How to Get Through The Tough Times The Old Style Way.

[Deleted User]

soot and salt were commonplace instead of toothpaste when I was young

[Deleted User]

just had an e mail to say wine making stuff is arriving friday and dh bought the orange juice and grape juice. Woohoo, I am looking forward to getting wine going

SD-253

dollydaydream07 wrote: »

DH got paid on monday and we are practically skint.......... £800 on bills, £50 CC payment, £100 food, £15 petrol, £36 dancing lessons, £20 school dinners and we have the grand total of £18 in our account we do have around £150 to go in over the course of the month in tax creds and child benefit but we have over £300 to pay out still....... £250 home insurance and the car is due it's MOT which we believe it will fail

so much for my musings about staying at home or going out to work........ looks like i will have to give up being a SAHM there is no way we can afford for me not to

I expect you have done this already but if not how about the balance transfer for the CC?
Something I do all the time is change CC every year taking out a new zero intererst spending card and useing it instead of cash and putting the same amount in a regular savings account. The aim was not just to get the interest but to be able to meet unexpected bills. IE take the money out of the regular saver account and pay the bill and if I can't pay off the CC then just do balance transfer bit. As it happened it worked my neighbour wanted to sell me a small peice of land for £2400. I would have had to borrow from the bank at something like 10 or maybe 12% interest. I didn't even loose the interest as I was almost at the end of the year long account. Went into the irrelavant there but you get the gist if you can get the balance transfer.
PS is that £250 house insurance for the year?

rachbc

mardatha wrote: »

Or a daily shower ? We grew up with weekly baths and we lived and did not smell LOL!
Basics toothpaste is fine, its the brushing that cleans not so much the paste.
Maybe buy shea & coconut butters and use them on skin and hair and kids.
Don't buy wipes and use bits of old towels, does exactly the same job.
Would go mad without the internet though .....!

I really don't understand the modern obsession with daily bathing - my dd has eczema and we were advised a weekly bath at most - hubby has a shower everyday and often a bath too - drives me nuts! I shower after I run - 3 times a week - I don't do anything to get smelly the rest of the time!!

Even though we try to be careful with our money there is still much we could strip back on if need be (meat, wifi/ broadband, booze, baths!) once you start thinking of absolute neccessities like food and shelter. However til needs must I like to think we are getting the balance right for our current situation.

HariboJunkie

dollydaydream07 wrote: »

DH got paid on monday and we are practically skint.......... £800 on bills, £50 CC payment, £100 food, £15 petrol, £36 dancing lessons, £20 school dinners and we have the grand total of £18 in our account we do have around £150 to go in over the course of the month in tax creds and child benefit but we have over £300 to pay out still....... £250 home insurance and the car is due it's MOT which we believe it will fail

so much for my musings about staying at home or going out to work........ looks like i will have to give up being a SAHM there is no way we can afford for me not to

Sorry to hear you are really having tough times.
Is your home insurance and annual payment? If so would they accept monthly installments?
Is the car absolutely necessary this month? (sorry if that's a really stupid suggestion) but if not could you declare it off the road with the DVLA and not use it until you can afford to put it through the mot?
And you could maybe cut the school dinner budget in half is you made pack ups....

shegar

I will not go a day without showering, I can do without a lot of things in my life but a shower I cant...........

charlies-aunt

kittie wrote: »

soot and salt were commonplace instead of toothpaste when I was young

Oooh! Don't remember that! Hey we might have been a bit posh then as we had a block of pink 'Dentifice' that you had to rub your wet toothbrush on to make a paste . . . it had a taste all of its own not like the modern mint ones

Have a little pot of bicarb in the bathroom - sprinkling a bit on Basic toothpaste = hm version of Arm & Hammer Bicarbonate Toothpaste imo!

mama67

ChocClare wrote: »

gailey - re your electricity payments, if you're with Scottish Power, what they do is an annual review of your credit balance, and if you're in credit by more than 3 months' direct debit, then they'll refund you the difference. So, in your case, if you pay £100 per month (for example) and you were in credit by £416, then they'd repay the £116 and you'd still be £300 in credit.

jediteacher - your post about your tumble drier reminded me of something I'd been meaning to post.

First off, I know this isn't for everyone, as there is a certain amount of investment involved. Anyway, back in January, DH called Scottish Power and said, what do we have to do to get Economy 7. The answer was that we needed a new meter, and that the daily rate would be fractionally more. We did our sums and paid £53 for a new meter to be installed.

However, between 2330 and 0630, our electricity is 3p per unit instead of 12p per unit. We already had a load of timers hanging around the place, so we have set the dishwasher, the immersion in DD's room, the washing machine and - occasionally - the tumble drier - to come on at night or very early in the morning to take advantage of this. We have already noticed a difference in our electricity bill compared to this time last year. As I say, you've got to invest the initial £53 so it may not be for everyone (plus noise is a factor for those with close neighbours/thin walls). But worth a thought, as these are all things which gobble through electricity.


GreyQueen, you could do this and get your revenge on IB (only joking) :rotfl:

Now I'm waiting for the engineers to come and take out my Econ 7 meter as with a standard tariff I will be approx £90 per year better off and that is with the washer, dishwasher and bread machine all running during the cheap electricity, and me getting up early to bake whilst the oven still runs on it as well.
Also remember that when the clocks change for summer/winter the timings for Econ 7 change as well. Ours is 5p E7 and 14p daytime but will be 11p standard all day and night.
I have compared my last years readings to double check this before making the descision.

SD-253

charlies-aunt wrote: »

We do a pretty mean sloe gin although we are finding sloes increasinly scarce in this neck of the woods

Where are you? I am thinking of actualy selling them on Ebay as there doesn't seem to be anything like that around here. I always try and note down where there is good amount to save wondering about next year. I have found that as rule they tend to grow in abundance near pubs...can't think why that would be??

charlies-aunt wrote: »

My dear old Mum and Dad were keen wine makers - nothing was sacred for them! Over the years they made wine from parsnips / carrots / sugar beets / goosegoggs / tea / dandelions / rosehips - no visitor could get out the house until they'd had a glass of whatever was on the go

Have you ever tried the vegetable wines I mean Parsnip it doesn't sound right! at but will try it if you can say what it taste like and don't say just like Parsnips as I won't bother!!!!! [/QUOTE]

charlies-aunt wrote: »

the massive clothes horse got the prime spot in front of the fire :rotfl: Hard but happy times

It still does get prime spot in my house but the insulation of modern houses allowes me not to kick it out of the way....just

Charis

Pitlanepiglet wrote: »

Some years ago there were lots of warnings about leaving dishwashers running overnight as they were a bit prone to catching fire. I seem to remember one of the public affairs programmes running articles about families who'd survived fires started by dishwashers.

I suspect modern ones are less prone but we all have different approaches to risk and what we are prepared to do or not do.

My B*sch dishwasher burnt out in January this year. There were no flames but that may have been because I was near enough to smell the burning and turned off the electrics.