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

witchwoopiggy

thank you for the LETS info ceridwen im not sure what i can offer but have asked for my details to be passed on to my local group i do like the idea of like minded people all helping each other in some way, there are times when im so stuck with how to do something, as my hubby is not a well man and unable to do many things so everything from up keep of bunglow, garden, diy, shopping ect all falls to me would be good you trade with someone else who needed something i can do as sadly both my parents have passed and i have no other family to ask, hubbys parents are around but they are getting on a bit now themselves, dont get me wrong they do help but i guess im just abit proud , thank you all so to everyone who posts you all amaze me

well thanks to this thread ive just put in an order at bigbrands and approvedfood not sure yet where im going to put it all though lol
got new slippers as im so cold and put yet another blanket on hubbys bed, think of princess and the pea well hes the pea lol bless him hes so thin finds it hard to keep warm well enough wafferling from me
witchwoopiggy x

ceridwen

kidcat wrote: »

Ceridwen - loving the LETS idea but there isnt one in our area but did see the potential for groups as well as communities and have suggested my Dads church may consider the idea, they are a very deprived area struggling at the moment, so I think it could well be great for them.

Some years ago a very similar idea got tried in our most deprived area locally and it proved not to be a "runner". However - in our discussions re reaching out to areas where we dont have any members we decided that there is probably grounds to "try again" based round a more limited idea centred on the "growing food in their gardens" idea that has recently started up there and is going well. That is - for people to have a medium of exchange to barter surplus garden goodies with each other in a readily calculable way. So - there will be another attempt centred round that garden scheme. It may or may not expand out to a full-deal LETS scheme - but is deemed worth doing anyway even if it doesnt go that far.

ceridwen

Gailey - Wikipedia has a page about this that explains it pretty well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_Exchange_Trading_Systems

broadly the idea of LETS (written from the original viewpoint at its inception) is that we all have skills we can offer/favours we can offer to other people. We may well not meet someone we can do a direct "barter" with - ie "If I paint your wall - you give me some produce from your garden". Direct swops are highly unlikely (though it does happen occasionally...). So - person A performs a skill/a favour for person B (on terms they have mutually agreed) and person B writes a "credit note" (ie equivalent of a cheque) for person A. Person A puts that "credit note" into their LETS "bank account". They then have so many LETS Credits they can spend with Person C to get something that they DO want - so they arrange a trade with Person C and pay them a "credit note" - which person C duly puts into their LETS "bank account" and so on......

That is basically the idea explained at its simplest. Its as easy as that. We have no interest chargeable or payable on the amount of LETS Credits payable have/or are overdrawn by in their "bank account". People can start "trading" even if they have no Credit in their "bank account" (indeed we all have to - as obviously we havent "earnt" anything to start with).

ceridwen

witchwoopiggy - I'll tell you something you could offer straight off = taking in parcels for people who are at work during the day (whether its goods they've ordered over the Internet or a vegbox scheme delivery).:D Sometimes its hard for those who work all day to physically get hold of goods they have ordered - as they are out at work and possibly not able to call in at some delivery depot miles away to fetch them.

witchwoopiggy

ceridwen wrote: »

witchwoopiggy - I'll tell you something you could offer straight off = taking in parcels for people who are at work during the day (whether its goods they've ordered over the Internet or a vegbox scheme delivery).:D Sometimes its hard for those who work all day to physically get hold of goods they have ordered - as they are out at work and possibly not able to call in at some delivery depot miles away to fetch them.

thank you

csarina

sorry I am awol for the moment OH is in hospital am spending my time running from home to hospital to visit......will be back....

ifonlyitwaseasier

csarina wrote: »

sorry I am awol for the moment OH is in hospital am spending my time running from home to hospital to visit......will be back....

take your time and hugs for your OH


and Frugal ty i love the dairy diary so now i've gone and gotten myself a xmas pressie

Fruball

Hugs csarina - hope he is better and home soon xx

wheretheresawill

seraphina wrote: »

I don't mean to offend anyone, but I'm writing this as someone who's moved away from family for education and job purposes and has no chance of ever moving back to near my family as there just aren't any jobs there (as well as my husband is from another part of the country)

I don't really see leaving the house at 7am for work as any particular hardship or unusual - millions of people do it every day, and many people have much worse commutes. And if you're doing it every day, you'll save money by getting a season tickets and employers can do interest free season ticket loans to help spread the cost. If people aren't taking jobs because they might have to get up early or because they don't fancy dealing with a commute, I despair, I really do!

There are plenty of people on here who've done awful commutes, made do and mend until they're fed up to the back teeth and made every last crumb of food go as far as it possibly can. You do what you have to to keep your head above water. I don't think it's in any way unreasonable for people have to travel to get to work or get a job, so I totally agree with IDS.

As I said, I didn't mean to offend anyone, but having been there and got the tee shirt with regards to moving for jobs/work/life in general, it's not that bad!

I agree, I leave earlier than 7am and it costs me £40 a week in petrol, thats just life!! Its a pity that some of the healthy benefit claimants can't see that work gives you something that sitting at home all day can't - a sense of respect. I would qualify for all manner of benefits as I have bipolar disorder but by choosing to work I feel a sense of belonging

ChocClare

bluebag wrote: »

Went back to full time work when my youngest was 6 weeks old, had to as was in debt and totally skint and my maternity pay was going to half rate.

I used to get up at 5am to get them both fed and dressed and out to the childminder, I picked them up at 6.30pm.

I would spend the short evening doing baths and laundry and had very little time to play with either of them.

I spent the weekends cleaning and shopping alone with two babies as my OH worked shifts.

It was a nightmare and it eventually made me ill, I would not recommend it to anyone. It seems a dark tunnel of dispair when I think back on it.

This is the precisely the reason we left London. Both DH and I were in high-powered jobs, but he left to start his own business just as I fell pregnant with DD. We had savings to fall back on but NO income apart from my maternity pay, so I went back to work early too. What with my long hours, his VERY long hours, childminding fees and never seeing the kids, we got to the point where we thought, enough is enough. I gave up work and we moved to the south coast. DH said to me just a couple of days ago, "we're much poorer than we used to be, aren't we?" This is very true, but it's not as if we're destitute, and we've seen our kids grow up: I now have a job for which I am massively overqualified and which pays peanuts, but it's satisfying enough, and allows me to finish at school chucking-out time. I wouldn't change what we did for the world - not unless it was that or the workhouse :rotfl: