I have literally no money!

Nessa56

Mine is in the post now luvvie so you should get it tomorrow, enjoy and very best of luck to you.

Vanessa

x

brokeinwales

If anyone is interested in what people have to say about my old-landlord predicament, I've posted a request for advice here:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1887277

hopefully someone will have some helpful guidance!

PARIS_5000

brokeinwales wrote: »

Well. Apologies if I seemed to disappear over the weekend – unfortunately internet access not really available at the weekend.
First of all, my PM box is full! So sorry to the people who tried to message me and couldn’t. I need to go through and delete some. Which will be difficult as there are a lot of really lovely kind messages in there that I kind of want to keep! I’ll also shortly be messaging a fewsuper-kind people with some personal thank yous (you know who you are).
On Friday evening I left work a little early, arrived home after my walk at ten past five to find four (yes, four) “Sorry you were out” cards – really exciting! The delivery office closes at 17:30 and I figured it was about 40 minutes walk away– so I headed out of the door and I literally sprinted down the road (multi-tasking exercise), and half way there phoned the delivery office up to beg with the gut who worked there to stay open for another ten minutes until I got there! To my surprise he actually agreed, and shortly afterwards I was walking back down the road with a tower of packages and a warm fuzzy feeling inside. It honestly felt like Christmas!
I don’t need to say, I’m sure how amazingly grateful am to the wonderful people behind those parcels – you have so much good karma coming your way you wouldn’t believe. I often feel quite isolated living so far from my family, and with no real close friends living near by. The money problems have left me feeling quite vulnerable and alone, as it’s not something you always feel comfortable admitting to colleagues or not-so-close acquaintances , so this kind of thing means a lot to me. I think there needs to be an extra special mention for the chocolate and the coconut bubble bath – hardly essential items I know, but there’s something about little luxuries that does lift your mood when things are getting a bit stressy .
I had a nice cheapy weekend in Cardiff with my visiting friend. (Her comment was “We can pretend it’s the war! Make do and mend!”) we cooked a lot of makeshift meals using a mixture of food parcel contents, my cupboard remainders and thing she’d bought with her from her own fridge that needed using (she even left me a bit of butter behind), so we actually ate pretty well and got to have girly chats over pans of spaghetti.
On the Saturday we spent some time walking around, saw a photo exhibition in the museum (free), and having acquired some Vue cinema £1.50 off vouchers, my friend treated me to a film in the evening. (Tip off for those with a little more cash than me: I’m told you can use these vouchers alongside an Orange Wednesday too, so if you go to the pictures on a Wednesday two people can see a film for just over £2 each, and you get two more vouchers to use the following week)
So really, although it would’ve been good to go out for a meal or for a drink or whatever, we did have a really nice couple of days. She also left me a punnet of strawberries as a gift!
Sunday I pulled the “you buy the food and I’ll cook” thing on my bf – made us some cous cous and a spicy sauce.
Today I feel OK, there’s food in the cupboard, and my free texts from Orange just came through (wht were they waiting for?) so phone credit less of a problem. Tonight is normally when I do my class though – even though I know I’m exercising more through the walking and the running, I still feel a bit frustrated at not being able to go. It kind of has a bit of a social element to it I guess, makes me feel a bit less isolated – and I really enjoy it. Walking is OK, and if the weather’s OK, yeh I do quite like it and appreciate the thinking time – but it’s not the same as really going for the burn with an instructor standing over you. I find one of my biggest worries about being skint is my health and fitness – and a bit the way I look. I’m probably quite vain, although I don’t spend a fortune on cosmetics and toiletries or buy really expensive ones, I know they’re one of my problem areas when it comes to spending. I also sometimes get quite obsessive about my diet which leads to me overspending on silly things like vitamin pills and goji berries (what?).
I’m definitely going to begin a spending diary when I get paid. (Not a lot of point yet, as I’m not spending anything!). I did try doing one a few years ago – I found that the fact I had to actually write things down when I spent them in itself made me spend less (maybe the effort of it, maybe not liking seeing it written in black and white – but god knows anything that saves me getting into this mess again has to be a good thing)
I haven’t heard a thing from my landlady yet. She promised she would sort it out last week, but hasn’t even emailed to explain the delay. What’s she doing? Is she hoping I’ll just give up?
I want to send her something more official to try and scare her into giving me the cash, but I also don’t want to get too aggressive if I don’t have to. From the website it looks like Cardiff CAB aren’t doing “outreach sessions” at the moment. I wonder if anyone from this area (I know there’s a few of you who’ve contributed to the thread) knows if there’s another office somewhere I might be able to get to?
Today’s lunch is a chow mein noodle packet mix, courtesy of one of my “santas” from Friday – actually quite looking forward to it!

So really, I have just over a week to go now. And I feel pretty confident that I’ll survive it.

Nice to hear that you are doing okay.

Kaulew

I just want to say what a great thread this is.

I found myself in a similar situation a few months ago, I was totally desperate and had absolutely nothing, but after contacting my local councillor he got onto Swindon Foodbank and they delivered me a huge box of food, it was a total godsend!

I'm so glad you seem to be getting sorted out BIW :j

pmlindyloo

Hi

If I read the CAB Cardiff website correctly the bureau in Cardiff is open from 9.30 to 12.30 (Monday to Friday). The Outreach sessions refer (I think) to visiting people in their homes and/or smaller areas near Cardiff.
Why don't you give them a ring on 02920346490 and check?

robpw2

how very nice it is to see the kindness and help that aforum like this can really offer people - i know weeks ago martin posted about people being nasty and treating others badly and it was a shame to read that but i hope that martin will see this thread and thank all those who have helped out

People have helped this young lady in her time of need and really think that is what this sites all about and it goes to show how a bit of kindness can go along way
i only wish that i could have sent something but money is really tough for me at the moment but if i can help you in other ways i would

parrotfan

Hi BIW

I went through the whole "forgotten my password" routine so that I could post here. I forgot my password months ago but was happy just lurking.

But for this thread I wanted to step up and say how truly kind the people here are - and I also wanted to congratulate you for keeping your head up despite everything .

Your payday is getting nearer now so you must be feeling more optimistic.

As many others have said, if there's anything you need then PM me.

I had a bit of luck at the weekend and thought I should pass on the tip. My mum was clearing out the last of my stuff from home and came across my old jewellery box. Well most of it was really old rubbish - but there were some broken earrings that were 9ct gold. I took them into a jewellers on Saturday and they paid me £14 for the scrap - and they weighed practically nothing. So if you have any old broken gold try it!

Take care - you have my positive mental support!
xx

x-cupcake-x

I've been reading this for a few days now, and it's lovely to see how caring people are.
You hear so much negativity nowadays and not enough about the kind things people do.

All the people who have helped out, I hope karma is kind to you xx

gargrave50

I have just caught up with your thread, and I am absolutely amazed at the kind gestures of many on MSE. I hope you are over the worst, and payday is looming

brokeinwales

Seem to have been in a bit of a mood since yesterday evening. I know that comparing yourself to other people isn’t the best way of living (and normally I don’t do it).But I ended up thinking about people – mainly colleagues, people I went to school/college with and stuff. I feel like there’s all these people the same age as me or younger who have their lives so sorted out. They have great jobs, they own houses and cars (I still haven’t passed my driving test), some of them are married with kids – everything is so organised and “grown up” and I feel like I’m still a teenager – renting my room in a shared house, juggling debts, living off beans on toast with no money to spare for anything else. It just makes me feel like I’ve made a complete mess of my life. Right now I should be thinking about mortgages, and savings and insurance and all those other things I don’t understand. Instead I’m thinking about whether it’s a waste of money to eat a whole tin of soup in one meal. I feel like such a child sometimes. Like if only I had a brain things would be so much better…
But you know, this is something I can consider when I get over the immediate problem I suppose. Maybe I just need a different job, or to be more organised. Even if no more disasters strike, it’s still going to be years before I pay off my debts. I can’t imagine ever being in a position to own a house, or a car, or get married – or be able to have luxuries without feeling guilty. I feel like one way or another I’ll always be living hand to mouth, and I hate that.
So I’ve made a little progress I think, with the landlady. The nice people at the other board have made sure I understand a bit better what to do. I just sent her a text message to ask if I could have her address, so we’ll see what happens. I’m going to try drafting a letter this evening, in case I need to send it. This is a huge thing for me – the whole idea of is terrifying frankly. But I do feel as if I’ve been re-assured of the right thing to do, so I’m not being presumptuous, and just going to be shot down by someone who is more knowledgable than me.
Today’s lunch is leftovers from last night. Pasta with a tomato-ey sauce (it’s a good job I like tomatoes they seem to be a bit of a staple) followed by the strawberries from the weekend. I’ll be doing another run tonight and some weights (I’ve managed not to eat them yet!) . Then I think maybe I’ll treat myself to one of the food-parcel hot chocolates and read a book or something.
Got some Double Gloucester cheese last night for 80p from the “Eat Me Today” section in Spar – reckon it will actually last a few days, it looks fine.
I’m also developing a nasty cough – how much am I praying it’s not swine flu?!
Just over a week until payday anyway (I'll hardly be flush as I need to pay my Dad back, but at least I'll have something!)