It's STILL tough and not getting better - so how are we coping?

jamanda

I'm in Nottinghamshire - near J.28 of the M1. I asked the lady about societies in relation to the special needs of her son. Says she joined them years ago and they were "useless". She hasn't said anything else today, so neither have I. I don't want to embarass her.

And stop saying well done - you all know you would have done exactly the same, if not more. That's why I like it here.

p.s. I know I've spelt embarass wrong somehow. I'm usually brilliant at spelling but have had a rough day and been playing with car insurance quotes all evening on line. Can't think any more today.

purpleheather2810

Ok I won't say "well done" to you Jamanda! (I'll just think it instead...!)

I have struggled with the stockpiling thing for a long time. I was brought up in a rural area and my mum probably did stockpile/keep a decent storecupboard. Since living in a small city though, we have treated the local supermarkets as our storecupboard. Sometimes I would buy extra but it got wasted because I didn't plan properly. However since I started meal planning - about 2 years ago - and taking the resulting shopping list to the supermarket, I have built up a healthy storecupboard. Every so often, if we have a lean month and/or to avoid anything getting out of date, we will run the storecupboards and freezers down. But it does feel good to know that, if we HAD to, we could live for a long time on the contents of our cupboards... Even in the depths of last winter's snow/ice we could get to the shops (at a push) if we really needed to, and they did have some food left, although they did run out of cat litter. I suppose there might be more panic buying this year because of the media coverage though, so I will be buying a little extra to see us through. Also it really isn't sensible to go out in the car to buy a few bits from the supermarket in the snow - it could cause an accident. Try telling my dh that though.

starsandmoon

This is my first post. Have lurked on this site for years though and love it. I currently have 2 jobs (both in local government), one has a wage freeze and the other is dropping my salary by 20% in 2011. Iam a single parent and my employers response when I said I would have to choose between heating or eating the response. was " you get tax credits so they will make up the difference"!!! I dont want to be reliant on tax credits. Luckily I have a good while to prepare for the drop in wages (unless I get made redundant first):o

mama67

starsandmoon wrote: »

This is my first post. Have lurked on this site for years though and love it. I currently have 2 jobs (both in local government), one has a wage freeze and the other is dropping my salary by 20% in 2011. Iam a single parent and my employers response when I said I would have to choose between heating or eating the response. was " you get tax credits so they will make up the difference"!!! I dont want to be reliant on tax credits. Luckily I have a good while to prepare for the drop in wages (unless I get made redundant first):o

Tax credits don't make upthe difference though.

Dh is now on a 4 day week so is £50 per week down in his take home pay, even with the increase in Tax credits we are still £25 per week short;

hence the reason we have:
a) cut things to the bare bones whereever possible
b) doing as many carboot sales as possible and ebaying lots to try and get some extra into the bank for when we can't do boot sales, so that we can use this before having to dip into savings
c) are really pleased we decided to grow our own this year

starsandmoon

mama67 wrote: »

Tax credits don't make upthe difference though.

Dh is now on a 4 day week so is £50 per week down in his take home pay, even with the increase in Tax credits we are still £25 per week short;

hence the reason we have:
a) cut things to the bare bones whereever possible
b) doing as many carboot sales as possible and ebaying lots to try and get some extra into the bank for when we can't do boot sales, so that we can use this before having to dip into savings
c) are really pleased we decided to grow our own this year

I didnt think the tax credits would make up the shortfall. When the Director told me the happy news she whined about how her £50k salary is frozen! Luckily I have no debt apart from the mortgage (which is manageable) and I have some savings and an insurance policy if I get made redundant, which probably wont pay out I bet! Oh the joys.

BB1984

Evening all!
Well I'm up very late tonight for me, normally I'm tucked up in bed by now!
But tonight I'm burning the midnight oil to wait for my lovely hubby to come home...forever! No more working in London, today was his last day. Brings with it some worries, but not enough to out-do the happiness of not being apart half the week

To keep myself busy, and therefore not doze off in front of the tv, I've spent most of this evening cleaning! Did the oven, the grill and the hob properly, kitchen generally, and tidied the lounge. I want to reduce the vast numbers of different cleaning products we've got. I'm not sure how/why we've got so much, but I think it's got more to do with us not doing enough cleaning to use it up, rather than buying excessive amounts!! Must try harder...

Got my mother-in-law and sister-in-law(15) coming to stay Thurs - Sat. I wish I could feel happier about it, as I do get on ok with them, but they are a bit of a trial! MIL is quite critical but in a sarcastic/jokey way, which gets on my nerves - I'd rather she just came out with it. SIL is fine on her own but plays up as her mum treats her like a baby - panders to her so much it's ridiculous. And she's REALLY fussy with her food. But the thing that annoys me most is that neither of them ever want to DO anything! I've got the next 3 days off work and given the option, would pack the time full of fun and/or productive stuff, but they just seem to want to sit around and watch tv. MIL is very overweight so even going for a walk is a struggle and usually results in wanting a cafe stop after about 20 mins. Anyway, enough moaning - I knew what I was getting when I married OH! I just hope that we don't spend too much money whilst they're down, as this month has been expensive already what with vet bills etc.

My hairdryer has packed up, boo. I've had it for 8 years which isn't too bad I suppose, but I dont' use it that often, probably once or twice a week. If I wash my hair in the morning I let it dry naturally, but in the evenings I have to dry it as my hair is very long and thick so would make my pillow wet (and I'd wake up looking like the wild woman of Borneo). So that's something else I need to buy, must do my research and find a cheap one with good reviews!

Wow I can't believe it's 10:50pm and I'm still up! Rock and roll.

BB

taplady

Jamanda - I know you dont want thanks but its warms my heart to hear stories of good deeds like yours:A:):T I would hate to think of someone I know going without food.

ceridwen

starsandmoon wrote: »

This is my first post. Have lurked on this site for years though and love it. I currently have 2 jobs (both in local government), one has a wage freeze and the other is dropping my salary by 20% in 2011. Iam a single parent and my employers response when I said I would have to choose between heating or eating the response. was " you get tax credits so they will make up the difference"!!! I dont want to be reliant on tax credits. Luckily I have a good while to prepare for the drop in wages (unless I get made redundant first):o

Well - even if thats the case, it begs the question of:
- tax credits are about to be cut
- its far preferable for income to be "salary" rather than "tax credits". Its preferable for income to be "salary" - rather than anything else and anything else means all sorts of hassle form-filling etc to get it.
- pension isnt payable on "tax credits" - it is on "salary".

Sorry to hear your news - and the ignorant response you got from your employer. I expect a lot of people are hearing/will hear such ignorant comments - the managers will have been told a variety of responses (incuding this one) as to what to say if people protest. At least you DID say something - a lot of people would just look upset and say nowt!

Sorry to hear your news - but stick around here and you'll pick up lots of O.S. hints on how to manage on lower money.

sammy_kaye18

Well I made dinner last night for friend who came over and let me use his credit card to pay a bill and I'll pay him back part tomorrow, part the beginning of September so made up shepherds pie. He didn't inform me before hand that he has had a stomach bug recently so his portion size is smaller than normal (he's a BIG guy) Only problem now is I still have half a pot of mince/veg/gravy mix sat doing nothing. So going to get that potted up and put in the freezer I think for when I CBA to cook. think I'll get about 4 generous portions from it and then will strain some of the gravy off and anything left can go to muttley with his biscuits.

Will start looking to get my store cupboard up before winter - I live next door to a coop but its the only decent sized shop in the village so once its gone its gone and there is only 2 roads in our village - one is too twisty and turny for lorries to get through and the other is prone to landslides and the road everyone and buses use out of the village. Plus I doubt the kids will be wanting to walk into town (about 40 minutes) in the freezing cold to get to Tesco if the weather is that bad and there is a landslide!

Spoke to my mum yesterday too and she has a breadmaker sat on her kitchen side that she has used once so I've told her f it needs a good home then I will happily give it one. Was considering buying her a slow cooker if I have some extra money left over. She has my sister and her 4 year old daughter about to move in with her and she works shifts but generally 7 - 4 most days so was thinking a slow cooker could be prepared the night before and left to cook all day and she could have a hot meal when she comes in. Know my sister will cook her meals too (she's good at main meals but sucks at puddings) but its a minimal effort meal especially if my sister manages to find/get a job. Did wonder too if I might treat my mum to a surprise Tesco shop to help her out a bit. Mainly cupboard stuff like tins/pasta/packets etc but figure since she is feeding an extra two now it will come in handy.

alec_eiffel

We've had a bit of a weird week, the budget has taken a huge hit - it's like a domino effect, once one thing happens everything starts to fall over! Our contingency fund is now empty, but I'm glad it was there when we needed it. It's quite strange because I know things are tough, but they don't feel tough, I guess that's a good thing really.

I was well pleased to see some people foraging when we were out last night though, so "hello", if you're here, to the two people picking blackberries (I think) near Riversway in Preston!