Its tough, it will get better and guess what its freezing brrrrr!

ceridwen

seductivesmile wrote: »

Hi There,
Can i join in please? i have read a load of the pages on here and see the same worries i have echoed. I privately rent my flat, and was struggling after i lost my evening job, just about managed the bills etc with my 37hpw job, but now they have reduced the hours to 27... under WTC threshold, and now not sure if i can even apply for help for my rent and CT... are they still open to new applications? cuz while i am looking for a job with full time hours my wages will not cover my bills.
I dont know what to do tbh as i have my bank chasing me to pay off my overdraft, which is all charges they took after i dipped into my overdraft briefly, which they hadnt informed me had been cancelled, so 'apparently' they are sending it to the underwriters (3 weeks ago) but it doesnt stop the intimidating phone calls and the threats to take the money out of the othe account i have, which just has enough for the rent this month. which if they do, means the rent wont get paid, and private landlord....

Sorry to hear that. All the more annoying that in cutting your hours they've taken you beneath that 30 hours threshold childless people have to work for to be eligible for Working Tax Credit:mad:

However - all may not be lost. I dont know the ins and outs of it - but i believe it has to a total of 30 hours work per week on AVERAGE between however-many-jobs you have. I think (someone correct me if I'm wrong) that that 30 hours doesnt have to be in just one job and doesnt have to meet 30 hours per week every week (as long as the average time worked per week is 30 hours). I'm not quite sure as to whether averaging of worktime per week is allowed.

i think its worth looking into. If that is the case - then you could find an average of 3 hours work per week elsewhere and you would meet the 30 hour threshold.

My second thought is an idea I made sure started up in my own area (just in case I ever need it myself - who says enlightened self-interest isnt sometimes a good "driver"?:rotfl:) and that is the Slivers of Time initiative. Its not spread to that many places yet and in some is still restricted to students at the moment - not quite the idea - as it should be available to everyone. So its there in some places and not in others - available to everyone in some places and in others still restricted at present to students.

Its worth googling "Slivers of Time" and reading the entries that come up there. Specifically - there is a press release (f...a..r too long a link to type in) somewheres by Hammersmith & Fulham Council about how it operates in their area you might like to read as a for instance.

The basic idea of "Slivers of Time" is that sometimes employers want a person/people just for a few hours one-off bit of work on the one hand and sometimes people might just want to earn a one-off bit of money for a few hours on the other hand. Slivers of Time matches them up - ie a sort of dating agency for employment IYSWIM.

[Deleted User]

I think I`ll get back to normal now after all life goes on. Off to the allotment after a nice breakfast and no doubt that will extend to a few hours after I have spent time chatting with several people and it is never about hardship and survival but more about the local deer and the forthcoming events in the village hall

I am wondering about when to get our flannel sheets washed as they do take some drying. I think I should look more at that rain forcast channel as I think we need to have a dry sunny day all day. Even then I`ll have to drape them on my airer. I am so glad that I bought the lakeland one as it doesn`t take a lot of heat but is very efficient

dd has a second interview for a pretty high powered job after redundancy last month. The thing is that it involves more travel to get there so it is swings and roundabouts esp with a toddler

I need to have a sort out in the freezer later today. I always start being pretty determined to use things in order but it does get messy after I have put endless bits of batch cooking in there

we have one more biggish spend after moving house but I am belt tightening after that as the savings account is being too depleted for my liking. I have always aimed to have a good safety net after the traumas and scares of the 70s and 80s.

ceridwen

The link for the Slivers of Time Scheme as a whole:

http://www.slivers.com/

kezlou

yes unfortunately ceridwen it still is.:(
Its depressing really.

We couldn't afford at the time the prices at the marie stope clinic, as they wanted all the money up front. I offered to pay half up front and the rest in 3 monthly payments, but it was a no go.

Now this prob too much to say, this early in the morning, but we have saved an absolute fortune. I used to have my 8 weekly depo provera injection and then use condoms at the same time. We had too just because we'd had accidents in the past and this at least was double protection. Now 18 condoms cost £14.99 and if you an active sex life well its stupidly expensive. So yes have saved a small fortune since May 2010.

I hated going to the clinics due to the times they were on and if my partner wasn't back from work in time then i would have to take the children with me. Not good sitting in a room of 30 people, half of which were druggies and prostitutes. so in the end if we couldn't get to the clinic then we forked out for them.

Better to be safe than sorry.

If this is off topic then sorry all.

P.S thanks for the link will have a look at that now!

tru

ceridwen wrote: »

there is a press release (f...a..r too long a link to type in) somewheres by Hammersmith & Fulham Council about how it operates in their area you might like to read as a for instance.

LINKY ...........

ceridwen

Had a further thought on the dilemma of the poster who has had hours reduced to 27 (ie less than the childless person threshold of 30 hours per week).

If you manage - one way or another - to get workhours back up to at least 30:

A virtual friend from elsewhere on MSE - ie PasturesNew - put it very clearly on a post of hers somewhere recently (Pastures is very good at putting things extremely clearly and intelligibly). Someone was wondering whether they would be eligible for WTC or no. Her reply was along the lines of:

for childless people (ie with that 30 hour requirement) then for someone who only earns National Minimum Wage they will be due for WTC if they work less than 37 hours (based on that level of salary) - ie a childless person on NMW is due for some if they work between 30-36 hours per week.

Obviously - extrapolating on from that - then if someone earns just a little bit more than NMW then they would have to work less than 36 hours per week (ie between 30 - 36 but not as much as 36 - because their salary was higher than NMW). At a higher level of salary again - it could be that they might only be eligible for some at 30 hours per week worked (but would have gone over the "barrier" at 31 hours).

PasturesNew put it more clearly than I can - and her post will be here somewheres about it (I think that I probably read it on the Benefits Board??).

Charis

Hippeechiq wrote: »

From the person who no doubt has the black star of the day - if a star at all -

This thread would not be half as interesting if we all agreed, all the time

MummyOfTwo

excellent OS find... turns out hubby has a huge knitted zip up hoody. commandeered it til march, at the earliest! had my first batch of breadmaker bread, lovely on a winters morning with a brew. Appt with mortgage advisor today, we are coming out of a fixed rate, so we are looking to save a few quid.

rosieben

I read a quote somewhere recently, something like 'the purpose of debate is not victory but understanding' and that's something I've enjoyed on this and other OS threads.

We've all been stressing about what the statement on weds would bring and I think that's prompted more chat-type posts, understandable in the circumstances that people want to share worries where they know others will understand.

AnnieG

It appears that my OS hobby of baking has been a false economy. I got my work clothes out last night, and thanks to all the cakes etc I've made and subsequntly scoffed while I've been off work, I can't do any of them up!!! So, my meal plan for the week is now a hopefully cheap Slimming World one, as I really don't want to have to buy a whole new wardrobe to accommodate my expanding tummy!
I got a beautiful Monsoon dress from ebay yesterday that I can wear to the wedding I'm going to in December, it was really cheap so I'm very pleased with myself. Just need to get a little cardigan to go over it, as it's a little strappy number and Glasgow in December isn't going to warm!