A debt diary with a newly-aquired Yorkshire accent!

Keeping_Positive

Awww Milly (((hugs)))

Im sure things will turn around soon. How about posting on the benefit board to see if they can help with the HB question.

Milly1974

And then I got back to my car yesterday evening to drive home and found the tyre slashed.

I have just got to keep saying to myself, 'Don't let the B******s grind you down', a lesson for which I will be forever in debt to my dad.

All the same, Wendy thats a great idea. I'm a bit too stressed to think straight at the mo, and I sometimes dislike stepping out of DFW onto other sections of the board as they don't always play nice out there!

I'm going to give it a go. Wish me luck in keeping it together at work today. They nearly made me cry yesterday when they bought me chocolate to make me feel better! My only female colleague is an :A

julesangles

aw hope you days get a little better.

barnaby-bear

Milly1974 wrote: »

Well do you want the good news or the bad news?

The good news is that hopefully the bad news will be sorted out quickly.

The bad news is that the couple letting my flat have split up, he has left and she now has to try to claim benefit. Kind of worried, as I will now not be getting rent for a while, and if nothing is sorted by the end of April it could get ugly.

Does anyone know anything about claiming housing benefit? How does it work and how long does it take? I am assuming that a young mum with a baby of about 5 months shouldn't have any problems claiming?

I'm sure someone on here will know more about this than I do! Help!

Try the house buying and renting board - I get the impression it is paid in arrears but how it gets paid is important because if fraudulantly claimed they can chase you for it back.

Why are you paying £150 subsidy for your tenant plus all the maintenance costs and hassle of owning something hundreds of miles away? Is it a security thing in case you split up or a long term investment, former I understand but the later on the figures seems odd as £150+maintenance would be 20% of you disposable income.

Milly1974

barnaby-bear wrote: »

Try the house buying and renting board - I get the impression it is paid in arrears but how it gets paid is important because if fraudulantly claimed they can chase you for it back.

Why are you paying £150 subsidy for your tenant plus all the maintenance costs and hassle of owning something hundreds of miles away? Is it a security thing in case you split up or a long term investment, former I understand but the later on the figures seems odd as £150+maintenance would be 20% of you disposable income.

The guys on the benefits board have been quite helpful about the whole housing benefit thing. They suggested I call the local council to ask how long it may take, which seems quite logical. (not feeling capable of much logic right now...)

As for the reasons behind keeping the flat. It is a bit of both. Himself and I are agreed that no matter what happens, the flat is mine, as I have always paid for it and it was around before he was, so in that sense it is a bit of security.

I know the figures don't add up logically, but I guess I am looking at it as a very very long term investment. There is no way I am going near the housing board, as I know none of them would accept that I am an individual and happen to be looking at 20 years down the line instead of 5. At the moment, the rent I receive is covering the interest on the flat. I am happy with the idea that I just pay off the capital and end up with an asset in 23 years time.

If I sold the flat now, I might make a little on my purchase price, but legal fees and everything would eat into that. Instead, I am paying a manageable amount towards what might be my (as-yet-unconceived) kids' university fund, or an income when I retire, or even the deposit on a family home if we want one day. I see the flat as a savings account which will not pay a dividend for 23 years. I am 100% happy with my decision on that front.

Milly1974

In other news, we have just received a bill for electric of £600 for the last 4 months, which I am querying. (Is it physically possible for 2 people to spend £600 of electric in less than 4 months?)

And I am just waiting for a police office to drop by to get a statement from my about the damage to my car. I guess that is as close to good news as you will get from me anytime soon!:rotfl:

Milly1974

Well I had a bit of a chat with himself yesterday about how tight 'things' could get if we are not careful over the next few weeks. He should hopefully still get some work from his previous employers, but it will be sporadic rather than salaried like before. This is good as it means he may still have some income.

In the meantime, he is going to do some self-employed stuff online. Think there is potential if he works at it, and as it will involve a bit of e-baying, I should be able to help out a bit.

We also chatted about how our grocery bill will have to shrink. We don't waste food at all, but we do like to have little treats from the deli, ground coffee, expensive cheese fairly often, which we are going to have to stop. The wine and beer are going to have to go as well, although I will be a bit lenient on him and his beer as he has also had to pack in the tobacco.

I came downstairs on Thursday morning to find his tobacco tin empty by the fire, and did wonder, as he had run out of filter tips that evening. Got home that evening and he said he had stopped, and he seems to be doing really well. I know though that the really hard bit will be next week when I am back at work and he is here on his own getting bored.


So I guess the next step is really to start meal planning properly. I had been doing this half-heartedly before, but will really have to work harder at it now. I guess it would be cheaper for us than most as we eat veggie almost all the time. I guess I really need to learn how to cook pulses though, as it is something I never learned from my mum. She just never used them, so it has always been missing from my cooking. Any tips anyone? Maybe I should try the OS board? In fact, will do that now....

Wish me luck! Milly

Keeping_Positive

Old style board best. I dont have a clu when it comes to pulses either. The grocery challenge thread is really useful and friendly have a look.

Milly1974

Well, so far, not too much going wrong. Himself is working today in his old job, and was very good yesterday in getting stuff sorted to sell. Am cooking stew for dinner which is thoroughly bulked up with beans and potato, and will be chucking a couple of slices of bread on the plate for himself too.

Have been offered a breadmaker through freecycle, which is brilliant since I am pathologically incapable of baking bread. Anyway, must go sort out himself's bath!

Milly1974

Eurgh, having a bad day. Just little bits adding up to get on top of me. It's raining, himself got drunk last night when his friend came round which put a stop to the cosy evening in I was planning, there is a rip in the seams of the armpit of my coat and the knee of my trousers, and I am fed up of only having leaky work shoes. Had to stop at tesco on the way to work to get a sympathy card for a relative. Not sure exactly what relation they are, but they were a lovely couple, and I don't suppose I will be able to get to the funeral as 500 miles of petrol is out of the question right now.

I guess I just really need a holiday, but can't afford it. Would have a home holiday, but would end up cleaning this and tidying that and come back after a week feeling just as run-down. Can't even treat myself to a takeaway Hot Chocolate (my fav pick-me-up) as we just can't afford it at the moment.

Someone cheer me up?