From debt to freedom...

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Saving Holmes. The allotment isn't a council or association one...we were very blessed to have the opportunity to buy a piece of land a few years ago. It's a thin strip of land between fields, has very little value agriculturally due to its tendency to get boggy quite quickly but is an absolute haven to me . Before I got my current job, I used to be there regularly and was able to grow quite a lot of food and keep poultry but juggling job and single parenthood has meant that I've not had the time to cultivate it as I'd like to. The land has been quite wild for years before it was bought it, so a lot of perennial weeds are there which I try to fight each year but haven't won yet. I don't really want to spray it as no chemicals have been used on it and growing organically appeals. I am thinking that pigs are the way to go, that perhaps clearing it using the natural rooting tendencies of pigs would be best. At the moment I'm able to forage blackberries, sloes and hazelnuts there.

I popped into the bank today to open savings accounts for the youngest DDs. I'm hoping to get them into the saving habit. I was able to meet a friend for coffee that ai hadn't seen for months. We had coffee at her house . She is an amazing gardener and it was inspiring to see what can be done with a bit of time!

It was Birthday 6/8 yesterday. Unfortunately the weather was drizzly so DD's preferred choice of an evening on the beach couldn't happen. We ended up having a birthday meal out, the ex deciding to come this week. I'm starting to find it harder to do the birthday meal out altogether thing, though I do try to make an effort...it was nicer this evening to have a homemade birthday cake to share with DD.

savingholmes

Interesting - that would potentially be a cheaper way for us to go too - but we live to close to a town so would probably have to travel a few miles for there to be one in reach. There was one 'paddock' about 5-9 miles away for £12K but I think that's a bit too far to be realistic (and out of reach until CCs repaid).

Honeysucklelou2

Not having land and home together does mean you have to plan in time to get jobs done. Visiting my friend yesterday emphasised how much can be achieved when you are just stepping outside your door and straight into your growing areas.

Honeysucklelou2

I've had a lovely day today. The weather has been glorious so have made the most of it by getting as much washing dried as possible. Got the main Mr T shop done by 10 this morning. It made such a difference having just DS3 with me ( who was happy to 'zap the zebra' aka use the scanner on the barcodes) and not trying to cram the shopping time in between other events. I tried checking the YS section first and basing my meal plan around the meat available, so have chicken for chicken cobbler on Sunday and a bumper pack of sausages for sausage and cider casserole on Thursday . Total shop came to £69, so hopefully will only need to top up on milk .

I've tried to be a little more savvy with the journeys in the car, planning my day to minimise needless driving around. I did have to collect DD1 this evening from somewhere without a hope of public transport but timed it so that I could nip into work and get a few bits done for Monday. I've explained to DS2 that I will not be driving 20 miles around the headland when he could catch the boat taxi and be at the right side for me to pick up. Just small changes but ones that I hope will have a positive effect on the budget.

The other good news of the day is a letter from Santander telling me that they are investigating my PPI complaint and will be writing to me again shortly. I hadn't heard anything from them since putting in the complaint via Resolver on the 9th August. To be honest I'd wondered if I'd completed it correctly or if they'd received it at all, so I'm glad to know they have.

Spendless

Honeysucklelou2 wrote: »

He's not 18 until early next year, so not sure how it will work out not being in education, although part of his job will include training. TBH I know of a few 16 year olds who have left school and are in work rather than an apprenticeship or further education. Not sure how it is monitored.

From what I've read before on here and elsewhere, it isn't monitored. The government when they said this didn't back it with legislation, so no-one ever gets fined or imprisoned if their child doesn't do it or works instead. All that does happen is you can no longer claim any child related benefits, but since he's working that doesn't apply anyway.

Honeysucklelou2 wrote: »

Thank you Cherryfudge, that's a good idea to split household bills. My main concern is that when he turns 18, I will lose the 25% single adult council tax discount, but don't have the extra income from my salary to cover the increase. I thought even a nominal amount from DS1 would, if put away, help to meet that. I'm hoping I can still persuade him to use a spending tracker so he can see where his money is going.

Not sure if you've decided yet, but perhaps some things to consider, how much is he actually costing you eg if he didn't live at home what costs would drop? Also if you work out the 25% increased costs in CT and divide that by 12 or 13 or 52 depending on how he gets paid, how does that work out as a reasonable amount he should pay against what he's earning? T

Honeysucklelou2 wrote: »

Thank you Cherryfudge. It's not as painful now as it was but just have this raised swollen bit below the thumb. Will keep an eye on it.


Insomnia has struck again...not sure if it's a reaction to work??!! I've made use of the time by signing up for internet banking for the joint account. The mortgage still gets paid out of this but I never see any statements as the ex turns up and collects post before I get home from work, so now I've signed up, I can see what's happening. I was surprised by how easy it was to set up and navigate.

I also checked the secondary school online payment system. I've had to pay £7.50 for a tie for DD3 because she is in the final year of school. Unfortunately every Y11 year group has a different colour so passing down last year's ties from sibling to sibling doesn't work :mad:. Why do they need a different tie in the first place and why is it almost twice the cost of a regular school tie?? One of the mysteries of the educational world .

Money, no other reason despite whatever the schools claims about identifying Yr11s in a different way. Especially true if said school is an academy! Sad, but true. Maybe pointing out how wasteful it is of resources is a way forward.

Honeysucklelou2

Said school is an academy...good point, thank you Spendless.

Main costs of DS1 are food and the council tax from next Feb. CT will go up by about £600, so divided over 12 months will be £50 a month. I was considering £100 a month which would work out to about £12.50 a week for food. He drinks half of that alone in milk :eek:! He will buy himself food out but I have made it clear that food will be here for evening meals or packed lunches which he can use or buy elsewhere himself.

He is keen to have a phone contract with unlimited data so I'm letting him pursue that one himself. I pay for a simple £8.50 a month contract but am not equal to funding unlimited data contracts for the teens! Depending how quickly he gets it sorted will show how keen he is for it in the first place! I do need to talk to him about car costs though. He is beginning to put diesel into the tank which is a start but is adamant that he won't have a black box fitted when he passes his test. Today he did research insurance costs and nearly fell off the chair when he realised that newly passed drivers pay in the region of £2,000 without a black box. Some quotes went up to £5,000. Hoping reality will hit soon and he'll realise that the box will lower his costs.

Honeysucklelou2

The weather yesterday was beautiful, so lots more washing was done and dried on the line . I spent the morning doing work tasks and then had the afternoon outdoors . A few more blackberries were picked, ready to be put into a pudding today.

We picked DD1 up from work, then headed to my favourite beach. It was so warm . Usually I look after the BBQ while the children swim, bodyboard or go on Dd2's paddle board but yesterday I was brave ( not body confident!) and swam in the sea. It was great, exhilaratingly cold, but great. I can't remember the last time I swam in the sea but safe to say it must have been years ago! I had forgotten what fun it is .

The evening was spent helping DD1 figure out budgets. I hadn't realised she will get less student maintenance loan as it is her last year. She is also in Halls this year so her living costs have risen compared to last year. Her course materials cost a fair amount too...I fell asleep trying to work out a menu /spending plan for food. I think I need to amend my budget to try and send her some Tesco cards that she can use for food which will hopefully release her loan money for material costs. I'm not sure how much freezer space she will get but she is good at making her own soups and freezing portions. I'll make some individual lasagnes later in the week so she can put those in the freezer. Her Halls are fairly close to the uni, so no travel costs. Thankfully she has been able to save some money from her wages, over the summer.

Spendless

Do you know Tesco have recently introduced a parent & student card. Parent tops up the money and student can then spend it. I have one for daughter, who is at FE college out of area so I know she can eat! Tesco staff aren't completely familiar with them at the minute so have had to call a manager over and customer services had to have a few minutes working out what they did to top it up, but I like it.

I picked mine up where all the gift cards are displayed. Here's an article about it.

https://www.decisionmarketing.co.uk/news/tesco-launches-card-to-bail-students-out-of-cash-crisis

Halls of residence can be so strange with their costs. One of the Unis we looked at, its accommodation was astonishingly high. He decided to go elsewhere and that was cheaper, in part because we only paid for 40 weeks. Now he's gone back and moved to private we're paying more but that's both increased costs and that the minimum term is 46 weeks.

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Spendless, never heard of those cards but that sounds exactly what we need.

DebtFreeMonkey

Just had a catch up read. Isn't it amazing how expensive things can be? Almost feels like SF in never enough, right? I ended up working and studying for my undergraduate degree.

The beach walks sound lovely!