It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

adouglasmhor

kidcat wrote: »

Thanks, I will see how deep the containers in the garage are. Thinking of trying spring greens too, as we use two a week just on the bunny, so if I can grow some of them myself it would be a big help.

Maybe try ball or globe carrots if you can get the seeds.

kidcat

charlies-aunt wrote: »

I tried growing carrots in containers last year - I had a seed coupon for £5 so went for the the expensive Patio Carrot seeds - Loving tended, watered etc - they produced beautiful thick ferny foilage but were a big disappointment when we pulled them as although they did put out long roots, the roots were the thickness of a piece of thread and the main part of the carrots were miniscule

Had much more success with the cheap and cheerful Wilko and Aldi seeds than any that I got from the seed catalogue.

Going to get plantlets off the market this year as any seedtrays on window sills are a magnet for our cat - she sat on & squished most of my seedlings last year!

The seeds I have are from Aldi and Lidl and a few left over from the freebies from BBC last year. We used the lettuce ones fom BBC last year and they were brilliant so hoping for similar success. Bought a small childs garden tools set today so I can encourage little ones to help too. They loved looking after the lettuce last year.

Sun_Addict

Hi all

Have just discovered this brilliant thread and have read some of it (not all yet - far too long!) and I would like to say that it's given me some comfort knowing that there are other people out there in a similar situation to me. My OH is in the building trade and work has been slacking off now for the past couple of years. We are now living on around £1k less a month than we were 3 years ago. The past year has been really difficult with OH having to accept badly paid work just to put some money in the bank. Fortunately I work full time and, although I don't get paid a great deal, at the moment I'm just about earning more than OH, which has never happened before ever! But with the help of MSE we are managing to muddle through. One thing we haven't given up is our holidays as that is what keeps us going and we know we will have finally hit rock bottom if they have to go. Everything else has been severely cut back on. One thing I'm proud of is that I've managed to pay off £2600 worth of debt since last April, despite everything, and am pleased to say I'll be debt free next week! My next mission is to accumulate whatever savings I can.

Will be subscribing to this thread for inspiration.

Carolyntia

Well done Sun Addict on becoming debt free :j:j:T:T. It's great when you can finally say that you don't owe anybody anything. Keep up the good work

Reverbe

Well done Sun addict!! Keep going and lets see how much you can achieve.

I find these types of threads very inspirational. Times are tough in this flat at the moment and it is wonderful to see how much people can achieve..

alice-mary

Well done Sun Addict! I know how it feels to clear only ONE debt so far (and I was SO CHUFFED, even though I still have a long way to go...) so I can only imagine how proud you must feel!

I rang my loan company yesterday, just to confirm how many payments I still have left to make and I really surprised myself by being horrified at the thought of taking on a bigger loan, in order to consolidate the debts that I still have! The guy on the phone thought he was being helpful (bless him) but I have a plan on what to pay and when to pay it without making things take longer and costing more, so I politely explained that it was a consolidation loan that contribued to my current circumstances, so THANKYOU FOR THE OFFER, BUT NO THANKS, was my reply! It may only be baby steps, but that is how I learn best and it suits me. My aim is to be debt free by the end of 2011, earlier if I can manage it.

Good luck with the rest of your efforts Sun Addict!

Alice
xx

rolo-polo1965

I have £7,000 worth of credit card debt that i was left with when i divorced my ex. It is slowly going down and the two cards are on zero interest at the moment due to balance transfres, one is tesco the other is mbna or virgin. They are nearly at the end so i need to start looking around again for new ones.

I am thankful for these threads as they really help

ginnyknit

One more month and we will have paid a debt off, not a big one but we will be 70 pounds a month better off. Got Dh to focus on paying off one debt at a time, now he see's the wisdom of it. Am so looking forward to stocking up the cupboards when we have that extra cash. Also as the double glazing was fitted yesterday by landlord am waiting to see how much the electric bill will reduce too. We can see a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel at last.

Frugalista

After being made redundant twice last year (Jan - got job in May - made redundant again in Oct ) OH started a job last week working 12 hour alternating day/night shifts in a small factory for minimum wage.

Whilst we both appreciate that he is lucky, in the present climate, to get any job, he is so down and depressed as he is now earning less than he was 20 years ago!! :eek:. Also, at 52 and having been in a management/desk job for many years he is finding it physically quite hard. He is not afraid of hard work and, having worked his way up from an engineering apprentice to being headhunted for management positions, he has always given his all to any job he has been in. Unfortunately, the industry has taken a nosedive and so the company he loved went into liquidation (like so many others).

He just seems so broken . We are arguing more and more as he is venting his frustration on me and I don't know how to deal with him while he is in this frame of mind. I am really trying to be supportive and positive but am finding it a real strain. I have suffered badly from depression in the past and, although I am in a good place at the moment, I am finding it really hard to try to keep us both upbeat.

Does anyone have any advice or coping techniques I can use? I'm sorry to offload on you all who are coping with your own problems - I just needed to vent .

BigMummaF

I'm not sure what to say Frugalista, as my head is saying it's understandable for him to feel the way he does, but unreasonable to vent it all in your direction. Then again, my heart says if you can be strong for him, we'll do what we can for you