make do and mend for tougher times

Possession

That is shocking. I could only walk with a stick, if at all, before I had both knees replaced (at the bouncing age of 40) and it's just lucky I worked from home, I would NOT have been able to get to work every day. When I started the really strong painkillers I had trouble working anyway as they turned me into a zombie (not literally. yet). I imagine cancer drugs do much the same.

meme30 wrote: »

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!

grandma247

Fuddle we were in your situation in the crash of the nineties and guess who was in power then.

I read that report and all I can say to that twit that commented the figures were wrong is " Should've gone to specsavers!" the figures speak for themselves.

Popperwell everybody needs some good things in their life to counteract the bad. Otherwise we just exist, waiting to die. Enjoy your money while you have it and you will be creating memories.

Cheapskate I also save out of our ctb. For the first time in our lives we now have a small emergency fund which is being added to weekly and now I have set up a bill fund for things which are 6 monthly or yearly such as glasses or car tax. It has given me so much peace of mind. I could not have achieved this without the help of the people on this site, teaching me how to look at spending differently.

Putting money into your home is a good thing to do especially if it makes it more energy efficient. You are spending money to save money ,a bit like a having a storecupboard really. We are trying to do jobs on the house that need to be done before we put it on the market. We are planning to put some of our stuff into storage for a short while when the house is on the market so we can stage the house to hopefully sell it quicker. I don't think potential buyers would be impressed with my vast book collection.

GQ you gave me something to think about re the shower. I have had difficulty with getting my legs over the bath so I can shower. I am ok now because the hip inflammation has gone but I must think of the future so will have a proper shower in our new home.

Mar. You echoed some thoughts I have had this last few years. History repeating itself. Guess who invented the concentration camps.

thriftylass

Good morning,

so far so good. Didn't smoke yesterday and don't even fancy one today (keep thinking I already saved about 8 quid in two days), cycled in today and left my wallet at home.

Have a nice day
TL

grandma247

thriftylass wrote: »

Good morning,

so far so good. Didn't smoke yesterday and don't even fancy one today (keep thinking I already saved about 8 quid in two days), cycled in today and left my wallet at home.

Have a nice day
TL

Well done::T

SpikyHedgehog

smileyt wrote: »

Or you could just shave it off like I do = the ultimate low maintenance hair do! Every fifteen-twenty days I shave it down again. Can go for 10 days without washing it until I suddenly remember that the top of my head also needs washing .....

Unixgirl I hope you were successful at your interview.

Kidcat - pants news about the roof. But if it needs doing it's best to get it done before the winter, I suppose.

PAH your housing association is supposed to have tenants involved in what's called scrutiny. Mine has a tenants' panel and five scrutiny groups looking at different areas such as customer involvement, value for money, neighbourhoods, maintenance and repairs and I can't remember the other one. You could put the willies up them by asking them about their arrangements for tenants to be involved in scrutiny whilst you're at it - they will hopefully then think you know loads and will fit you a new door to shut you up. Then once it's fitted you can carry on raising merry hell for them.

You have to go through their complaints procedure but if still not satisfied you can go to the Housing Ombudsman apparently. http://www.housing-ombudsman.org.uk/default.aspx

Hope that helps. Follow Greyqueen's suggestions too. And if all else fails, offer Supergran a free holiday at yours in exchange for sending her in guns blazing .....

ETA PAH just read what you wrote about them changing the names round on the tenancy. I know nothing about this stuff but that sounds a bit illegal to me. You might want to contact Shelter to ask about that.

I know when Errant Husband moved out, we both had to write to the HA to get his name taken off the tenancy agreement, & both had to go & sign the papers. (Our housing officer did make sure I was ok with us both going in together, & would have seen us individually if I'd asked, but its the point that they couldn't change it without us putting it in writing & seeing them in person.)

stiltwalker

What's that old saying about how a society is judging on how it treats its weakest/most vulnerable members?

I think it's absolutely shocking what is going on - We have a reasonable income ATM (made to feel actually quite decent by our frugal ways). Yes, some of that is thanks to benefits - we get a tiny amount of HB (but so useful as it passports other things such as grants for OU so we can better ourselves in the long run), CTC and WTC (souped up with disability premium for DD) and DD's DLA which pays for her extras and towards the astronomical heating bills/running costs for a large estate so we can get everything in it rather than a more economical car plus ll the extra diesel trailing here there and everywhere for appointments which would be absolutely impossible on the antiquated buses we have round here. However I do worry about UC as I don't work and OH earns nowhere near enough to make up my 'notional hours' - however how much extra would we have to claim to cover childcare? Surely that cancels out any savings. It seems ridiculous to penalise mothers (sorry or fathers as I do know at least 1 SAHD) for staying home to raise their children if you are also going to have benefits available to cover a large chunk of childcare costs. !!!!!!? It might make sense if we had full or almost full employment but surely with unemployment figures being what they are if mothers who want to stay at home were encouraged to with a small stipend rather than pushed back into work only to claim a big chunk of childcare costs from the state there would be a net fall in overall benefits costs?

In my case, no matter how good the childcare, no one else is going to disbelieve the doctors as much as I am and fight and work for my children to make as much progress as I* know* they can rather than what doctors/therapists *believe* they can do. Depending on what therapies appointments they have in the future its also going to have to be one heck of an understanding employer for me to fit a job around them

stiltwalker

Just got my OU results and I am over the moon - Grade 2 Pass!!!

No-one answering phone for me to tell though - boo

thriftylass

stiltwalker wrote: »

Just got my OU results and I am over the moon - Grade 2 Pass!!!

No-one answering phone for me to tell though - boo

Great result, well done :T :beer: :T

grandma247

stiltwalker wrote: »

Just got my OU results and I am over the moon - Grade 2 Pass!!!

No-one answering phone for me to tell though - boo

Well done you:T:T

fuddle

Excellent news stiltwalker, well done!!!!