In which I prepare for the care

jackyann

Yes, I believe it is different in Scotland. I too have felt quite 'lonely' trying to negotiate the system.
OP: Once your dad is settled, contact one of the specialist charities and run a check as to your/your dad's entitlements. It does sound as if you have covered everything, but it is always worth a try. Although I am no specialist, you can discuss options. If your dad is claiming everything he is entitled to, there may be other options around the organisation of the finances.
You do have the knowledge that you have made the best decisions, and I promise that will stand you in good stead in the future.

FrugalinShropshire

A good frugal day here with weekly shopping. I have come in at 8p under budget. I have also bought more food for the store cupboard. I read Independence Days by Sharon Astyk last year and she talks about food storage and the need to spend something from your food budget everytime you shop on food for storage. I have an inventory list of what is stored and its sell by date so I can rotate and re stock items as needed. This is going to be so uesful to us in the lean times ahead as well as for the winter months.
This afternoon I will be dehydrating more onions that I bought last week and making some red onion chutney for xmas pressies. We have finished canning the apples now and have 16 jars of applesauce.

suki1964

You may find costs dropping tbh

When dad was alive we had to have the heating on 24/7 as he was just sat in a chair not moving much

Plus the extra food items and many of the meals we as a family would eat, he no longer enjoyed, and preferred snack type meals throughout the day

Oh and the electric bill came down as the tv and lights weren't on all day and half the night

So we lost carers allowance and the free to licience, but gained in every other way

Noticeably with time. No longer was I or mother tied to the house ( he had to have 24 HR care ) we could get out, myself back to work and mum even found a wee business to pass her free time as well as being able to get out and pursue hobbies

I'm sure you won't notice so much the drop of income to the household, esp if either you or husband can get a few hours work a week

Good luck x

redlady_1

FrugalinShropshire wrote: »

Thanks WCS , we are registered to recieve emergency respite care in the event of an emergency. The Carers Assesment would identify our needs for respite or a holiday, but as self funders you would then be expected to find all these things out for yourself. It is not the paying for care that we onject to , it is the complete lack of support that we get as carers as D is self funding. We managed to find a nursing home that took him for respite earlier in the month as we were booked to go to a concert in the big smoke, but they would only take him for a week instead of a couple of nights, so it eneded up costing us £700 for the week.

We too find the lack of help frustrating. As soon as you say you are self funding no one wants to know or point you in the right direction. Its very over whelming and frustrating. You are just wandering through an abyss until you find your way out the other side.

I feel your pain!

Upsidedown_Bear

Are you aware of this website? It offers free advice and I've heard good things elsewhere on MSE about it
http://www.careaware.co.uk/get-advice

helcat26

Regarding the books I cannot imagine being without new stuff to read so how about downloading the free kindle reader for PC
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201245960


then going through the free book every month
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_3_10?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=free+books&sprefix=free+books%2Caps%2C278

FrugalinShropshire

helcat26 wrote: »

Regarding the books I cannot imagine being without new stuff to read so how about downloading the free kindle reader for PC
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201245960


then going through the free book every month
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_3_10?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=free+books&sprefix=free+books%2Caps%2C278

Thanks for the idea of the free Kindle book, I had forgotten about that!
For my birthday last year OH bought me a 12 month subscription to Perspephone books :j as this wont be an on going pressie next year:( I have come up with a plan:T I will choose 12 books that I want to read again or haven't read yet from DS's collection and give them to OH with a padded envelope. Then every month he will post the envelope through the letter box and I will get a suprise book to read. Brilliant
Tough day here today, Dad's mobility is declining fast and we are going to have to move his bed downstairs over the weekend. As we are up to our eyes in renovations we wont now have a lounge to use. Luckily we can move two Ikea chairs to our bedroom and use those. Our downstairs toilet is really old and cold, so Dad will have to have a shower when he is in daycare.

I tried cheesy polenta with our pasta tonight but OH wasn't keen. I loved it!

helcat26

Hi
You should get more than one book on the kindle thing,
Is there anything you can do to heat your downstairs loo so that he can at least have a strip wash? Oil radiators safe and cheap.
wishing you well
My uncle and MIL have parks it is grim

FrugalinShropshire

helcat26 wrote: »

Hi
You should get more than one book on the kindle thing,
Is there anything you can do to heat your downstairs loo so that he can at least have a strip wash? Oil radiators safe and cheap.
wishing you well
My uncle and MIL have parks it is grim

Yes we can run the extension lead along the hallway and pop an oil filled rad in there for a bit to heat up. We had to do that when OH had his amputation last January.
It's Dad's first day of daycare tomorrow so he is playing up a bit tonight:mad:

FrugalinShropshire

Well we have had a couple of days from hell! DDad came home from Day Centre and his Parkinsons was so severe, he was freezing every couple of steps and shuffling. It took us 40 minutes to get him in the house and up to his room. Today he was less stiff and was able to come down stairs to go to respite for the weekend. We are now moving his room downstairs to make it easier for him. So we have lost our lounge and are left with 2 half kitchens, one new one with a cooker and a freezer and one old one with a sink, work top and fridge. It will certainly be a fun challenge over the next few months both financially and just working out how we will manage all of this. BUT having DDad with us as long as we can manage is so much nicer for him. I have learnt a lot of Old Style Moneysaving ways from him as he was a grocery shop manager. He is always so proud of my bargain shopping and will always read the local papers to tell me what is on special offer.
Dinner tonight was hm leek and potato soup and toast as we had a coffee and cake out (from our 'tea fund' purse) so technically a NSD