It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

happytails

Kittie, got a note from postie saying id missed a parcel :mad: and to collect on Monday- i presume this would be my present :jgetting excited lol dp cant understand why im so excited over nappies :rolleyes: lol

Sarah x

ceridwen

D&DD wrote: »

We got into debt through a combination of circumstance,some our own fault but mostly just the at a time when I was the main wage earner..
The loss of my wage(s) I did 3 jobs was a huge blow and we never really recovered until we found this site...
This said,we NEVER,EVER even considered, not paying every last penny back,and although it has made the last three years very,very hard I feel we did the right thing.

You absolutely did the right thing - good on you:T Glad you're sorted/more sorted now.

ceridwen

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

oh before I go..Ceridwen -I have started my Potio appotment blog

:T Good one - will pop over for a looksee - yay! Well - we've all been envying your photos of all you produce for a whiles now - and wondering how we can "pick your brains" - so expect an influx of visitors.:D

Hardup_Hester

A friend of mine was due to retire at the end of the year, last week she heard her DD's been made redundant, she is now deferring her retirement for a couple of years, to help her out.
My BIL has just gone bankrupt for the 2nd time, his wife for the 3rd, their house has been repossessed, he's moved in to a property owned by a family member & despite all his promises & a relatively good income, isn't paying any rent & she has been placed in council accommodation in the next street along from where she lived.
I have told hubby that next time BIL is in need of a roof over his head, he's not staying with us, he's over 40 & obviously is never going to grow up & take responsiblity for himself or his kids.

ceridwen

Hester

My point exactly - your comment about your BIL (ie 2nd and 3rd bankruptcies respectively for him and his wife - and not paying any rent for current accommodation, despite having a good income) - having been reading your comments about him on your blog - no surprises there then! Yep - time he "grew up".

Re your friend who is now having to defer her retirement to help her family out - that is another thing that is concerning me: ie that even many of those who arent directly affected (as their own income continues as per normal - without redundancy/short-time working or whatever else) may be experiencing a knock-on effect because of financial problems of those close to them. With the outdated rule still in place that those on benefit aren't entitled to much of their benefit due at all if they are married/living together (and their spouse/partner is made to support them) on the one hand and people helping out adult children, etc, on the other hand - this is affecting many more people than the "on the surface" numbers of unemployed, etc. (I do wonder whether the money spent policing whether people are living together as an excuse to deny them dole money about cancels out the savings from maintaining this outdated "made to support a partner" rule.)

[Deleted User]

Morning all

Sorry to hear about all the redundancies etc, it just seems to be everywhere. We've just got to try and keep our chins up and try and cope to the best of our ability.....

Happytails - Have you looked into whether you're entitled to a surestart maternity grant? It goes on your earnings. (We're not entitled but I know people who have been and its £500)

xx

moanymoany

MRSMCAWBER wrote: »

Hi Yategirl..

yep.... But I have only started it today..im soooo no good with technical things -so im hoping by starting now -by the time the new season starts I will be up to date :rotfl:

http://potioappotment.blogspot.com/

please feel free to give me any feed back -better ways of laying it out or sharing information etc I need all the help I can get :rotfl:

Love the blog MrsM, dh is looking over my shoulder and has commented that it looks like a garden centre. The blog is easy to read and is informative.

I heard this tip - not seen it done, but it is self explanitory -I think!

For pots that can be put in the ground and so not disturb the roots, get the free newspaper (MSE lol :rotfl: ) flatten out a page - or more if they are the small ones, and then fold them until they are about 6" tall. About 4 thicknesses should be heaps. Then form them into a tube the size of a pot and place them in a plastic seed container - or any plastic or polythene lined cardboard box. Fill them with compost as you go. Water them and plant your seed - or put your seedling in them. When they are ready to plant on you can leave the soggy paper round them and just plant. If you wanted to I'm sure the paper would be easy to pull away when planting on.

MRSMCAWBER

Hi Moany

Thanks so much... it was only my 2nd attempt this year and lots of things I hadn't done before -but I was amazed at how easy it was..so thought I should share ... especially with the price of food on the up :rolleyes:
The newspaper idea is great thankyou :T .. I do use toilet roll tubes for lots of things like beans and peas ... so I will give that a try as out here the number of huge free papers we get is crazy ...
thankyou:D

gorgeous_gwen

Just had to add, I finished my job a while ago now, and have recently been having to explain to my DS about saving pennies, buying what we need and so on.

There was a Christmas fayre last week where he knew Santa was going to be and he was so excited, jumping up and down at me saying, "can I go and see Santa mummy? Please?" I smiled and started to open my mouth to speak, then he said with a sudden serious and sombre tone, "well, we might not have enough pennies though, so if we don't that's okay," and I'm so soppy I swear a tear started to form in my eye!

Now worried I might have overemphasised the point, yes I want him to have a very basic understanding of looking after the pennies but not to worry about it!

Yategirl

Mrs M - thanks for the blog link.. is looking good! I'll add a comment soon! I second the newspaper pots - i found those easier than toilet roll inners.. but each to their own and all that!

Gorgeous-Gwen - aww that is sweet! I have tbh, made a point of explaining about money to my ds's (4 and 6) and how we can save money, how we think about how we spend our money etc.. in some respects they understand but in others... :rolleyes: lol!

What I have said about FC though is that we can visit him before christmas once and once only... (and I have usually worked out when we will be seeing him ) that he is very busy and struggles to see all the children before christmas if some children visit him lots of times... When ds1 was younger I used to feel very guilty about not going to grotto's (mainly due to friends taking their dc's several times) but at £7+ a visit it was inaffordable and I realised that my parents didn't take me to grottos more than once or twice in my childhood - I haven't suffered! (mind you.. I have noticed that our local grotto has reduced it's prices from £7 per child to £3 per child - are more people taking my stance? )