A new start for Mooloo

Savvy_sewing

Wouldnt say I am coping well. More like I lurch from one chaotic day to the next!!
There are no buses in our village. Nearest buses are in Towcester 8 miles away.
Stagecoach buses used to run from Northampton to Oxford, via towcester and brackley. This was the bus that the family used (and I did occassionally). But at the end of October they stopped running at Silverstone. So Now they have to change buses, and the cost is £15 per person to get from Brackley to Northampton. So the buses are very expensive here.
I shall not charge the kids for today, as I offered to babysit for thier birthdays,but I agree that in future they will have to help me.
It would help if twin2's money had been straightened out, and actually in the bank. Still the paymets have not reached her bank, and she is still getting bank charges! But her maternity grant is in, and now apparantly her income support has finally been sorted along with her housing benefit!. Lets hope that nothing else goes wrong, and I wont have to support them anymore.(Well the truth is I cant, can I?)
Twin1 I dont normally have to help financially. Usually she has sorted things out, but I have found out that she got stopped on the street and coerced into signing up £10 a month to cancer research.! And that has messed her up, as she forgot, and got a bank charge of £27 for going overdrawn. So I have explained to her that she cannot afford to help the charity at the moment, and that she needs her money to help look after her own child first.
Biggest of Mooloo's never asks for money.
DS is supposed to be getting his EMA. When I telephoned yesterday to ask where it is, they said that they should have made a payment last Friday, so it should be in DS's bank account today...
So I will hold back on giving DS any money now. He can budget his EMA!.
(This is me being strong!!). Lets hope that I can be.

I have £80 worth of Mr T vouchers, so I will have to think about how to use them best. But at least if worse comes to worse then I have them for the food shopping at christmas!.

shaz_mum_of__2

I think you are coping really well look back a few months and think how you would have reacted to this weeks stresses ....................your definitely more positive when the little hiccups come along!!

Might it be worth checking again about extra help for ds with transport costs as buses have stopped ? also our council run a wheels to work/college scheme where they lend (for a small charge) a moped to people in rural areas and they insure tax and repair it.

Better go got a DVD to watch and an essay to finish !

Savvy_sewing

Hi all,
DGS is playing merry havoc in the cottage. He has hardly been here before, and he is a lot more of a handful then DGD is!. But once he was in bed, and settled, he slept for 12 hours like she did!.
So I was in bed from 8pm until 8am!! Mind you I had to get up to go to the loo a few times. I was shattered so I thought I should go to bed when he did expecting him to wake up earlier.
Now I have a couple of hours to keep him amused before I take him home. Then troupe the other direction for DGD back!. Phew. I love him, he is also pretty cute, but by he has a temper!
I sat studying the fuel etc last night. It looks like it is costing me between 12p and 13p a mile. So I can work out the costs between trips. For all concerned. Even my little trips to the shops etc.
So I shall hve a little chat with them all about that. See if they will be willing to help.
To be fair, and I am very surprised, that twin1, DGS mum, actually put her hand in her pocket last night and gave me £20 towards my fuel and for having DGS last night. (Is this a turn around? I hope so.)
Got to go, keep being interrupted. Need eyes in back of my head at moment.

taka

Mooloo wrote: »

I sat studying the fuel etc last night. It looks like it is costing me between 12p and 13p a mile. So I can work out the costs between trips. For all concerned. Even my little trips to the shops etc.
So I shall hve a little chat with them all about that. See if they will be willing to help.
To be fair, and I am very surprised, that twin1, DGS mum, actually put her hand in her pocket last night and gave me £20 towards my fuel and for having DGS last night. (Is this a turn around? I hope so.)
Got to go, keep being interrupted. Need eyes in back of my head at moment.

Don't forget to include some of your car upkeep costs too... more miles = more wear and tear on the car too... which costs. Its good that twin1 gave you something though! :j

Looking after your grandkids sounds tiring! Must be nice to spend time with them though...

Savvy_sewing

Well Its Sunday Morning. Biggest of Mooloo came around 4.45 last nght, and took DGD for the last night. She is taking her back to her Mum (twin1) sometime this lunchtime, I think). Phew I was exhausted. I plonked myself infront of the TV till about halfway through XFActor and then gave up and went to sleep. Wakin this morning around 8am.
My bedroom looks huge as the travel cot is currently not at the end of the bed. It has been up at the end there for a few months now. As its difficult to put up. Would love one of those new fangled things that sort of pop up, but nevermind.

I didnt go to Oxford to see my BF, just too stiff and too tired last night.
I have thought about going over this morning, but then I would have to get back this afternoon, to get my DS from his mates.!
(Wish his Dad would sort out that Moped, its been 2 months now!).
I had a text on Friday night from DS saying that he has been offered that apprenticeship at DAF mecanicing again!. So he is going to take it. His Dad no longer works there, (He left 2 months ago). So it will be all change in the Mooloo household again. I just hope that we can still stay in this cottage. I dont want to have to be moving yet again.
Twin2 rang me also late on Friday, she said that the council had rung her, she is £300 in rent arrears!, and has to pay it, then she can be offered a 2 bedroomed house in Towcester. I didnt get to contact the council to check things out, as had the children. I want to find out why her housing benefit has not been sorted, when she was told that it had. Then I need to chase upthe Halifax and find out why they have not refunded the money they said that they were going to refund for Twin2. Then she could at least use that to pay the arrears, until HB sort it out?
If she could get a house, before Christmas, and the birth of baby2 it would be wonderful. It would also be easier to see her, visit etc, onroute to places as although she would not be closer, she would be in the same direction as the others!. Biggest of Mooloo, and my parents live in Towcester. So she would have others around her too. Lets pray that it can all be sorted out.
Now I am going to see if I can find out about the finances for us. As I think I will now be loosing those childtax credits, and childbenefit, and maintenance for DS, which means a drop of £119.75 a week, and I will finally only have the £179.60 a fortnight to live on? I am trying not to PANIC!!
Catch up later, I am going to do some research, while I have my day to myself.

Errata

First of all - congratulations to the DS on the apprenticeship, that will make such a difference to his life.
You won't be stuck for money as he'll be paid an apprenticeship wage of around £95 a werek which will go some way to replace the child benefit, credits, maintenance. You and he will have to sit down and negotiate how much he will give you for his keep and you will both have to stick to it.
As he will be earning - can his grandparents lend him the money to get the moped repaired as it's clear all the promises that have been made to repair to it have been empty ones ?
Has Twin2 got anything in writing about the HB ? or the Halifax ? Face to face and telephone discussions and decisions should be followed up in writing which is evidence of what has been agreed. Will the council and Halifax continue to discuss Twin2's problems with you now that she's 21 ? If she only needs £300 immediately to secure a new property, can her grandparents lend it to her until she can pay it back ?
I know asking the parents/grandparents/great grandparents for the loan of money is a big ask - but if it will make a significant difference to DS and Twin2's and her childrens lives then surely it would be worth a total loan of about £500 ?
HTH

Savvy_sewing

HI Errata,
Unfortunately I cannot ask the grandparents/my parents to help,as it was only a few weeks ago that my Dad told me he could no longer help out as they had decided to part exchange thier caravan for a new one, and he would be withdrawing his ISA savings to pay the further £7.500 Odd for the van. It is important to them as they practically live in the caravan. They spend at least 3 months in the spring summer in France, and have lots of other little visits around the UK to thier families etc, while they still can.
The Halifax offer is in writing. So I will chase it. They will talk to me, as will the lady at the council as I have written consent from Twin2 to enable all of this. I am sure that age is not going to get in the way. I am sure I can sort it all out on Monday. So not long to wait now I put it all into perspective.

Re DS, its great that he has something to lookforward to, career wise. I was surprised as he was about to go and do Blacksmithing. But as long as he is happy and in the working mode then I will be happy.
I think the biggest fear is the rent> Maybe I will go onto the council's website and see if that gives me any information.

Savvy_sewing

I cannot be exactly sure, but I have been looking on the councils website. It looks like the amount of rent I get will still be covered. As if they only paid me for a one bedroomed property allowance, it would be enough, (just) to cover the price of the cottage. At the moment anyway. If landlord puts it up next year then I may have a problem. As DS is still under 18 I dont think the council benefit will change either. So hopefully this means that I can keep living in my cottage. (If I can keep all the other bills down, and into the new budget.).
Ithink my letter to claim a grant earlier in the year must be somewhere in the abiss of the Royal Mail, as I never heard anything. And with so much going on, I actually didnt chase up. May be a time to re write my letter/refill in the forms.
Let that slip didnt I.
My landlord has not signed the form for Warm Front. He sent a handyman around during the week, to look at the draught. When I asked him why the landlord hadnt signed for the grant? He couldnt understand either. (He is a neighbour and been doing work here for the landlord for sometime by the sounds of it>).
Anyway, I pointed out all the faults, the windows that are broken etc and he was going to get back to the landlord.
Just noticed that he (handyman) lives a few doors down on the opposite side of the road. So I may have a chat with him, next time I see him in his garden. See what landlord said to him. Or if heis coming to do some work on the cottage.
I noticed that someone has fixed the front step. I dont actually use that door now that my sittingroom is there, as I dont want all the heat going out and my recliner chair is infront of the door now.
I better get out of bed! Its nearly mid day, and I have been on the laptop since about 8.30 I think!
I stayed up here as its lighter and warmer. (And I am relaxing as I am on my own. NO grandchildren, no children, just me.).
Which actually is very very strange!. Not even had a call from one of the twins for anything. Whch is unusual indeed.

Savvy_sewing

Well I have just had a call from Twin1's socialworker, who wanted to touch base about how Twin is coping with the clear up,and her health, and having DGD back. So I told her it was going well etc, and that with the daily intervention of the onsite worker she is doing well.(Now lets hope that she can manage).
I have been having a downer today. No energy. Lethargic. Cannot manage to muster much up. Hopefully I will feel better tomorrow.
I have been trying to sort out the Halifax, and have extracted an agreement that they will refund twin2 by the end of the day. I have spoken to the council and when her rent arrears are paid off (tomorrow) then they will put her forward to the housing authority for the 2 bedroomed house that is available. Cannot have the power to say if they can get the house,only put them forward for it.
But other then that I havent really come off of the computer this morning.? oops afternoon.!!

Errata

Sounds like better news for the twins. What's in place to stop the lightfingered boyfriend extracting the cash the second it goes into the bank account ?