when you reach breaking point

COOLTRIKERCHICK

I am so glad people can vent on this thread, shout scream, or just get things of their minds, hopefully with true thoughts and feelings being aired, it will show people they are not alone.

It is also nice to see, you can air your views on the government etc without being jumped apon etc...

I would say at the moment, even though its tuff, I am still balancing things ( just) with yellow stickered items etc..I dont do huge weekly shops anymore...

I call into the local co-op and see what they have reduced, their 1% milk is cheaper than [EMAIL="Tes@co"]Tes@co[/EMAIL]... and maybe once every 6 weeks/2 months I will go and do a big shop in a$da.

I had a letter from my electricity supplier swalec, saying our electricity cost is going up in october... we are on a token meter, I know its more expensive, but It is a peace of mind that there is not going to be any shock bills coming through the post.

Butterfly_Brain

fuddle wrote: »

With repossession as it stands you are only liable for the council tax until the house is back in the possession of the mortgage company. If a person moves out before the house is in the possession of the bank and the house is empty they can apply for a 6 month exemption - allowing them not to have to pay the CT for those 6 months. I wonder whether it's this rule that the council is looking to quashing? I find it very difficult to believe that a house that is no longer legally owned by a person still makes that person liable for the CT. What do you think, do you think that would make more sense?

This is a Tory council...... Central Bedfordshire and the proposal is on the web site

ginnyknit

Im on to plan F here, the others went by the wayside. Freezers and cupboards full but still not all the useful things stashed away to get ahead of a crisis.

We had a letter about the bedroom tax, am going to have to write a letter as OH has to have his own room so he can sit and read all night and his bits and bobs of medical equipement wouldnt fit next to my bed. Still have no idea if we will be exempt so hoping for clarification in a reply. I didnt tell OH about the bedroom tax so as not to worry him but guess who opened the post that day???

Im tired of it all today, little sleep with worrying and wondering. Oh has minor surgery booked for 2nd of October and the specialist has said , when I raised concerns, that he would only be in 1 day at the most 'as he is far better at home being nursed by me as I can monitor his food and prevent the usual bowel troubles' What the hell, Im no nurse but I am in tune to his needs however the slightest worry and he is staying there over night. We seem to be careering from crisis to crisis here and I have had enough.

Its the petty things that get me, the LL decided last week whilst doing a survey on the house that the front garden was a mess and we would be fined if I didnt sort it :mad: We can have help with it if we cannot physically do it, so I e mailed them and they said this years gardening was finished and we would be put on the list for next year. Anyway Ds spent half of a rare day off doing it for me.

Right will stop moaning now and go and clean up while OH has a nap, :j

Butterfly_Brain

Vent away ginny, we are all of us dreading next year in one way or another

fuddle

Butterfly_Brain wrote: »

This is a Tory council...... Central Bedfordshire and the proposal is on the web site

It says on there that under the proposed changes the mortgagee will pay the council tax on repossessed properties. The mortgagee is the lender or bank and the mortgagor is the owner or borrower.

So what they are proposing is that the building society/banks will have to pay the council tax on repossessed properties not the person who has lost their home. I think anyway

http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/Images/120730%20CTS%20Consultation%20Document%20FINAL_tcm6-33877.pdf

Popperwell

I get worried a little talking about the CT, BT etc...as I had quite a lot of flack because of my situation but...on Radio 4's moneybox today though people worry about the Universal cretit and changes coming at the latter half of 2013 and the wonder what will happen regarding the scrapping of DLA and the introduction of it's replacement(and whether you can still get it)

Moneybox said the thing we have to fear and worry about the most(in work, out of work, low wages or on benefits)are the BT/CT from April. And as the CAB said(in fact a representative called here for another reason last night)but recognised me and he said said that they are very worried/concerned about te BT/CT changes.

Even he said there is little or no smaller properties in my town...so getting a lodger/lodgers in may be my only hope to avoid finding an extra £26 a week(and not knowing what everything else will cost)it will take some getting used to if I go down that route. And I don't know how you look for a lodger. But I keep a roof over my head, stay in a nice area and still have the house I always have known most of my life...I am so frugal and thrifty(I can't do any more)but they keep chipping away at what I do have...

Last night coming home late on the bus I was talking to a guy in his 30's and he and his brother have had to come home and live with Mum again because of the expense of living.

Nice in one way, bad in another way...and lucky that they can still can do so, many can't.

I have said before elsewhere if I had been older, I would not be affected but still too young in the eyes of the proposed changes...then you worry as you get older you may end up needing care(in your home or end up in a home. Not much to look forward to really...especially when they keep piling more worry on you...Ginnyknit's own story says so much...

jackel

Hello All - After a short break I caught up with the posts yesterday.

Wow ! what interesting reading. I agree with nearly everything posters have said. The country is in a mess etc. but one thing that just occasionally pops up is that pensioners are doing ok.Some maybe - those on final salary pensions (paid out of taxpayers money) and some who can claim extra benifits but on basic pension life is very different.

We paid for our own house(which we own) We have worked most of our lives at low pay because frankly we didn't get educated we just went to school(goodness know why as I didn't learn much as the teachers were too busy shouting and throwing things to pass any knowledge on).Left,best day of my life, at not quite 15, same for DH. We have claimed nothing along the way, paid all our own bills, not had a holiday since the early 1960's(honestly) but saved a little whenever we could. Family Allowance was a laugh I think 7and six a week for the second child(nothing for the the first).

Because we lived frugally we managed to pay a tiny pension and gather a little nest egg to make us comfortable in our old age.

We retired at 64 &65 and the whole world turned upside down. Interest rates,which we thought would provide comfort, hit the deck.

We now have a house to maintain,insure and repair. We have to pay full council tax, dentist charges , reading glasses, further education charges(if we want to learn how to use a computer for instance) We thought we had done it all right. We looked after ourselves and now we are getting just a basic pension with no help at all to deal with the B mess that other well educated toffee nosed twits have landed us in.

We do get fuel allowance for which we are greatful, and a buspass(the bus stop is a good ten mins away and we are a bit stiff jointed though.)

OK I've had a good moan - Sorry ! but I hope you can see all pensioners are not living the high life only some.

Having said all this we mannage,just,and are really greatful to thisthread and others who have helped to keep us solvent. But PLEASE don't lets hold one section against another. At least on here lets all be in it together. (incidentally its not just on this thread I've read that it's Ok if youre on pension other threads too

Thanks and best wishes to all I really do appreciate that there are many on this thread who are far worse off then we are and are greatful for what we have.

jacxx

ginnyknit

We had our home repossessed in the 80's and now live in a council house transferred to a HA. The one thing that kept us going was OH's favorite saying 'at least if the roof blows off they will have to fix it. I feel so sorry for friends who worked hard like us but had their own homes, the cost of it is huge! One friend took out an endowment mortgage which was all the rage in our day and now rues the day as they didnt get a penny when they had paid off the mortgage

Saving hard all your working life is penalised too. My Mum gets a small pension after grafting in a factory, she loved it there and made wonderful friends but has to pay part rent and council tax because of it - but we were raised on making sure we had something to fall back on, a safety net if you like. A private pension was meant to be a nest egg to enjoy your retirement not a weight round your neck. Luckily Mum at 83 is fit and quite healthy so can shop around and lives right near a good market and I just hope she keeps on like that for many years.

Jackal you have a good vent we all understand your frustration and are here for support.

mardatha

We never bought a house, never wanted to as life was so uncertain for us - but OH worked for the council for a while and got a pension.. The pension is £85 a week and the rent + CT is £90 :rotfl:

monnagran

Jackel: I am in a similar position to you. Bought my own house, divorce took care of my pension, my ex had all the pensions (because I wouldn't need it!) and took them with him when he left. I did save for a private pension - difficult when trying to bring up 2 teenage boys alone with no child maintenance (long story) but I was determined. Well we all know what happened to pensions when Gordon B got his hands on them. So now I have the basic State Pension and a private pension so small that it's not worth their while to pay it every month, so I get it every 3 months.

Yes I manage. Fortunately I have never had it easy financially so it's second nature to scrimp. I could teach Mrs Moneypenny, she of the orange hat, a thing or two.

Just sometimes I could do with a bit of riotous living though.