Not in debt but seeking advice on SOA :)

dancingfairy

With regards to DLA I don't know anything about it myself but another poster has recommended going to DIAL to get help with the forms. Basically they are quite picky about the way you need to word things to get the benefit apparently so you need someone who can write what you are telling them in benefit speak. I am sure they said according to the DLA people discomfort is worse than pain? which is weird.
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JasX

£48 a month for gas seems high, do you use alot of it? is your heating/hot water system on for extended periods when it needn't be? Are you on a punitive tariff for the amount you use?

do you need to use a high level of heating for medical reasons? -in which case is there some form of discount/grant scheme available?

zippychick

WASHER wrote: »

Gosh you are so organised, you put me to shame! You seem to have your head screwed on, I could learn a thing or two from you.

Crikey - thanks! Never expected that. I have buried my head in the sand for so long about the job - Now I am on it.

new to do list

* check entitled to - with redundancy as savings and see what says
* Possibly ask on redundancy board/benefits board to see if Red will affect benefits
* Investigate DLA - and find out what DIAL stands for :rotfl:

i was going to contact virgin, but they installed my cable box upstairs and i have freeview downstairs - I am guessing they wont let me reduce the package but won't hurt to ask I guess
* PM another poster i know from here who works for CAB to see if they think an appointment is a good idea
* Read income board for income for clicks stuff

Am setting up my fitbug as I speak as it needed a new battery . Done!

zippychick

JasX wrote: »

£48 a month for gas seems high, do you use alot of it? is your heating/hot water system on for extended periods when it needn't be? Are you on a punitive tariff for the amount you use?

do you need to use a high level of heating for medical reasons? -in which case is there some form of discount/grant scheme available?

Last year it was £720 over 12 months so averaging £60 a month. My account currently has a creidt of £163 . My reflexologist always told me not to be cold but I do spend a lot of evenings in bed with a HWB so have learnt to be far more frugal. I only joined this site last Dec so hadnt the widsom then! I would have baths as they are good for pain etc - I dont know and don'a imagine I would be entitled to anything

I have a combi wihch only produces what you need so no waste there. More me being careless last year and forgetting to change the timer each day - so if on a saturday i had it on for 4 hours int he avo, often this would run for days (even when at work) but I am much more savvy on it now! Hoping to get that gas bill right down.

What's a punitive tariff?

zippychick

Virgin said they are giving me a discount of £25 a month (i thereatened to cancel lastt year) , so if i wanted to reduce any of my services i can, but ithat discount goes to £10, so if i reduce my phone for eg, my bill would increase from £37 to £47.

The guy could barely understand english or what I was asking. very infuriating.

barbarawright

How on earth do you survive on £55 a month for groceries? Do you live on porridge?!!!!

WASHER

I believe zippy is a serious OS'er, a few single people can live on that amount each month, I admire her though, I'm trying to feed a family of four on a budget of £400 and I keep going over. (I must read the os board more!)

zippychick

barbarawright wrote: »

How on earth do you survive on £55 a month for groceries? Do you live on porridge?!!!!

ha ha! No way would i live on porridge! many things

* Great storecupboard I keep topped up
* Baking own bread
* Buying reduced items (2 leeks 17p = 4 portions of soup....) ONLY if I can use them and not end up in the bin
* Treating meat as a treat rather than a daily must
* Always having frozen fruit & veg - so dont need trip to shops for spag bol etc
* Baking my own treats - fairy cakes, carrot cake, flap jacks are a new fave
* Drinking lots of water
* Having at least two toast based dinners a week (great! Egg on toast - yum)
* Not throwing ANYTHING out, no matter what - reuse it somehow
* Bulk cook and bulk out food with lentils/extra veg/both
* Making most things from scratch - recent is Granola, mmmmm
* Meal planning
* Writring a shopping list and STICKING TO IT
* Thinking ahead
* Avoiding trips to the shops where ever possible - saves impulse buys
* Buying majority value brands (Don't knock it, my food always tastes good )

All this taught from the OS board. What got me registered on this site in the first place

My Mum couldnt believe my freezer - i'm sure I could live on what I have for the next month with only buying milk (or i could use powdered if i really needed to)

I buy my meat from the butchers - never supermarket. Very fussy about that. if I spend £7 on a massive Free range chicken, I wouldn't even tell you how many meals I could get from that. I portion loads away in the freezer so i can make a chicken sandwich for work - luxury yum. But I bulk it up with added seeds/nuts, mayo & curry powder - voila, corrie chicken . More stashed for curries/pies/etc and the carcass roasted up and made into soup. Would also make a couple of portions of pasta sauce up , then some cous cous for following day

Making the most of what I have (but i dont do measly portions of meat - I would rather have meat less often and more of it, so i dont feel Im eating like a poor man) (or woman)

Todays menu so you see I dont eat like a pauper:p ( I think that is the assumption of people who OS, so not true!)

B - Home made granola with milk
S - Banana & apple
L - HM Leek & pot soup (prob 10p a portion for leeks and pots)
S - Orange (4 for 40p in reduced)
D - Home made stew defrosted from the freezer

have you ever been on the OS site or tried the GC?

Horace

Zippy you are like me - I shop like that except I dont make my own bread although perhaps I should start:D I always buy a bigger joint than I need and then have some of it cold for sandwiches and put slices on the freezer so that I can just whack them in the microwave with some veg. A chicken can last for ages and it makes great stock and soup - I have been known to fish the bones out and add a few veg to the stock to make soup. I have working tax credits as I am on low income at the moment and I manage to pay all my bills and feed myself for that. My butcher also has offers on e.g. a pack of 6 new zealand lamb chops (I wont eat other lamb) for £2.99, or a pack of chicken thighs (8) for £1.99, this week I picked up a chicken crown because I fancied one. I hardly throw anything out - if I have a cauliflower I treat the leaves as cabbage:D

My virgin media package is £34 a month - I used to be with Telewest so had their starter tv package which included tv, broadband and phone line. I set a timer by my phone so that I can chat to a friend for 59 mins and then when the alarm goes off, she knows that my phone will go down and I will wait a minute or so and then ring back:D My broadband has just gone up to £18 inline with the increased speed now I am on 10Mb as opposed to 2Mb. Sometimes Virgin make a mistake and I find that I can access programmes like National Geographic which I watch for a week or until it is taken off me again. I agree about their call centre - half of them can't speak english:mad:

I think that DIAL stands for Disability Information Advice Line - they are experts with the DLA forms. Zippy have you found the Disability board on the forum too as they have great help and advice there too.

Here on DFW there is the £2 Savers Club, September make 10pounds a day challenge (you can even sign up for £5 a day if you like - we don't mind).

barbarawright

Wow! I'm most impressed. I do some of that stuff - bread-making, cooking from scratch etc but doing it all the time is impressively hardcore! (Today my local Tesco was selling 6 bottles of Becks for £4 and it seemed rude not to buy a couple of packs!)