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Got a letter from my landlord this morning...
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Lidls and Aldi is tooons cheaper than any of the other supermarkets - even if you have to pay bus fare to get there....0
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Thanks for the advice everyone - and no, I dont think anyone has been unneccesarily harsh.
As stated previously I have no contact number as he just uised to text me when he wanted me to pay some of the arrears. Stupidly, I would forget his text was there and delete my entire inbox - hence, I would lose his number. And his house got flooded in January and he moved house, not giving me his new address. I have been paying him £50 when I can and intended to give a lot more, but couldnt.
As to what I spend: no luxury washing powder here, its always whatever is cheapest - I tried the basics ranges and they left my 2 and 3 year old with a rash, so I tend to go for Daz which is £2. This time though I did buy one of those huge boxes for £6 which I hated doing, but its lasted me a month and a half.
I dont NEED a tv but I have one, so while I do (cant sell it) I HAVE to pay the tv license.
No sky or other cable tv, my mobile is PAYG and I never top up unless I need to phone up about a job, my internet is mobile broadband pay as you go.
I CANNOT feed 3 of us for £10 a week, if someone thinks they can then feel free to put a list on here!
I buy basics nappies for £1.54 for 20, wipes are 50p basics ones,my cleaning cloths are 12p (basics), I buy mince for 97p per pack, sausages - ok theyre £4 but for 36, basically what Im saying is I buy NO brand names, everything is sainsburys basics and my shopping bill last Monday still came to £42.
Some people may not believe that but its true.
My little boy needs shoes as his are too tight, but I am trying to make them last - I havent even got him into a nursery yet as it would cost me £18 a week minimum - £30 is the first payment and I cant afford that yet, so Im going to have to wait til he turns 3 just to get him a free place.
They have 4 toys - a little musical chair thing, a toy jcb (small), a Roary diecast car and a peppa pig ball.
Oh, and a set of finger paints!
THATS why I wanted them to have a decent birthday, they deserve it but of course a roof over their heads is more important; if I could defer their birthdays til after I have the rent arrears paid then I will. But I just have no money to pay the LL!
He has threatened me with eviction before; got a text 2 months ago saying if I didnt pay the full rent arears by 3 wks time I would be out, I phoned him the next day and he said he had only said that as he was having a tough time with his girlfriend.
I would suggest you check out the http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33
You can find loads of recipes that are cheap to feed your family for less than £10 a week.0 -
You need to get your priorities in order fast. You don't need a television, it's a luxury you cannot afford at the moment. As for washing powder - buy a cheap one (your knickers wont mind what brand).
Where else are you spending money you can't afford? You have Internet?. obviously Contract phone or landline? Cable tv? You can pull in a lot more spare cash then you are right now by just doing away with the things you can ill afford at the moment. You can buy enough food for a week with less than a tenner if you think about what you are buying.
Food for the week for less than a tenner? One adult two kids, £3.33
each per week. less than 50p a day? Please tell us how. I cannot manage to get my food bill down to £10 and there is only me, no kids.
Dont think even Weezel would say that was possible. Please let us know how you think can be managed.Slimming World at target0 -
I think wrangler already said it but you only need a tv licence if you are watching television as it is broadcast, be that on a tv or streaming on the net. You do not need a licence even if you own a tv so long as you aren't watching programmes broadcast in real time. So get a refund on the licence and stop watching it (you can still watch DVDs on it). If you miss tv progs too much there's always the iPlayer.
This site may be of interest for anyone who has ever had the joy of communicating with the tv licence people:
http://www.bbctvlicence.com/0 -
You need to get your priorities in order fast. You don't need a television, it's a luxury you cannot afford at the moment. As for washing powder - buy a cheap one (your knickers wont mind what brand).
Where else are you spending money you can't afford? You have Internet?. obviously Contract phone or landline? Cable tv? You can pull in a lot more spare cash then you are right now by just doing away with the things you can ill afford at the moment. You can buy enough food for a week with less than a tenner if you think about what you are buying.
You're having a laugh right?
I dread to think what skip diving treasures you have in your cupboardsFuture Mrs Gerard Butler
[STRIKE]
Team Wagner
[/STRIKE] I meant Team Matt......obviously :cool:0 -
You're still missing the point. Just because you have a Television doesn't mean you HAVE to use it! You do not HAVE to pay for a TV license, no-one is forcing you to. You could be using that money to buy the shoes your little boy NEEDS rather than the TV license you WANT. That's what i mean by getting your priorities in order. You are misplacing importance on all the wrong things. Your childs shoes should be more important then a TV licence for goodness sake. If it's that important that you get to watch TV rather than getting your kid some shoes then at least get a black & white license, it a 3rd the price of colour. £49 pounds to be precise, but i expect you want more than that. That's £100 you could be saving to spend on your child.
I think you may be being a little harsh here. Most people think that you need a TV licence simply for owning a TV...I certainly did. She even says above that she doesn't need a TV, but because she has one, has to pay...which I think backs this up.
I very much doubt she owns a plasma screen tv.0 -
i thought there was a criminal charge of "installation of a television signal receiving piece of equipment" in addition to "watching an unlicensed set"
if the TV police arrive and the tv is not on, i dont belive they can prosecute you for watching, but for having "installed" a tv.
i agree that if you only watch tv in arrears, as it were, on your computer then no license is required.
Also do B&W TVs still work in digital-only areas ?
Re childrens clothes... free cycle is a great resource - OP can put out "WANTED .. boys school clothes for x school" emails to her local freecycle network...0 -
An old school friend of my wifes is a single mother with 2 children not currently working, i'm sure she gets over £400 per month tax credits on top of child benefit, income support, council tax benefit and her rent paid. Its probably the same as the take home pay of someone earning £21,000 by the time tax is paid.
I would check your getting all the benefits your entitled to if your struggling to make ends meet.0 -
I am just reading this and trying to offer suggestions echoing other's opinions:-
1. Get onto your CAB straight away. They may write a letter to your landlord with you so that you can come to some agreement with him. THIS HAS TO BE NUMBER ONE ON YOUR LIST. Even write to the landlord saying that you are trying to get some help and will contact him within xxx days with a resolution to the matter.
2. You firstly said that you have to put £70 away each week and then £50???? Which one is it? There is a big difference on the amount you receive.
3. £111 seems an awful lot for gas and electricity - have you done a check to make sure you are on the lowest tarifff?
4. Check entitiledto.co.uk - it appears that you are not receiving the right benefits (assuming you are not paying fines etc)
5. Go to https://www.gingerbread.org.uk - it is a specialist charity giving support to single parents withHow much money will I receive for my family while I am claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance?
The following are the weekly amounts payable for the family’s day-to-day living expenses. Please note: the amounts shown are for the year April 2009 – April 2010.
Single parent with one dependent child (£ per week)
Child Benefit £20.00
Jobseeker’s Allowance £64.30
Child Tax Credit £53.41
Total £137.71
Single parent with two dependent children (£ per week)
Child Benefit £33.20
Jobseeker’s Allowance £64.30
Child Tax Credit £96.32
Total £193.82
6. I have heard of something called Discretionary Housing Benefit payments - your local council or CAB will help you with this - not sure though!
7. Here's gingerbread's link............
8. For the children's bday for now - bake a cake!!! Sorry to be harsh but my goodness - you have got to get this sorted out!
There is a lot of help out there BUT you have to ask for it - if I was you - I would ring CAB or Gingerbread FIRST thing in the morning (oh and ask them to call you back so you're not losing your credit)
Let us know how you go but please don't ignore this very serious situation!
Best wishes
2.Total Quidco earnings - £547.98
Everyone is scared of someone or something, everyone loves someone or something, and everyone has lost someone or something! BE NICE!0 -
Landlord requires 2x months rent arrears to evict you.
If rent is £395, then rental arrears needs to £790 to do so.
If you "paid" some cash off this arrears, so the arrears now are £780 for example. I cant you being evicted for this.
(You can miss a water payment, to clear the rental arrears. If you owe anything at the end of the year, they just add it to next years bill - as Mrs Alias found out years ago)0
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