£29,303...Enough is enough!

WelshKitty85

Lemon_Tree wrote: »

That's great that they're admitting they owe him something

They've 'recalculated' and upped their offer to £600. We're going to respond asking for another £85 as that's all we can prove he's owed. It's been less of a battle than I thought it would be getting them to concede this much, and that amount means we can survive December with DH out of work. Obviously, the goal is for him to find another job though so that we can live rather than just survive.

I've got a bit of a dilemma at the moment. I need a new winter coat. I needed one last winter but couldn't find one within my budget but I've just found the perfect one. It's £49 on am@zon. I've got a gift card balance of £50, plus just cashed out another £25 from SB so I could buy it without affecting my bank balance. But, the amazon vouchers were supposed to be for Xmas presents for the DCs. We're taking the children window shopping tomorrow so they can complete their Christmas lists. So I might make a decision once I know how much they are going to cost us.

Grocery shopping is still cash neutral. I've got about £11 left in my purse and a £4 sale agreed. I need to make an effort to get more items listed for sale though.

WelshKitty85

Totals now look like:

Hitachi - £7,747.30
Barclaycard - £8614.55
MBNA - £3,868.80

Total = £20,230.65

A bit of an increase from last month, but that's because of the transfer fees from moving debt from the loan (9.9% apr) to the cc (0% apr).

cocalls

comes out of lurkdom to say

Try the charity shops for your coat its amazing what you can find.

pops back xxx

WelshKitty85

Welcome out of lurkdom cocalls. I actually gave in and bought the coat. I made a check list first of everything I needed in a coat:

• Neutral colour
• Waterproof
• Hood
• Cuffed sleeves
• Knee length

The one I found ticked all the boxes. I used some vouchers, after buying some Christmas presents, and only had to put down an extra £18. I've worn it every day since buying it and I love it. I should be able to sell at least 1 old coat to recover some of the spend.

I don't have much luck in the charity shops here. I work in the nearest big town 1 day a week and often wander round the charity shops on my lunch break, but they seem to be full of donations from an older generation, and are getting more and more expensive.

Moneyfordreams

Sorry to read your OH is out of work again, I hope it looks up for him/you soon. As ever you are extremely resourceful. I'm glad you got the coat :T

WelshKitty85

Over a month since I last posted and unfortunately our circumstances haven't improved. DH has had a few interviews and got really positive feedback, but no job offers yet. I mentioned a while ago that his car was damaged. He ended up claiming on the insurance and, whilst they are still investigating, we have had to pay the excess. It's £250 that we really don't have at the moment but we've had to raid our savings and the pots are now virtually empty. I'm hoping we'll get it back once they realise DH was not at fault, but I've got no idea how much longer their investigations will take.

Luckily, we had planned in advance for Christmas and bought presents/saved vouchers throughout the year. Christmas dinner was a £3.35 turkey joint, which we actually preferred to a whole turkey as it was so juicy and tasty.

But now I've gone into slight panic mode about how we will survive beyond January. Our monthly outgoings are currently around £400 more than our income. The freezer is jam packed with yellow sticker meats and I stocked up on the cheap veg before Christmas so we won't go hungry for a while at least. I've started a universal credit application, but with tax credits telling us we've already been overpaid this year, I'm not sure if it will cause more problems than it will solve.

I know consolidation is mostly frowned upon but (with most of our 0% deals ending in the next few months) we've moved all the debt to 1 loan. Our debt free date has been pushed another 3 years into the future, but it's almost halved our monthly repayments. Once DH is back in work and our financial situation improves I have every intention of building the savings back up and overpaying the loan, but at the moment the focus is on just surviving.

mark55man

good luck to you - sounds like you have made all the necessary decisions to face a hard winter, and wish you luck for the next year. consolidation for survival and with a good plan when you recover is not a bad call

I found applying for UC for my DS soul destroying, and that was without the pressure of his really needing it

are there any "needs-must" jobs around - ie jobs that can be worked around your DH search for work - eg Domino's delivery or supermarkets. not sure your DH can afford too much pride at the moment

ohdearhowdidthathappen

I think consolidation when your circumstances absolutely necessitate it is a wise move. You know it's short term survival and you'll overpay when you can.
Good luck with your UC application and fingers crossed your OH gets a job soon. I agree with Mark, he might have to take anything going short term while he finds something better; delivery driver, supermarkets, bar/restaurant work, temping? All recruit quickly and have short notice periods when he can move on...

WelshKitty85

Happy new year!

DC2 gave us a scare to end 2019 and got taken to hospital with a head injury and black eye from playing non contact rugby on Monday. Thankfully there's no lasting damage but I'm still catching up on sleep after waiting til 3am for him to be seen by a doctor. I managed to get out of work early on NYE and had a sneaky nap before seeing in the new year.

DH has a few more job prospects so I'm hoping we'll have some good news before too long. He's also registered with a temping agency but hasn't heard back from them yet.

Verbatim

I'm sorry to hear that your husband is out of work. I do hope the new prospects come good for him. If he's getting interviews it will just be a matter of time before he's successful. Don't panic. Well done for having the wherewithal to keep you going in the meantime.