My journey to a debt free life

Onebrokelady

I love it too, everything they do is just so efficient 😀 I wouldn't cope with only one radiator, there's one in the little front hall, one in the living room and one in the larger back hall, the only rooms that don't have any are the kitchen and bathroom .

Onebrokelady

milann said:

Must have been a ‘buy bedding’ sort of day yesterday. I ended up in Dunelm and bought a duvet cover with pillowcases, mattress topper and fitted sheet. Mine had gone very bobbly and my bottom sheet and old mattress topper were past it and kept wrinkling up under me. I slept the best I’ve slept in a long time last night 😁
Enjoy your time off work.
Is Dd moving out soon or will she be with you for a while yet

You can't beat new bedding for a good nights sleep. DD has expressed an interest in some houses that are being built just up the road from where I am now,they will be finished late summer so she could possible move out then,she might not end up with one though it depends on what they are like, she also isn't sure if she wants to move out yet because she thinks she will be lonely so she might buy and rent it out for a while 

Onebrokelady

foxgloves said:

I used to be a terrible for impulse buys in the Swedish Emporium back in the Spendy Era, @Onebrokelady. I think part of the problem was that my old house on the edge of the city was only 5 miles away from said establishment & it was so easy to drive home from work that way & pop in. I like their duvet sets because they are usually pure cotton & you can buy them in a couple of different colourways, but to mix & match. Of course they are also my tea-light purveyor of choice, but apart from the occasional budgeted-for piece of furniture, I am a lot better behaved when I go there now........it's a drive to the other side of the county for starters, so tends to be more planned these days.
Enjoy your week off,
F x

I used to be much worse than I am now and I'm lucky that a trip there has to be planned because it's two buses away from me so not too hard to get to but not convenient. I would be bankrupt if I lived within easy reach of one.

I have a lovely linen duvet cover from there that DD bought and then didn't like so gave to me, I like it because being linen it's meant to look crumpled and its also fairly heavy so when it's on the duvet it feels like a big cuddly hug, the only problem is I really struggle to get out of bed when I have it on 😀 

Onebrokelady

Sun_Addict said:

I’ve only ever been in the Swedish emporium once in my life. It took forever to get there when we had transport and now we don’t have a car it’s just too far away to get to. 

Mines right across the other side of the city right out on the outskirts so it's not too easy to get to but easy enough if I've got a whole day with nothing else to do, the saving grace is I have to get the bus so there is no chance of me impulse buying any furniture 😀

Onebrokelady

Cherryfudge said:

milann said:

Must have been a ‘buy bedding’ sort of day yesterday. I ended up in Dunelm and bought a duvet cover with pillowcases, mattress topper and fitted sheet.

It certainly was! We got a new mattress and topper, and I got a new pillow the day before.

How funny 😀😀 x

Onebrokelady

So today was spent doing some work in DDs room,she had some mould on her ceiling so we scrubbed that off with white vinegar and it's come up really well, the ceiling in her room does need painting again so that's another job to add to the ever growing list.
 
I also put a second coat of paint on the bathroom walls but it's going to need a third 🙀 I can't believe that it needs another coat to be honest, I'm painting pale grey over white but this paint is horrible to use. 

I also sorted the chickens out today and we took B for a nice walk through the fields. The chickens are getting a bit stir crazy being locked in their run but DEFRA haven't said they can be let out yet so they will just have to put up with it,I am fed up with this happening every winter now.

Tomorrow I'm going to have to pop into town because I need some food shopping and B needs dog food, I'm not buying too much food because we are doing an online shop this week to fill the freezer up. I really am having an exciting holiday 😀😀

Booklover24

Hello OBL, I really sympathise with you. I'm in a similar position with constant pain, I have a mild case of scoliosis, which is OK in the morning, but as the day goes on causes my ribs to clench the muscles, which then inflame. By about 3pm I'm in unbearable pain. Cooking dinner is painful and by the time I sit down to eat, it's excruciating. Codeine doesn't even help, it just dulls the pain a bit. Some days I just want to punch the wall or worse, end it all. 
I took early retirement from my main job in library, where I had worked for 28 years, which involved a lot of heavy lifting and moving furniture about to facilitate weekly events. (Single manned small branch.) I now work part-time in my second job, which I've had for ten years. My boss is brilliant and I don't have to do any heavy lifting when deliveries arrive. The days when I work I have to dose myself up with codeine just to function. It makes me a bit dopey, but I somehow manage through the day. I have £21,000 worth of debts and am trying to clear them before I get my state pension. I wish I could stay at home, with a hot water bottle on my back when the pain gets bad, but I won't be able to do that for another three years at least. 
I'm an outgoing, positive person, but some days it just gets too much. 

I tried a pip, but didn't qualify. It really annoys me to see some people get all the help and benefits. 
As part of my job I often helped people on the library computers to get benefits. One day I assisted one workshy young man on benefits, who had to fill in his 'work search diary', scrolling through the jobs list, I suggested several suitable jobs for him. 
He refused one cos he had a bad back. I told him I have a sore back too. He couldn't do another cos he has asthma, I told him I have that as well. He couldn't work outdoors, cos he had Raynauds, which I have as well. In other words: I have all those conditions, but I still manage to turn up for work every day. On top of it all I have a pacemaker for complete heart block. It makes me so angry! I'm not one to moan, but that takes the biscuit. As far as I know he is still on benefits, while I struggle on.   

I wonder how many other people are out there who really need the help but can't get it and are forced to work till they drop?

Onebrokelady

Booklover24 said:

Hello OBL, I really sympathise with you. I'm in a similar position with constant pain, I have a mild case of scoliosis, which is OK in the morning, but as the day goes on causes my ribs to clench the muscles, which then inflame. By about 3pm I'm in unbearable pain. Cooking dinner is painful and by the time I sit down to eat, it's excruciating. Codeine doesn't even help, it just dulls the pain a bit. Some days I just want to punch the wall or worse, end it all. 
I took early retirement from my main job in library, where I had worked for 28 years, which involved a lot of heavy lifting and moving furniture about to facilitate weekly events. (Single manned small branch.) I now work part-time in my second job, which I've had for ten years. My boss is brilliant and I don't have to do any heavy lifting when deliveries arrive. The days when I work I have to dose myself up with codeine just to function. It makes me a bit dopey, but I somehow manage through the day. I have £21,000 worth of debts and am trying to clear them before I get my state pension. I wish I could stay at home, with a hot water bottle on my back when the pain gets bad, but I won't be able to do that for another three years at least. 
I'm an outgoing, positive person, but some days it just gets too much. 

I tried a pip, but didn't qualify. It really annoys me to see some people get all the help and benefits. 
As part of my job I often helped people on the library computers to get benefits. One day I assisted one workshy young man on benefits, who had to fill in his 'work search diary', scrolling through the jobs list, I suggested several suitable jobs for him. 
He refused one cos he had a bad back. I told him I have a sore back too. He couldn't do another cos he has asthma, I told him I have that as well. He couldn't work outdoors, cos he had Raynauds, which I have as well. In other words: I have all those conditions, but I still manage to turn up for work every day. On top of it all I have a pacemaker for complete heart block. It makes me so angry! I'm not one to moan, but that takes the biscuit. As far as I know he is still on benefits, while I struggle on.   

I wonder how many other people are out there who really need the help but can't get it and are forced to work till they drop?

Hi sorry to hear you also have chronic pain, it's so debilitating to live with isn't it. I have been living like this for 19 years now and it's getting harder every day 😟 I used to have some spells of remission but this last year it has been relentless. I have fought and fought to stay on my normal hours at work but I've become aware that I'm just working myself into an early grave. I'd like to enjoy my retirement but at this rate I'm going to be too ill to do much at all which totally sucks 😡

I just don't understand how they decide who needs help and who doesn't. I hear about people all the time who have managed to get help but they can do the same as or more than me on any given day, I've never applied because I know I wouldn't get anything, like I said I can cook, clean and look after myself but I only manage this because I'm drugged up to the eyeballs on painkillers and anti depressants which by the way I can barely afford, if I stopped taking all my meds I wouldn't be able to function as well so maybe I should try that 🤷‍♀️ like you I find it very frustrating indeed 

Onebrokelady

I've had a nice chill out day today. I went to meet a friend for coffee and a catch up which was lovely then I came home and watched some YouTube videos. I've discovered a few people who are posting about house renovations and things like that so I'm getting my house fix watching them instead of buying home magazines, it's not costing me any money at least and I'm not adding to the amount of magazines that are chucked away each month.

I just found a new one today who did a no spend year back in 2019 to help boost their house deposit, I'm hoping she will have some good frugal ideas for cutting house costs that are actually realistic and doable if you don't want to wear a hair shirt and live on bread and water 😀

The friend I met today has no idea what it's like to live on a budget, she was talking about the energy price increase and she just said " well if you need to buy it then you just need to find the money and buy it ) to her this would mean not going on holiday she doesn't get that some people are going to be choosing whether to eat or pay bills 😟she is a lovely person but she has had a charmed life by any standard so just doesn't get it. I have hinted that I might not be able to meet for coffee every week due to my now very tight budget but I don't think she realises how tight it's going to be for me. We were talking about food shopping and she was saying that her bill has gone up to £90 a week 🙀🙀that's just for two people,I told her my food budget was £25 a week and she just looked at me like I was mad😀

I also had an email from EDF today telling me about the price increase and my bill is going up by £72 a month in April 🙀I realise from reading about other peoples bills that that is not too bad but god that's going  to have a big impact on my funds 😟my council tax was a surprise though and has only gone up by about £6, I was expecting much more than that. I'm now just waiting to see about my rent and water, the rent goes up each year in line with inflation so I'm not sure how much that's going to be this year 🤷‍♀️

I am lucky that DD2 is still here at the moment so it won't ruin me but I'm going to have to plan carefully for when she moves out 

Cherryfudge

I'm supposed to be getting to bed (early shift) but very quickly - your local library may include online access to digital forms of magazines in with your ticket. It's worth checking, though I like the idea of using YouTube.