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It's STILL tough and not getting better - so how are we coping?
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Thank you for the suggestions re presents that is really helpful. Just heard this morning on the news about bus passes being cut back by raising the age to 65 and becoming means tested x
are they really making it means tested as well? my parents just hover above the pension credits cut-off, although their savings are almost at the trigger point for housing benefit (they don't own their own home).
it's the little things like the bus passes that can help to make a difference - for mental wellbeing as well as helping to save money. i try and supplement their income with hampers, free coffee vouchers, phone top-ups etc - so they feel like they have a 'free' treat every so often.
also, i dread to think at what age i will be retiring:eek: i did have it all planned, but it depends what they are going to do with the public sector pensions......0 -
On the topic of presents for people; last year I made hampers for everyone in OH's family for Christmas (my family don't give presents to adults, thankfully!), and as none of us have any children, it was quite easy and amazingly cheap.
I make a lot of jams, cordials, preserves and pickles, forage for free food, and use the local fruit farm extensively (50p per 500g for fresh peas and 75p/500g for blackcurrants!!). Everyone was so impressed with what they got, there's not even been a suggestion that they wouldn't like another one this year (as if they have a choice :rotfl:).
I made them on themes, so my SIL got a book-lover's hamper with chocolates (Lidl, posh but not expensive), homemade Bailey's biscuits, some scented candles (bought in a sale), marmalade and fruit vodka, and 2 books which were bought with points I had accrued from doing on-line surveys.
This year, I'm even more prepared and stared in Jan making things to give away as presents - I'm now runing out of room in the shed! Surveys are going well, and my list is already being made.
For ourselves, I save 20p pieces, and have managed to save £80 so far, and have £36 in Luncheon vouchers from Pinecone which I'll put towards the supermarket things we'll need around Xmas. The only thing I'll struggle with this year is OH's birthday in August, as I wasn't expecting him to be here, and I now have no idea what to get him!!
I find that I'm actually happier (apart from worrying about money in the dark hours of the night) living this way than I was when we were spending £500+ per month on groceries from Waitrose and buying everything we wanted. I take pride in the things I make, and cook from scratch every night. If we want something sweet I can be persuaded to make biscuits, but I mainly make cakes or other puddings. The dog eats a raw food diet or our leftovers and is the healthiest dog we've ever owned.
I've just started crocheting again and am making a blanket for winter, and prefer listening to Radio 4 rather than watching trash TV. People think we're a bit weird, as we've never had Playstations, huuuuuge TVs, and don't really care about the latest gadgets, as long as the one's we've got work! The thing is, we are happy and have nearly always lived like this - I'm convinced I would have been better off in the middle ages!
Again, a huge post from me (can you tell OH is away!), but I think I'm a bit more positive this morning.
T x0 -
Hi,
I also want to join in a bit more and am I glad to be on board pretty early on (only 4 pages to read!) We have some potentially good news although there is no chicken counting going on. DH's employer is having to make people redundant but DH was told this week to find someone on the "at risk" list to help his team with a big project they're involved with. So we're hoping this means his team will be safe - there's obviously plenty of them to be doing after all. Even so, we're still saving as much as we can should things go the other way.
I'm looking on the bright side of all this wind and rain, it's giving me a great chance to see if we have any draughts or gaps that need filling before the winter. Should keep me quiet for a bit.0 -
Haven't read the middle posts (will catch up later) but I'm happy to see new and old posters here on the new thread. Thanks Ceridwen.
PS - caught up now - couldn't resist it!." The greatest wealth is to live content with little."
Plato0 -
As pensioners our mortgage is thankfully paid off now. But many years ago when my OH was made redundant for the first time and without a job for over a year it left a real emotional scar on us, wondering whether we might lose our house. Neither of us had extravagant habits but when he got another job we swore then that we'd rather go without a lot of things to get rid of the mortgage as soon as we could. Every year we listened to friends and relatives telling us about their expensive holidays abroad and regular meals out, etc. whilst our lifestyle was far more modest. Whenever the mortgage interest rate came down, we left our monthly payments at the same rate rather than increasing our standard of living and we overpaid as well whenever we could. This way we cleared our mortgage much more quickly than originally planned, which was just as well because OH was made redundant again shortly after clearing it. That time we were able to cope much better financially because we were debt free. Your home is your last safe haven, and knowing that nobody can kick you out of it when you're financially struggling is a great stress saver.0
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esmf 73 - do you have a library anywhere near you? Ours organises a lot of free childrens' activities during the school holidays.0
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Morning all!
It's cold today, I'm under my duvet keeping snuggly! I put my washing out earlier but might have to go and get it in soon... it's so windy I've got visions of it flying away. It's all very well sending DS next door to collect his football but I really don't fancy knocking at the neighbour's door and saying 'please mister, can I have my knickers back?' :rotfl:
I'm waiting for a call from the income support people, to see whether they've been able to sort my claim out yet as I'm still only getting half of what I'm entitled to.
I'm also bracing myself for the start of the school holidays... DS is off for 7 weeks :eek: which I think is excessive and far too long. Fortunately he's away with his dad for 2 weeks but even so, 5 weeks is a long time to keep him occupied. It's the first summer holidays that I haven't been working and I'm half exctied to have so much time to spend with him, and half terrified that we'll end up killing each other!!
Hope everyone's ok this morning, lets all keep smiling togetherSay what you mean.. mean what you say... without being mean.0 -
Thanks for new thread Ceridwen, nice to see lots of new people posting :wave:
Am really annoyed after hearing on the news this morning about the age change for oap bus passes - first they moved the goalposts re pension age (mine has gone up from 60 to 63 1/2), now this - sometimes wonder what I've worked for all me life :mad:
Still not heard from ESA medical people so don't know if passed or not - If I have failed - where do I turn next as doctor/manager of jobcentre have said I am not fit for JSA
The great thing about this thread is that although it may not change anything, just being able to let off steam and talk about problems is a great help - everyone here is great. :AWhen you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on :eek:
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DS, I know these feelings so well .. try being a nurse who took a job as an office cleaner ! But my husband was the boss and did most of my work for me (I had ME and couldnt cope at all with my old job), and plus we went to work in the same car and halved the petrol. So we were much better off but I didnt like the prats who looked down their noses at me.
That was a bank HQ and I cheer meself up by wondering where they all are now....
I am a nurse but floundered at the first step, shifts vs childcare. Shifts at my local hospital start at 7 and end at either 2 or 7 for days and nights which is all well and good but nurseries and breakfast clubs don't open until 8.
I now tend to stick to bar or restaurant work, easier to fit around. I went for a few p/t HCA jobs but as im trained (not actually been regestered since 2003) i dont fit the HCA criteria and going for the p/t nursing jobs and agencies all want 2yrs post reg experience (i only did a year since qualifying, i need to freshen up but its really trying to get blood from a stone.
The only way i can see is converting from diploma to degree in the future and hope i can start again from step 10 -
This is one of the things that really does my head in re nursing. Why the hell dont they make shifts that are much more manageable for people ? They could easily do it. All the shouting about a shortage of nurses & having to pay a fortune using agency people - and if they only changed the hours a bit then it would be sorted!!0
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