It is tough NOW. So how are we coping

cuddlymarm

Hi

Thanks Toonie

Hopefully we won't need to and things will pick up. Can I ask if you have kids? Ours are grown and moved out now (which is a blessing because at least they can look after themselves) and whether it makes much difference.

Cuddles:)

beingfrugal

seraphina wrote: »

Just had a thought about this thread - my previous cookbook purchases have been Jamie this and Nigella that but the latest one was More with Less! Signs of the times, eh?

PS: The granola recipes in More with Less are worth the price of the book alone.

I'll have a look at that thank you. I'm eager to learn especially as I have just relised I've been throwing away money on chicken breasts all this time. Just had masses of chicken from my roast dinner and now pulled the rest off for a curry tomorrow night. All for a chicken cheaper than two chicken breasts.

This place is a tonic.

Penelope_Penguin

Hippeechiq wrote: »

I don't claim JSA or Tax Credits either - at least if I don't claim, I don't owe anyone anything and they can't claim £500 overpayment that they want paying back immediately :mad:

How old is your daughter? If you're caring for her full time, you won't be entitled to JSA, you may be entitled to tax credits. Please don;t believe all the scare stories - most people's tax credit claims are perfectly straightforward.

Gigervamp

Ooh, no news from Sammy Kaye. Wonder if littl'un has been born?

Gigervamp

When hubby lost his old job a few years ago, we tried to claim HB but they told us there was a 6 month backlog before it would even get seen! Luckily, I'd just received some inheritance money (just £1000) and we ended up using that to pay the rent for a few months until OH's family gave us a lifeline by letting us move into one of their houses rent free.
If they hadn't done that, we'd have been stuck.

Spendless

Hippeechiq wrote: »

Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post Penelope Penguin

My daughter lives with me and I care for her 24/7. I'm afraid I don't understand the correct terminology, but I do know she has to be classed as/or in receipt of Middle or High (whatever it's called) but is only classed as/is in recipt of Low.

I've have tried many times to get through to the CAB but it's either constantly engaged or rings forever. I could argue the rights and wrongs of not receiving financial help to look after her, but it will change nowt, and to be honest, I haven't got the energy to fight for what I believe I'm entitled to anymore - what little I have is channelled into keeping my daughter, well, here, quite frankly, as I've also had to fight tooth and nail to get her the help and therapy she needs......this country has and always will look after the wasters and the wealthy, whilst the genuinely needy get overlooked.

I don't claim JSA or Tax Credits either - at least if I don't claim, I don't owe anyone anything and they can't claim £500 overpayment that they want paying back immediately :mad:

With OH's wage, we are holding our own (just) and at least if you don't claim anything, you know exactly where you are - and luckily, we have no debts

Apologies to everyone for being so completely off topic

Yes you won't get if it if she's been assessed as low. Though you can have her case re-assessed but I'm not sure of all the pros and cons to doing that -you would need to discuss it with someone. I'm aware that many CABs are chock-a-block right now but there are other organisations that can help too, such as the one mentioned in my prev post. Sometimes they are busy too, we closed twice to new cases in a 6 month period so we could catch up, but at other times you may get an appt straight away or advice over the phone may be enough -to tell you whether to go ahead or not.

Onto another subject I have been given a bag of girls clothes from my neighbour for my DD today.:j mainly next stuff, some tesco and admas. I was given a bag the other week from a friend of a friend but the clothes were far too big, mainly age 9, my daughter is 7 and small for her age, so not wanting to clutter the house with stuff that wil take years for her to grow into I gave it my neighbour as she has girls aged 10 and 8 and I thought if it didn't fit one it would fit the other. Now she has 're-paid' me with items hers have outgrown.

Also on Fri night we found my dd's bike at the park across the road, damaged beyone repair. How it got there I'm not sure, whether she played with it at the park when I was at work and DH working from home and forgot and left it, whether she left it on our drive and it was taken from there I have no idea - all I know is it's fit for scrap and that's it. My sis has rang me and offerred me neice's for £40 bt I can get brand new fr £50-£55. Not sure what to do.:cool:

Spendless

I wrote a list of everything that we need to buy. 'One off' purchases that we've spent the last 18 months doing without cos we couldn't afford and trying to list them in order of priority and affordability ie can we buy them out of my weeks wages or do they require more saving for.
So far I've got
new shower -ours is broken. Without it hubby is having a daily bath before work and our bath is the original 1930s one so it's deep (and lovely) and whilst we're not on a water meter it's still the energy bills to consider.

hubby's glasses- he needs them at the min he's managing with reading ones- not good.

wooden surround of front door painting - not a need more a want though it looks very scruffy.

set of new plates- I do not think we can afford to drop 1 more as we'll not have enough to go around (family of 4)

set of saucepans - scratched to bits and no longer non stick I can manage a bit longer with them (but not too long).

plus replacing DDs bike

Larumbelle

Beingfrugal, have you come across rubber chicken yet? It is a brilliant thread that will help you get the most from your chicken. I roasted a chicken yesterday and we have had/will have the following meals from it (okay, there are only the two of us, but...):

Roast chicken for early dinner yesterday
Chicken sarnies for OH last night :rolleyes:
Risotto (using stock I made in SC overnight and the 'pickings' off the carcass afterwards)
2 x chicken pies made and frozen for another time
enough for another dinner in the fridge still - may use as a jacket potato topping or make a pasta bake, not sure yet.

Oh, and try to learn to joint and bona a chicken, it's not that difficult and saves a fortune! I go into a sulk now if anyone even suggests buying chicken pieces instead of a whole one.

Spendless try keeping an eye on ebay, lots of 'big' things come up for pennies if you can collect them locally. £40 for a secondhand kids' bike seems expensive... I wouldn't have paid that much for an adult one!
ETA: Plate-wise, could you just pick one or two up for pennies at carboot/charity shop to tide you over? Then keep an eye out for a plain white service in the sales? I see them going for silly money - £3 or 4 for 4 settings at Wilkos/Tesco/Ikea sometimes. And because they're white they can match with existing sets and be replaced more easily if the kids have accidents.

Seraphina, I have got loads of cookbooks that I rarely use as their ingredients cost too much money. I do laugh sometimes, when certain sanctimonious celebrity chefs moaning that people don't cook from their recipe books and that they're basically food p*rn. Listen, lovey, did it occur to you that maybe you're not writing the right kind of recipes?? I do still buy this kind of cookbooks, because they come up dead cheap at carboots / charity shops almost immediately that they're out these days (and what does that say about them, eh?!). If I don't cook from them and/or get them out of my system I can usually sell them on for what I paid.

Larumbelle

Also Gigervamp I did see a post Sammy Kaye made somewhere a couple of hours ago, I think...

cuddlymarm

Hi

Sorry, but I don't mean to be a doom and gloom merchant. :eek:I think its just a matter of making sure you don't live beyond your means and keep a stock cupboard/emergency fund so you have a little bit of breathing space if there is a problem.

Cuddles:)