Tantaraza vs the Frogs!

Eager_Elephant

tantaraza wrote: »

EE, UC have said this over the phone. I actually asked for my advance payments to be deferred for three months (so I could scrape the money together a bit at a time) but was told it wouldn’t be possible until after my first payment, so applied for the budgeting advance instead. The lady I spoke to was very snooty and said that by applying for the budgeting advance I was agreeing to make both payments each month and I wouldn’t be entitled to ask for a deferment. I agreed as I decided the £29 a month would be cheaper than the extra cost associated with laundrettes and microwaveable food.
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The people in the call centre are useless and just say whatever they want and of course people take it as gospel, you need to send a message via your journal under the heading payments and asked for the amounts to be reduced or deferred due to hardship.
A journal message under payments get sent to your own assessing officer who has the power to make the decision to reduce or defer.

I have had payments reduced but not enough in my eyes so sent further messages and got them deferred.

If you send a journal message do not ring up to check progress as the call centre will tell you it is not possible, generally they come back to you within 72 hours via the journal.

tantaraza

Thank you, EE. I just remembered that I’ve organised an appointment to fill out a DHP form from the council to cover the rent shortfall, so hopefully that will help. I’m at the beginning of my assessment period at the moment, so I have time to investigate my options and hope for a miracle. I’d rather not pick a battle with UC over this, since I’m concerned about how my PIP backdated award will be calculated — I know I should have had an extra element of Income Support but I’m not sure if it’s SDP and whether transitional protection would apply, plus I know DWP will deduct the UC debt from my backdated award and I want to make sure they don’t deduct it twice (I wouldn’t put it past them at the moment!). I only have a limited amount of energy at the moment and I’m not sure I’m capable of fighting this battle with UC.

I’m sorry, I do appreciate your advice, but the only support worker I have hasn’t been trained in UC so any battles with the DWP, I’d have to fight alone, and I’m not sure I’m able to do that right now.

tantaraza

I have had to dip into the budgeting advance money to the tune of £35.94, for a disability aid and postage. It was very necessary though (and if it isn’t as expected when it arrives or as beneficial as I hope it will be, I’ll be returning it) so I’m trying not to beat myself up too much.

I’ve decided to consider either a combi microwave with separate hob or a mini oven, because I’ve not been able to find a cheap gas cooker and then the installation would be expensive, but I have zero experiences with either. If any of my readers know or have experiences with either, I’ve made a post in the In My Home subforum with more information, and would appreciate advice. Link: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5980133/secondhand-gas-cooker-or-brand-new-electric-appliances

I have a million things to do but the pain is especially horrendous today so all I’ve been able to do is mope in my pyjamas. The kitchen wants a good clean and I need to get food but I have no energy to change into proper clothes let alone anything else. It’s particularly annoying as I’ve been waiting for the sun to come out (I always feel more motivated in sunny weather) and today’s the first good bit of sun we’ve had for almost a fortnight so it couldn’t have come at a worse time.

Sorry for the misery on this diary but I think I just need a moan.

please-let-me-be-lucky

Moan all you like!

Hope the pain eases soon Xx

beanielou

Chronic pain is vastly underestimated
Hope it eases soon.

The other thing to consider is a hallogen oven.
They are fab.

tantaraza

Thank you both! :grouphug: It’s that time of the month soon which doesn’t help — this morning I coughed and felt my uterus contract :eek:

beanielou I’ve never heard of a halogen oven, would you mind telling me more about them please?

beanielou

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halogen_oven


They sit on the worktop & are at eye level.
I also suffer from chronic pain & it saves me having to bend.
Super easy & saves on electricity.
As I am on my own I find it great.

tantaraza

Thank you beanielou I will look into this option too

HairyHandofDartmoor

I hope your pain goes away soon Tantaraza, that must be awful for you .

That sounds like a well stocked grocery cupboard to cover most cooking needs .

I hope you can get your benefits sorted out soon.

I'm looking for a new oven too and was wondering about a combi microwave. People have suggested a halogen oven to me too, so I need to look into that.

tantaraza

I’ve found an all-singing, all-dancing combi microwave/oven/grill for £130. It’s a lot more than I was originally planning to pay, especially as I have to buy a separate hob, but when I was looking at it on the website, I had a good feeling about it.

Reasons I feel this is a good purchase:
—Sharp is a reputable household name, and while I have zero objections to own-brand appliances (my kettle and slow cooker both are), for something this expensive I’d feel more confident with a well-known manufacturer.
—It has flatbed technology (for those unfamiliar, that means I can use the oven like an oven, instead of the microwave turntable, which restricts the size of what you can put in it) which is excellent because I like pizza and I insist the oven must be able to cook a pizza.
—There are numerous functions, which is good because I can do more with it (some are oven-grill only, or microwave-grill only, for example) which I felt important because it will be my main method of cooking.
—I initially saw it on Argos (on sale at £129.99) and the extended cover has to be purchased within 41 days of purchase last I checked, but I found it on AO at £135, and they allow you to take out cover in the month before the manufacturer’s warranty expires. :T So, I won’t waste money insuring the oven when it’s already covered under warranty and wait until next year to insure it, and I suspect AO’s cover actually works out cheaper too. AO say they price match even in the sales, so I’ll be ringing them up to get that extra fiver off.
—Even though I have to pay an extra £30 for the separate hob (Russell Hobbs, quite nice, two-year warranty), I can store the oven where the current microwave lives* and the hob with the slow cooker, which will mean I could use both the oven and the SC at the same time. If the oven included a hob, it’d have to go where the SC lives and I’d have to faff about every time I wanted to use the SC because of my kitchen’s layout.
—Even though it’s an expensive purchase, I can take the oven with me when I move, which I wouldn’t necessarily be able to do with a gas cooker, so it will work out in the long run.

*must remember to measure!!

I’ve also been putting off switching on my chest freezer because it lives on a sloping section of the kitchen floor and the feet needed adjusting... but it occurred to me today that if I’m not having a cooker installed, I could put it in the gap for the cooker (on a flat part of the kitchen floor) which will mean no feet need adjusting and I don’t have to live with an unsightly gap. :idea:

I’ve added frozen food to the supermarket basket. It comes in at under £50 and is composed of various frozen veg and Quorn/meat-free alternatives such as burgers/mince/chicken with the odd pizza/ready meal. I’d like to add desserts and ice creams but want to see how much space I have left first. So the shopping basket currently stands at just over £210 which, again, feels a lot but I could live for a good 2/3 months solely on these stores if not more. (Someone please remind me to add an extra packet of apology biscuits for the unlucky driver who has to deliver this order! )

In MSE news :money: I’ve decided that after the food shop gets delivered (after the oven arrives but before Brexit), I’m going to diarise my spends here. I’m hoping it’ll help keep me accountable because money seems to be slipping through my fingers at the moment.

I’ve also lodged a complaint with my old car insurance for causing financial distress by changing my payment schedule without telling me. :mad: I can’t change what happened to me, but I want to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else.

I realise this all sounds very productive but I’ve barely moved off the sofa today :rotfl: but I feel very refreshed so fingers crossed tomorrow I’ll be fit enough to tackle Mt. Washing Up