Wherediditallgo’s ‘path to enlightenment’ bankruptcy diary

wherediditallgo

5 June - Saw my doctor yesterday - he said the pain I'm getting is from fluid around my operations site. As my scar is near enough 9" long, there's a lot of space for fluid to collect. I'm now on Co-dydramol (which sends me to sleep), & I can't return to work for at least another couple of weeks as the fluid's putting pressure on my wound & may need to be drained off if it worsens. I'm back at the hospital next week, so hopefully it will have improved by then - makes it very difficult to sit up or sleep comfortably.

As if that wasn't bad enough, I spoke to the hospital yesterday & was told that I was wrong in thinking I'd be on one medication for life. I'm going to be on FIVE for at least 3-6 months, gradually reducing to maybe one at the end of a year, with no guarantees of that. So I could be on just one, but could still be on all five for life! With prescriptions being £6.85 per item, five items would cost me over £34 a month! :eek: Checked the price of a yearly pre-paid certificate & it's £98.70 (goes up on 1 July). I've had to order it to start today, as l've got a new prescription to fill this afternoon & another one Thursday. Thank goodness I haven't had as many work-related expenses because I've been off work - where would I have found that sort of money otherwise?

Those people who were so quick to say last month "You've got more free money than expected - you should hand it over to pay towards your debts" don't know what they're talking about when it comes to living in the real world the rest of us mere mortals inhabit, & shouldn't stand in judgement until they've walked in the other person's shoes. If I'd followed their advice, I wouldn't have been able to cover the cost of these medications, which are to keep me alive & which I need every day.

wherediditallgo

7 June - Grrr. Just got a letter from my council advising that Visa Electron will no longer be accepted for online payments for Council Tax and rent as of 1 July. I can still use it to pay them by phone, but I've never been keen on that as you don't always get a receipt whereas you get one on-screen with the online payments. Looks like I'll have to get a pre-paid Mastercard after all - I'll order it today so that I get it before the end of the month. I'll only be using it to pay these two bills, so it's not going to be costing me a lot to use, but I'd still prefer not to have one.

Richard_S

Hi wdiag,

Your post of 5th June once again reinforces my approach to preparing a budget income & expenditure a/c, you have to have some "slack" in your budget otherwise something will rear it's ugly head and cause problems.

I've got a pre-paid Master Card and it's fine for on-line payments but as Neko pointed out it can be difficult trying to reconcile their statements especially when you don't receive hard copies and there's only a limited number of transactions available on line.

Richard

wherediditallgo

I agree. I know the OR allows money for medical, but nothing in my SOA allowed for having to spend almost £100 in one hit to cover my medication. Without the pre-paid certificate, I'd have spent £21 on Tuesday for 3 items, followed by another £14 later today for the remaining 2. :eek: For me, it was medication, but for someone else it could be ripped school clothes, or losing a bus pass. You've got to allow some elasticity in your figures (I did), otherwise you could really come unstuck - after all, you have nothing else to fall back on.

As for the pre-paid Mastercard, I'm going to just use it for the rent & Council Tax. As they're both monthly payments, it should be relatively easy for me to keep an eye on what's happening. I'll make sure though that I load it with at least £10pm more than I need to pay out each time, so that there's a credit balance every month.

owetoomuch

Can you not do these by Direct Debit?

wherediditallgo

I don't trust my council with direct debits, as they've made mistakes in the past - they've either not set up the direct debit properly, or worse have claimed the money more than once or claimed the incorrect amount. Yes, the direct debit guarantee means that I do eventually get the money back, but in the meantime my payment record gets messed up until it's straightened out. My council are very quick to issue warning letters followed by a summons when there are arrears on Council Tax accounts in particular, & I've had enough years of arguing with them when they get it wrong, so I'd rather just pay each month & have clear records of what I've paid & when.

wherediditallgo

9-11 June - Saturday - Applied for a few savings accounts online - if I get them it would be great, but if I don't it won't matter as my credit rating's shot to pieces anyway . Had my dressings removed for good Sunday :j - feels very strange to have a visible tummy again after so many weeks of it being swathed in bandages & plasters, but it feels nice to touch proper skin again (though my scars are a bit too vibrant for me to look at for too long :eek:).

Sunday - Heard my usual blank dvds were on sale at a very good discounted rate, so got some yesterday - meant to go back today for more, but was just too exhausted. If the weather holds up & I feel up to it, I'll go back tomorrow otherwise I'll just have to do without. I can justify buying them, as normally they're at least 3 times the price & I'd have to buy them at some point anyway, but I don't have the energy to hare about getting this & that, especially if I don't really need to have it at that precise moment.

Monday - Had my review at the hospital - they're pleased with my progress, but said that I've got to remember to rest as it will be some months before I feel back to normal. If I go out in the morning, I've absolutely got to have a sleep in the afternoon, as I'm shattered & fit for nothing for the rest of the day. Don't know when I'll be able to return to work - I don't think sleeping at my desk would go down too well, plus I'm still on loads of medication including painkillers. I've started losing some of my hair , but I was warned that was likely to happen, so it wasn't as big a shock as it could have been. Hopefully it won't go down to the scalp & maybe I won't lose too much of it - thank goodness for headscarves!

Applied for my cashplus card the other day - it came today! I put some money on it at the post office, more to see how the system worked than anything else.

ClaireLR

Hi WDIAG,

Re your hair, I had a problem with thinning hair last year (I have hormone problems that cause this). I tried a few things and can highly recommend something called Wella system professional energy serum. Its around £7 a bottle (could be cheaper than buying headscarves?!) but one bottle lasts for ages. Its basically a liquid that you apply to the roots of your hair and massage in every time you wash your hair. it makes your head tingle slightly (there's menthol in it I think!). I had tried a couple of things and this one really does work, I bought mine from https://www.lookfantastic.co.uk I dont know if you can get it from anywhere else.

Hope thats helps! You didn't say whether you were looking for anything for this but just thought you might like to know. X

wherediditallgo

Many thanks, Claire. The hospital have told me not to use any chemicals or products on it unless it gets really bad, as they've said the more you massage your scalp or fiddle with the hair, the more it will drop out. Luckily, I'm already a headscarf fan so I've got loads in the house that I can wear.

definitelydrowning

Hi WDIAG, I haven't been on here for ages but have been subscribed to your thread so have been with you all the way in spirit. I just had to say re the hair thing. About 3 years ago I suddenly started to get bouts of alopecia (sorry I had it but can't spell it), the doctors all told me the same thing...don't touch it or it will get worse, I was so embarrased I wore a hat and stopped going to the hairdressers. Eventually we were about to go on holiday and I had to get my hair cut, my hairdresser suggested reili head massages and showed me how to do them and my hair grew back in two weeks. Each time I get it now I just rub in soft circular motions over the area and then gently press a finger down going over the area and the blood flow is restored, my scalp stops being tense and the ahir grows back. It may be worth a try!!!