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

BitterAndTwisted

Sammy-Kay is getting harassed because she appears to be paying the rent in arrears when it should be paid in advance. True, it's not fair to be sending shirty letters to tenants who make regular payments when others don't. I'd be looking at this situation as a really, REALLY compelling reason for Owen not to fall for that car being dangled like a carrot in front of him. In fact, I think it's rather unkind to encourage someone to take on yet another debt when things seem to be so close to the wire already. And it's not only covering credit-card payments with their usurous interest-rates either, there will be fuel, insurance, tax and MOT expenses as well. I wouldn't go for it in a month of Sundays: he's got a bike to use for work already, hasn't he?

charlies-aunt

:rotfl: Bargain of the week - 680g packs of Aldi Pork Sausages for 72p ......good price ....and I got mine today with a 50% off sticker on - so went through the till at 36p!!

12 thick and meaty bangers = 2 meals for 2 @ 9p per person

Planning to do Toad in the hole with hm onion gravy for one meal followed by sausage bake with home grown tomatoes and courgette for the other...hmmm!

Pack of 6 x Muller Crunch Corners = £1.20 at Lidl so DD2 gets a treat too

Penny pinching until it makes the Queens eyes water!!! :rotfl:

flowertotmum

Charlies-aunt..love that saying...will use that...
Well i went to garage sale today..got a watch lovely antique looking thing for £1.50 and a brooch for 30p...got my girls some of the old style enid blyton books 4 for a £1..got home had lunch then took girls conker picking had hot choclate and cocoa brownies when we got back very yummy and not one ounce of choclate in sight so good for you technically;)...got a tip off here on how to use conkers and have spent the afternoon making a wreath of conkers for front door...couldn't get the heart shape so i stuck with a circle:D..its on the front door right now...its heavy..reckon it would seriously hurt some one if i cracked them with it..not that i would..going to try out our heating later..thing is i'm bloody warm and so are the rest of us but it needs doing before it gets too cold and then we find out it doesn't work like it did last yr:(...going to have bacon butties for tea and watch the rugby...
Sammy-kaye..please try the housing benefit and council tax benefit you might get something knocked off...give it a go..hugs for you...
take care all

boultdj

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

What's quite bizarre is Owens dad had to talk him in to taking it!

Owen doesn't want to be in debt to his family so hes struggling with the idea.


Not bloody amused either - came home to find a letter from the council abotu seeking possession of our flat.

Let me explain - Owen is paid 24th of each month, Im paid the week after that so the rent is paid the Wednesday following that pay day so rent arrears are brought up to date that day but we struggle so can never seem to get ahead with anything. Each month we get the same letter despite us telling the housing office of our circumstances and she can see that its regularly paid.

This letter says I owe £172 rent and £28.11 water which will be paid Wednesday coming in full. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: now I'm sorry but some people owe £500+ or have never paid a months rent in their lives and yet Im harassed for £172 rent and £28 water!!!!

think if i have a few quid extra this month then ill bung it on rent or water to shut them up

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

I use to get hassel from my council after I changed job's,went from weekly wage to monthly so had to pay 3 week's back dated and the current week,but now I pay in advance so it can be done, only thing I found that worked for me was to treat the 4 rent free week's my council give every tennent as still needing to be payed so for a year I didn't get a rent free week but it did get me up to date so the letter's stopped and by then I had got use to the idea and carried it on to get the 4 week's in advance during the second year. Not the quickest of way's I know but it is idea for you to think about.hth.

pennywisepoundstupid

Just want to say hi and let you know what a fantastic thread this is, its taken me two weeks to get to the end, but its been a great read.

I think your a fantastic bunch of peeps, really friendy and supportive, i will probably just lurk in the background but will definetly keep reading.

Oh a little about me i'm married, mum to a DD and DS and live in north Lancs not far from morecambe, i love bargains (plenty to be had in morecambe) and i am trying to keep costs down and generally get by, i hate the whole keeping up with the neighbours and tend to keep myself to myself, especially as where i live is full of yummy mummys, with designer clothes and 4 wheel drives and i don't really fit into there little cliques.

Take care everyone.

greent

OH and I got married 15 years ago. We'd been living together for 4 years but were looking to move house, so chose wedding gifts (from Debenhams and Argos) with a bigger house in mind, and longer term (eg Denby dinner service - use it every day) (Also had some gorgeous Waterford crystal - granted, only used for special occasions, but lovely)

My mum paid for my dress (had it made) and for the evening buffet (about £300 for 125 people in the local rugby club) We paid for everything else (oh - one usher paid for his own suit - he insisted) We were looking to possibly have a loan but saved like mad in the year/ 15 months run up and paid for it all without even credit cards - including an all inclusive honeymoon in Mexico (original plans were for a lst minute deal somewhere cheap for a week in Europe) We had a reception in a local hotel with a fancy plated hot buffet - basically because we couldn't decide on a main course! It cost about £8k all in (including £2k+ on the honeymoon and £1k almost on my dress) We paid for pimms/ soft drink on arrival, fizzy for the toast and 3 bottles of wine per table, I think. Evening drinks were paid for by the guests - but were ridiculously cheap at the rugby club

I'd do some bits differently now, but not much, tbh. I'm glad we paid for most of it ourselves - and glad we incurred no debt.


mardatha - how wonderful!! SOunds just right

BitterAndTwisted

pennywisepoundstupid wrote: »

U hate the whole keeping up with the neighbours and tend to keep myself to myself, especially as where i live is full of yummy mummys, with designer clothes and 4 wheel drives and i don't really fit into there little cliques.

Eh, whenever I see people like that I don't think "lucky dogs with lots of disposable income" I think "daft people with plenty of credit-card debt". It may not be true but it does make me feel better about not playing those sorts of keeping up with the Joneses games when I have no credit-card debt myself.....

BB1984

Well here I am again - I was very good and did 6 solid hours of work today

Then I walked round to my friend's house to have a cuppa and a catch up and see her babba (so cute, only a couple of weeks old and gorgeous!)

Came home and had dinner which was leftovers from last night's takeaway - and I've still got a little bit left for lunch tomorrow! Spending the evening chilling out in front of the tv with my cats for company (ha ha I sound like a mad old cat lady!) Actually, it was so lovely just now, the big grumpy old cat and the new annoying kitten were curled up next to each other on the sofa, and then woke up and started washing each other - bless! I'm so relieved that my big old man has accepted little girly!

It's been a lovely day down here, shame I was stuck indoors all day but I did wash and dry 3 loads of washing - woo hoo! It's been piling up lately what with the rubbish weather, so if I do another 3 loads tomorrow, I reckon the basket will be nearly empty at last (simple things!)

Hope you all have a nice evening

BB

Kitcaboodle

Had a bit of a splurge today but it was worth it. My sister came round to visit and we took her out to a restaurant for lunch & then she bought us a take-away for dinner in the evening. So, high calorie and high cost but all very yummy and worth it, it won't break the bank & it's only the third time she's been over since we moved in, so it was lovely to spend some time with her.

We don't see each other much as she's always crazy busy with work (she was even answering work e-mails this evening!) so it was great to spend some quality time together and to show off DS.

I gave her the slow cooker book I bought her and told her that, if she ever found herself throwing it in the back of a cupboard or thinking about binning it because she wasn't using it, that we could give it a good home! I hope she does use it though as a slow cooker is the perfect thing for someone who gets stuck in the office until 10pm on a regular basis.

bravobeastie

Lindy_-_Loo wrote: »

Its my mums birthday next week and were trying to think of a way to distract her from the fact as its her first birthday since dad died, one sister has taken the day of work but any planning seems to have landed onto me - again...

Hi,

This christmas will be my mums first without her fiance. I had no idea what to get her but not too long ago she asked me and my OH if we could print out any pics we had of my step dad. We decided to go one better and will be having a photobook made up with all the pictures we could get of him.

It will be very emotional when she opens xmas day but will be something she treasures forever and something that couldn't be bought in a shop.

hth x