Realisation has just hit. Don't know where to begin.

Floss

Re School trips: when i was really skint & new single parent with no maintenance, I spoke to the Headmaster at my children's schools and told them in words of 1 syllable that I could not afford to pay the money they asked for every week. This was for learning guides / trips / visitors to school etc. As a result, I just paid about 15-20% of the request, with a note to say "as per previous agreement with Mr X, Headmaster". This meant that my eldest went on a 4 day Maths trip for £15, and my youngest went on several 3 day trips for about £10 each time.

The school will have a hardship fund supported by the PTA & school funds - you are in need of this support for this period of time - it won't be forever, and you aren't the only person to have drawn on it, so don't be too proud to ask for their support.

tawnyowls

Mirtos wrote:

On the Link cash machine front, just beware of the crazy charges for each transaction! If you pay £1.50 a go and withdraw 5 times a week, then it's probably cheaper to drive to the lloyds cashpoint to do it for free!

Good point. However, not all Link machines charge, and not all machines supposedly owned by banks are free - it depends on who the operator is. There is a campaign on to get these charges stopped, on similar grounds of legality as the bank charges.

MCBIRNIE25

Hi wotnext, will have the letter with you by cop tonight, my emails are being stroppy.

zippygeorgeandben

Wotnext,

Just wishing you all the best with consolidating your debts.

It's a great feeling when you start paying them off. Make sure you constantly keep us updated because there is nothing worse than tackling all this on your own.

As regards ATM's which charge you, they normally warn you of this before you go ahead with the withdrawal. You may only see it as £1.50 or £1.75, but if you went into a shop and asked for change of a £10 note, you would be aggrieved if they gave you £8 coins and a 50 pence piece back wouldn't you!

I'm going to be checking your thread constantly and I wish you all the best in the future.

wotnext

Good news! Sent a stinking letter of complaint to the Chief Executive at 9am yesterday. Got a response by 12pm to thank me for bringing it to her attention and has assured me it'll be dealt with discreetly and hopes we can resolve it quickly. (PHEW). She has ordered meetings between the union and the new director of HR asap, and has asked him to look in to my complaints and get in touch with me asap.

I am hoping that this job comes to fruition. It'd help immensly. Not only would it give me a much-needed confidence boost earning my own wage again (even if it is only a little bit), but the backpay would pay off a few debts at least and provide a little bit of icecream money for the kids for our little holiday.

At least I'm getting heard now. Will give them until next week before I give my final scream and a nod to union HQ to take IT action.

Oh, and I added my first £2 coin to my £2 savings pot yesterday! Good day all round.:beer:

Brassic

Just wanted to say, I have a family of 5 including 11 month baby, and this month I'm going to have spent around 300 quid on shopping including food, toiletries and nappies. I buy nappies from Asda, I got a big box pack of 93 for 8 pounds something, so have them coming out of my ears now :rotfl: Also, these nappies got ranked in the top 3 by a recent survey, and I certainly have found them to be great - never leak and she looks comfy in them.

HTH.

tawnyowls

wotnext wrote:

Good news! Sent a stinking letter of complaint to the Chief Executive at 9am yesterday. Got a response by 12pm to thank me for bringing it to her attention and has assured me it'll be dealt with discreetly and hopes we can resolve it quickly. (PHEW). She has ordered meetings between the union and the new director of HR asap, and has asked him to look in to my complaints and get in touch with me asap.

Fantastic news. Sounds like she's on your side, and I should think so too! Best of luck with it.

MrsTinks

Whether she's on your side or not then they were actually in breach by not advertising the position internally As they were aware you were searching for a job within the company for which you already worked then you should have been made aware of it and given the option of applying. Doesn't mean they had to give it to you - say if someone else was better suited (don't shoot me I'm only saying!). Depending on the exact break scheme and the wording of it then they have no right to try and force you to take a huge paycut on a pro-rata basis. If nothing is resolved then take all of the letters, al of your evidence and go for a tribunal for constructive dismissal.

BE AWARE that it can end up making it hard to find another job if your future employer finds out about it though... not sure if you'd need to mention if in interviews etc but I would certainly not count on a blinding reference from them

wotnext

tine wrote:

BE AWARE that it can end up making it hard to find another job if your future employer finds out about it though... not sure if you'd need to mention if in interviews etc but I would certainly not count on a blinding reference from them

They are only allowed to give a basic reference (ie, confirmation that I was employed there, length and dates of employment and previous position held). So there is no worry about that issue.;)

david_hellier

According to my calculations you have £190-69 to spend each week EXCLUDING food. I suggest you write this amount down in a little book and keep a record of what you spend through the week. This will prevent overspending. I have made assumptions on the OD charges and a small OD payoff of £10 per month. You food will have to come out of this amount, so you'll need to cut back. Also your TV package is too high. Go digital.

Good luck.

income weekly monthly
self 0.00
partner 1339.00
benefits 398.00






total 0.00 1737.00
400.85 divided by 4.33

400.85 total weekly income

spend weekly monthly
rent/mortgage 350.00
council tax 142.00
elec 65.00
gas 40.00
water 32.51
secured loans
TV licence 15.12
fines
broadband 75.00
car ins 31.04
petrol 30.00
aa 20.00
travel 80.00
od charge 20.00
od payoff 10.00















total 0.00 910.67
210.15 divided by 4.33

210.15 total weekly spend

Start= income - spend = 190.69 per week