when you reach breaking point

the_frugal_frog

I really appreciate that Sleepless Saver x
However, when I say I am penniless, I mean I dont even have a penny. well ok, after putting 7quid on elec, I do actually have 1p lol.
The library charges for the use of copying. I am ok for now, for this week til next week if I am careful. Thanks for letting me know though. you never know who else may be reading and will be able to do the above.

BOBS

gettingready wrote: »

OK, you asked..

around 35k in debts (several places) that have not paid a penny towards any of them for well over 18 months now.

debts get passed on, new debt collection agencies keep on sending new letters/threats/threats of door collections etc etc....

me? head in the sand and ignoring it all

there is nothing that I have of value in case anyone sends bailiffs in so....

would love to go BR but have no money to pay the fees - those are quite high

can not go on any DMP as nobody would allow in the "budget" what my animals cost me so this is a no go area at all

head in the sand till I fel up to dealing with it - right now I am just about able to cope..

just got home, took the dog out for a pee, fed the lot, cleaned litter boxes and going to crsh to bed for a while as it is one of those days that all seem too much for me

here you go - almost the whole story.. sigh...

thanks a lot everyone

The Frugal Frog - I got several things on Gumtree and zero interest....

You can advertise on Gumtree for free and set collection only - advertise locally, you never know....

Hugs everyone and lets hope we get through all this - somehow...

If you are on facebook quite a lot of areas have a local site for buying selling. We have a few around here - free to list photo and cash on collection. They sell everything from old clothes at £1 to top of the range phones etc.

anguk

mardatha wrote: »

I'm another who thinks half of the stuff on shelves is a waste of time and money. The one that reduced me to hysterics in a shop was that handwash stuff they advertised that you didn't have to touch - I forget the details thank god, only remember the RV's back view vanished fast down the aisle and round the corner into Pet Foods
Fuddle hen you're very wise - todays shops sell an awful lot of "wants" and instead of "needs" and most people can't seem to tell the difference. I know one woman who says proudly that her nice shiny fancy oven has "only ever been to used to heat M&S pies in" ..and she says it with such a smirk :rotfl:
I always use alcohol gel hand sanitiser though, started that during the H1N1 flu.

We've got one of those Dettol no-touch hand wash systems. In my defence though I bought it for OH to use, he's had all the digits on his left hand amputated and finds it very difficult to use normal soap. But I did have a money off voucher so I think it only cost £2 and there's no way I'd pay for the proper refills, I prise the lid off and refill with Tesco value handwash.

I'm enjoying reading this thread but I'm also sad to see how many of us are struggling at the moment. We've always "just got by" and never had spare cash but things have got much tighter this last year, not because our spending habits have changed but because of the rising prices. OH can't work because of his illness and disabilities (he had his 2nd leg amputated in June) and I'm his carer so we're at the mercy of the benefits system. DD has also finished 6th form this summer and we're £70 a week worse off now that her child benefit and other money we got for her has stopped. :eek: We knew it was coming though so we were prepared.

The car now no longer gets used for anything other than OH's dialysis 3 times a week, hospital appointments and the weekly shop. We just can't afford the petrol for anything else but last week he had to go for dialysis 4 times and he had another hospital appointment miles away in the opposite direction and we ended up using £30 worth of petrol! :eek:

It's such a struggle at times and I really worry for our kids generation. DD is going to university and she's the first year with the higher fees, we've worked out that at the end of her 3 year degree she'll owe just under £40k in tuition and maintenance loans. :eek: Plus they're now charging interest on the loans right from the first payment (September) and the rate is 3% above inflation. :mad: She'll be 21 years old with almost £40k of debt and that's just for education, it's frightening really.

monnagran

anguk: It's not many times that I can say that my generation had it easy, but education-wise we didn't know we were born. I went through Grammar school and teacher training without having to pay for a thing. We even got a grant (£30 per annum) which had to cover transport, books, living expenses etc. As students we couldn't work during term time, the work load was far too heavy, but most of us took jobs in the holidays to cover any shortfall. My heart goes out to your DD. What a way to start out your career - all that debt. If she is as careful and organised as her parents though, I'm sure she will cope. I take my hat off to you, I just don't know how you keep going.

Stay strong, and we will support you as much as possible.

x

Butterfly_Brain

frugalfrog this thread might help: £7 per week menu ideas
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4084527
Have you thought of going to your local Salvation Army citadel, they will always help or point you to where you can get help.

Archer0710

The crisis loan number is free phone and can be rung from any phonebox.

If you go into the jobcentre you can use the phones to ring through to find out the position you are in. If you ask nicely and are polite most times they will try to help you out. Usually after 4pm the offices are quiet if that helps.

Don't sell belongings etc, you have paid into the system and are due the help you need.

This thread has made me really look at my own position and be grateful food etc is always available. I am going to start putting stuff to one side and building a store cupboard.

monnagran

Have re-organised my dining room into a store room. Mostly it's where we store the donated food for our Drop-in and unofficial food bank. The numbers have started to creep up. We usually feed between 25 and 30 people but last week we had just over 40 turn up. Fortunately the Harvest Festival is upon us so we have a good stock of tinned and packet foods. I do hope that the food donations don't drop as the economy plunges, because I think the need for our sort of organisation is going to be more and more essential.

When we get someone in, as we did recently, who has only the clothes he stands up in and is sleeping behind bushes in the park, you feel ashamed that you have ever grumbled or felt hard done by. It's difficult to know how to help. We sorted out a sleeping bag and more clothes and gave him a good meal, but tins and packets are no good to him because he has no means of cooking or even heating water. He gets drinking water from the public toilets and I made him up a bag of cereal bars, flapjacks, digestive biscuits etc so he has something to nibble on.

If anyone has any good recipes for nourishing bars or biscuits I'd love to have them as I fear this poor chap is not going to be the only one in this predicament.

What a gloomy post. Sorry. I just want to take them all home and look after them.

Time I went off and did something useful.

x

Popperwell

Monnagran,
Its hard not to be gloomy about what's coming and some are already experiencing. They are going to talk about Food Banks on Radio 4's The World Tonight in a few minutes and there is some talk about the Government getting involved.

Bit ironic as much of the problem is due to their austere policies and changes to the welfare system but as the feature has not aired yet I'm not sure what they are planning to do.

Sadly as you suggest I think your scheme and many others will be needed much more and for many years. If everyone starts to feel the pinch donations could reduce as you fear.

I have turned my dining room into my food storage room but if I can stay put I will rearrange it better or move things into the inbuilt bedroom wardrobes.

AngUK I agree with all you say and sadly I see no way of things improving.

Popperwell

Right it's been on the radio...

Crisis Loans are being scrapped by the Government in April 2013 and this side of things will now be done by councils and the councils are now in talks with food banks etc...

It was very interesting but frightening, it should be available on the BBC I Player soon and is approx 20 minutes into the programme(lasts about 5 minutes)Radio 4 The World Tonight 10th september 2012.

Butterfly_Brain

This disturbs me and I feel that monnagrans food bank is much more about helping people than the Trussell trust:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/mel-kelly/well-trousered-philanthropists-tory-party-chums-and-food-parcels-for-poor
And more worrying this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/jun/25/breadline-britain-growth-food-parcels