If things get tougher?

LindseyandMatthew

I am reading all of this with interest as my DH's wages have just increased to 11500 a year but because of this our tax credits have gone down. My carers allowance has increased by £8 a month and also this has put the tax credits down. Child benefit has gone up a little bit but becase of price increases on rent, council tax, food etc we are actually worse off than before! We had about £50 a month disposable income after bills etc, now we are -£30 every month, we need to make cutbacks but with a 6 year old ds and a baby due in 15 weeks or so its very very hard

sammy_kaye18

sarahsaver + sans

Thanks for the ideas on cheap school uniform - i thnk i will be visiting asda/tesco/ethol austin for his basic school uniform (black trousers white polo shirts) and will fin dhima cheap pair of school shoes he will be 4 in may so they wont cos tmuch adn he'll only need a cheap pair cos he'll wreck them anyway. Then its just his jumper to get which is £7 in a local shop so if i can stretch i may get two incase he loses one. Hes got a coat etc and he doesnt really need much else other than his reading bag (which has to be the schoo logo one too but is about a £5)

Fingers crossed once hes in there though i will be able to get soem extra shifts at work though or a job with more hours - im only on 11hours a week so i should be able to add af ew more hopefully!

the_cat

Well, things have certainly got tougher since this thread was first posted!

Looks like it's going to get worse too, so I thought I'd bump this to give us all some inspiration on any possible cutbacks......

champys

Hmmm.... as for us we are thinking of investing in a bicycle trailer to do the shopping - the town is 8 miles away (we shop once a week and there is no home delivery here). OH has planted 50% more potatoes than last year, which feels reassuring provided the harvest is successful. That will mean less rice and pasta, which is becoming more & more expensive - I will learn how to make gnocchi!

Olliebeak

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

sarahsaver + sans

.....i thnk i will be visiting asda/tesco/ethol austin for his basic school uniform (black trousers white polo shirts) and will fin dhima cheap pair of school shoes he will be 4 in may so they wont cos tmuch adn he'll only need a cheap pair cos he'll wreck them anyway. Then its just his jumper to get which is £7 in a local shop so if i can stretch i may get two incase he loses one........

There's been much speculation about Ethel Austin's downsizing/closing altogether. Our local branch has been selling loads of winter uniform things for the past couple of weeks - that doesn't sound good to me. Normally at this time of year they are only selling summer uniform stuff. But it will mean bargains for you IF your local branch is doing the same thing. Check them out as soon as you can.

Bargain_Rzl

My local Ethel Austin is having a massive clearance sale and has notices stuck up everywhere saying that it's gone into receivership...

Olliebeak

thought it wouldn't be long before they were finally honest with the customers. But it does mean bargains, ladies!

Go Get 'Em!!!!!!

sammy_kaye18

Ollie and Bargain

Thank you - i will make sure ot pay a trip to ethols today to have a look through - my little one is turngin 4 in 11 days time so i figure if i get a couple of packs of 4 - 5 year olds then i should be covered for this year at least. Might even see if they have some trousers and a anice winter coat for him too

Will let you know how i get on

Olliebeak

Remember, Sammy - take the pushchair with you - head down - elbows out and c-h-a-a-a-a-r-g-e!!!!! They'll soon get out of your way :rotfl:

moanymoany

Started reading the thread - nodding in agreement - then I saw the date - 2006!

Well, we mostly survived that and I'm sure we will mostly survive this. There is a lovely line in 'The Philadelphia Story', the photographer says 'belts will be worn a little tighter this year...' Very apt.