It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

taplady

sammy - how about your local library for an outing - ours has activities and story time for little ones. I'm trying to think back to what my 2 boys used to like doing(they are 18 and 20 now) Do you have friends with children of a similar age that you could get together with? my friend and I used to take it in turns to invite each other round - we'd natter while the boys played and we'd also get a cheap lunch of fish and chips to share which the boys loved eating out of the paper!(nice as an occasional treat)
you seem to have lots of good ideas already!:T

Toomuchdebt

Hello-over the last 3 days I have read this entire thread and just wanted to say how inspiring you all are

Rummer

Hello Toomuchdebt good to meet you, how are things where you are?

jamanda

Sorry, not been posting for a bit.... I've been with the dog, the purse and the people in spirit though.

Good and bad here:

I still haven't managed to get a job and I fell from the top of a farm gate 3 weeks ago flat on to my back. Hence not posting because it isn't comfy leaning to type. I'm shuffling around now so it is getting better.

The good news is, DH was due to finish his fixed contract so we were panicking a bit, but my son has got him fixed up with a driving/delivering job so at least we have one wage (small) coming in.

I've been sitting down trying to plant stuff in pots and DH has been setting onions/shallots etc. in garden, so at least we shouldn't starve. DH seems to have been converted to MS (and my skinflint ways) so we are both pulling in the same direction.

Sammy-Kaye - there are some good activities there I may pinch for DGkids.
Hope things are picking up for everybody.

Toomuchdebt

Rummer wrote: »

Hello Toomuchdebt good to meet you, how are things where you are?

hello-not too bad here apart from a rather large gas and electric debt(due to landlord not fixing the boiler for 9 months so it was heating up the entire house when I just wanted hot water) but hoping to start paying it off now.Trying to reduce food bill (2 adults and 5 children and one due in May) so am finding it quite hard.I have no savings at all so I want to remedy that when I can.I have a credit card that needs paying off-within the limit thankfully but the interest rate is high as it's a Vanquis.I went bankrupt 3 years ago(after my divorce and when I was still single-I tried and tried but just couldn't do it), so now I have a small debt I want to pay it off asap.
My relationship isn't the greatest and this last pregnancy was an oopsie so it's been hard coming to terms with it-I'm so glad I won't be doing this again-my youngest is 17 months and I'm finding it very difficult at the mo.My older girls are 15,12,9 and 7 so it's been a hard adjustment all round.My OH has debts and seems totally incapable of dealing with them but won't let me try and sort them out so as of next month I will be saying "sorry I can't lend you any more money" as he often borrows from the rent money and then I have to wait till a few days before the rent is due to get it back which is a bit stressful.Tbh I was better off before I met him.He earns £1000 a month-half of that goes on rent and council tax and the rest is his bills and petrol and stupid payday loans-oh and he just changed his car even though he had no savings to do so.
I am finding it hard to get anything done at the moment as the older kids are with my ex-husband for Easter and my youngest is a real livewire who doesn't sleep much.
I have just gone onto a water meter as my rateable value was very high and I was paying £612 a year-with the meter and having 3 children under 19 and tax credits I will be on a capped rate of £301, so a big difference, which will help as any extra will get thrown at the gas debt(it's the bigger one).
My Mum is a proper OS expert-I swear she can feed 10 people on £30 a week..I wish I could LOL.She knits and sews and is very clever like that-I'm not.
Phew well I got a bit carried away there.I'll shut up now.

jamanda hope your back gets better very quickly

Rummer

Wow toomuchdebt sounds as if you are going through a tough time at the moment. Why not spend some time chatting to your mum to get some good hints and tips from her? Debt is a horrible thing to have, I have spent a long time reducing mine and when it is finally gone it will be a huge weight off my shoulders. Sounds as if you are taking steps to tackle it.

Do the children help you out much around the house? Maybe if you have the space outside they could plant some veg out either in the garden or in pots?

Toomuchdebt

My mum unfortunately is less than helpful when it comes to actual practical advice.The kids do a lot round the house-well the eldest one does-the rest aren't as good.The garden is big but a mess and it's not something I can tackle being 8 months pregnant-besides which I'm not allowed to plant anything unless it's in pots.The cats love me planting things in pots-they use it as a toilet

charlies-aunt

jamanda wrote: »

Sorry, not been posting for a bit.... I've been with the dog, the purse and the people in spirit though.

Good and bad here:

I still haven't managed to get a job and I fell from the top of a farm gate 3 weeks ago flat on to my back. Hence not posting because it isn't comfy leaning to type. I'm shuffling around now so it is getting better.

QUOTE]
Jamanda - so sorry to hear about your accident - you'll be taking the title of "MSE Stuntwman Extrordinaire" off Pagangirl if you aren't carefull!!:rotfl:Hope you soon feel a lot better

Moniker

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

I know fingers crossed I can keep him amused though because a bored 5 year old is trying at the best of times let alone when your 7 months pregnant and hoping they will keep him mentally stimulated because its not like we can go playing football or off on long walks/bike rides like i had hoped! Fingers crossed we might manage some in the summer holidays though when little miss has arrived and if the weather is nice enough.

although any other ideas for things to do will be greatly appreciated too!

Hope you don't mind me butting in - when my two were little I used to make this playdough recipe:

Play dough

Ingredients

2 mugs of plain white flour
1 mug of salt
2 tbsp cream of tartar
2 mugs of water
2 tbsp cheap cooking oil
Food colouring (from the baking aisle of the supermarket)

Method

Mix flour, salt and cream of tartar together in a biggish saucepan. Add water, oil and colouring (till you like the colour) and mix again. Heat, gently stirring till it’s quite stiff like thick mud (don’t worry about any lumps). Leave to cool. Knead it a bit to make it smooth.

This lasts very well if stored in a plastic container and I used to make batches in several different colours. They would have fun making them into cakes and sweets and then would have a play shop to sell them in. You can also use the dough to make models of anything really and the great thing is when they get bored with it they can roll it all up and use it again another day.

HTH

Moniker

jamanda

charlies-aunt wrote: »

jamanda wrote: »

Sorry, not been posting for a bit.... I've been with the dog, the purse and the people in spirit though.


QUOTE]
Jamanda - so sorry to hear about your accident - you'll be taking the title of "MSE Stuntwman Extrordinaire" off Pagangirl if you aren't carefull!!:rotfl:Hope you soon feel a lot better

Thanks - you are too late. I'm now officially called stuntgran :rotfl: