If things get tougher?

suki1964

wigglebeena wrote: »

I can't understand why families don't do it. In my family and others, I see little old folks living in tiny houses with lots of little separate expenses, when if all my uncles and aunties pooled their resources, they could have one big house (separate room each for privacy, living rooms for company), save money and keep an eye on each other for health and safety. Why don't people do this?

Im one of the original posters to this thread back in 2006 and I posted that this was what we as a family were about to embark on - and two years down the line Im here to report its not so money saving as you think

Ok so we have saved on council tax/rates, general house maintenance and tv licience. But we (me and DH) have seen huge increases in heating and electricity usage. Its a huge house and takes a lot of heating and the elderly parents really feel the cold so the house is heated longer and warmer then (we) used to. Heating oil has increased from 300quid a tank in 2006 to near on 700quid - and we use three tanks a year Also having the two tvs, two computers etc - add to the leckie bill mounting. They cant understand that they need to add an extra layer of clothing before thinking of putting on the heating and they even heat their bedrooms/bathrooms all day in case they need to go in them

Family meals are not so easy either - esp when the old folk like theirs highly processed and over cooked (taste buds and teeth and digestion gone) So they tend to do for themselves and I snack (DH is rarely here - still working in London)

Car sharing isnt really working either as because the old man is disabled and cant be left alone - one of us is always needed to be home for him plus they like a huge big automatic which I cant drive, and I drive a tiny manual which he cant get in or out of.

So its swings and roundabouts. The one saving grace is that our house will not fall too much in price and will certainly not fall below what we paid for it so we will hpefully still have a profit to cushion our old age when time comes to sell. Just in the mean time whilst they parents still need to be living with us, both me and hubby will have to work to keep the house heated and lit

suki1964

MRSTITTLEMOUSE wrote: »

Suki and mags I know this may be a stupid question,but if your'e not on mains water how do you get your supply?.I have this image of you carrying buckets from a well.

We have a well But no its electric pumped.And we have a septic tank for waste, But joy oh joy - they are laying the water mains as we speak and will be connected in time for the water charges that are being introduced here nest year - about a thousand pounds a year to find :eek:

Still not connecting us to the mains sewer though

katieowl_2

Tashja wrote: »

Mardatha - I agree.

You will also always have the people who believe the latest gadgets should take prefferance over their mortgage or shopping bill

T xx

Yeah or over paying their Council Tax, or credit card bills! I know somebody who went to CCCS after they lost their job, and they'd been give a horrific amount of credit for somebody on a low wage, and they told all her debtors that she could only afford to pay £1 a month - when she did get another job she didn't TELL them....she's still paying £1 a month to most of them :mad:


Like most of the people on here are saying, we don't have anything left to cut back on....we don't smoke, cut drinking to one bottle of wine a week, NEVER go out, don't have Sky - I'd quite happily say byebye to the telly, but OH likes to watch the news. I'm seriously worried that I won;t be able to meet the essentials this winter - but what's left to cut

My OH is a cabinet maker, he's just given notice on his workshop, which he managed to KEEP all through the last recession, as he's not had a decent workshop job for two years, as people tighten their belts, and he can't justifiy keeping it, especially as it now costs him £60 a week in Diesel to get there...technically we should be 1/3 better off as that's what his 'overheads' are. But the rate things are jumping in price - that will be easily swallowed up!

For us the price rises are coming at a bad time, we were hoping to sell up an move out of London this summer, but that's not happening anymore, as we can't sell, we had an asking price offer fall through, and then zilch...not another body through the door in months. We now have to stay two years for my son, as he needs to do A levels, Once he starts I can't change his courses. The estate agents has laid off the girl who was dealing with us. Last time I spoke to her she said she could count the number of times the phone had rung that week, on one hand.....

My Middle daughter is off to uni - Tax Credits and Child benefit for her stop this summer leaving me -£130 a month.

I feel like it's coming at me from all quarters - moving would have solved all our financial problems as we have a lot of equity in our house - never expected that things would get so bad we couldn't sell. It was always our last option.....

I have a friend who is usually positivity personified, and I just keep thinking of something he said to me a few months back "LAST time there was a recessions the BANKS weren't going down!" It's all very very scary.

Regards

Kate

sammy_kaye18

Jesus

Why is it everything comes at the worst possible time??

I was sat workign out finances and have happily found that after all my bills I should have about £100 a month to actually keep thats not designated to something (thsi money will have to be used for birthdays, top up milk and bread etc) and now what should bloody happen??? my !!!!!!!g dentist has gone private!!!!! So from what I have possibly gathered me and bf will have to get 'orally fit' before we can go on any pay plan which will cost us a fortune (i need at least 2 fillings and last time he went he needed an extraction adn 3 fillings but that was last year somewhen!)

hopefully the line that says 'treatment for children up to 18 years of age will continue to be provided under the NHS' means that no matter what my 4 year old son is covered which is kind of comforting btu i will have to ring on monday jsut to confirm it. But the care package which will actualyl cover fillings etc is £18 a month EACH! _pale_ now what the hell do i do?

and finding another nhs dentist around here will be like finding rocking horse poop.

BARGAINHUNTER!

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

Jesus

Why is it everything comes at the worst possible time??

I was sat workign out finances and have happily found that after all my bills I should have about £100 a month to actually keep thats not designated to something (thsi money will have to be used for birthdays, top up milk and bread etc) and now what should bloody happen??? my !!!!!!!g dentist has gone private!!!!! So from what I have possibly gathered me and bf will have to get 'orally fit' before we can go on any pay plan which will cost us a fortune (i need at least 2 fillings and last time he went he needed an extraction adn 3 fillings but that was last year somewhen!)
hopefully the line that says 'treatment for children up to 18 years of age will continue to be provided under the NHS' means that no matter what my 4 year old son is covered which is kind of comforting btu i will have to ring on monday jsut to confirm it. But the care package which will actualyl cover fillings etc is £18 a month EACH! _pale_ now what the hell do i do?

and finding another nhs dentist around here will be like finding rocking horse poop.

I had exactly the same problem when my dentist went private. I actually have very good teeth, and only one filling and my dentist had said that I only had to go once a year anyhow. So I was only really paying for one check up a year. Then my dentist went private, and said that if I wanted to go onto one of those dental plan thingys, I would have to pay £18 a month!!! No way could I afford that, and I told my dentist so. Only problem was, he said that he would not be able to carry on treating the kids as NHS patients if I didn't belong to the same practice! So I phoned NHS direct, and they put me onto my nearest NHS practice which is 45 mins away by car. Still, works out cheaper than £18 a month! They are not accepting anymore NHS patients though, and have just re-vamped their surgery with lots of new high-tech equipment, so im waiting for the letter anyday now saying they are not going to be treating NHS patients anymore! I have got my name on a waiting list for an NHS dentist in my area, but it could be years. Unfortunately, I think dentistry on the NHS is very short lived. Soon I think everyone will need to pay.

[Deleted User]

I don`t understand why anyone would want to pay for tv when there is enough to watch on freeview or freesky. A neighbour of mine is starting to look a bit grey around the gills now that he is realising what this R could do to him and his lifestyle and survival but he still has the max on sky so that he can watch sport

Tbh it really is the pennies that make the difference. Here and there and everywhere and it soon adds up. By the way I used a slow cooker to cook chicken in mushrooms today (2 meals worth) and its a new morphy richards 3.5 litre. I did the browning in a pan and had the sc on high then med and I had my energy meter on throughout. It is only a 170w sc but the total cost was amost 13p. Now I know that is not much but it compares to 5p for the pressure cooker and also the remoska and it was awkward thickening the gravy compared to the pc. Horses for courses for everyone and the sc certainly has its place but it is by no means the cheapest way to cook

mardatha

Owl, my son is a cabinetmaker too, used to fit all those fancy Chalon kitchens with granite worktops, but that work died. He has just bought a very expensive new van and a new house, and I worry so much for him...
but I know we will all be strong, be calmmmmmmmm, and be here when this goes away. If need be I will grow turnips, snare bunnies, and poach salmon to survive. And if I could get my wee paws on a gun then DOWNING ST HERE I COME !!

[Deleted User]

I'm sat here nodding in agreement to these posts! People say to us sometimes 'You always seem to have money etc'. Hmm, just bought a new car (new to me, being 9 years old - the best car I've ever had). All my work clothes are from ebay/charity shops, obsessively switch lights off, shop in Lidls and Mr T's, don't buy magazines/snacks.

Theres a woman at my work who 'pleads poverty' alot, she works part time, never seems to stay at home with her 3 year old daughter, has to be going out and doing things, days out, goes out to lunch most days or buys a 'healthy lunch salad box' for £4.00. Had takeaways at least 3 times a week in the evening. I just dont understand it, we've worked hard for what we've got - I just cant understand people who think they NEED Sky, new TV, new car etc. What is the point of trying to keep up with everyone else - I gave up AGES ago!! I know I sound like an old woman (I'm 21)

Rant over!! xx

do_it_today!

mardatha wrote: »

Ceridwen, one thing that katrina taught me, is that some people don't know any different. To them, that's normal living. Cutting back means not buying so many clothes or one packet less fags a month ! And they wouldn't know proper food if it dropped on them. I think too that a lot of people squander money outwardly, but if you saw inside their homes you would flinch...

Hi all :hello:
I agree with this comment there are many people driving the lastest flash cars pricey gadgets / mobile phones who convey wealth outwardly and who's homes are threadbare in everyway or up to the hilt on their their wide selection of credit cards!

Sarahsaver

I am just hoping my 10 year old DD has enough of an overbite to qualify for free braces on the NHS. They changed the rules fairly recently so there are stricter criteria she's got v wonky teeth and theres no way I could afford to go private!
Sammy_kaye i think you can get cashback plans which pay out whatever treatment you need, prescriptions, hospital stays etc. don't think they cover for 2k's worth of orthodontics, and they wont cover me for much as I have had a stroke so insurers see me as 'dead already' :eek:
We just had a lovely CHEAP day out with a voucher so swimming for 5 of us cost a quid, then a pick your own farm where we spent AGES and about 3 quid worth of fruit we wanted anyway.