help needed OH may be paid off!

Norman_Bean

Sorry to hear your news x hope things don't go that way but if they do my tip is rubber chicken.
We are 2 adults and 2 children (3 and 4) and we are having chicken meals for all but two days of the week the other two days I'm doing cheap pasta meals.
Give small portions always have a cheap pud to fill up anyone who is still hungry - we're having mainly windfall apples and pears made into a compote the kids love it and so do I as it's free!
Freeze / fridge ALL scraps and don't throw anything away - you can be really inventive with scraps - look forward to some weird combinations but it fills you up and becomes a bit of a challenge!
Reuse everything - I have bits of foil I must have used, washed and reused at least 10 times - same for yogurt pots, ice-cream containers etc - all make great freezer storage! same for freezer bags - wash and reuse.
Chickens i buy cheap ones on special and freeze them.
Egg meals are cheap and filling - omelette, poached eggs on toast etc.
I make a lot of quiches and salad - much cheaper to make your own and is great way to use scraps.
Got to go as kids are runnig riot - but good luck x
Norman x

HoneyB17

He works on the oil rigs. Yes he has a contract but it states he is only employed for the days he is offshore. He technically could have been claiming Jobseekers allowance for the times he was at home as he was not employed but it was a huge amount of hassle so decided it wasn't worth it. He will have to claim it when he doesn't have a date to go back to work though.
Thanks for all the advice and I will definately be stocking up my freezer with lots of whoopsies when I can get them

McKneff

pelirocco wrote: »

he is still employed with the same rights as full time employees

no one can say we didnt try:beer:

HoneyB17

Sorry McKneff I missed your input.
It states in his contract that he is not employed for the periods he is not working. He pays NI conts and tax for the times he is away but not the times he is home. So he is unemployed for the period of two weeks (or longer sometimes) whe he is at home. Therefore he doesn't qualify for redundancy as you have to have been employed for a perios of 2 years.

Nordictat2

Well that's normal with alot of people who work on oil rigs..few weeks work and then few weeks off but a mate of mine said the money was so good that those 2 weeks off isn't really like you are losing money and he has 3 kids and living in Norway..that's saying alot heh.

HoneyB17

your mate must do something different to my OH then cause he doesn't make a huge amount. He does get about the same for his two weeks as he used to get when he worked onshore for the whole month. Unfortunately that doesnt help the situation that we will be left in with no redundancy money

HoneyB17

Thanks so much Norman Bean:beer: Lots of great tips there.
Am going to write down all the tip I get so I can refer back to them all the time

hartcjhart

get him to register with some employment agencies,may not get full time but at least a week here or there will help,what is his job as I could recommend a couple of good places

HoneyB17

he will be registering as soon as he gets home (2 weeks today)and will also be in touch with any contacts he has on the rigs or oil companies so hopefully he will get something even if its just for a little while. He would pretty much consider anything

esmf73

Could have loads of advice - have you got a slow cooker? Get a big one and then you can fill it so you have one meal cooked and one meal in the freezer. Bear in mind that your heating / electricity bill may rise with you both at home - and you'll need feeding at lunch time.

Things like jacket potatoes where you turn on your oven can help heat the house (and dry your washing if you put it on an airer in front of the oven!), make all your own cakes as again it keeps the house warm and you can eat cheaper. I use extra value flour and it turns out just the same!!!

Don't let yourself get cold as it will take longer to warm up - stay warm.

Can't think of anything specific just yet - let me know what you want. How old are your kids? Would they understand?