's a good sign and his eye seems better although how much he can actually see i don't know.
I'm al right - I've lost 2 and a half stone since February 2009 so am now sat in a size 14 as opposed to the size 18 I was last year - cant complain really though which is nice.
Attempting to get the flat sorted, straight and decorated at the minute on the cheap.
Thankfully we are both still employed too and not too much is wrong with the flat except theres lousy insulation but they are on about swapping over to a private housing association which if it goes ahead could mean double glazing for all the houses/flats - ohhh a god send! being that we've been single glazed for the last 5 years! .

Welcme to newbies, hugs to old friends and anyone who needs them. x x x x x

Rowan9

Sammy- wonderful to see you back. Take care and stay warm!
W

mardatha

Hi SK, at least you've GOT a village shop ! Thank god for one wee laddie who got muy Asda delivery through before xmas. He struggled up the street with a trolly thing in deep snow and wearing a tshirt and green waistcoat ! If it hadnt been for that delivery then I'd be gnawing the husband's legs by now...
It snowed a lot last night and the poor husband is away out to help the neighbour clear the road for the 700th time. Ran out of places to put it and they are just chucking it over fences into gardens now !

Rummer

Welcome back Sammy it is great to see you here again! Wilbur it is so good to meet a new friend, I am glad that you have joined us!

Rummer

Ooops I hit the post button by accident! Things here have been good, the heating came back on of it's own accord on boxing day and has been working quite happily since then, fingers crossed it was just having an off day as it is only a year and a bit old.

I have been working hard to organise our finances and have successfully paid of one of my two credit cards and I am putting every spare penny into clearing the other one so fingers crossed it will be gone by the end of the year if not sooner, then I will be free of debt (apart from student loans)!

Home wise we have been frantically decorating using the supplies we bought in when we were flush and my kitchen is almost ready! Family bought me a lot of amazing things for my kitchen so when the painting is finished it will look wonderful. One it is done my OH is going to finish the bathroom which has been half done for over a year and the final thing we are going to do is the hall which again has the paint waiting to go on the walls.

Phew that sounds like a lot! Once it is done though we will have a break until Easter when we can start o the dining room! It will be so nice to have our home the way we want it, then we will have the summer free to get our veggie growing sorted.

On the crafting front I have a whole bag of fabrics that I got free from freecycle and I am going to use that to make some nice gifts for next xmas as well as a few bits and pieces for me just to scatter round the house.

I have also decided to improve my fitness so I have upped my exercise and cut down my chocolate consumption (that really hurts) so far I have lost 2lbs so hopefully I will trim down over the next couple of months.

Anyway I have written quite enough so I shall go and get some work done, look forward to chatting to you all later!

Icemaiden

Happy new Everyone!!

It seems like an age since I last posted on here, nearly 12 months I think:eek: but new year, new start & all that:rolleyes: I'm still on my own with the kids after O/H left in Oct 2008 after 20 yrs together and last year I really just concentrated on getting myself organised into a routine as had loads of stuff to sort, as you can imagine!

Its not been easy & I will admit money was spent rather silly in areas totally un-nessasary:o just because it was conveiniant(sp), I didn't have any produce from the garden over the summer, haven't meal planned, haven't shopped around for best prices...need I say anymore..

Sooo, I need to get back in the saddle so to speak as I've just had a bit of a light-bulb moment as Ex has just informed me he hasn't any money to pay his contribution this month!_pale_

On the plus side..I still have my part-time job, my health, my children a roof over our heads and one very old car..

It feels great to be back

Ice
xxx