un-hinged!

mary_hinge

Hello :wave:

Welcome to my DFW diary!

Formal introductions not required, take a seat put your feet up of and grab a cuppa, the kettle is never of the boil for very long... biscuits however, are strictly off the shopping list!

ok so a whistle stop tour of the hinge household, Mr Hinge currently unemployed, job hunting for 12months... it's very tough out there. Me :wave: I work full time, love my job have a fantastic team and full support from them all, I'm currently on maternity leave go back 1st of june. Miss Hinge, Master Hinge and Baby Hinge complete the family.

Master Hinge is pretty much the boss of the family, He is awaiting a diagnoises and ongoing assessments for ASD, ADHA and dyspraxia. He is due to start school after summer and my heartaches with worry at how he will cope. He is 75% toilet trained during the day at home but still requires 2-3 night changes including bedding, he Loves the water and we swim 4+ times aweek, his routine and activities are set in stone the days we have to amend them/don't do them are very very difficult. He has major melt downs either tantrums or social isolation often hiding himself away, he has 5% verbal communication and we are working on this to relief some of his frustrations.

Alot of your debt has come from daily expenses to stick to these activities and meet his requirements, we have fallen in to the trap of eating out 4-5 times aweek in order for him to eat something, this has decreased to 2 times a week and we are currently working on this.

I am exhausted I have a young baby that sleeps through the night and I don't! The money just wouldn't stretch anymore and I admitted defeat and contacted CCCS. we have started a DMP and first payment is March. The phonecalls have finally stopped and the house of Hinge is becoming alittle more positive.

Below is my CCCS SOA copied from my other thread.




Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet
Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 3
Number of cars owned.................... 1
Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 555
Partners monthly income after tax....... 0
Benefits................................ 1679
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2234
Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 0
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 595
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 118 i need to make this 12 payments not 10
Electricity............................. 50
Gas..................................... 55
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 39 this is 10 payments
Telephone (land line)................... 81 this is the allowance for landline/mobiles/internet I pay £55 in total £26 for the "extras"
Mobile phone............................ 0 included with land line
TV Licence.............................. 11
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 0
Internet Services....................... 0 included with landline
Groceries etc. ......................... 480 I could do this for £315 now DS is using less nappies £165 for "extras"
Clothing................................ 79 this is also way more then I spend I would say £30 £49 for "extras"
Petrol/diesel........................... 130
Road tax................................ 22 this is £25ish so £3 from the "extra bank"
Car Insurance........................... 64
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 0
Other travel............................ 0
Childcare/nursery....................... 48 this is only term time so alittle "extra here"
Other child related expenses............ 51 this is more like £90 so £39 needed here
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 38 this is £13 so £25 "extra here"
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 23
Buildings insurance..................... 0
Contents insurance...................... 26 this is £20.53 now so £5.47 "extra" here
Life assurance ......................... 40 this is £16 now so £24 "extra here
Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 0 this is £35 £35 needed here
Haircuts................................ 32 this is £15 so £17 "extra" here
Entertainment........................... 34 this is more like £100 so £66 needed here
Holiday................................. 0
Emergency fund.......................... 34
Total monthly expenses.................. 2080

Assets
Cash.................................... 0
House value (Gross)..................... 0
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 1200
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 1200

No Secured nor Hire Purchase Debts
Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly.. .APR
cccs...........................31326.....154...... .0
Total unsecured debts..........31326.....154.......-

Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,234
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 2,080
Available for debt repayments........... 154
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 154
Amount left after debt repayments....... 0
Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 1,200
Total HP & Secured debt................. -0
Total Unsecured debt.................... -31,326
Net Assets.............................. -30,126
Created using the SOA calculator at www.makesenseofcards.com.
Reproduced on Moneysavingexpert with permission, using IE browser.

No one stands on ceramony here, everyone is welcome, I will use this as my sancutary, somewhere to escape too and somewhere to keep all my !!!! together!!



Mrs H x

Ninno820

Welcome - I didnt want to read and run. My debt is nearly twce yours and I have found everyone so helpful that I have stayed focussed for the past two months.

Is tere anything you can do to increase incomings - ebaying, trading books in with amazon etc. I havent made much per item but, in total, I have made just over £300 since 1st January and that is going towards my summer holiday.

Keep strong xx

Piquant_2

Hello Mary! I love the title of your diary, brilliant!

I'm afraid I'm not a lot of help as I don't know much about benefits or how to help in your situation. However, I'd like to offer my support if you need it and have subscribed to your diary.

Piq

mary_hinge

Thankyou ladies for stopping by.... must of smelt the kettle and the buzzer has just gone for the first batch of twinks hobnobs!

N820 well done on the £300 :j that is fantastic! I have been following the £2012 in 2012 and thanks to mystery shopping, cash back sites and surveys I have £55 in vouchers and £72 in cash the vouchers are for birthdays/xmas and the cash is sitting in my emergency fund for the time being!


Piq I thought the best way to start my journey is with total honest and the title sums me up perfectly on my LBM :rotfl:I have taken a peep at your diary and lady I take my hat of to you £45k repaid is amazing!!

must dash Superman is learning to fly.... Hinge :rotfl:terms that means diving head first down the stairs and belly bumping each step :eek: 6 hours at preschool tomorrow may help maintain my sanity or at least collect up the shattered pieces left over from the weekend!

mary_hinge

kettles on the boil, older 2 at school/preschool can enjoy some QT with baby hinge today. The little blighter is growing by the day and I seem to walking around in a master hinge shaped fog and missing out on so much.

Not much on the agenda today, must do the food stock take and work on some meal plans as part of the House of Hinge grocery challenge. Do to cash flow with weekly pay and the new DMP this month we are looking at £175 for groceries until the 10th of April :eek: 44days, 2 adults, 2 children and a baby. we have enough toiletries and cleaning products to last, will need to buy 2 packs of nappies 2 for £10 A$da and the rest will go on food. we have a substantial store cupboard so I am not to worried, just need to keep the junk buying underwraps! Mr Hinge is partial to a bread-milk-come-back-with-cookies,-crisps-and-cake shopping trip!


well baby is boobed and asleep so no excuse now to sit on my !!! with the laptop any longer!


Mrs H x

mary_hinge

Dredging this up as a kick up the bum, all is changed in the house of hinge and stress levels are rather high at the moment.


I have returned to work part time after maternity leave and following a lot of advice I applied for DLA and Careres allowance for master hinge. Money wise we seem to be on a even keel but this could be drastically improved with some organisation and far few meals out/ take always.

I need to rebook at my SOA's and give mr H a good kick up the bum. He has taken over the reins as full time house parent and although is good with the children housework is not his fortis.

Just a quick check in whilst I had the motivation, I will be back once the monsters are sleeping.

Mrs H x

please-let-me-be-lucky

Hi, I didn't see you diary when you first posted it so I've just caught up now. Your family sound lovely and I love the superman comment! Sounds like my house!!

I really just wanted to say well done for coming back to your diary and trying to get things sorted in amongst the midst of madness. Good luck!

PLMBL Xx

mary_hinge

please-let-me-be-lucky wrote: »

Hi, I didn't see you diary when you first posted it so I've just caught up now. Your family sound lovely and I love the superman comment! Sounds like my house!!

I really just wanted to say well done for coming back to your diary and trying to get things sorted in amongst the midst of madness. Good luck!

PLMBL Xx

THankyou PLMBL for stopping by, I love the madness that is my household and I love the little avenger that is master H, his innocence keeps me striving and warms my heart through to the core.

Please feel free to hang out here, everyone is welcome

Mrs H x

mary_hinge

Today is a tough day in the household, Superman has been up most of the night and is an emotional wreck today. Days like this his toilet training go out of the window. And he has weed on everything and anything this morning and is sat naked under the table hiding from the world.

First day of annual leave for me today andi have a meeting at work to discuss the terms of my new job, starting next week a job share promotion. Fingers crossed I get the days and hurs requested.

Must sit down and look at the figures today, I have been a it blinkered the last few weeks and as rent day approaches my tummy feels rather heavy. I however have some bargin purchases due to be delivered that will help no end in my quest to been debt free!

Must rescue the cat from the baby!

Mrs H x

mary_hinge

Well it has been a while, the whirl wind that is life and work seems to get in the way of my ramblings here!

12months on since I began my DMP and very slow pogress made. Nether-the-less progress is progress!! £1848 paid off £22,340.61 left to go. DFD may 2025..... It will be before this I will make sure it is!!

Big meeting coming up next week for Superman, his SEN statement has been in place 4months now and he is making progress at school, small steps and huge smiles for me! Life in the Hinge household is still totally Un-Hinged yet the rollercoaster seems to becoming the acceptable way of life for us.

Work is busy, poorly paid but secure and flexible as needed so can not grumble! Mr H is looking frantically for work but it is scares in these woods.

Clever cloggs is doing awesome at school and the summer brings her 9th birthday, an occasion we have always marked with a camping trip, not sure the finances will allow this year, working hard on surverys to boost the pressy pot to meet the pleas for Monster high and anything girly!

Little man is toddling round, up to mischieve and in to everything. We anxiously wait and see if he will show any difficulties like Superman as he approaches the age Superman had his regression. 2 days at playschool gives him plenty of socialisation and all seems well..... touch wood.

More focus is needed on saving money, eating better and being more organised. Summer is to be filled with carboot sales to clear the [STRIKE]junk[/STRIKE] ahem unused items in the loft :rotfl:Little man will be the last baby Hinge so all baby clothes/toys and equiptment will go. The house is bursting at the seams and I need it to be my purse that is full!!

I have lbs to lose and £ to gain and know this year will be better then the last!

Mrs H. slightly less un-hinged then last year.

Snagggles

Hiya, I haven't been around for a while so missed your diary the first time. So good to hear about the SEN measures starting to help with your son. My son has Asperger's, and getting the right support in place can be a huge battle, but makes a major difference. It's lovely when they start to have good days at school and you're not terrified of what their teachers will say whenever you pick them up.

I had the same worries about my daughter as she got to age 2/3. I was watching all the time for evidence of rigidity of thought, sensory issues, lack of social skills...haha, well sometimes she definitely has the latter, but otherwise she seems fairly neurotypical. Inevitably, she exhibits some autism-y traits, but many are copied from her brother, so it's hard to tell.

I hope you will continue to post. You have a lot going on, and having a place to vent when you are having bad days is really helpful, as is having a group of people [STRIKE]kicking your backside[/STRIKE] encouraging you to do the car boot sales and things. :rotfl: