Make do, Mend and Minimise in 2015

Lynplatinum

Hiya All

Have been frantically painting this week - all of room is now painted - skirting board sanded and ready to paint tomorrow! But am working 12.30 - 7.30. since it takes me until 11 am to become mobile with my arthritis - do loads of exercises in the morning - it going to leave me little time to paint in the daylight! Am going to bed early tonight in the hopes it will help me get up earlier and so start out earlier - dont do mornings well - never have done!

nurse Maggie - do hope flat was good for you!
Vulpix - finally had contact with son - it was nothing I had done - he is just going trough a rough patch at the mo and felt a bit ashamed of badly managing money for once - but he has been ill and unable to do his second job!!! Silly sausage as if I would judge given these circumstances!!! We are OK now! :j
Valhalla - great news re your shop idea - could be way cool - you clearly have 'the eye' as they say!
Went Ysing at Morrys last night - really good haul ! 9p onion bread loaf - half price stawbs - reduced cheese yum yum yum! Best of all 2 lamb chops for 99p - last nite and tonight's tea!!:beer:
Nite all

vulpix

Nurse Maggie hope you have a good viewing today.

Lyn alls well that ends well.Your son obviously a) cares about your opinion b)cares about managing his money.A mature young man all round.

Viv, pop up shop,how very exciting.You have got the eye and I am sure you will be very successful with it.This year is the first year me n a friend haven't done a Christmas fair with our makes.I missed it.We didn't make a lot of money but just enjoyed the craic.She hasn't the time anymore,she makes celebration cakes and it has taken off.

Went to Meddowhell yesterday as Mr V was in Sheffield.Didn't buy anything at all.Everything just seems soooooooooooo expensive.HOW do people afford Christmas? Mine is cobbled together for £250 and a fine time is had by all. This includes all gifts and food.People were LADEN with shopping bags.

I have had a sort through my clothes and made a bag for the charity shop.I don't keep a lot of clothes these days.I got rid of masses when I lost weight and realised I don't need many now i don't go to work.I have dug out a heavily sequined top from the 70's.I wear it every 5 years or so at Christmas.It is batwing with butterfly design.Remember them?


laters Vx

fuddle

Let us know how you get on with the flat today nursemaggie. Fingers crossed.

MrsCD

Well I've decided to make do with a cardi I have hanging up for all the celebrations coming up. It's black sequins and will look ok with most colour skirts.We have 2 wedding receptions (and presents) and a posh meal out over the next month or so, but I don't want to spend a fortune on new clothes that I'll hardly wear again. I'm looking for fairly plain skirts and tops to go with the cardi so I can use them again.
Got rid of an Ike@ bag full of throws and old curtains to the cs today -not allowed to fill the space that's made now

Lynplatinum

Evening All

Vulpix - I well remember such jumpers:rotfl:

Re Christmas - have just watched the program 'Homeless at Christmas and have a few thoughts:

1) How close we all could be to homelessness - one lady on this program was working the previous Christmas -made redundant and now sleeping on the streets. It made me resolve even more to get rid of debt and put some monies behind me!
2)How little some people have - I am just so rich by comparison - even sitting here wrapped in a blanket - I have TV, Computer, £27 worth of food just purchased to share with my wonderful son who is coming tomorrow to finish my plastering and do other jobs for me for a week - last time I lived off the 'remains ' for a further 2 weeks :-)
3) How obscenely much some other folks have! People laden with shopping bags from posh shops walked noses in air past the Big Issue Seller. Then there followed an advert with some idiot making stupid faces and pleased as punch with himself that, despite having a fairly ordinary house he had spent at least £1 million on Christmas! :mad:

People will criticize the homeless folk for having cigarettes and take out food and drinks. However, they need to eat and have nowhere to cook food! There only comfort seemed to be a dog and a cigarette. One of them clearly had a drink problem - he probably started to blot out the misery of his existence and keep him warm.

But there but for the grace of god go all of us. It furthered my resolve to be as frugal as possible and to get some back up monies behind me. :cool:

Also - if I ever get a load of money - I will definitely do something for the homeless - and their doggies.

Those with so much need to take a great big reality check and get off their over-privildged behinds and give some of their earnings to those who cant help themselves - all they want is a roof over their heads. Whilst I sit here thinking how lucky I am - I do realise that I have worked hard for everything I have - but still I give to charities!:) Yet by many folks standards I am incredibly hard up!

As hard as some of us on here have it - it is nothing compared to these folk. So may all of us have a frugal (I bet largely HM Christmas) but happy Christmas - counting our blessings and perhaps giving as little £3 or so to charity to increase someone else's happiness! :j

Nite all

candygirl

I watched the homeless programme too LP, and it hit home just how lucky I am imagine being homeless at any time, but with little kids it must be awful. How lovely of the hotel owner to let Cathy n her bf in for the festive period .
I am seriously bored and tired, of the mass consumerism and greed that surrounds the whole xmas scenario

nursemaggie

Well the flat is just right not too big and not too small. We both have a decent sized bedroom not poky singles. We sign up for the flat tomorrow and have to start paying from Monday.

I wanted to move before Christmas but DS has persuaded me that we should take out time and not try to rush it. We will decorate the three rooms that need it before the carpets go down. and move between Christmas and new year. We are incredibly lucky to get this flat. We could have been homeless at the end of the year.

The hospice shop was thrilled to bits with the mittens I have knitted. I hope they sell alright.

Hard_Up_Hester

Fantastic news about the flat Nurse maggie.
I hope you will be very happy there.
Hester

GreyQueen

nursemaggie wrote: »

Well the flat is just right not too big and not too small. We both have a decent sized bedroom not poky singles. We sign up for the flat tomorrow and have to start paying from Monday.

I wanted to move before Christmas but DS has persuaded me that we should take out time and not try to rush it. We will decorate the three rooms that need it before the carpets go down. and move between Christmas and new year. We are incredibly lucky to get this flat. We could have been homeless at the end of the year.

The hospice shop was thrilled to bits with the mittens I have knitted. I hope they sell alright.

:j Oh that's brilliant news, nursemaggie, I was very concerned for you a few weeks ago. I hope you and your DS will be very happy in your new home.

I don't know if this is your circumstance and don't wish to pry but it case it's of use to you, someone else reading, or someone they know, I would just like to mention this.

If you are in receipt of housing benefit, and will be applying for Benefit on Two Homes (B2H), be very careful if your plans are similar to the ones described above, such as taking a bit of time to get decorating done/ carpets down etc before actually moving in.

A lot of people get caught out like this. They read the B2H situtation as meaning they have a bit of time to do stuff (up to 4 weeks) before moving and then will say (or write) to their local authority things like the tenancy actually started on the 7th December but we moved in on the 27th.

What this will result in is the housing benefit on the second home only starting on the Monday after the actual moving in date, not the COT (commencement of tenancy, in housing jargon).

Please, if your actual moving in date is later than your COT, and you are in a B2H situtation, you need to either be sleeping over at the second home or have things set up in such a way (window coverings, bedding etc) that no one could call you on it one way or the other.

Since calls into and out of local authority call centres like my workplace are likely to be recorded, the advisor you speak with can't be selectively amnesiac about what you've just said to them, no matter how much they might like to be.

B2H is for people on HB who have a contractural rent liability in two places at once but you have to be living in the new home to meet the qualifying criteria. There are one or two exceptions, such as where the home is needing an essential disability adaption, or where the new tenant meets certain criteria and is awaiting a grant, but that's very much the minority of cases. HTH.

vulpix

Congratulations Nurse Maggie on your Goldilocks house.

Well said Lyn.I was overwhelmed with it all at Meddowhell the other day.I visit these places every blue moon.Horrible consumerism at every turn and people think they have to join in.I am well off at the moment,in fact better off than I have been my whole life.Our income is paltry compared to most but I think we have a good standard of living and we give to charity.Many years ago I had occasion to host an evening for 8 visiting head teachers from Ghana and Zimbabwe at my house.They were in awe of my possessions and I by comparison thought i had nothing of any value.I really was at the time very hard up,part time job,no maintenance for the kids.My cousin had given us a computer which was the size of a caravan and I had a telly (no internet) a car.This was luxury to them and they were professional people with many benefits not afforded to their countrymen.I was grateful for what I had but it made me even more so.When you think you have nothing but in actual fact you have lots,just look at what we waste and take to the tip everyday.Not us obv but as a society.Will gerroff me soapbox now.

My Christmas is courtesy of Aldeeee,car boots,eeeeeeeeebay and fb,with a few £ shop bits thrown in.I know someone whose 3 children have £1000 each spent on them at Christmas.They are not well off she spends all year paying it off.

Must press on,laters Vx