It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

Spendless

SIRENS said:

Thank you all for your replies, I have claimed the widows pension, thank you Spendless a friend of mine who lost her husband a couple of years ago told me about it. I tried calling the council tax but they are not taking calls at the moment so have submitted an online form so we shall see what becomes of that. 

Thank you mumtoomany my dd will be taking her A levels this year I think the child benefit ends in august, she will be going to uni but they don't class that as 'approved education' not sure why?? I am not entitled to any form of tax credits or benefits as my salary and hours are a fraction above, so will just get child benefit for ds.
I will be contacting the ombudsman as I just rang and they said they received the details form the nhs on the 9th but no one has looked at it yet.
My daughter been looking at retail and food places, she is quite shy though so finds it hard to put herself out there. I've told her not to worry too much until after her exams though as I want her to focus on those.
Thank you all for your replies and suggestions though, very much appreciated xx

Your child related benefit will stop for your DD at the beginning of September, because it's classed as a new academic year. At that point your DD can go to Uni and will have a student loan to live on, can claim benefits in her own right or work. That's why you don't continue to get CB for them. Be aware if off to Uni that her student maintenance loan to live on probably won't come in until the 1st day of her course (that's what happens in my DS case) which is often late September whereas your CB stops at the beginning. Make sure you have enough money to cover those interim weeks and especially if she isn't able to find work herself to get the items she'll need if she's moving away from home. If it's a struggle put a call out to friends/family/neighbours, frequently people have spare pots and pans, kitchen equipment etc they no longer want. 

Wraithlady

All else fails, see if there's a Freecycle/Freegle group in your area - sign up and keep an eye on what's being offered. Though, from experience, make sure the email notification is set to 'weekly digest' otherwise you'll be swamped

Jellybaby

Sorry for your loss @SIRENS. I lost my husband at the same age ten years ago and financially was in a similar state - though insurance was paid very quickly.   Kids also at a similar age.  I claimed widows parents allowance for DS who was 15 at the time and ended when he was 18.  

Much to my surprise, and very welcome, youngest DS was also granted a monthly payment from DH’s pension provider. This was also paid until he reached 18 and although not a huge amount, I saved it for when he started college.  I never would have thought to look into this so maybe something to check out.

Eldest DS was in first year of uni and while there were bursaries and a few specific funding streams available we were unfortunately unsuccessful as we were just out with the qualifying criteria which meant our belts were scarily tight on a few occasions!  But it was all worth it and we all learned a lot! 

Fingers crossed your insurance comes through soon.

SIRENS

Thank you all, luckily dd is not leaving home to go to uni, we are in London, and she has had offers from all her choices and they are good ones so although we will have to pay travel I can cover everything else until her loan comes through, although I've told her to save the money she'll receive and (when she gets a job) to try to live off that. I thought the child benefit stoped as soon as she turned 18 so that's good news that it will carry on for a few more months. My husbands pension paid a very small lump sum out last month, he had only been there 10 years and didn't earn that much, so unfortunately no monthly income for the kids, but hopefully once the insurance pays out and I can clear the mortgage, it should be tight, but doable on my salary. 

[Deleted User]

I am so glad we made the decision to switch the heating off completely. Our letter arrived today from our LPG provider - the cost has risen from 12ppl to 59.5ppl. 

The only reason we use gas now is on the hob, but we will be cooking on the woodburner full time now. I wonder what, is anything, Rishi will come up over the next few weeks. Mr Sunak and co really should read this thread to understand what is happening in the real world. I’ll bet they’re not chopping up old fence posts by hand to burn so they can cook dinner on the fire! Or switching absolutely everything off at the wall to keep electricity usage below 3kwh per day. 

Auntycaz

They probably spend more on one lunch out than what we have to feed us for a month. They were against free meals for the poorest children and yet they have their meals in the house of commons heavily subsidised.

QueenJess

It’s because they are obsessed with balancing the books, but it’s all at the expense of the poor whilst the rich live quite happily. I don’t have high hopes for any good news ☹️

cuddlymarm

Hi guys
It seems like going back in time that we are going to need to heat just the room you are using. We started married life in a council house with a coal fire, it was the early eighties and this was the only house available so we took it. In winter the windows had ice on, it had an outside loo which also froze and the only bedroom with a heater was DS1s because he was a baby. Luckily we only had to live there for 18 months because OH got a job on the railway and I had money left to me as a deposit on our first house, so we could get a mortgage. It cost £17,750 and interest rates were 15%, but we managed. It had central heating and a nice little garden and foreign holidays were a luxury we didn’t have. 

It’s a shame now for young families. What we hadn’t had we didn’t miss.
To keep my hands out of the biscuit tin I knit and crochet blankets. OH used to chuckle, but I knitted one specially for him ( unfortunately he tends to nod off when he’s using it😂)
It cost him £80 to fill up the car this month (luckily we don’t need to go far) and it’s gone up again since.
I’ve a T delivery saver ( the cheap middle of the week one) so am topping up my basket with tins and packets every week at the moment as a buffer against an expensive emergency when I might need my money elsewhere.
But I count my blessing because we haven’t got Putin trying to destroy us, or a mortgage or kids to feed and clothe.
Anyway on that cheerful note I better get on. 

Bye for now 

dreamyd

SIRENS said:

helensbiggestfan said:

Sirens.....7 months waiting for life insurance payout is outrageous. 🤬  have they said what the delay is. 

When my husband died I sent the claim form and all supporting documents on the Monday (registered post) and received a cheque on the Friday.  

It's always something different, they wanted probate which I gave them in November, then they wanted records from our doctors, now it's something else from the nhs. They're forgotten to send requests before, or had their requests blocked by their own email security, and didn't notice that it hadn't been sent for weeks until I called to chase them. It's the last thing you need when you're in shock. My husband died very suddenly, no warning at 48, so it's been tough on the kids and me, let alone all the financial hoopla. 

So sorry to hear this, @SIRENS . This might seem like a long shot (and apologies if this has already been suggested), but have you considered writing to one of the national newspapers' money/consumer pages  about this? It's the kind of thing that might get picked up by them.

Siebrie

I'm from 1971, and we didn't have a car until I was 8: a Fiat Panda, paid in full at purchase. We cycled everywhere in town (Groningen, in The Netherlands).

My Mum stopped working when she got me (eldest of 2), but took up overnight shifts at the women's shelter when I was about 5, and then started Management positions (not permanent, just replacing any Managers who called in sick) in a at-home healthcare 'charity' (government funded) when me and my sister went to secondary school.

My Dad worked as a civil servant at the local academic hospital, in Finance and Social Admin for the employees, so he didn't make very much.

We had a lot of bread, and potato-based meals. Our lives revolved around the Church (sundayschool, children's choir, youth choir, junior and senior youth group, bible study, special events/get-togethers, leadership training courses, etc.).

We did always go away abroad for 2 weeks a year, Panda fully-packed, pop-up bright orange and brown trailer tent (similar to Conway Classic Carnival Tent) attached to the back, sack on the rack on top, dried veg in the tent's kitchen . 1 day at the campsite, 1 day sightseeing, repeat for 14 days

1 sweet per day, and if we received 1 at the butcher's or the baker's, we didn't get 1 at home.

My sister and I received pocket money, and had to keep the books for that money. Weirdly, I always spent less than I was given, according to my book, but never had any factual money left, and my sister always spent more than she had, according to her book. I wonder what happened there......  That's still a pattern to this day, but as we no longer live together, it's not my money she's overspending. Her current husband makes too much for her to fully spend.