dla-what do you use it for?

sheeps68

I used mine to drop a days work as work was literally making me ill. High mobility & low care. I also use some for private physio I cannot get on NHS, ready prepared vegetables, a cleaner & of course the provision of a portable nebuliser also not available on NHS so I can reasonably safely leave the house.

Funny the amount of things people tell you you should officially use the DLA for eg care needs, mobility, aids, adaptations, ready meals, transport as if you did all that we'd need 6 times the amount.

somebody_else

sheeps68 wrote: »

funny the amount of things people tell you you should officially use the DLA for eg care needs, mobility, aids, adaptations, ready meals, transport as if you did all that we'd need 6 times the amount.

It's amazing how people take it upon themselves to tell us how to spend our money isn't it?

'You should do this, that or the other' I get from certain family members - they don't seem to be able to grasp that I can only spend the amount once, and if I use it to pay a cleaner, I can't then use it to pay someone to do my ironing or gardening or eating out instead of knackering myself cooking a meal. Oh, and then there are the well meaning friends who think I should spend a small fortune on alternative 'therapies and remedies'. 'Why don't you try, x, y or z?' My answer to that one these days is to ask if they're prepared to pay for it. Soon shuts them up.

LameWolf

I get higher rate for both care and mobility, and it goes into the bank and is just used as needed.

I suppose, if I was required to justify its use, mobility part pays for my share of the car maintenance and petrol (We only have one car which for the main part my husband uses for work, but if I need to go out in it, he comes with me). I also have a mobility scooter, so maintaining that, also. Plus purchase of the metal shed the scooter is kept in.

Care bit: I suppose some of the things I've bought to make life easier - wheeled trolley, bar chair so that I can sit to stir saucepans on the stove, and numerous other bits and pieces. It also helps to compensate for my husband not being able to be away overnight for his work; if he could he'd get more pay. When he was first interviewed for the job, he made it clear that I can't be on my own overnight, bless him.

peediedj

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

How old is your son?

12 ,may i ask why thats relevant?

[Deleted User]

My son's DLA goes straight into his account, it will help paying for his studies when he is older. He is 5 now.

Blackpool_Saver

My sons money goes to repair the things he breaks due to his inability to control his frustration with his illness and to replace clothes etc due to the extra wear and tear on them. It has also paid for maths and english tuition and Kumon.
Also I put it towards health insurance for myself as coping with him has made me ill too.

bigturnip

peediedj wrote: »

12 ,may i ask why thats relevant?

I have to admit I was curious after reading your post as well, because you said in your original post that you got a grant from age concern.

Where does the connection to age concern come in? I'm just curious as its always useful to know what help is out there even if not from the most obvious source.

moggylover

I use mine to pay for someone to take my son to school, someone to help me cook meals (not allowed to do it on my own - I'm a fire hazard:rolleyes: ) sometimes for someone to do ironing if I'm having trouble with my hands, and I pay someone to help me in the morning (getting up and about can be difficult as can dressing and I can only bath/shower if someone in the house because of balance problems) often have to pay for someone to come shopping with me and have to have a responsible adult in the house at night because if I need to get up I can't always do so on my own and have been known to do myself serious injury trying to get to the loo:o .

Fortunately, some elements of care needs are done by friends because I don't think the higher rate care would cover all the hours I need some of the time if I had to pay for all of it. Not knocking it btw - I am grateful for getting it, but it can be quite difficult getting carers if you do not have family support to help you, and even at minimum wage rates it mounts up pretty quickly.

Also spent a fair bit on a small wheelchair of the three wheeled variety because my house is quite difficult to get around in a big one, but this did not work out very well because I can't seem to keep my balance in the thing:mad: - it has been returned, and I have been promised a partial refund, but not seen it yet:rolleyes: Don't need a wheely all the time yet and hope to move house to one that can be more easily altered for wheelchair use (think 3' thick stone walls and you will see that those sort of alterations in this house are going to take a lot of doing:eek: ) before I get to that stage.

Anything left I spend foolishly on bills:D

strong96

i get hrm and use it for car, lrc is swallowed up monthly by my perscriptions

sheeps68

strong96 wrote: »

lrc is swallowed up monthly by my perscriptions

Do you not have a pre payment certificate for your scripts? It saves me a fortune although whether we should have to pay at all to stay alive is another matter.