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It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?
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I have cancelled my veg box as gone up in price I will have to get off my butt and walk to veg shop going forward. You might want to check on benefit board whether you mum pension credit (if claiming) wont be effected by you claiming carers allowance first Better safe than sorry. We look after an elderly rich relative but dont claim as only works out 3 mornings a week so even though we both combined do 30 hours its only 15 hours each so not applicable21k savings no debt8
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greyteam1959 said:@Longwalker
I am sure that you will not be able to claim Carers Allowance if you receive a pension.
I could be wrong of course.
Can your Mum claim Attendance Allowance??Mum doesn't get a penny of state help. Shes a "wealthy " pensioner, state pension, Council pension, small private pension and her late husbands Police pension. Shes rolling in itBut she is pretty poorly, cancer, heart failure etc. Shes doing well though, as she says its because shes not relying on herself for everything as she would give up, With me and he here on call 24/7 she still has a good quality of life15 -
Well Ive been on a roll today, finally got me bum into gear and head out of the cloud of not wanting to deal with it, and sorted out my finances - sort ofIve cancelled Prime. Not like I will be spending loads moving forwards and tbh theres very little we do actually watch on PrimeAlso found that Ive been paying for Apple TV, didnt know, must have applied a free subscription and didnt cancelAnd Ive also been paying for Amazon music and Spotify ? Seriously? I listen to Radio 2 all day lol. So they are all cancelledOk I really have had my head in the sand
I thought my BB package was a tad stiff.It did double in price last year but I seriously thought that was down to coming to the end of a new customer offer, so let it run. Turns out Ive been paying £20 a month more for no other reason then not reading emails. Im out of contract, the contract price is £25, OOC price -£45. If I had read my emails I would have known to sign up for a new contract . So thats at least £240 lost forever
However whilst I was on the phone to customer services and getting this new price confirmed, I thought might as well ask if there was anything else they could offer, and they are sending me a £75 pre paid MasterCard
. So Im stuck with the same provider, but out here in the sticks they are all rubbish and fibre isnt coming until 2026, and Ill be either out of contract then, moved to the town or pushing up daisies
Do , do, do, check every standing order, direct debit you have at least every monthOne thing I have done which would probably give Mr Lewis palpitations is to cut my credit card payments, meaning I will be paying interestI am usually that person who puts something on the card and pay off end of month. Last year I helped out the Step daughter a lot, so have a couple of hundred outstanding. Its not a massive amount, I was paying £150 a month which was totally manageable , but Ive cut it to £50 just to see me through this period of uncertainty . Gives me a wee bit of breathing room. Hopefully come Easter I will be in a better financial situation and I can pay off any outstanding amount. Just right now, with prices rising everytime I hit the shops, I need that lee way now and with what Im saving through cancelled subs, Im not really in a worse position
Oh heres a story. A local ( not the big 5 ) supermarket decided to offer 20p off per litre - between 1 and 4 pm today. I was parked about a quarter a mile away in Lidl carpark ( its free so why not ) and was leaving at just after 1pm. Well I sat and sat and sat waiting on someone to let me out. The traffic was bumper to bumper. 15 mins later I had moved enough to swing off to do the rat run, got to the top to another road leading to the said supermarket, - SOLID. The town was gridlocked ( our town is that tiny we have 3 sets of lights ) A friend had to go around the roundabout the wrong way to get out of it , not just her, a lot had to. Seriously cars bumper to bumper just sitting, not moving. Said supermarket ran out of fuel within the hourWhen you think 20p a litre off, you need to be running on empty to be seeing a significant saving. Ive a quarter tank, and that 5 quid saved seriously to me wasnt worth the hassle, just shows there are a lot of us out there having to find and save every penny they can, quite sobering9 -
@Longwalker My mums doctor told me I could claim Carers Credit before she was eligible for AA. He was able to sign the form to say I looked after her (on call 24/7). I think he was on a bit of a mission - he even printed the forms off for me and insisted on me filling it in ASAP. This didn't pay money but gave me the NI Credit. As soon as she became eligible for AA the DWP wrote to me to claim CA
As has been said, I would contact Age UK for help with completing the forms - they know exactly how to word it and expanded my three lines to nearly a page in some sectionsLove living in a village in the country side10 -
@Longwalker
Would it be better / easier/ cheaper to move that credit card bill to one of the 0% interest cards? Thinking that way it might 'buy' you some long months to build up the full sum owed and then pay it off in full.Being polite and pleasant doesn't cost anything!
-Stash bust:in 2022:337
Stash bust :2023. 120duvets, 24bags,43dogcoats, 2scrunchies, 10mitts, 6 bootees, 8spec cases, 2 A6notebooks, 59cards, 6 lav bags,36 angels,9 bones,1 blanket, 1 lined bag,3 owls, 88 pyramids = total 420total spend £5.Total for 'Dogs for Good' £546.82
2024:Sewn:59Doggy ds,52pyramids,18 bags,6spec cases,6lav.bags.
Knits:6covers,4hats,10mitts,2 bootees.
Crotchet:61angels, 229cards=453 £158.55profit!!!
2025 3dduvets8 -
in_my_wellies said:@Longwalker My mums doctor told me I could claim Carers Credit before she was eligible for AA. He was able to sign the form to say I looked after her (on call 24/7). I think he was on a bit of a mission - he even printed the forms off for me and insisted on me filling it in ASAP. This didn't pay money but gave me the NI Credit. As soon as she became eligible for AA the DWP wrote to me to claim CA
As has been said, I would contact Age UK for help with completing the forms - they know exactly how to word it and expanded my three lines to nearly a page in some sections. Northern Ireland forms were so easy to fill in, tick this, fill in NI numbers, bank details etc. They didnt need any information about what care she requires or anything like that at all.
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Katiehound said:@Longwalker
Would it be better / easier/ cheaper to move that credit card bill to one of the 0% interest cards? Thinking that way it might 'buy' you some long months to build up the full sum owed and then pay it off in full.Mr L has said he would pay it off ( its not happening, my debt and at least this way its getting easy to say no to the step daughter ) He has zero cards etc but I had to get a sub prime card a few years back to get me recognised for credit. I used that diligently and then got a "proper card" from our bank and I have been so good, only purchasing what I could afford, until last year, Step daughter in severe money mess, me bailing her out, and me left with a mess. But its not a huge mess so Im not concerned, just means its costing me when it shouldn'tMr L still gets a decent wage, we arent going to starve. Its just the way we split the finances , he pays the utilities and rates , I pay the groceries and sundries. He pays for holidays , trips out etc and puts diesel in my car and pays for anything big required for the house and gardenIts just for me, the not having my own money at the moment. Sure things are going to change again, its a blip, I just dont want to be spending what I dont have on things we dont actually needIts just been the perfect storm and tbh Im ok about it. I was killing myself in that job, I have hated it for the past year, but felt trapped into staying as it suited the work life dynamics and of course as I started spending too much I was well thats ok, I have wages in next week and overtime at the end of the month. So now its gone bang and whilst Im having to look at every penny twice now, its really what was needed in getting me out of a situation I was hating and resentingEvery cloud and all that12 -
luvchocolate said:YorksLass said:On the subject of charity shops and what they will or won't take, I blame the Mary Portas effect. A lot of the bigger nationwide charities now run their shops as a business thanks to her intervention. I find I'm using them less and less (too expensive, soulless) and prefer to stick to smaller community led ones or our local Hospice shop.
Not clothing as rag man pays per kilo but rusty tins chipped chipped bric a brac content of pedal bins include used nappies. Yes I've dealt with it all
Washing machine is being temperamental, the buttons for type of fabric/temperature/spin speed are sticking as is the reset button. I hope it's not on its way out - it's been a fab machine and has done me proud for the last 15 years. I'm researching prices, delivery times etc as a "just in case".Be kind to others and to yourself too.9 -
YorksLass said:luvchocolate said:YorksLass said:On the subject of charity shops and what they will or won't take, I blame the Mary Portas effect. A lot of the bigger nationwide charities now run their shops as a business thanks to her intervention. I find I'm using them less and less (too expensive, soulless) and prefer to stick to smaller community led ones or our local Hospice shop.
Not clothing as rag man pays per kilo but rusty tins chipped chipped bric a brac content of pedal bins include used nappies. Yes I've dealt with it all
'If it were my thing would I pay for it?' Is our thinking here. Potentially up to £5 for most of the items we had attempted to donate yesterday is the answer to that, not less than £2-3 per item.
Didn't count but there were probably 150-200 records there so a minimum of £300 IMO. You'd be surprised how many homes I've been in with record players, especially of older people.Longwalker said:Katiehound said:@Longwalker
Would it be better / easier/ cheaper to move that credit card bill to one of the 0% interest cards? Thinking that way it might 'buy' you some long months to build up the full sum owed and then pay it off in full.Mr L has said he would pay it off ( its not happening, my debt and at least this way its getting easy to say no to the step daughter ) He has zero cards etc but I had to get a sub prime card a few years back to get me recognised for credit. I used that diligently and then got a "proper card" from our bank and I have been so good, only purchasing what I could afford, until last year, Step daughter in severe money mess, me bailing her out, and me left with a mess. But its not a huge mess so Im not concerned, just means its costing me when it shouldn'tMr L still gets a decent wage, we arent going to starve. Its just the way we split the finances , he pays the utilities and rates , I pay the groceries and sundries. He pays for holidays , trips out etc and puts diesel in my car and pays for anything big required for the house and gardenIts just for me, the not having my own money at the moment. Sure things are going to change again, its a blip, I just dont want to be spending what I dont have on things we dont actually needIts just been the perfect storm and tbh Im ok about it. I was killing myself in that job, I have hated it for the past year, but felt trapped into staying as it suited the work life dynamics and of course as I started spending too much I was well thats ok, I have wages in next week and overtime at the end of the month. So now its gone bang and whilst Im having to look at every penny twice now, its really what was needed in getting me out of a situation I was hating and resentingEvery cloud and all that
Even if not and you can just reduce the cost of the debts (again, MSE has a function for that too) then it's worth a go IMO.
Apologies for quoting the whole message, currently typing on phone and it's not cutting down as planned.💙💛 💔6 -
Some charity shops simply do not have space to store LPs, or put them out for sale.
Also space for donations is likely to be limited by the number of people making donations - the volume of stuff coming in is probably greater than the volume of stock being sold.2021 Decluttering Awards: ⭐⭐🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇 2022 Decluttering Awards: 🥇
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