A Year of Living Frugabulously

Karmacat

£250 is a *lot* to find, Lula - blimey ... and thats a big chunk of cashback too, sorry about that. But it was legit, wasn't it? Is there anyone you can contact?

Shoe_Gal

Sorry to hear the job news sweetie - but sounds like you've got it well covered :A

vasseur

Sorry to hear about your job Lula. I think you're more than equipped to deal with it though.

Thank heavens the CC has been cleared.

taxi73

Sorry to hear about the job but can see you've thought everything through.That happens far too often with quidco as well..if you fire off an enquiry they may shed some light on it

Lula-Hula

Helllo & thanks for all the lovely messages of support & encouragement :A.

Having spent most of Friday obsessing about the situation, I received my 'official' letter in the post so now know the exact figures, but other than that, I hardly gave it a though yesterday which was probably good for me, to get it all into perspective.

I did an excellent impersonation of a laundry worker & due to deciding to have the heating on all day I managed to get it all dried & ironed. DD1 came over for lunch, tea, supper & chat & then as it started to snow & was dark she decided to stay over & test out the new sofa bed. It was very easy to sort out & although she said the mattress was thin ... she also slept through the whole night without stirring so it must have been pretty comfortable

The snow really hasn't settled much here so DD1 decided to head off home late morning & since then I've made another batch of soup, finished off the laundry & now just have to do the last few items of ironing & convert the last couple of spotty bananas into another cake.


I've now added up all my essential outgoings excluding the rent & council tax. I've been playing with the calculator on the LA's website & it seems as though I will get some help with the rent & council tax & if the figures are correct, then the TC's that I get will be sufficient to cover them both. The garage that I rent will of course, remain at full price as it's hardly an essential for living, so I've incorporated that cost into my essential outgoings.

I'm not 100% sure of the amount for the water bill but by being a bit generous with the media & mobile allowances I reckon I've probably covered it.

I've included the outgoings for the Garage, Media, Mobiles, Water, t
Tv licence, Pet insurance, Contact lenses, Lovefilm, Fuel, Clothes for DD, Utilities, all Car costs & Dentist & by my calculations, once I've paid for that lot, I should have about £170 - 175 left each month for groceries, household, window cleaner etc.

The cash funds are not included because they are flexible as they're always subject to my highly fluctuating home-job work & apart from the childcare fund, none of them are really essential living costs. It may be desirable to have funds for gifts & future xmas costs & entertainment, but they're not essential for survival, they just make my life easier & I'm less likely to reach for the CC if I have them.

I'm also not including the Holiday savings pot as it's funded by CB / quidco so again, can be raided for any essentials DD may need if I can't find other means to pay for them.

I feel a lot better knowing the situation & what I have to work with, although the TC / HB side of things is not definite.

£170 is a decent enough amount to have for the 2 of us & as I only spent £148 on groceries, household & toiletries in January, then it can be done, & there is still potential for saving a small amount each month; more if I can spend less on the groceries etc ... .

Hopefully, work will pick up again & this situation won't last for more than a few months.

Now I'm off to make a banana cake & sweat a bit over the thought of only having another £120 available for groceries etc :rotfl:

Lula-Hula

Dammit !

Completely forgot to include DDs lunches in the calculations.
Aaaaaaggggggh that throws it all out, will have to redo.

Later, with tea & cake though
xx

Karmacat

What a pain! Any chance she'll get free school lunches? Can you do bulk cooking for packed lunches for her? Its sounding really good, Lula. One thing tho, what are the hours you're working now, are you still doing four days, but less each day?

Lula-Hula

Hi KC,

thank you for the encouragement :kisses3: I do feel as though I'm on top of it, the moment ... although that may of course, change at any time :rotfl:

We're not entitled to any free meals as I am working, but that's fine because :

We've discussed this & agreed that I will now just put £10 on her card each week & she can take in packed lunches for 2 days a week.

This will work perfectly as my hours have now been cut to just 16 a week, so I'm now only working until 1pm each of my 4 days & therefore no longer need to take any lunch in to work, thereby saving on the soups, mini-cheddars, & pasta salads I was taking in.


Very FRUGAL

As I have just been paid & also have a week's grace from the whole lunch money malarkey - due to next week being half term & childcare already saved up for - I've taken a bold leap of faith by sliding £30 (for DD) into the Clothes Account & .....

Drum roll & disco lights please ....

£50 into the Repayment Account :j

Very FABULOUS

I know this month we'll be fine on £120, we have lots of pantry staples & it's now just another 23 days until my next payday.

Must get sowing some seeds this month

Karmacat

Thanks! I tell you what, in your situation, it would be right for me to have work each morning - I can use the afternoons - whereas if I just have two long days, something like that, then it'll take longer to get going.

Its certainly fabulous to set £50 aside to a repayment account, given whats happened, and yes, chomping lunch at home rather than things that have to be portable, thats definitely going to save money.

So is having dried beans and peas and whatnot, and sprouting - thats an amazing - and amazingly cheap - way of providing fresh greens.

Cherryjack

so sorry to hear about the job situation lula xxx but i have every faith that this situation will get better..
Yr so fabby have you considered just having a browse of jobs in the area..? just something to make up the £250? or even half of it? Could be a whole new chapter to your book! and maybe destiny Maybe your supposed to get something else or alongside so you can have it all?? (more clothes) Just wanted to throw a spin on things I only say this because OH had that suspension last month and went for a job interview a week later and got it!!.. luckily the suspension was lifted.. but it was exciting that he had the choice of 2 jobs and hes made a contact xxx