From debt to freedom...

Spendless

I forgot to say, we also had £1000 credit with energy company. 1st time we had. DH asked for £700 back. They made noises about how this would leave us owing over the winter months (theyd just adjusted our DD) and said we could have £500. They actually sent £499??! (No idea!).
My advice is to ask the energy company for the whole amount back or at least the majority of it, so if they knock you back it won't be to just 50% of the credit, especially if youre relying on it.

I dont think many understand or are aware if your child receives the min maintenance loan (around £4kish outside London, £6kish in London) due to household income  that it comes nowhere near being able to pay all or much of their rent and what student might be able to contribute by way of a part time job is very dependent on both job availability (not great at the moment) and course hours. 

Honeysucklelou2

Thank you Spendless, Cherryfudge, Lucille, Willowtree222 and SH.

It’s the first day of half term here and I forgot to switch my alarm off so have been up at normal time. Have made apple waffles for breakfast with homemade caramel sauce.  Youngest Dd and DSD1 really like them so they have enjoyed breakfast and it is a good way of using the windfall apples from the tree. 

I have submitted a meter reading and this has now updated my balance to £1294! Have looked on the app and applied for a refund. Interestingly they gave me a minimum and maximum amount I could apply for. The max was £689 but I have settled for £650. This will be a big help towards paying Dec’s rent for DD4. I also need to factor in her train fare cost to be able to get home for Christmas although DH has wondered whether flying back might be a more cost effective option.

Last weekend I enjoyed a solo trip to the garden centre armed with a garden voucher! Absolute bliss!! I took time to meander round and choose the most for our voucher. They had some “starter” fruit plants on offer - 3 for £20 or £8.99 each. I got a fig tree and 2 blueberries. I lost quite a few fruit bushes in the clearance at the allotment so am restocking. To be fair the brambles were so entwined, it would have been hard to save them so thinking carefully about where to plant them . Thankfully we have acidic soil so the blueberries can go straight in the ground. Also got some bulbs on offer.  1 pack was reduced and the other pack was BOGOF. This will give me enough bulbs to plant up a “lasagne” pot for us here and to do one for DS1 as a gift for his new home.

I spent a fair amount of time baking yesterday in anticipation of half term requiring more snacks. Apple flapjack ( absolutely love this!), chocolate brownies, banana bread and vanilla cupcakes all in the tins!

Have also spent some time today going through my finances.  I have been in such a sense of panic about how to best help DD4 that I’ve avoided looking properly but today I went through each part. I have a notebook that I record everything in and also have some printed out 100 squares, that I colour in, so I can visually see the debts going down.  I can see that in March, one debt will finish and that money can then be split between DD4’s rent and the remaining debt.  The 2 council tax free months in Feb and March will also help with the rent situation. Just taking the time to look through it all has had the effect of calming my mind about it all which is good.

Hoping the weather will remain dry so a decent walk can be done and some gardening. 

Have a good day everyone!

Spendless

It's our half term here too, not that that's relevant to me anymore, whereas a lot of the country had last week.

I must really like apple flavoured goodies because whenever you write about it I think that sounds delicious - apples aren't even my favourite food. I used to do an apple bread and butter pudding when DS lived at home because he doesn't like dried fruit. Reading of you baking to fill the tins up reminded me of the early days of your diary when you worked p-time and used to do this weekly as a way of keeping snack costs down at a time when all the kids were at home.

It's strange isn't it, how energy companies only allow so much back when you're in credit. My Dad refuses to pay his bills by DD for this reason and says he'd rather take the hit on paying more - but then he'd happily sit and freeze than switch the heating on! 

Pleased you faced the student rental costs. I was around 18 months into my diary when it suddenly hit me that we needed to be paying DD's rent from wages not continually digging into savings (like we had for the whole time DS was at Uni). From then on that's exactly what I've done - no denying it hasn't been tough at times but since that lightbulb day I've always met the rent as expenses.. Has your DD got a 16-25 railcard so you can see nearer the time if train or flight will work out the cheaper option. 

Honeysucklelou2

Where has the time gone? Last wrote at half term and now it’s not long until the end of term 😳.

November has been very busy. A combination of staff holidays and someone unexpectedly leaving at Job 2 has meant I have worked 5 of the last 6 weekends in addition to my usual 2 shifts. The positive is that it helped to make the rent cost for DD4, the disadvantage is that I’ve had less time at home and it shows! This weekend is the first I haven’t worked and it was good to have an early night and just rest.

On Dec 1st DD’s rent was paid. Am so relieved to have got the money together but  have to be focused on getting the next instalment ready.  I had a letter from the electricity company last week to say that they are reducing my direct debit by over £100 a month, so that will go straight to the rent cost.

DS1 moved into his first home about 6 weeks ago. He  was a little shell shocked realising just how many bills there are to pay and has been appreciative of the simple things we did when he was a child, rambles, beach days etc

DSDs have requested that we do a gingerbread house competition this year. We did one a couple of years ago and I am pleased that they enjoyed it and want it as a blended family tradition 😊.

I am not ready for Christmas…I have a present for DH because I saw it in the BF sales and it was something that he had mentioned he wanted. I was thinking about hampers for my older children as with 2 now living completely independently with homes and mortgages, a basket of treats may go down well! 

lucielle

Gosh a weekend was definitely needed!  Hope you do manage to get some r&r in. 

L

dawnybabes

I did themed hampers a few years ago, so for a cinema one it included a dvd, popcorn, nachos, dips in jars etc etc. 

Spendless

I can resonate with so much of your post. The relief that you've been able to meet the student rent, followed almost imemdiately now to save again for the next lot!

Working weekends, being grateful for the wages it brings  and having no time for anything (and I don't work f-time midweek but I have been without a car since end of Oct and that has fetched limitations).

I'm heartened to hear that DS1 appreciates what you did for him when he was young. I always thought he would, he just needed time to mature and grow.

I'm guessing you mean food hampers for the 2 older ones? Not sure if you'll have the time or energy to put some HM treats in too? Something I did with my 2 adult children (1 student away from home, 1 with a mortgage) last year was to make them up what I called a 'basic toiletry set' into a wooden crate I put shower gel, shaving foam deodarant, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrushes, hand/bar soap and a couple of bits more personal to them eg DS who lives near water and walks to work got hand cream for chapped hands, DD who has long hair and not always time to wash it due to class times, some dry shampoo. Saved on their shopping bill for these items for a few months. 

 

Willowtree222

Amazing that you managed to find the rent and you have been able to start saving for the next. 

Hope you're not burning out too much though. 

Cherryfudge

Well done for sorting out the rent.

We have a family Secret Santa now, suggested by DD. Her husband's family (three adult children) do a SS to cut costs, and I was a bit sad at first because it meant I wasn't buying Christmas presents for all my children, though I cheat and do each of them a stocking. However, it does mean people are getting things they want (we all put a wish list on an app and have a financial limit) and cuts costs enormously - which, as you'll appreciate, makes a big difference for people starting out as well as for the rest of us.

We still have a lot of fun getting together and doing Christmassy stuff, and I have a rule (as matriarch!) that we open presents one at a time, so the present opening lasts quite a while and we are 'present' for each other instead of having our eyes on the next lot of loot!