make do and mend for tougher times

Popperwell

Wishing you a better day ahead PAH,

These links take you to a programme orginally only seen in Scotland, you will hear an MP now in Government saying some very different things not too long ago...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yop7L95NyIU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0GiLGDgk0M&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQ8zgGN-zU8&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL2D9634C5F6BA2E90

All the programmes telling me to be thrifty which I have tried to do and yet in my case it appears that I should be doing the opposite which seems wrong...

elona

PAH

It is overcast here and a bit grey looking.

DH is downstairs and I am going to make some tea and have a look at new bathroom brochures for basin and loo that are wall mounted and leave the floor clear which will make cleaning easier. DH wants to get as much done as we can to make things easier in the future. He is good at getting ideas but not so good on really looking at details so I am trawling through brochures trying to find what is suitable and also attractive etc.

We should be getting bathroom re done in a week or so and I need to get a move on with picking stuff.

DD e mailed to say how much she enjoyed being home and how useful all the store cupboard goods were. Ironic that her favourite meal was the cheapest and easiest to make (chicken and veg pasta);)

Pops

Don't you dare feel guilty and make sure you enjoy the odd trip further afield and the theatre. You deserve a bit of enjoyment and it will do you good. I feel a bit guilty we are getting things done in house to make it more energy efficient and comfortable but DH points out we need to plan ahead and have house easy to manage and convenient to run as we become OAPs next year. After all the years of scrimping and saving it feels odd to be spending but DH says we should think of it as an investment for the future and I agree.

Hoping to get haircut today as I hacked at my fringe with scissors (looked like Dulux dog but not as cute).

Tried a tip I saw on tv and sorted out all our bedding yesterday - superking, double and single by size and then folded up duvet and stored in matching pillow case so everything was together and easy to find.

Hug to all

meme30

PAH and Popperwell:_ I watched the two programmes as well. They went very much as I expected with two pieces of infomation that I found quite shocking.

If you walk with sticks you are assessed as if you were using a wheelchair. (makes you more mobile!) Even if you do not use a wheelchair, they assess you with an 'imaginary' wheelchair! :eek:

People with cancer who are getting chemotherapy are exempt because of their condition and treatment. As it should be. But the thousands of people with Prostate Cancer and Breast Cancer who are taking Oral chemotherapy drugs are classed as scoring 0 points. They have a devastating illness and all the side effects and are classed suitable to work and claim JSA! :eek:

Shame on the government ministers who are pushing through these benefit reforms. Shame on the DWP who are telling ATOS to only put 12% of claimants into the support group! :eek:

I have always felt proud of this country, I find it very difficult to say this today. A sense of doing what's right and fair seems to have disappeared from our countries ethos. The government and their 'media' outlets have encouraged a witch hunt against the weak and vulnerable citizens of this country and are smugly congratulating themselves for having done it! Shame on them!

prepareathome

I read about that tip a while ago and since then store the bedding in pillowcase, does make it so much easier.

Your DH is right about the house. This is one of the reasons you have scrimped and saved so you can do this. Just think how come the winter when everything is finished how lovely it will feel snug and happy.

Its pouring here again, how unusual LOL

prepareathome

I am just so disgusted over how they are treating people I cannot express it hence me going on about Atos trainer..........

Pop I had watched that programme when it was on (but watched it again thanks) as I was up visiting dad then so was in Scotland.:)

fuddle

What I don't understand is the willingness to change the benefit rules over people who are poorly but not tackle the huge issue of the work shy. I don't see much evidence of this - or is this because the work shy use the excuse that they are poorly (when they're not) to get benefits?

We are not in receipt of any benefits now (we were when the poop hit the whirly thing HB, another story in a minute about that) and I don't understand anything other than I'm worried about renting a 3 bedroom house if DH loses his job because I know it will be expected that the girls share and we'll have to find the rest of the rent from somewhere, namely JSA (the thing we would need to pay bills and eat) but that's just if, but we could quickly find ourself in that position.

homlessness rose 25% in England

Ok, me claiming benefits. When I went into the council offices to hand in my paperwork to help us claim HB when we were bankrupt and in renting, I was met with such prejudice. I'm a smart person, I look after myself and although I look for different and cheaper ways of doing it, I generally look good, even just walking the dog in my wellies. The benefits assessor women, took a double take and said very calmly "if you can afford to dress like that, I'm really not sure you need to claim housing benefit" I'm a nervous person, very shy and was going through a horrible time then. I was nasty to her, really nasty and slithered something about circumstances change, we've paid taxes for over 10 years each and we're in need of help at the moment and don't you dare cast aspersions based on your own ignorance. She refused to work on my case, complaining to her manager that I was abusive, while I sat there sobbing. I walked out. Unbeknown to her my sister is actually a benefits assessor for the same council in a different office and made sure she was in trouble for it. My sister came with me the second time and took over for me. She didn't let on she knew the ins and outs of their job at all, which made her very powerful in the situation. And you know what, I actually thought about going into those offices the second time, scruffy - but I didn't, she convinced me that I wasn't below these people infact she reminded e that when I worked I was on a better salary than them and had undoubtedly paid more into the pot than them - I can say that without being prejudiced as sister is one of them.

Edited: I don't like what I wrote in that last sentence. Who earns what or how much doesn't at all matter. Sorry if I sound like a snobby mare, I'm not. I know they are only doing their job and I'm not getting at them collectively, just this one individual really upset me. I just wanted to share an experience I had based up prejudices and stereotypes because that is how I feel this government is acting and drawing up it's policies. I feel every body has to fit in a certain category right now and those categories are seen as, I believe, as firm and final, when in reality we move through different groupings as situations change. One thing I don't think this government is thinking at all about is that society changes all the time, of it's own free will. Unfortunately, I think, the government is trying to influence these societal changes - and that leads us right back to prejudice and stereotypes. A dangerous way to be heading I feel.

Cheapskate

fuddle, when I tried to claim CTB as we have a low income (on max TC etc), the staff, although good, assumed that as DH works for himself we were coining it - I wish! :rotfl: He works 40+ hours a week, and pays himself £800 a month, I now earn £400 in new job, TC and ChB bring in about another £650 a month - I think that's an amazing amount of money, but is that because we spend wisely most of the time? Lots of our friends are horrified that we "exist" on such a low income! I can actually save out of our TC, which I think is mad, but I've told them exactly what we earn etc., so this must be what we're entitled to, and we're genuine claimants! I know lots of single mums around here who reckon their BF don't live with them, but they do, and so get loads of extra things, but still have BF there, some working or at least sharing their benefits! So maddening and unfair! :mad:

A xo

Uniscots97

Smileyt, thanks for thinking of me. I haven't heard anything yet. OH and I have worked out that me driving there wouldn't work (petrol and parking) so looking at bus and train (to be prepared or is that tempting fate?).

mardatha

We watched the two progs and all we can say is that all of the people involved in this, all of them - should be lined up against a wall and shot. And I would do it. Failing that, which isn't unfortunately very likely , I can only comfort meself with the knowledge that what goes around inevitably comes around. Karma will get them even if I can't. A govt that actually encourages doctors to behave like this are nothing short of Nazis, and I'd say that to their face on tv (if anybody would let me lol)

GreyQueen

elona wrote: »

PAH

It is overcast here and a bit grey looking.

DH is downstairs and I am going to make some tea and have a look at new bathroom brochures for basin and loo that are wall mounted and leave the floor clear which will make cleaning easier. DH wants to get as much done as we can to make things easier in the future. He is good at getting ideas but not so good on really looking at details so I am trawling through brochures trying to find what is suitable and also attractive etc.

We should be getting bathroom re done in a week or so and I need to get a move on with picking stuff.

DD e mailed to say how much she enjoyed being home and how useful all the store cupboard goods were. Ironic that her favourite meal was the cheapest and easiest to make (chicken and veg pasta);)

Pops

Don't you dare feel guilty and make sure you enjoy the odd trip further afield and the theatre. You deserve a bit of enjoyment and it will do you good. I feel a bit guilty we are getting things done in house to make it more energy efficient and comfortable but DH points out we need to plan ahead and have house easy to manage and convenient to run as we become OAPs next year. After all the years of scrimping and saving it feels odd to be spending but DH says we should think of it as an investment for the future and I agree.
Hug to all

Morning all.

Hi elona, you might find it interesting to cast your eyes over Don Aslett's Make Your House Do the Housework which I borrow from time to time from my library. He's a very famous Americain author on cleaning and decluttering and this is a co-work with his kitchen designer daughter. It's full of ways to modify homes, from the simple to the sophisticated, to eliminate a lot of chores, with excellent drawings. If you're in the position to put your hands in your pocket now, to make life easier in the long run, I think you'd gain something worthwhile from looking at this.

In the mid-nineties, my parents had several policies and payment plans mature to the sum of £15k. What they did with it is have a single story extension built on the back of their terrace, with a small WC/ shower room. The intention was that if my grandparents ever needed to live with us, they could have that as an en suite bedroom. That hasn't come to pass but it is used as a home office (not the shower room bit, obviously).

Effectively, it means that if my parents, currently pushing 70 and spry, ever become unable to handle the stairs or get in and out of a bath tub, the household can be rearranged so that they can live downstairs. It's good to think ahead.

A pal who is an occupational therapist annoyed her elderly parents because they were going to install an overbath shower as they were starting to experience difficulty getting up out of the tub. From her professional experience, she knew that the next stage came not too long after; having difficulty lifting your legs high enough and difficulty balancing on one leg, which makes it had to climb in and out of the tub to use the shower.

Her recommendation was to cut out the intermediate stage and go straight to a level access shower.

Well, it's persisting down here today, grey and horrible. I'm struggling with laundry all over the place so decided to do somthing weird and unnatural (ironing:p) before breakfast. I really don't want to come home after work and confront this lot.

SuperGran was over yesterday evening, a wee bit stressed about having her kitchen done. Our mutual LL is upgrading some kitchens at the Towers (block is about 40 y.o. and a lot of the stuff dates back to then and is rather tired and battered). Which means she will be kitchen-less for a week. We've already arranged that she can let herself into mine to cook her midday hot meal whilst I'm at work, and just hang out with a book at other times if it all gets a bit much over in her flat, buts she's in the process of sorting and empting the kitchen cupboards and did I have any boxes?

Unfortunately not, nothing bigger than a stray shoe box, anyroad. I will have to prowl around the shops later and see what I can turn up for her.

Oooofff, time for another cuppa, I think, brain not properly in gear.