Please help...cant take anymore

gallygirl

Crikey digitalsgirl, where do you live - Craggy Rock ?????

What a pile of poo from BT, def. invoke the DD guarantee.

Re the phone bills (ducks for cover).... I can quite see why you hate BT but you seem stuck with them for now. Can you bear to go on their website & check out best tariff for you & then make sure you use BT when the phone line IS working? It's so easy to get in the habit of always using mobiles. Also, I know hubby hates PAYG but only you 2 can work out whether that hate is worth an extra say £50 a month .

Glad you've signed up for freecycle. The bad news is you have to give something before you can ask for stuff or reply to offers. Doesn't need to be anything grand, say some of son's toys he's grown out of? Re your garden, why not ask for seeds or seedlings to get you started? If you could get out & get some exercise it would help your depression (according to experts, however they also say anti-depressants don't work at the mo ). At least you could have home made soup then.

Have you looked at the old style board for recipes (even if you're a good cook they have some great budget recipes). They can also teach you to knit your own chees and sew your own car and such like

Sign up for all the paid survey sites, you won't earn much (although bet you get excited out of all proportion at getting 10p ), but you can either get small amounts of cash or vouchers - great for a little treat.

Speaking of which - where is the nearest Further Ed college to Craggy Rock? . Give them a ring ON YOUR BT LINE and ask if they have a beauty & hairdressing dept. Many will do free cuts or treatments.

Just seen your latest post - find the nearest Welfare Rights office & ask them to sort out your options.

Keep your chins up (oops, I mean you & hubby, don't mean you have more than 1 ). I'm up because the earth moved for me - what's your excuse ?

Digitalsgirl_Hubby

ali007

So nice to see someone with a sense of humour

Sorry to say were still up because Isla doesn't fancy going to sleep on the sofa (its not very comfortable or good for her back) and i dont fancy going to sleep on the floor (its not very comfortable full stop lol)

Craggy rock is actually slightly closer to civilization than we are, directions to our house include go past the smelly farm, if you come to the farm with the rottwieller you have gone too far, look for the dead tree.

i have to say that i cant cook to save my life or anyone elses, however would be great at cooking to take a life

the better half however can make something amazing out of nothing, although by far my fav dish is her Cheese on toast (best thing i have ever tasted)

*QUOTE*
where is the nearest Further Ed college to Craggy Rock? . Give them a ring ON YOUR BT LINE and ask if they have a beauty & hairdressing dept. Many will do free cuts or treatments
*END QUOTE*

A cunning plan indeed, although have no idea where it is, but would be great to get her in for a hair cut and something special (would just have to pray they didn't mess it up lol)

Tony

MiniLaura

HI DigitalsGirl and Hubby

The DLA issue, sounds like you both qualify for some help, hearing and mobility issues, and poss mental health stuff.

Not sure how much you know about DLA itself but its NOT a means tested benefit and wouldnt affect any other benefits - its not taken into account for income purposes and if anything can actually help you have a disability element to benefits (this happened to myself when claiming JSA) You get the level of DLA according to your diability and how much help you need because of this - having to go places to support OH etc to help him understand whats happening. There are loads of organisations out there that can give u more information about applying for it, and help with forms to make sure you get correct award. I think CAB do that, and possibly local charities etc.

Have you had any contact with RNID? They are national, and could help you link up with local groups that can help with hearing loss. Also have a shop that would let you see the equipment available to help. Quite often the Equipment is available thru social services. IF you get intouch with teh sensory services dept of local social services they may be able to help?

I know this probably isnt a priority at the moment but if it would make life any easier for you both in meantime to see what help is available? Not being able to hear is a bit barrier and I hope the hearing aid situation gets sorted out soon, please keep up pressure on them, and if not getting anywhere with docs/hospital there is probably lots of support from charities/other professionals to help you take it up with them!

Good Luck with it all!

facingthefuture

Wow, what a story - you should write in to one of those magazines. Changing necessary details of course. If I could help you I truly would, thank goodness you have such a loving hubby, it will work out.
Have you tried reclaiming credit card charges and looked at what grats you would be entitled to for college. There was a thread on here somewhere about good grants for those with children.

chevalier

Here are some random thoughts

Water companies have a vulnerable persons tariff, that caps how much they can charge you. You would qualify I would think. Also you can ask for a water hippo to put in your cisterns (they are free), and this saves a litre a flush.

Ref the commuting. Ref the court case - I thought you could apply for help with travelling expenses for this sort of thing, ie when you have to be there for custody hearings or whatever. Might be worth an ask? Either of social services or your solicitor? Same with visiting your mum. Do you know when her move will be complete?

Ref haircuts yes local colleges (and even some salons) are always looking for models to train new hairdressers on. They are always supervised by a qualified hair dresser, and can be very cheap.

ref pet food
http://www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/dogs/dry_dog_food
http://www.petplanet.co.uk/pet_food.asp?gclid=CKO_nKy15JECFQxRMAodfgWmWg

These were just two online stores I found. I think that there prices are probably cheaper than getting it in a tescos or whatever. The second one has free delivery so you could get a big sack delivered to you. Like wise cat food.

This was for a free sample of cat food. There are often freebies like this listed in the freebie forum. I know it is not a big help but still might be one free meal!!:D
http://www.purinaone.co.uk/uk/cat/sampling/?bc=1

free dog food samples

http://www.trophypetfoods.co.uk/free_samples.asp

http://www.k9media.net/k9careuk/eu.htm

I am sure there are more but I can't find the links at the moment. I just hope your cat isn't fussy:D :eek:

Ref your income. There are plenty of online survey, click through sites where you can earn a bit extra. The ones below are ones that have paid out for me.

hope this helps
chev

www.lightspeedpanel.com - this is a survey site, where you get points that turn into vouchers (you choose). May not help with the cash flow, but the vouchers could be saved towards birthday/xmas or given as presents.

www.ciao.co.uk - survey site that gives money. A bit fits and starts i.e. no surveys for a couple of weeks, then three or four the same day.

www.yougov.com - again paid surveys. However takes a while to get to the minimum payout level

www.mytns.com - again this is a survey site, but it pays you in points that convert into Nectar points at Sainsbury’s.

www.pigsback.co.uk - this is a points site, i.e. they give you points for buying things via their site. BUT you also get points for signing up for news letters (some of which are even interesting!), and also for clicking on adverts with pink borders. I have spent NOTHING with them but got £40 vouchers through (been registered since January). There is also a thread in the freebies section, of https://www.moneysavingexpert.com that gives you all the daily answers to the competitions so you can have a better chance of winning on them. I won £20 of points recently on the daily quizzes so a nice boost to the Christmas fund.

www.mutualpoints.com - another points for clicks site. You can also buy things via their site and get points too. For a long time, I just clicked the links in the emails they send you, and that gets you 5 points. At 3000 points you get £20 I think. You can do searches via their site and that gets you points too.

www.quidco.com - this is a cash back site, so very good, for checking if any potential new insurers (i.e. if you have checked your contents insurance say and found a new provider), are offering cash back. E.g. Lloyds was offering £120 cash back on new policies at one point (the offers do change). You can also get small amounts of cash again for doing searches via their site. You can earn 52p a day by doing this. Every little helps.

www.greasypalm.co.uk - another cash back site, where you can do searches and get small amounts of money. But it all adds up. I think you can get about 50p a day on there for nothing. Minimum payout is £20 I think, but you can sign up to survey sites via there, and get extra money that way for nothing.

www.topcashback.co.uk - another site where you can do daily clicks to get money for nowt.

www.britishrewards.co.uk - same as topcashback, daily clicks to do searches for pennies a time.

Serendipity_phoenix

Just to rub salt into the wound, got a finale demand before action:o taken letter today from one of the companies i was going to pay off yesterday ...before BT:mad:

No my cat isnt fussy! anything but!
some of his weird tastes are:
jalapenos
cheese and onion crisps
English mustard
cup of tea, cold of course!
chips
:eek:

I was happy to read about the link to the pet food, cause i use them two companies, soooo happy that i'm doing something right:j

I have alot of bookmarks on my computer, from where i am obsessive about searching out the cheapest site or price for things!
Hubby calls me anal, cause they are all neat and labeled!

and yes! youve guessed it ali007, i am actually a fraggle!
or certainty fraggled anyway, lol:rotfl:
goodness earth moving experience, then money saving expert! what a combo:D

The story with HSBC is we are trying to claim back the charges
we dont/have never had credit cards
they did offer us £1500 at the beginning of last year, but that was £1000 (before adding interest) short of what they owed us,
The stupid thing is, all we want from them is enough to pay off and close there accounts

We are waiting to here from the ombudsman again, as we complained that they are harassing us to pay off the full amount, and have issued us with a default and finale demand.



Just thought i would add the link to our insurance problem, in case any of you are insurance experts too, or even if you would like to share your opinion!
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=8953963&posted=1#post8953963

gallygirl

digitalsgirl wrote: »

The story with HSBC is we are trying to claim back the charges
we dont/have never had credit cards
they did offer us £1500 at the beginning of last year, but that was £1000 (before adding interest) short of what they owed us,
The stupid thing is, all we want from them is enough to pay off and close there accounts

We are waiting to here from the ombudsman again, as we complained that they are harassing us to pay off the full amount, and have issued us with a default and finale demand.



/quote]

Can someone help out here? I am sure there was a ruling that any cases with genuine hardship should not be held up while the court action was ongoing - but I don't know where to find details of this?????

Serendipity_phoenix

Yes I have read that, i think it would work like this...

If we took it to court, the bank would say there is already the case going on, the judge would issue a "stay"
but we could argue the stay due to serve financial hardship

but i would need advice on this, as i don't know if we just apply to take it to court, like normal?

I haven't done anything.... yet, as with being in court anyway and with having to find the fees to take to court, i have sort of put it back in the hands of the ombudsman...which means nothing is being done at the mo.

anyone know???

Serendipity_phoenix

Hi everyone:)

Just updating on the debt situation, i have been busy!!! but feeling good about it:D

• We have applied to change broadband suppliers (to a better and cheaper service)
• changed home phone providers (including line-rental) good by Bl**dy Terrible;) !
• I have made contact and ask for a means form from the council we owe the council tax too (they wanted £66 a month otherwise:( )
• I am looking into if we can use the insurance my hubby took out by accident, when he got his store card, to pay off some of it, if not i am still getting the payment form to set up a standing order
• I have emailed the FOS to see if we could still take HSBC to court, as they have caused us sever financial hardship:undecided
• I don't think i will get it,:embarasse but applied for a tesco credit card, as that is the only supermarket we have, and we can collect more club card points by using it just for petrol and food then paying straight off
• phoned about £10 worth of club card point that went missing(had put it off for a year so far!:o )

Tomorrow i am going to try and continue and phone about that store card insurance again, the CAB about the natwest/redundancy situation, post the bills that BT messed up, and do some legal stuff i have to about my son,
goodness at this rate I will have to go and use my gym equipment to!:A

RoxieW

Hi hon - just checking in, saying hi. i hope my earlier post didnt come across as harsh. i didnt realise that you live so far away from anything and I do tend to get abit annoyed with my friends/family that run 1 or 2 cars and then complain about being skint. I'd dearly love a little runabout as I do 3 school runs a day plus after school clubs, shopping etc - esp on days like today when its raining out! But we simply cant afford so we dont have. However, your circ are that you genuinely need one so apologies for that.

Anyways just wanted to say that I feel I know abit about what you are going through. I had a seriously rubbishy childhood which left me with post traumatic stress disorder and have since had the never ending fight with depression/anxiety/OCD - a whole gauntlet of stress disorders - lucky me eh
My hubby and my 2 little boys are my whole life - so I'm with you on that one.
If you ever want to please feel free to PM me, hon.

Just a note on the DLA - its worth claiming both of you - just read some online guides before filling the forms in and be very thorough.

Glad your feeling more positive
Rox xx