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

kidcat

My Ds12 wants to put up our Christmas tree this week??? I have squashed that notion, its November, I have marked the Saturday two weeks before Christmas as the likely date for tree buying and decorating.

Have just had a text from Approved food with consignment number for my order, I typed it into the delivery web site, and it says my order has been delivered to my neighbour and giving the house number, for starters the house number they have given is two blocks away, then the postcode doesnt match mine, and then I have been in all morning and can clearly see there is no delivery been attempted. Not impressed.

Its freezing here today - in fact as I was spraying de-icer on the car this morning, the deicer was freezing back up. And I have had to switch heating back on as the temp in the house had dropped to 11c. Having the kids off school means I cant afford to allow it to get too cold for them.

One of the cats appears to have split his pad a little, he isnt complaining and is walking fine but he has left a small spot of blood on the carpet. DD4 wanted to put a plaster on it and DS6 was trying to bandage it, can see them being the ones in pain if they keep it up, cos the cat does not look amused - he is trying to sleep.

DD16 is making pastry today and this will be turned into a pie on Thurs in class, however she has taken 300g of flour, which to my mind will make a good sized pie - but her teacher wants her to design a filling, to make one small individual pie, so my question is - what will they do with the rest of the pastry?

kidcat

mustbemad68 wrote: »

Kidcat
I know how hard it is as I also have a DD16 who has friends whos parents earn an awful lot more than we do and there have abeen a few sticky situations.
I agree with stiltwalker that your family shouldn't have to go without so that someone else can have a party.
I'm sure your daughter understands but is just upset at not being able to contribute. I just recently had to tell my DD16 that she can't go on the Africa trip that her friends are going on as we can't afford it and she was upset even though she totally understood and accepted what I had to say.
Is there any way your daughter can get a weekend job?

To be honest she has tried to find a weekend job, but currently her school work takes up so much time I fail to see how she will fit it in. Currently she gets home from school at 3.30pm and then does homework till dinner, half an hour dinner then homework till 9.30pm. Weekends she gets up, breakfasts, will do a few jobs for me, then back to homework. If she is lucky she can manage a couple of hours on a Sunday to see boyfriend or visit friends. I am praying that when she goes to college the amount of work she gets will drop and she can actually have a life. That is why choosing the right college is critical, we have seen one that says she must attend all day 8.45 to 4.30pm then do 20 hours minimum work outside of college. The one near the kids schools is much more relaxed and says come in for lessons four days a week, and do no more than 20hours work outside of lesson time, most of which can be achieved on free periods.

JulieGeorgiana

I lost a Job in September 2009 and then again a second Job in August 2010.

I started this Job in September 2010 and it's a 8 month contract. I have been here 8 weeks and my food bill has been dropping. Because we are on a building site in where everyone (apart from me) come from 400 miles away or even Europe... to stop them buying food in shops and charging the company we have a cook!

So warm Breakfast and Lunch is provided Daily... and for those of us who eat warm at home (me!!!!) I have bread, sliced chicken, salad, Cereal and fruit available in the kitchen!!

So as we've adjusted we have noticed we save on average £5 a week!

So we have decided that the 'actual' cost of these items is to go into a pot as of December....

When the contract ends this pot should be £100+

So in future when I see cheese on offer I can take £10 from the pot and buy it, freeze it, and then if I reckon it'll last 10 weeks... I will put £1 a week back into the pot for 10 weeks!!!

Or TOOTHPASTE! My bugbear is that this is the only thing I won't scrimp on... and it costs so much!! It goes on offer only 1 or 2 times a year!! Next time I am buying a years worth!!!

Anyway my point is... put aside £2 a week and within a year you could have £100 fall back/bulk buy pot to help keep cupboards full!!!

It does mean being organised!!

katholicos

Lots of catching up to so and i'm only on page 141 but just wanted to say to Frugal that i am sorry your dear Dad has had a bit of a setback with this latest infection (((hugs))).

Have been absent from forums as my laptop charger packed up a few days ago and hence, could not get online. Wel i can use my mobile phone but it is a pain to do so.

Right, back to reading all your posts!

LJM

ive been told by oh that im terrible for bargain hunting and i take ages when i grocery shop but now i think he is appreciating it considering how much ive managed to save us every month

Stoney_G

I am cutting back but I look at is as fun rather than necessity!

One thing to remember is to still have fun - I do fun things for free - try the freebies board for free cinema tickets - I get at least one film a month, walk to the cinema, take a snack, watch a film!!! Also just visiting free places - churches, museums etc for days out - make lunch, wrap up etc. I have a diet where unfortunately I can't just eat cheap flour, cheap mince, bread etc because of a condition I have, but like others have said it's all about forward planning and meal planning - now, I spend less than I did when I was eating 'normal' food!!! Batch cooking is brilliant as well, just beware of freezer space, I always manage to make too much for the freezer!!!

Heat - I wrap up with blankets, hot water bottles and cats!! I also save the pennies and am going to start doing 20p next - I remember my Grandma did this and as kids we would count out the money she save for the year for Xmas - there was hundreds!! Not saying we're all able to do this, but I already have about a tenner in pennies - it all helps. And yes, organisation is the key!!

katholicos

sammy_kaye18 wrote: »

I think I will set myself a savings target of £8,000 as that would be my 5% if I wanted that house and as much as I'd like it I don't think a lottery win will come my way to help me get it but that is my little dream house right there.

Crumbs I'd even settle for my second option with just a nice 3/4 bed with a large enough garden.

Oh and Ceridwen - the PDF for that house says you can fit solar panels, solar heating panels adn a wind turbine in the garden!

On a side note - I am still not being spoken to by OH. Its a rather reason behind it but needless to say it is very petty and he is acting like a child. He hasn't talked to me since Friday night properly so if he's not careful if I get my cheque he will be getting b@gg@r all of it and I'll be even closer to my dream house.

Did find out my prizes are coming courtesy of Little Woods so I will wait in for my phone call to arrange delivery and I should apparently get the money by cheque within 28 days. Apparently I know someone else on the boards had the same prize and had a phone call on friday (the week they won) and they received the TV and DS by the Tuesday but the XBOX bits were out of stock so they were still waiting so fingers crossed I should get them soon enough.

I think tomorrow I will be mostly waiting in though for my prizes to arrive. Have asked a friend of mine if he wants our old TV - he has just had to move in with friends due to a money shortage and has his own room and part rents with them so asked if he wanted our old TV for his room as he currently doesn't have one.

Think I might make some twinks hobnobs tomorrow and do some cleaning. I do need to resort through bens old toys as I did turf out some into black bags that he no longer plays with but he has reopened them all now so need to resort whilst he's out of the flat....

If anyone is candle lighting can they add me to their little prayers that we get awarded a council house for Christmas please!

Sammy, having read this post i felt i must respond. Please, please think about you and your little uns.

If OH is being stroppy because something good has happened then Lord knows what happens when the crap hits the fan in your house. If things go from bad to worse for you and OH you will need every penny of that money to settle you and your young family into new accomodation. Think VERY carefully about whether you should even be contemplating paying off your OH's debt. I don't think i would do so given that he is behaving like this. :mad:

stiltwalker

Kidcat, good luck with finding a college for your DD. That sound like an awful lot of schoolwork for the poor girl - kids are put under so much pressure these days. When I was at school there was nowhere near that much work and I went to a high pressure selective girls grammar school, makes me worry for mine when they get there, but then again it coud have all changed again by then - DD is only 19 months and number 2 is still a bump!

katholicos

What a joke. I wrote a letter to Tax Credit department a couple of weeks ago saying that they should stop paying tax credits as DD is now at Uni. Haven't heard anything from them so just phoned them to make them aware of the change in circumstances and was told because i mistakenly answered one of their security questions that I can not report that i am quite possibly being overpaid :DOH: !!! How ruddy frustrating. Now i have to wait 2 days for a phone call to make an appointment with me to go and see some official to take documents along to prove i am who i say i am. AARGHHHHHHH!!!!!

Okay, and c.a.l.m.........

kidcat

katholics can you instruct your bank not to accept any further payments, that way at least you wont accrue on an overpayment. I have a friend who works for TC, and while she is a lovely lady - she is completely out of touch with reality and has no idea of hardships. I can imagine that any calls she answers she will stick to the rules rigidly and use no common sense whatsoever.