Horace's Biting the Bullet Diary

Aesop

Hun, I know things are really tough for you at the moment. Just read through some of you recent posts and want to say :T well done to you. You have done some frugal shopping and are still surviving.

Horace

Aesop - I am determined to get myself out of this mess - I looked on 10 job websites yesterday and found two jobs late last night that I have book marked and will be applying for today.

I have gotten 1lb of best steak mince out of the freezer (this is the last of it as I bought 2lb for a fiver from my butcher), I shall add onion, chopped tomatoes, herbs, pepper and I may just spare a small tin of carrots and a handful of peas and will make a cottage pie as I have spuds that need using up.

I have realised that I can claim unfair bank charges so I will be writing to my bank - they know I am on low income yet they insist on charging me so I am never out of my overdraft and cannot get myself free of the debt. Trouble is I bank with FD who have told me that I should up my income - I have banked with them for several years now but when you get £51 a week in WTC and they insist on charging £25 for every item they bounce then I don't stand a cat in hell's chance of getting out of the pickle. I have also found a local credit union so will be contacting them today - annual membership fee is £1.20 which is just about affordable (things are that tough). I want to try and save so that I can at least pay my road tax in December otherwise I will be really stuffed.

beanielou

I am a big big fan or credit unions.
I would not be where I am today without them.

GreyhoundAngel

Just stumbled on your diary Mrs H (when did you sneak that on the forum :cool: ) ... .So thought the least I could do was stick my snout in to say hi :rotfl:

Not been on the work from home thread for a long time (and it's disappeared somehow from my subscription page ) but saw you pop up on the £10 a day thread ... and it's good to see that somethings don't change .... you being one of them

Sorry to hear you've been feeling so down recently, and it was good to see you getting a bit more upbeat. Just remember that everyone needs some downtime too, otherwise you burn out !

Hang on in there and I know that things will fall back into place for you. :A

G'Angel xxx

Horace

Hi gang

I spent most of the day away from the computer yesterday - I ended up having a violent dizzy spell where I was bouncing off the walls almost to try and get to my tablets and then to the kitchen to get water. I get such spells from time to time as I have an imbalance in my inner ears which is not helped by being blind in one eye. I spent time on the sofa sleeping mainly and I switched the tv on at lunchtime and watched tv on and off all afternoon.

I am up and at 'em this morning - dressed in smart skirt, top, with lovely cardigan over the top (the cardigan is about 30 years old:eek:) - I have to sign on today and I am dreading walking into that jobcentre. Last week I bumped into my old disability advisor who spoke to me - steps back in amazement, I didnt think she would after I made a formal complaint about her back in 2008 - I have stressed to them at the jobcentre that I will not see the disability advisor despite having this visual impairment. I am going to ask them about the help that Pertemps give to unemployed people - I need a job and I have things against me e.g. age, visual impairment and the fact that I haven't done PA work since 2007 although I have done other stuff which is more advanced than typing a letter or making an appointment.

I rang the credit union today who even said that I could apply for a loan but I cannot afford one and thanked them for their offer. I have found that they have an office near me that I can visit Monday to Friday and I would have a short drive if I wanted to go to their office that is open on Saturdays. I can have my benefit cheques paid in - I am considering shifting all my banking to them to get away from the robbing barstewards at FD. I am going to see how much FD have charged me to keep me in my overdraft and I shall use one of Martin's template letters. I am feeling a bit more positive on that score but still very scared.

MatyMoo

I went in to the JobCentre this week for the 1st time in my working life, what at experience :eek: Not sure they really know what to do with professionals! I think I am going to have similar issues to you - over qualified for many jobs or people can't see why I am happy to work for a reduced income. Ha ha ha, when you are not earning surely any income is a bonus. But then they think I will use it as a stop gap and leave as soon as something better comes up.

Sorry you are having such a tough time of it at the mo, work and health wise. You do seem to be doing an amazing job of living on a budget, I know that needs must but there are still some that wouldn't even know where to start living on a reduced income.

Horace

Matty - I was on the dole for a goodly while after being made redundant in 2007, I used them to help me into self employment and dropped from £60.50 a week dole money to £51 a week working tax credits. I got an additional allowance of £15.58 a week training allowance and got them to pay £520 for a wedding planning course. I used MSE a lot to help me living frugally..what a pity I forgot that when I did get my hands on some money (plus the IFA did not give me very good advice).

I make shopping lists of what I need - I wait until loo rolls are on offer and have even bought Wilkinsons own brand loo rolls before now which are not too bad (I thought they were better than cushelle). I have meat in the freezer from the butcher including two lamb shanks which I now know that I can cook on the stove top (oven doesnt work). I go without and make do with what I have. I am scared stiff now I have no money and no savings to fall back on.

It is hard getting a job - I have applied for all sorts including fruit picking but those jobs go to foreigners, any income would be fantastic at the moment. Dole money for me now would be £67.50 which will give me a little bit of breathing space. What is bad is that in Birmingham we have the highest level of unemployment in the UK and we just don't have the jobs. If I could get myself back into the black with my business account, I will be able to start working again but at the moment that is impossible.

Horace

Back from the jobcentre - that place is really depressing. Woman flounced off with my signing book and came back and asked me what I was doing standing there..I explained that wasn't sure what to do because I hadn't signed on for so long that I had forgotten the procedure.

My advisor seems like a nice chap - he was stunned that I had filled in 4 pages of my evidence book since last week and said that I seemed keen, I said that when you have no money then you have do to something to get a job.

I enquired about a job I had seen on the JCP website as I was unsure about it (basically the domain name doesnt have a website attached and I cannot find out anything about the company at all), it seems it is a an appointment getting job. It is local and I could walk there - it would take me about an hour because it is all up hill, but this will be handy certainly in the winter because the hill that the premises are on is such a pig when it snows. I am confused though because it is a self employed job yet I would be working 37.5hrs a week M-F...surely if it is permanent and working that length of time it is not self employment? Actually, I seem to recall looking at this same job back in 2008 and ruling it out because it was self employed - god my brain is full of useless carp:rotfl: I was also asked my age when I rang up - surely they are not allowed to ask these days?

Marru

Hmmm - I am not that confident about that self employed thing. It seems that they just want to get something on a commission to do a sh1tty job and that they don't want to commit to employment laws nor setting up a payroll. You end up sitting there and the few pennies you manage to get you need to invoice from them and they can then pay when they please. Or is that just me being cynical?

Aesop

DH is self employed but as he contracts himself out, he has to work the hours that his employer wants, currently 8 to 5pm or later 5 or 7 days a week.

He invoices and gets paid weekly.

But agree with Marru, sounds like a commission only job, and they want to avoid lots of things, NI, Tax, etc. so making it self employed.