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

penelopedee_2

Kitty, it sounds lovely

Prudent

wigglebeena wrote: »

Bliddy hell. Do you mind saying what council this is? I do feel some organisations need naming and shaming...

Yes its Clackmannanshire. It provoked a lot of local anger. I feel saddened by such blatent waste. Last Sunday afternoon I was sitting happily comping when the doorbell rang. When I opened the door a van from the neighbouring council was outside my house. A man in council uniform was on the doorstep and another one at the driver's wheel. I work for this council. It is a 44 mile round trip. They came to collect a library book that they said was overdue from the library near my workplace. The book had infact been returned. The council paid two men (no doubt on double time) at least an hour's wage plus over a gallon of petrol to collect a library book!

I am sure many people on here could have used that money far more wisely.

wigglebeena

Prudent wrote: »

Yes its Clackmannanshire. It provoked a lot of local anger. I feel saddened by such blatent waste. Last Sunday afternoon I was sitting happily comping when the doorbell rang. When I opened the door a van from the neighbouring council was outside my house. A man in council uniform was on the doorstep and another one at the driver's wheel. I work for this council. It is a 44 mile round trip. They came to collect a library book that they said was overdue from the library near my workplace. The book had infact been returned. The council paid two men (no doubt on double time) at least an hour's wage plus over a gallon of petrol to collect a library book!

I am sure many people on here could have used that money far more wisely.

OMG! I'm going to complain to my council: they never send a dedicated workforce to pick up my library books!

Clackmannanshire Council, you're ****ing morons! I nearly typed Cackmannanshire: there's a Freudian wisdom in that.

EstherH

susyrosy wrote: »

With all due respect to the makeover programmes telling you how you can do everything more cheaply - frankly, it's EASY to take a high-spending family and cut their budget. I like reading the real life situations and economy suggestions here. AND I really appreciate the supportive tone on this forum - it's rare out there.

Susy

Hi, I've been reading through this thread all night and love it. Everyone is so friendly and supportive.
Susy, whenever I have seen a money makeover, I have always thought, what about the people like us who are on benefits (disabled) and there doesn't seem to be anywhere else to cut. The old style board is great for ideas. When you have downshifted the groceries and only buy the smartprice brands etc., there are still ideas on here. Thank you.

sparrer

Thanks everyone for your very kind, and constructive, remarks. To clarify about my mother she's 89 and fitter than most 50 y/o's, certainly fitter than me, 62 with copd. She's independent, not reliant on anyone for anything except her 'lady-who-does' an hour a fortnight. She lives 80 miles away and I visit usually every 3 weeks, admittedly not as often as I could. What she can't undertand is that I enjoy being with my friends who don't drink, while she'll put away the best part of a bottle of brandy in a 24 hour period, and get quite aggressive which I find a bit upsetting. However, as you see there's no issue with her capabilities.

I'm really interested to find out more about foraging,about wild garlic in particular as I love it in most dishes but not sure how to recognise it, or a lot of other plants. I want to save for India in Feb, but knowing me I'll get food poisoning before I go! Also having read through I think veggie is a good idea 3/4 times a week, the better cuts of meat are silly money and as someone else said, chicken and mince can get a bit boring after a few months!

Thanks again for all your encouragement, I'm definitely going to take care of me and go on this holiday
Sparrer

boultdj

Trust me sparrer you'll know when you find wild garlic,the smell when it's flowering is just like it's been chopped,and it's a white flower,look next to river's that have woodland's or at least that's where I'v alway's found mine. HTH.:D By the way if you get the chance go on the river bank at Matlock Bath or the cliff path near Portsmouth you'll soon find garlic,but some place's you'll have to get permision to pick/harvest from.

wigglebeena

sparrer wrote: »

Another lurker just jumping in briefly to say hi. Hi :hello:.

It's getting tougher here but somewhat self-inflicted....I'm on a pension and have spent a lot of years pleasing my elderly mother, holidays, visits, Christmases etc., but dawned on me recently I'm not getting any younger myself. Yesterday I was asked if I'd like to go to India (!) for a few days in Feb and immediately said no, of course. But then I thought about it for a short while (couple of mnutes ) and thought why the heck not?

Trouble is I'm already commited to going to Scotland for a week or so in May to meet a 'pen friend' and no way do I intend to put that off, we're neither of us getting any younger!

So I'm joining some more forums and reading everything I can to remind myself where I've been lax with my OS, and hopefully pick up some extra tips.

I'm afraid I won't have much to offer in way of posts, it's all so well covered already, but will enjoy looking out for how to save an extra penny here and there

S

ps I've just told the mother in excitement, she says I'm selfish...:(

Selfish for doing something you want, being something you want, having something for yourself... oh dear.

I don't blame relatives, friends and dependents for being anxious if the people they rely on seem to be acquiring outside interests and activities: that's a normal instinct for self-preservation. But if that was her first response...

dandy-candy

kittie wrote: »

Ahh bless you Ceridwen, of course now is a good time to start a new thread. I don`t frequent the os boards any more but know lots of you still do. We have moved house now and live in a true eco house with an allotment and water harvesting etc so my life has moved on a lot and I can be pretty well self sufficient re energy etc.

I haven`t read any of my pms and in fact not noticed that there were any as mse doesn`t play a big part in my life any more, although I do have a very quick look from time to time. I live in a diddy village now and am making lots of new friends and am surrounded by fruit trees of all kinds. I hardly listen to the news any more, don`t buy any papers and hardly watch tv so am pretty out of touch with what is going on in the big wide world. I suppose I am as close as I can be to living near to the earth now as was ever going to be possible at my age and I love it

Good luck to all of you and hang in there

This sounds fab Kittie! I don't know if you plan on doing a blog or already have one but if so please give us a link - i'm sure plenty of people hear would love to read how you get on

newroadahead

Hi All

Another lurker who would like to join the merry band.

Need to have a real shake up in life both personel and money.Will post more tomorrow about why life is not so great.

Hope all sleep well.

NRA xx

Charis

wigglebeena wrote: »

Can't see a bunch of slabs of rock attracting much business though. I presume the 'artist' is 'someone's' mate and backhanders were involved. Oh, naughty me! Smack my cynical hand!

When I told my sister about them she asked if they were a pile of gravestones, marking the death of common sense.

Charis