Its all gone t**s up. Help!

lynzpower

yes. opt out of th epension. you can always come back in.

I thought your oH worked in a pub? Does he not get food as part of his shirt?
8.00 a month isnt a big deal , but Im guessing thats more weekly? cant he take a thermos with soup/ casserole or something in, you can store that anywhere -hell they used to take those down the mines

its your OHs transport thats a killer, and I know you are doing wehat you can to get around this.

The other thing is are you wntitled to any sort of top- up benefits be it tax credits, housing benefit contributions or CTBenefit. you ae both on such low wages, you must be entitled to something?

Donedoingdebt

Don't worry so much about this christmas & new year. They're both overrated, over hyped & over expensive anyway. If you can't afford to go to works dos & parties etc then just don't do it. Your genuine friends or colleagues will understand if you say you can't afford them this year. I'll bet you're not the only ones feeling this way. Sorry if this sounds harsh, it's not meant to be. It's just that I've done this for the last few years & I don't feel as though I've missed out on anything. I've always found on New years eve that the ones that are all over each other at midnight are probably fighting by 1am!

LookingAhead

Oh L_F...I really am keeping my fingers crossed for you that things work out. After you've been *so* honest, it seems such a shame that one month's slip is standing in the way.

MASSIVE crossing of fingers, legs, toes...and anything else I can cross for you.

Sorry I can't really add anything constructive on the SOA myself but hope someone more eagle eyed than me will come along soon and suggest something.

(Do you EBAY & Amazon by the way?)

LookingAhead

BTW I agree about not worrying about Christmas this year!
Talk to MinnieSpender about that, she'll soon make you feel better about postponing it!

lady_fuschia

lynzpower wrote:

yes. opt out of th epension. you can always come back in.

I thought your oH worked in a pub? Does he not get food as part of his shirt?
8.00 a month isnt a big deal , but Im guessing thats more weekly? cant he take a thermos with soup/ casserole or something in, you can store that anywhere -hell they used to take those down the mines

duh! Yes £8 is weekly. Brain malfunction! He gets a 50% discount on food, but still has to buy it. They're not very keen on people taking in their own food because there's nowhere really to eat it (This is quite dodgy legal ground I know, but the Health & Safety law is so ambiguously worded sowhat can you do?)

I know we're not huge earners, but its the travel that really does us in to be honest- but as you know the whole job/ location thing is a bit of a bone of contention. Moving closer to his work would help SOOO much.

lady_fuschia

Donedoingdebt wrote:

Don't worry so much about this christmas & new year. They're both overrated, over hyped & over expensive anyway. If you can't afford to go to works dos & parties etc then just don't do it. Your genuine friends or colleagues will understand if you say you can't afford them this year. I'll bet you're not the only ones feeling this way. Sorry if this sounds harsh, it's not meant to be. It's just that I've done this for the last few years & I don't feel as though I've missed out on anything. I've always found on New years eve that the ones that are all over each other at midnight are probably fighting by 1am!

You're not being harsh. That actually made me feel a bit better!

melaniec_2

have you thought about private lets. this is what i do, no agents fees and the rent is always cheaper. the landlords are usually just looking for nice people. if your current landlord would give you a reference i'm sure it would go through no problem.

look in your local paper for flats to rent.

jellycat40

Seems to me that you have everything buttoned down on your SOA.

The reason for the credit scoring as far as I can see is for the agency to guarantee your rent if you don't pay. We are going to be faced with a similar problem in the future when we move as we have both got bankruptcy on our credit history, our only hope will be private rental.

You could do this too with your prospective landlord. I cannot see why you will not get your £250 refunded as you were totally up front with the info to the agent so you did not conceal anything.

You have nothing to lose by approaching the landlord, he may want a bigger deposit - we are looking at offering 3-6 months rent up front but then we hopefully have time to save this!!!! I appreciate that you maybe cannot do this just yet.

If your OH is paying £400 a month on travelling expenses would it not be possible for him to spend a couple of nights a week lodging near work - this may work out cheaper - is there any possibility of you getting a part time evening job to help out for now? My DD1 has just picked up some shifts of bar work to help her get out of her debt following a relationship breakup.

Just some ideas - now try really hard to stop stressing, apart from the £250 (which is a b****r) and the possibility of losing face not much has changed from when you woke up this morning.

Have a relaxing bath and still plan to move, but a private rental or wait until you have a bigger deposit.

You don't have to buy folks Xmas pressies for them to buy them for you. Give them a promise in a card and honour it, that will be something they really need in the New Year. As for New Year itself, I am going out this year, but it is the first time in 9 years - I think it is over rated, after all every day starts a new year - what could be nicer than cuddliing up with OH with a bottle of £3 plonk, some crisps and dip and a dvd - the rest I shall leave to your imagination - but it costs nothing!!!!

Chin up.
Love
Louise

Uniscots97

Lady_fuschia, I'd probably agree about opting out of the pension for the moment. If your OH works in a pub then there's no way round taxis etc when working late. Unless he could get a night bus? or I did this when working as a chambermaid (you try getting public transport in the middle of nowhere at 5am on a sunday), contact a local (non-chain but licensed) taxi firm and see if they'll do you a deal for a block booking. Most will so they have the regular bookings. I managed a 10% discount on the cost. Takes a bit of a brass neck to go and ask but well worth it!

Bogof_Babe

If he does work in a pub, couldn't he get a different job nearer to where you live now, just for a year or so while you find your feet? I know you want a better flat or house eventually, but I believe the hospitality industry is fairly easy to move about in so I'm sure there must be vacancies, especially at this time of year.

As you stated a weekly not montly cost for his food at work, did you by any chance do the same with your household food? £80 a month seems incredibly low, even by MSE standards. If you are spending £80 a week then this is an area that you could probably make savings in.

I do feel for you, it is a real blow that you've had this knock-back, but at least you are doing everything possible to move on. Best of luck from another one who isn't bothering with Christmas this year!