Looking for the silver lining

Sun_Addict

Thank you all so much - and Kissjenn I do so hope you're right!

Been busy over the past few days so not really been on MSE much. Manic at work at the moment.

Had another discharge meeting at the hospital yesterday and it looks as though Mr SA will be out some time next week. Budget for care package is being finalised at the end of the week. We already have a carer in mind and he's happy to take on the job. It will be a doddle for the carer to be honest as there is no personal care involved. Could be quite boring for him at times. Mr SA doesn't think he needs a carer but he'll do anything to get home. They are looking into PIP for him too. All I can say is he must be costing the local council a fortune! They've told him they have invested a lot of money in getting him better and he's become almost precious.

Finance-wise still plodding on with trying to stay in budget. Got my bill from nPower - although I'm in credit with them by £300 they've put my monthly payment up! Also Virgin Media are putting up the bill from February. As we rarely watch anything that isn't on Freeview I think this can either be replaced with something like You View. We need the broadband, we rarely use the house phone, but we don't have an aerial so if we went for freeview we'd have to have a digital aerial fitted. But this would pay for itself after a couple of months if we got rid of Virgin. Got to make my mind up soon. Comments would be welcomed.

beanielou

Ditch Virgin is my thought.

scaredy_cat

call npower and switch providers.. bloomin cheek to up your dd with them!

Sun_Addict

Thanks to both of you. I think a call to Virgin is on the cards to see if they can offer me a reduction - it worked last time I threatened to go to Sky. The price has been creeping up again though since then. As for nPower - I've been with them for almost a year (tied into the deal for a year) and they've been nothing but trouble. I feel a switch coming on.

Today if I get time (ha ha) I'm going to have a look at my finances re how much money do I have left to last until next payday, work out a budget (how much do I have a week) and see what's what. I feel awful worrying about it but I'm just concerned about managing once Mr SA is out of hospital. I feel so guilty even thinking this as the fact that he's getting better is worth more than all the money in the world but he's talking about wanting his credit card back. You hear these stories about people with brain injuries racking up debt because they have no concept of money. The image I have in my head is of him treating the carer to pub lunches, coffees, etc and leaving me to pick up the bill! I feel really mean even thinking this but unfortunately we have very limited resources.

beanielou

I dont think you are being mean.Just realistic.
But hopefully that is worst case senario.

Mint1955

SA the carer can't spend any money unless it's signed for before he/she leaves house and receipts and explanations documented on return.

If you have a word with the carer and explain then they will help you with a strategy to curb DH spending etc.

Of course this is a big issue you have done so well under very trying circumstances. Keep strong x

Sun_Addict

At work far too early - I was the first one here! Yawn!

I'm going to have a word with Mr SA at the weekend when he comes home although how much of it will sink in I don't know. Not having dealt with the carer world before I've no idea how things stand if Mr SA wants to go for, say, a pub lunch or a coffee. Would Mr SA have to pay for it or would the carer pay for themselves (what if they couldn't afford it). I'll have to have a word with the social worker.

Anyway he met his carer last night and they seemed to get on really well. They seem to have quite a bit in common and the carer is up for lots of dog walking.

After looking at finances we should be able to manage quite well for the rest of the month but won't be able to go mad. I think probably the best thing I can do at the minute is rein in the debt-busting a little and just try to pay it off a little bit at a time rather than in big chunks as I'll need more cash in hand once Mr SA is set free.

Might be able to shuffle bits around and come up with a small payment today so will be back later.

*Robin*

Hi Sun.A, :hello:

It is so good to read about your plans for MrSA's return home.

When you have your chat about finances, why not tell MrSA that you've changed the way you deal with money (now there's much less of it in the family budget):
Instead of using cards, you now have a cash allowance to cover 'incidentals' during the week. Decide between you how much you can afford for his random coffees or pub visits, get it out of the bank with your cash - and make sure the carer knows what MrSA's limit is for social spending while they are together.
Emphasise that you're not policing MrSA's spends, just working together in order to budget effectively.

You really are doing so amazingly well with debt-busting on top of everything else.. Agree with Kissjenn - 2014 will be your year! :beer:

beanielou

Good idea from *Robin* on cash.
Don't worry too much about debt, you are down to 1 cc now?

Sun_Addict

Thanks Robin - that's along the lines I was thinking. To be honest he used to have a cash budget when he was working but he was a devil for sneaking things on the CC.

Beanie - you're right I'm down to only the one card now. The 0% ends in February 2015 so have over a year left to pay it off. I should've realised that at this time of year it's mainly about not adding to debt instead of trying to pay it off.

Having said this I've paid another £10 off the card today so it's now down to £2870. £3.00 has gone to my VSP 2014 making it £7.70. From now on it's going to be all about small steps both finance and Mr SA wise!

Mr SA is having one of his bad days today which has involved him ringing me and accusing me of not going to visit him last night and saying the hospital didn't feed him all day yesterday! Good job he's not on one of those fly on the wall documentaries about the NHS. He was tucking heartily into a very large plate of chilli and chips when I left him last night! They even order chips everyday especially for him. The nursing and catering staff get him to score their coffee making skills out of 10 and are pleased if they can get past 8. So I think he's being looked after rather well don't you?