Finally, here is my S.O.A...

sp1987

£35.00 is listed for your son's school meals but it reads as you make these for him to take?

It could be the easiest £35 you will save to cut out the separate amount of money paid for these and instead use your already quite large £400 grocery spend to accomodate the making of sandwiches etc. Even if you only shop at a particular supermarket, do you take advantage of buying a cheaper variation on a theme? E.g. strawberries are a very expensive fruit for the amount you get, buy apples or bananas. Are there cheaper items which would substitute for the more expensive variation you are currently buying? There are codes for £10 off a £50+ shop on tesco at the moment.

Home made school lunch should not really work out as costing much at all with one child as most of the ingredients should be in the house anyway, e.g. bread etc.

You are overspending on a lot of the basics, I haven't looked at the special costs like washing or treatments because that is more of a personal thing. If you have therapies say, weekly, could you cut out 1 a month so you still have 3 out of 4 of them or similar? That would save you money to allow those treatments to be sustained longer term.

If your mobile is on contract get a pay as you go sim card. That way it is always there for emergencies.

The rest of the stuff is just overspending like many other people who come through here. You have plenty of scope to cut it down as you have £1300 coming in after housing and council tax. That is what many people have coming in in totality. I appreciate some of the money is needed to pay for the extra disability related expenses but the rest is to live at a comfortable but not excessive level. Your spending at the moment in some areas is excessive for the income. You should be able to cut down to a level where there is a fair amount left for debt repayments and eventually after that, savings. You would have to earn an awful lot of money in a job to have a household income of £1300 after housing costs (not many people do as they just get a bigger house when they can afford it, lol), so your income isn't the issue, it is the way it is being spread around that you need to address.

Doubtful_Guest

I have to object to the comments made by Oldtractor.

"Stop using dry cleaners". Have you not read the OP's posts ? She is incontinent and has no washing machine. Quite apart from the lack of a washing machine, a laundrette lets you dry things very quickly in the big tumbledryers. If you have a large volume of bedding/clothing that needs laundered frequently, it can be really, really hard to do that at home if you only have a small clothesline and no tumbledryer.

Really she needs to get in touch with a nurse who specialises in continence services and arrange to get proper advice and equipment on prescription which should cut down the laundry a bit. Depending on the cause of the problem, there might be a few strategies they can suggest to improve things for you.

bouncydog1

I am sorry for the situation you find yourself in but I really do think there are a couple of things you could do to get the ball rolling.

Get along to your GP and ask for your condition and medication to be reassessed. The UI will add to your depression so you are on a vicious merry go round.

There are loads of things that can be done to help UI from managing the condition to simple (and sometimes more complex) procedures.

Make an effort to lose weight - only you can do this - you have access to the internet so start reading up about healthy eating.

Tiny steps will make you feel better about yourself and this should have a positive impact on the rest of your family. I don't know how old you are but 50 is the new 40 (life begins at)! If you are heading for 50 then aim to feel better about yourself by then. If you are nowhere near 50 then you are getting old before your time!

At the end of the day, only you can help yourself - others can provide support but you have to really want to find a way out of your current position - things don't just happen you have to make them!

mum2one

Indout96 wrote: »

Not sure if this will help but the eye test is only £5 at boots with the voucher on their site.
http://www.boots.com/en/GBP5-Eye-Test_1116799/
Both myself and wife used it last month - it does cost extra if you want the eye health picture, not 100% but I think that was £10 each but you dont need to have it.


(Voucher valid until end July)

Sorry to jump on the end of this post, it is normally 2 yrs for an eye test, but with some people myself included, I have to have mine tested every 12 months, and as thats on the recommendation of the Optician they are covered by NHS as well as voucher, but like yourself its the extras and the vouchers don't always cover everything. I wear my glasses all the time, and have them with reactions, (save keep changing into sunglasses) and thats between £50 and £60....... and thats it bang goes the voucher (my grading is band B, £55 and few pence).
my daughter, as shes only 8, she has to have eye tests every 6 months, and again there NHS covered as theyve been recommended by the optician.
(apologies again for jumping in - brain works overtime, if I leave it to later, forget) xx

patman99

OP, if you are still reading this thread, try http://www.rethink.org
When I had a breakdown, my Dr recommended them and I went on their 'Building self esteem' course. It was the best thing I ever did.

What most people don't realise is that with depression, you tend to apply negative thoughts based on your bottom-line beliefs to ever situation. The course taught me to challenge each 'negative' with as many 'positives' as you can.

As for reducing the food bill, don't forget Approved foods. Very cheap indeed.

themull1

If you're incontinent are you not entitled to free adult nappies on the nhs? then you wouldn't need to wash bedding etc all the time?

summerstreetallotments

hello...you know I wrote you all individual replies and then went back to check that I'd answered everyone...and somehow I've wiped it all...unfortunate as it took me two hours to write and now I'm very disheartened...anyway...I'll star agin now and come back later and send more..
re. my partner working - if he did we'd have to be reassessed for benefits and would lose a fair amopunt...and these sticking labels on envelopes type jobs really dont exist...I think Martin Lewis has done a piece on this...

I hate having to shop at Waitrose but with our mobility problems it is the nearest,we look like a pair of shambling walking wounded getting there as he has to rest every few steps ..but we make it. I've had my card refused at Tesco's online but I will try again tomorrow...it is an electron...they like Maestro...and I will ring uop if it 's not acceptable...Asdda doesn't deliver around here.

The budget posted does include our housing and council tax..sorry...maybe I didn't make this clear
I've been referred to self help groups but I cant go in ...I cant get through the door, my depression is quite serious...you're getting me on a good day....the medical insurance seems worthwhile to me as we cant get N.H.S. dentistry here, and aren't covered completely for optical...and the money that they paid out when I was recently in hospital covered travel costs etc. for my son to visit..partner didn't, he couldn't have done the walk...we're considering a mobility vehicle for him.
We do make our own meals fromscratch...I am old enough to be one of those who knows how to cook.

I thought that £30 a month for the water was reasonable..we dont have baths or flush much...we have a water metre and am on a budget scheme..I will look into this Also, any recommendations for an electricity supplier would be welcome as I thought £80.00 a month was a good deal (paid £88 to our last supplier).

The laundrette costs are necessary as I am wetting continuously and we have to wash every day..we are looking into getting another machine but money is tight..also urine rots clothing so we have to replace a lot of stuff regularly.I get incontinence pads out of my benefit, they dont completely contain the problem.I 've got a form from a charity to claim for a washing machine...I will send this off soon.

I'm sorry that a lot of you think that I am rejecting offers of help...I posted on this site to get advice etc. I'm doing my best here...I feel terrible about having to claim benefits..I'd love to work but the medical people do not see any likelihood of this in the near future..so the social worker advised me to claim and use the money for therapy..the N.H.S cant give me anymore help..I was assessed in hospital and will see another doctor in a few weeks so we'll see what is said...I dont think I explained my condition and that of my partner adequately on this before...he's had heart attacks and strokes and can only walk short distances and has to rest a lot...I've got clinical depression and have just come back after a week in a psychiatric unit where they encouraged me to use the internet more...I find it difficult to go out, I cant mix well and I am continuously wetting...really if I could get out of this sooner I would I am really trying to help myself...thanks everyone for your kind words...as for the others ..you may be cross with me for not working and taking the easy route by shopping at our closest supermarket and getting the washing done at the launderette but at the moment it's all I can do.

I will look back over all your suggestions again later and answer anything that I haven't gone into here...thanks again for all your help, advice and support it is giving me plenty to think about.

NeverAgain_2

summer,

You've received some justified criticism in the thread, but you've taken it on the chin.

Respect to you for that.

It shows some strength of character.

All you need to do now is apply that strength to your problems.

Simple really.

CH27

Hi summer

Baby steps all add up to progress. Get toddling:D

clemmatis

Glad to see you back, summer.

I just checked out electron cards and online shopping Sainsbury takes them, do they deliver where you live? Also Sainsbury's 'phone line people are usually outstandingly helpful.

You shouldn't have to spend your benefit money on continence supplies. Have you been referred to a continence nurse (some make home visits, if that would be easier for you)?

And you shouldn't have to pay for therapy, but where I live, almost everyone who needs therapy does have to pay, the wait even for assessment for therapy is very long.

I know about the self-help group problem, I looked into them then had a bad reaction to an AD and ended up totally unable to leave the house, for what seemed like forever though was only 2/3 months, I couldn't even 'phone them... .

Glad you got the form for a washing machine. Sorry, can't think of anything else, right now.