2014 Frugal Living Challenge

alja

cw18 wrote: »

My annual budget is about to undergo a big revision...

Came up to the Lakes on Sunday for 13 days walking with full backpack training for my Camino in September. But on Monday I lost my footing, and managed to break my right hand/wrist quite badly. 2 hospital visits so far (80 mile round trip from where I'm staying, but fortunately stayed overnight locally between them as a friend from school days lives in that area ) and another today. But I'm likely to be in plaster right up to my intended departure date, and there's still a chance they may need to operate to put a pin in

So most of my Camino budget will have to be moved to next year

And I'm going to have to revisit meal plans as I can't open tins, handle heavy pans, lift things out of the oven or wash pots

oh no! I'm so sorry to hear that! hope it all goes okay for you!

alja

I've been very good today and I have stayed away from the main shops! The only thing I bought was a drink for £1.25. Usually I go to the nearest shopping centre just for fun and to "look for bargains" ...but I really don't *need* anything at the moment.


Spending tonight at home doing a few survey websites and competitions. Is anyone signed up to the Valued Op*nions website? I'm thinking of joining, but on the sign up form it asks how I want to be rewarded and I have to choose from a list of different vouchers. Does anyone know which one is the best to choose at all? Usually these types of website just let you choose what reward you want once you've got your points...bit confused! Any help would be fantastic!


Hope you're all having a lovely weekend so far!

Frugalsod

Nicki_Sue wrote: »

Quick update from me.
Hubby hasn't been paid since the end of May and it looks as if next week we'll be told the company are going to liquidate.
I suppose that means the ACAS Early Conciliation is over now and it'll be the long road through liquidation and then insolvency before we get what he's owed. Ho ho ho.
The joke is he was made redundant (from the same place no less, it when into administration then was taken over by the current owners) in October last year so he's not eligible for redundancy.

Oh the joys. Things are as tight as a drum but we'll get there.
Hope everyone else is doing ok?

I think as an employee he will be a preferred creditor so should at least get back wages paid. The problem will be that unemployment benefits are not paid for the first three days of unemployment now, and not sure what the impact will be on NI contributions if this is a regular occurrence.

If you have already been living frugally then you should have a head start on coping with the reduced income.

Good luck with the job hunting.

Nicki_Sue

Frugalsod wrote: »

I think as an employee he will be a preferred creditor so should at least get back wages paid. The problem will be that unemployment benefits are not paid for the first three days of unemployment now, and not sure what the impact will be on NI contributions if this is a regular occurrence.

If you have already been living frugally then you should have a head start on coping with the reduced income.

Good luck with the job hunting.

Thanks Frugalsod
He'll get back wages owed eventually, the timesale is looking like 8-12 weeks (gah!) but we'll get it. His NI contributions are up to date as far as we know (we spoke to JSeekers about this when he was made redundant last year). Until he gets the "official news" / documentation we can't do anything however hopefully things will start moving soon. I've contacted HB and pretty much anyone who might help and there is an average 6 week claim processing backlog.

On the upside he has an interview on Monday and he had one last week we are waiting to hear the outcome of.

A secondary issue, other than being absolutely brassic, is that he needs his physical forklift licences for any of the jobs that he's applied for and the training company have not ben playing ball. He's passed both however the training company were insistent on his company showing PAT test proof that the on-site forklift had been fixed and was fit for use before releasing it. Needless to say if they won't pay wages, they won't pay for PAT tests.

The training company have apparently been persuaded to release them however they still haven't arrived and when they do they will go to the company not the licence holder (blinking rules) so that is another mess to sort out as they won't deal with DH directly.

Never rains.....!
Thankfully I'm already very frugal so it isn't a huge shock to the system but things are pretty dire unfortunately.

Frugalsod

Nicki_Sue wrote: »

Thanks Frugalsod
He'll get back wages owed eventually, the timesale is looking like 8-12 weeks (gah!) but we'll get it. His NI contributions are up to date as far as we know (we spoke to JSeekers about this when he was made redundant last year). Until he gets the "official news" / documentation we can't do anything however hopefully things will start moving soon. I've contacted HB and pretty much anyone who might help and there is an average 6 week claim processing backlog.

On the upside he has an interview on Monday and he had one last week we are waiting to hear the outcome of.

A secondary issue, other than being absolutely brassic, is that he needs his physical forklift licences for any of the jobs that he's applied for and the training company have not ben playing ball. He's passed both however the training company were insistent on his company showing PAT test proof that the on-site forklift had been fixed and was fit for use before releasing it. Needless to say if they won't pay wages, they won't pay for PAT tests.

The training company have apparently been persuaded to release them however they still haven't arrived and when they do they will go to the company not the licence holder (blinking rules) so that is another mess to sort out as they won't deal with DH directly.

Never rains.....!
Thankfully I'm already very frugal so it isn't a huge shock to the system but things are pretty dire unfortunately.

Maybe the thing to do is speak to your MP about the forklift test license. The fact that it goes to the employer is acceptable as they really need to know that he would be licensed but in the case of an insolvency they really should be forward to the person as well. It might be possible to as for a Statutory Instrument to clarify this as it is simply a matter of clearing up the legislation and not really requiring a parliamentary vote.

Nicki_Sue

We are on with it, another few calls to make tomorrow, including to the Information Commissioner's Office as it is essentially a data issue. So damn frustartng to say the least!

I really shouldn't whinge as I have though as there a lot of people worse off than us. Onwards and upwards! Keep your fingers crossed for the interview tomorrow.

Mamma85

Hi all,
Would love to join and hopefully get a good chunk of our debt paid off by christmas. We've owe £1600 on the overdraft and £457.78 on our Argos card. :eek:
I've always tried to spend as little as possible, but with dh's spending habits and the fact he wasn't paid properly for months, the debt has increased. Dh is working away for a while, so we'll save some money and I'm planning to throw it all at our debts.
There's me, dh , dd1 and dd2 to feed, but dh is away with work so don't have to feed him.
I'm cutting back the bills where I can, and I'm planning on reducing/cancelling sky and borrowing my sisters Netflix account for the kids (so that will be free!)
I've reduced my phone contract and life insurance and am saving nectar and tesco points towards christmas.
Also our remortgage in august should save us £90 a month.
Sorry for the long post, but if I write it all down its clearer for me IYSWIM

Nicki_Sue

Good luck Mamma85 - you are in good company here x

Mamma85

Thankyou

Frugalsod

Mamma85 wrote: »

Hi all,
Would love to join and hopefully get a good chunk of our debt paid off by christmas. We've owe £1600 on the overdraft and £457.78 on our Argos card. :eek:
I've always tried to spend as little as possible, but with dh's spending habits and the fact he wasn't paid properly for months, the debt has increased. Dh is working away for a while, so we'll save some money and I'm planning to throw it all at our debts.
There's me, dh , dd1 and dd2 to feed, but dh is away with work so don't have to feed him.
I'm cutting back the bills where I can, and I'm planning on reducing/cancelling sky and borrowing my sisters Netflix account for the kids (so that will be free!)
I've reduced my phone contract and life insurance and am saving nectar and tesco points towards christmas.
Also our remortgage in august should save us £90 a month.
Sorry for the long post, but if I write it all down its clearer for me IYSWIM

If you can use the Netflix account then you could save a lot on the sky account but be aware that if you have your calls and broadband through them you might find that the broadband might go up. I never thought that a TV packaged represented good value. I would only want the movie package but would have to pay for all the other junk that I would never watch just to get it. For a family it might be a better deal with sports and movies. You could save a fortune watching it all at home rather than going to the cinema. Though consider haggling it right down. Mention that you are considering switching to Netflix and see what they cut the bill down to.

I guess you already know to concentrate on the debt with the highest interest rate. Try the 7 day frugal fast and the various grocery challenges, as these might help motivation.

If you can cook as much from scratch as possible. It will not only save you money but really cut the additives and junk from the diet. Avoid takeaways and make it yourself. So much cheaper and healthier.