The Mental Debt Struggle...

Cherryfudge

I love the new wet room! Light and bright without being glaring. And what a good idea to have a shower curtain to cover the shelf as well as go round the edges.

I don't know what cleaners get paid in London but it sounds like a lot more than up here! I wonder if something like this might make it a bit easier for you to change your bedding, perhaps with your son's help? And it may be worth asking around people you know who have carers, to see if they can recommend anyone - though you may already have done this. Could you share a carer with someone, so that you can compare notes and back each other up?

You have probably already explained this, and sorry if I've missed it, but I assume you can't get supermarket deliveries because you aren't on the ground floor?

Well done on the potential extension to your contract! They must like you, and I think you said you've settled into the work more.

Keedie

Oh I didn't know this @daisy_1571, but that could well be the case about the water sitting there. It gets washed away with each shower and the replaced with whatever residual water is there from the latest shower. Not a plumber either, but maybe the pump has to have some water in it to work 🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️🤷🏾‍♀️.

I need to get a hand towel rail for by the sink, a bathroom cabinet and a small unit to store spare towels. 

I've been unable to sleep, and so I went through my cash binders and figured out my set up for 2026, and sketched out some cash placeholders to represent what is in the bank. That's made me feel a little better.

Keedie

Honestly @Cherryfudge, I just think living in London is simply consisten blatant extortion and it is just annoying! If you earned a London wage, but lived out of London where things are cheaper and worked from home then it would work out great. But trying to financially survive in London is so hard. I get that a lot of it is lifestyle choices as well as things out of your control, such as housing etc. But the average price I saw per hour for a cleaner ranged from £15-£18 per hour. With a few them requiring a minimum number of hours booked, like 3 hour blocks. One company is even charging from £18 to £23 an hour. And I think they do that, as they have a yearly membership, which slashes the cost of the cleaning, so it becomes more attractive to become a member I guess...🤔.  But I won't rule out a cleaner vs a carer altogether.

I can get shopping delivered, but most of them will only deliver to the communal door on the ground floor, as it's at the driver's discretion to deliver to your actual door if there is no lift. So I'd still have to get it up the stairs and sometimes my son isn't around to help. But I guess I could always give the tweens in the block some pocket money if they give me a hand if my son is not there. Or choose a weekend morning slot when he's more likely to be around. I need to an online shop and test it out again. We mainly shop in Lidl and they don't have deliveries, but Tesco, Sainsbury's and Iceland do. So I might rotate between them to trial each and see how it goes.

My neighbour has a great carer, but she is fully booked and has a son in nursery and so she doesn't want to do too many hours a week. But I'd never thought of sharing a carer, that could possibly work too... 😎.

And yes, it's exciting that the job may be extended. I'm starting to find my groove with things, and where I was once overwhelmed and counting the weeks of my contract, now I'd like to stay a bit longer. But that just depends on the council, as they keep saying that they have no money so who knows 🤷🏾‍♀️. 

daisy_1571

Great idea cherryfudge re sharing.  I suppose that might work even better if there was someone locally to share with, in your block would be absolutely ideal, so the carer can do both in the same journey. 

Its interesting you saying the neighbour's carer has limitations because of school hours.  In a previous life I worked in a jobcentre so was going to suggest your local jobcentre.   In my day we were doing New Deal and one of the strands was Lone Parents.  The problem always was trying to find jobs that fitted around school hours for them.  Some carer home help positions were no good as typical clients were older and needed someone for breakfast, tea or night for time meals and getting them into bed.  That of course is exactly when a lone parent needed to be with their own child but it sounds like you could do with someone during the day?   No idea what the programmes are currently but if I have time later I'll do a bit investigating and see what I can find.

There will be someone out there who would slot perfectly into this job, we just need to find them for you 


Dxx

peb

I do pay £20 an hour for a cleaner and she's well worth it, independent (no agency) with a waiting list and I'm in the north, the cleaner fees you are quoting don't sound too bad but extra for changing a bed?  That does sound ludicrous.  My cleaner also works for my dad and a disabled friend and does their beds as standard.

Id really hope you could get a good carer but the extra time and energy in sourcing one is hard. Could your family help with finding/interviewing?

Makingabobor2

That's a lot for a cleaner. My dad has one, 2hrs a fortnight & pays £25 cash in hand. She is not very good at cleaning though, but she does change the bed.