Got a letter from my landlord this morning...

looby75

Alasia please please go to CAB and get a benefits check. I know you say that they are taking money off you to pay back other debts but there is a limit to how much they can take but sometimes they "forget" that and just keep taking regardless.

A couple of years ago my sister found herself losing most of her IS (I started a thread about it....will look to see if I can find it so you can see it does happen) From what you have posted it would seem they are taking far far too much from your benefits.

As for the washing machine....you will probably get better results from your washing powder using the same amount but at 40 degrees....biological washing powder has an enzyme in it that works at body temperature...which is about 40 degrees, if the water temp is higher than that it basically kills the enzyme off so it can't do it's job. Try using the same amount of powder as you do now but on a 40 wash and I bet your clothes come out just as clean if not cleaner

Good luck.


Edit, here's the thread about my sisters situation....just to show that sometimes they do take too much

Fang_3

meg72 wrote: »

Yeah and £5.25 delivery. A few tins of Spam (disgusting stuff) at
£1.58 a tin. The OP is feeding kids not dogs, Having said that I dont think even my gannet of a dog would be too happy with this.

And 2KG of good quality Lloyd Grossman soup for 99p. 2.5KG of cereal for £2.99. There's flour, sauces, pasta. Even with the delivery charge, she should be able to easily feed her family on £10 a week. Granted there won't be much variety, but needs must for a while. It's that, or she's homeless.

looby75

Fang wrote: »

And 2KG of good quality Lloyd Grossman soup for 99p. 2.5KG of cereal for £2.99. There's flour, sauces, pasta. Even with the delivery charge, she should be able to easily feed her family on £10 a week. Granted there won't be much variety, but needs must for a while. It's that, or she's homeless.

the thing about approved foods is that to make it really worth while you have to buy in bulk and if you have the money up front to do it then you can feed a family for less than £10 a week.

gallygirl

[Q

Fang wrote: »

And 2KG of good quality Lloyd Grossman soup for 99p. 2.5KG of cereal for £2.99. There's flour, sauces, pasta. Even with the delivery charge, she should be able to easily feed her family on £10 a week. Granted there won't be much variety, but needs must for a while. It's that, or she's homeless.

The trouble is Fang that to justify a £5.95 delivery charge you need to order a largeish amount, and the OP does not have the money upfront to do this. Being able to eat very cheaply is possible - but you generally need to have cash upfront to be able to do this. Not much point having plenty cereal if you can't afford any milk, or pasta if you can't afford any veg etc.

I do think the OP has been a bit ostrich like, or f e c kless (e.g. deleting landlord's number regularly etc.) - but it is not easy to eat well on a limited budget. For example, milk & veg around me are cheapest in Lidl, so I jump in the car or pop in when I go past. If OP has a 4 mile journey to get there it's not feasible to walk (please be realistic - she does have 2 v small kids so don't suggest walking!), and bus fares mean she is paying a heck of a lot. I can buy a large bag of flour to save money - I take it home & put it in a nice Tupperware container in my nice dry cupboards. But if you can't afford plastic containers & have damp in your kitchen the flour will quickly be unusable. Etc, etc.

mikey72

alasia wrote: »

Oh and btw I cant do ironing for people as I dont have an iron,Ive tried putting ads aroundlolcally for me to clen for people, walk their dogs and even pet sit but had no replies (apart from the odd one or two that phone up but ask questions then never get back in touch), Ive tried Avon, Tish Tash Toys and Betterware recently and none of those worked out...no sales.

Ive just started doing surveys and mystery shopping now to try and get a bit of extra cash and if I can persuade my mum to have the kids overnight 3 times a week, I can go for the warehouse nights job Ive seen advertised...but whether she will be willing to have the children that much, I dont know.

ETA: just seen the above post; if my tenancy is affected by the MS then...whoops!

Can't help with much else, but if you put the advert in the local supermarkets, if you get any takers,

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/9009631/Trail/searchtext%3EIRON.htm

and could pay for it on the first job, and use the table and a towel.

I don't think the landlord would seriously object if you took on work to pay him, and who else is to know, unless you do it full time.

terryw

mikey72 wrote: »

and who else is to know, unless you do it full time.

Oh dear, a conviction for benefit fraud would not improve the OP's situation and this advice is outside the ethos of MS.

alasia

Its ok I do have a slight bit of common sense (not that you would know from my posts on this thread) and definitely would not put my family at risk by taking on illegal work!

As I stated previously, Id rather get my mum to have the kids overnight at her house 3 days a week so I can get a PT job working nights than risk getting convicted for benefit fraud.

Oh and thanks for the link...someone- I know I can can get an iron dirt cheap (sainsburys do them for £4.99) but often I dont have £5 to spare - well if i did have it spare, I would rather keep it in case I needed milk later on in the week rather than waste it on buying an iron...thats the reaason I dont buy clothes for myself unless I absolutely need to!

I will sort out a proper budget today and try and get this debt paid off before December...thanks for the advice everyone

wannabe_sybil

I can't help with the housing issue, but I really recommend posting on the Debt Free Wannabe http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=76 and Old Style http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=33

boards. They are really good at helping you with sorting out money.

The housing issue, I am NO expert, but is there a local scheme where the council can help with a deposit? It sounds like you are going to move anyway. Is there any way you could set up a standing order for £5 per month, if your landlord would consider it? I'm clutching a bit at straws, but I hope it helps.

mikey72

terryw wrote: »

Oh dear, a conviction for benefit fraud would not improve the OP's situation and this advice is outside the ethos of MS.

Maybe you should check how much part time work you can do, and how it affects benefits, when you declare it.

Fang_3

looby75 wrote: »

the thing about approved foods is that to make it really worth while you have to buy in bulk and if you have the money up front to do it then you can feed a family for less than £10 a week.

I agree. BUT the OP seems to have the money available to do a month's shopping on her current weekly budget.