If things get tougher?

telboyo

I have a wood/coal stove in my front room which is lovely in the winter, the first couple of years that I lived in the house I used to buy coal/wood from the garage and use the fire as a "feature" with the GCH on in the background. A couple of years ago I saw a few logs on the side of the road that had been left behind by some tree surgeons, I took these home and sawed them up and tried burning them, because they were still "green" they tended to deposit a lot of tar on the glass doors of the fire so I stopped using them as the effort of sawing them in to suitable lengths was too much. After lea ing them in the garden for a year I tried again and they burnt lovely.
Since then I have been collecting any wood I find and now have a massive pile ready for chopping and use for next winter. It is quite surprising how many logs you see lying around by the side of the road. One 3 foot log yields the equivalent of 2 sacks of wood that are normally sold at garages for £3-4. Earlier this year lidl were selling electric chainsaws for
£40. I reckon this was one of my best buys this year. Very low gas bills for me this year.

Valli

It's not right is it...
At the moment we're all sweating
Soon we'll be shivering.

If only... (waits for suggestions from scientific geniuses)

gizzie121

katieowl wrote: »

Selling up and moving out of London was our plan too...
I don't want to rain on your parade, but it doesn't always happen the way you have it all planned in your head...
I've been a SAHM for 18 years and I can't get any kind of work now (at 49) Nobody wants to know I think (and I am told) I have great skills in all sorts of areas -
I hope that doesn't come over as too bitter and twisted LOL! But what I am saying is that in this economic climate you need to have Plan B and Plan C as well....I'm personally on about Plan G at the moment!


Kate

Hiya Kate,

You're not wrong, you do need other plans, and in this current climate we would not be able to sell, but we could move in with my mother and rent this place out. Rentals prices have gone up 11% because nobody is buying. That's one of our other plans. You do always need a back up plan, you're right. Things don't always go according to plan, you are right there too. But I feel that with a plan, we have something to aim for, which is better than having no plan at all, and still just going from paycheck to paycheck with no chance of ever getting out of the rat race.

Also, i understand what you are saying about being a sahm for 18 years. If people won't employ you, have you considered starting up your own business. You need to take one of your skills, or skills that work together and think about how you can use that to generate income. I find that meditating is very good for clearing the head and getting pure ideas. But that's just me

There is usually a locally run business advisory service that offers free or very cheap workshops to help you get started.

You could take your skills and see if any of them translate to something you could market and do off your own back. I've got a friend who is also in her late 40's and is a SAHM who educates her children herself. She has just trained as a tatoo artist in a very specialised field and is building up her client base for this ancient japanese form of tattooing and making her own business. She decided to do this to make the most of her very good art skills. I've trained as a professional photographer, and could do that sooner than anticipated if I had to.

There are usually options and that fortune favours the bold!!!

BE BOLD

Much Love
Gizzie

gizzie121

moanymoany wrote: »

Hey gizzie, did you see the programme 'Pay Off Your Mortgage in Two Years'?


I think your kids will enjoy the holidays and trips you describe far more than getting sunburnt of a beach somewhere hot. Saving money on housekeeping is so much easier than many people think.

At the moment you can get two lots of £15 on Waitrose deliveries. I have done one and concentrated on all their meat offers. I bought £50 worth - which is the deal - paid the £5 delivery and my final bill was £30. I got a freezer full of meat. One more to go and I think I shall have enough meat to last me for six months for £60, 70 days worth. We don't have meat every day, but it is a great way to save cash.

You know what they say, a penny saved is a penny earned - so true.

Hiya Moany,

As it happens I did see that programme, and there were serious flaws in it. Like, err, TAX!!!! lol But it was very inspriational and was the springboard for our current efforts.

I'm trying to cut down on our meat consumption (not goign down too well in this household of meat and two meat eaters!!) But I've passingly done a veggie mince lasagne. lol

As for the kids, well, summer is usually when we just hang out with friends as they are so used to doign theme parks when they're empty, that they can't see the point in queueing. And they love camping and the good outdoors.
Luckily for us, my parents are from Madeira and we usually spend July there which doesn't cost more than a couple of hundred quid on EasyJet. But I am a bit bored of the whole sunshine and beach thing now, and England is BEAUTIFUL!! I want to explore more. As for French campsites, they look LUSH, and I can't wait to try those in the future.

Thanks for the Waitrose tip.

Love
Gizzie

gizzie121

unixgirluk wrote: »

I stopped thinking "what if", I realised that without my debt I wouldn't be here (long story with that one) and I wouldn't be the person that I am nor have the skills I have (growing veg, diy etc), nor have had the fun and laughter I have had along the way (playing board games with the kids and OH, falling in the burn with my best friend after we tried getting some plant cuttings, meeting some great people through freecycle). I realise that I have the skills now to have a proper life

I know one day my debt will be paid off but I'll still have these skills and have a better life for it.

The past is the past - you did what you needed to to get buy. In some ways, thank goodness for credit! It can be a lifeline when the cashflow goes belly up. Like you say, you wouldn't be here now without it!!

You sound like you've got your priorities in order.

By doign what we're doign, we're trying to get more of that good stuff earlier, and not have to wait until we retire.

gizzie121

katieowl wrote: »

It has to have been planned, they must have know she was home alone, blind and vunerable! Scum!



Kate

That is so bad and so sad. That kind of stuff worries me far more than the credit crunch. How our old people are treated. My dad's in hospital because he had a stroke 6 weeks ago, and it breaks my heart to see the majority of old people don't have any visitors.

ceridwen

Ben84 wrote: »

However, subsidies are still a chance for consumers to reclaim some of the energy suppliers profits and invest in home improvements that will help them save money. It doesn't just help individuals either, the more people who reduce their energy use the less demand there is pushing up prices.

I was wondering about this yesterday - I just have this sorta sinking feeling that the shareholders in these companies will still be determined to get as much as possible out of us and the normal laws of supply and demand might not apply quite as we thought they would. Dont know if I'm right on this - as my sum total of shares is precisely 1 (on which I dont get dividends).

Now what d**n fool thought it was a good idea to privatise our gas and electric? (Psst....do you think they're hiding somewhere miles out in the back of beyond somewhere hoping we dont recognise them?:cool: )

moanymoany

telboyo wrote: »

I have a wood/coal stove in my front room which is lovely in the winter, the first couple of years that I lived in the house I used to buy coal/wood from the garage and use the fire as a "feature" with the GCH on in the background. A couple of years ago I saw a few logs on the side of the road that had been left behind by some tree surgeons, I took these home and sawed them up and tried burning them, because they were still "green" they tended to deposit a lot of tar on the glass doors of the fire so I stopped using them as the effort of sawing them in to suitable lengths was too much. After lea ing them in the garden for a year I tried again and they burnt lovely.
Since then I have been collecting any wood I find and now have a massive pile ready for chopping and use for next winter. It is quite surprising how many logs you see lying around by the side of the road. One 3 foot log yields the equivalent of 2 sacks of wood that are normally sold at garages for £3-4. Earlier this year lidl were selling electric chainsaws for
£40. I reckon this was one of my best buys this year. Very low gas bills for me this year.

This is something I read about, haven't done it myself. These people had a wood burning stove. They went to all the builder's merchants, wood seller people in their area and asked them if they could buy the bits of wood that get left as offcuts. They were mostly given lots of wood chunks that they burnt in their stove. They said they did this regularly.

It might also be worth contacting tree surgeons and asking if you can pop along to where they are working and take chunks of wood. As you said they need to age. A quick google will tell you what wood burns ok.

Valli

My neighbour burns pallets - picks them up, chops 'em down and lets them dry out.
And he gets them out of skips so better that than they go to landfill.

moanymoany

gizzie121 wrote: »

Hiya Kate,

You're not wrong, you do need other plans, and in this current climate we would not be able to sell, but we could move in with my mother and rent this place out. Rentals prices have gone up 11% because nobody is buying. That's one of our other plans. You do always need a back up plan, you're right. Things don't always go according to plan, you are right there too. But I feel that with a plan, we have something to aim for, which is better than having no plan at all, and still just going from paycheck to paycheck with no chance of ever getting out of the rat race.

Also, i understand what you are saying about being a sahm for 18 years. If people won't employ you, have you considered starting up your own business. You need to take one of your skills, or skills that work together and think about how you can use that to generate income. I find that meditating is very good for clearing the head and getting pure ideas. But that's just me

There is usually a locally run business advisory service that offers free or very cheap workshops to help you get started.

You could take your skills and see if any of them translate to something you could market and do off your own back. I've got a friend who is also in her late 40's and is a SAHM who educates her children herself. She has just trained as a tatoo artist in a very specialised field and is building up her client base for this ancient japanese form of tattooing and making her own business. She decided to do this to make the most of her very good art skills. I've trained as a professional photographer, and could do that sooner than anticipated if I had to.

There are usually options and that fortune favours the bold!!!

BE BOLD

Much Love
Gizzie

I know this sounds a bit basic, but one way to start using what you can already do with what you already have is to provide cleaning and lawn cutting services.

Have a ring round to see what other places charge and charge the same. Put ads in your local shop or in the paper specifying the area. You can also get cards printed very cheaply in Staples and put them through letterboxes in the area you think would be a good place. You can print flyers on the pc.

Get some friends to write you references, they know your skills.

Contact the tax office, they are great for advice. Until you make a profit of £15,000 you only have to put how much you make and not itemise anything - very simple. You can pay self-employed stamp - about £10 a month - and you need public liability insurance.