Memorygirl's SOA - do your magic!!

jennyo

sorry I don't have anything to add to the suggestions you have already been given, they give such good advice don't they, but to wish you the best of luck. i remember what it was like to have young children and no money, its very hard, but there will be a way out for you, you sound very strong.

Memory_Girl

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Sorry to pry but you don't seem to get any child support for your children? Is there any possibility you could take in a lodger for extra tax-free income, or would that be too much for DS?

.

Sorry Firefox I didn't answer all of your question there.

The house is only partially renovated - but at least is colourfully decorated thanks to some bargain basement £2 tins of paint from a closing down sale.

Since the Central Heating System was put in I've had no electric upstairs - and now can't really afford to pay an electrician to come out and trace the fault.

Costed out about £200 to erect some walls upstairs - then I would have 2 double bedrooms, 1 single bedroom and an office to work from home.

The £200 plus about £70 for tile adhesive would have practically finished the house (I've got a collection of stuff from freecycle to use to do the finishing touches)

So long story short - yes I could have 3 letting rooms on a seperate floor from us camped out downstairs. The local college would be keen for me to take in some students ( I am CRB checked) - so it would be perfect.

Once the wall is up and the place made safe of course.

Time to start saving to finish the house so I can start earning I guess.

Thanks

MEmorygirl

yellowduck_2

Hi hon, no advice, sorry, but your revenge fantasy on the bank made me laugh out loud, wish things could get better for you and your boys very quickly. They are blessed in having a loving mum with spirit and energy.

Memory_Girl

yellowduck wrote: »

Hi hon, no advice, sorry, but your revenge fantasy on the bank made me laugh out loud, wish things could get better for you and your boys very quickly. They are blessed in having a loving mum with spirit and energy.

:rotfl:I've decided that I want the Silver Fox to be Gabriel Byrne!! I know hes married to a beaultiful lady but maybe she'd let me borrow him for the limo ride :rotfl:

Good news is I've discovered today I can earn £20 per week without it affecting my benefits.

So between now and going back to work (in the new Year I hope) I am on a mission to make £20 to claw back some of the funds the bank have got - and the money is staying in my biscuit tin.

So how many weeks till Christmas is it exactly??

Memorygirl

spendtoomuch

Hi there hope you don't mind me sticking my nose in but I have a 17 year old son with Aspergers (diagnosed at nearly 15). There is no such thing as borderline aspergers, you either have it or don't and he is indeed entitled to DLA if it affects his life and he needs extra help because of it. My son is very able in lots of ways and many would not know he has it, he works now and still gets it. We get £265 a month DLA but were turned down the first time we applied. I appealed and we got it. Our doctor was very helpful. The assessors are not qualified medical people and do not often understand. Private email me and I will help you with this. You may well be entitled to carers allowance too, I could not get it as I work too many hours. Good luck, you sound an amazing mum! x

Fire_Fox

Memory_Girl wrote: »

"In 2010 I am going to appear on a prime time television programme talking about this situation and how I not only survived being kicked when I was down - but turned our lives around and created an abundant life for my children.

I will then present the head of Clydesdale with the framed 71 pence (the total amount they left me with on Tuesday) and thank him for his attendance.

I WILL THEN EMPTY £10000 IN USED FIVERS FROM A BRIEFCASE ALL OVER HIS HEAD AND AS IT CASCADES DOWN ALL OVER HIM AND ONTO THE FLOOR I WILL THANK THE HOST, RISE ELEGANTLY FROM MY CHAIR AND EXIT THE STUDIO HOLDING MY HEAD UP HIGH. LEAVING HIM TO SCRABBLE AROUND FOR EVERY BLESSED PENNY ON THE FLOOR"


Of course in this little fantasy I am a perfect size 12, wearing a gorgeous dress and fabulous high heels. As far from the tearful single-mum-of-two standing humiliated in the bank branch as you can get.

Oh!! and whilst I'm at it - I walk out of the studio straight into a limo with some damn hot silver fox!!!!!!!!!!!!

You gotta laugh:rotfl:

Bless you all for help - please keep it coming. As you can see I'm already feeling more hopeful - delusional but hopeful

Memorygirl

Loving your style! Thought I'd pop back and formally invite you to join Sarahb's 'Single and in Debt' thread/ diary on the grounds that you are clearly F Fabulous:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1985189

Katy83

Memory Girl,

That fantasy is brilliant! :rotfl:

You obviously have fantastic spirit, well done on what you have done so far. I really hope you manage to get your benefits situation sorted soon, what a lot of a*ses banks are.

You should definitely complain to the ombudsman and your MP after this situation is sorted. That money is all you have to live on and they are taking it, basically for thier profit margin. :mad:

Good luck with your cccs appointment, make sure you keep us posted xx

Memory_Girl

Right, made a decision.

I can't afford to run the central heating - simply its an additional £25 per month that I don't have. I know it was put in under a grant scheme but I simply don't have the money on basic benefits to have it on.

I did debate about getting rid of the dongle or the mobile. My heart says the dongle is a luxury I can't afford - and I guess some kind of phone is kind of useful when you have 2 kids and no public telephones - so I will see what I can do about trimming the price even further - any ideas of a good PAYG deal anyone?

I've put spare quilts under our beds. A couple of fleece blankets inside my DS Duvet cover and quickly run him up a cover for his hot water bottle. From now on it will have to be fleece jammies, lots of layers and bed socks.

Fortunately the wee one sleeps in with me so I have a built in hot water bottle -LOL.

I've rolled up a quilt to fix the hole under the sash window as it doesn't quite close and will cost £80 to get fixed and I pulled the curtains as soon as the sun moved away from the front of the house.

Hope it doesn't get too cold this winter - although I may never forgive the bank for making me watch my kids shiver on their way to bed.

Food bill will have to be cut even further - so off to the OS thread I go. Meals will be basic but we won't starve. If I could persuade Baby to potty train overnight I could save another £2.50 per week (dreaming again)

But if anyone has any ideas of how to make my pennies go further - or what else I can cut out of budget -please,please,please feel free to chip in.

Thanks in advance

Memorygirl

Fire_Fox

Spare duvet on the sofa to cuddle under, kids love that! An electric blanket on the bed of anyone too cold really helps, even taking into consideration the purchase price it's cheaper than heating! You can buy special film which goes over windows and you hairdryer it flat to keep draughts out, brilliant for sash windows IMO or if you can get hold of bubble wrap put that over the glass. I heat my main living area if it's frozen out, just not on milder winter days, and my energy bills for a two bed flat are £34 a month. For food have you read Weezl74's 'Eat healthily on 50p per day' thread on the Old Style board?

Memory_Girl

Fire_Fox wrote: »

Spare duvet on the sofa to cuddle under, kids love that! An electric blanket on the bed of anyone too cold really helps, even taking into consideration the purchase price it's cheaper than heating! You can buy special film which goes over windows and you hairdryer it flat to keep draughts out, brilliant for sash windows IMO or if you can get hold of bubble wrap put that over the glass. I heat my main living area if it's frozen out, just not on milder winter days, and my energy bills for a two bed flat are £34 a month. For food have you read Weezl74's 'Eat healthily on 50p per day' thread on the Old Style board?

Thank you Fireofx.

Blankets are on the sofa - DONE

Got no money to buy anything other than food but I will try freecyle for a plea for an electric blanket. - DONE , well asked for anyways

As for Weezl's fantastic thread - yes I am an avid follower (although I am not so brave as she was with the pigs head experiment :rotfl:- seriously guys this thread is so worth a read, one of the few that has given me a huge belly laugh).

I credit the whole OS mentality with giving me the skills to survive on my basic benefits and since April being able to build up my teeny nest egg that was going to keep our heads above water with the big winter bills. Of course that is gone now and my issue will be how to get ahead again.

Of course I'm not sleeping - but I've used the freezing wee small hours to start brainstorming things to do to earn money - well if I'm going to fulfill my bank fantasy I had better get busy. So far I have 25 things I can do from home (or with the baby in tow) so I'd better nip off now and get busy before the kids wake up.

At the very least I need to make my DS school lunch money every week so that he can keep eating with the school at lunchtime.

Any other suggestions will be immediately implemented.

Thanks Guys

Memorygirl