Desperate, am I in the wrong place?

binnie

Hi FMN,
Read it all now, phew, took some doing. I've been reading for hours.
Anyway what a journey you have been through and still you seem positive about the future.
I know everything will turn out ok in the end. I too am always worrying about money, probably have done for years, but after worrying, things turn out good in the end.
I think we go through good and bad in our lives and sometimes it takes things like this to make us appreciate what we have.

I say to my OH that we are lucky to have what we have when we are feeling low and penniless.
Also my sense of humour gets me through the dark days.
You seem to have a good sense of hunour too.

Hope you get a job soon, and hope the festival went well
xxxx

Forgetmenot68

Hello all

Well the sun shone (mostly) and we had a great time, certain that our other little daughter was dancing amongst us.

Binnie - you're right of course. However poor we feel we are with our debts, there's no question of a two mile walk when we need drinking water, and we won't, in this country be allowed to starve. We really are very lucky if you look globally.

I am though feeling overwhelmed again. I'd put the worrying on hold in the lead up to the anniversary, but we got back to a letter from HSBC (in total contrast the the nice one we'd had from Capital One) saying that our offer was unacceptable and we had to set up a DD for £75/m for the next 6 months and interest would continue to accrue. Don't know what to do now. Also my husband was supposed to have transferred the total negative balance on our First Direct card to Virgin (0%) so we could close the account, but he failed to get a current balance, only the statement one... so we still owe them about £500, and of course we can't do any transfers now. Also, although I told the child benefit people our new account, they've paid July into our old account - grrr, money down the pan, effectively. I don't have a job, though I do have an interview with an agency next week. I must call some more agencies and get back on the case post-anniversary, and start looking harder, just as the summer holidays begin. Any ideas for cheap/free entertainment for children until September? The beach, obviously, but that's a 40 min drive which with petrol prices I won't be doing too often.

Yours, in a mildly negative frame of mind,

Forgetmenot68 xx

Seaxwyn

Hi Forgetmenot

Glad you had a good time at the Festival. As for cheap/free holiday activities: what about the park, the library, local walks, swimming, tennis in the park, bike rides. Ring the local Council and see if they do any free activities (ours have a good programme of sports and 'arts' stuff).

You will be working soon, so make the most of the time you have now and just do 'boring' ordinary life things like cooking, gardening etc together.

Have your children got any toys or games they haven't used for a while because they are broken or need adult involvement? If so - get those could be resurrected.

In the past I have written potential activities on slips of paper - eg 'bake a cake', 'have a chess tournament', 'wash the garden furniture' and put them in a box. If the children complain of being bored, I give them a chance to take out a slip at random - and then they have to do it.

Good luck

Forgetmenot68

Great ideas Seaxwyn - especially like the box antidote to boredom! I'm going to do a massive clear out too - sell some things and take broken stuff to the dump. Strangely I think my children would enjoy that, and it would do us all good to flush some of the stale energy that having unloved things around you causes. I'll get in touch with the council too - I noticed on this site that Asda offers vouchers for various free sporting lessons, which they'd love.

I'm feeling more positive this afternoon. Been doing post-camping washing and cleaning, and got a letter off to our endowment company about current projections and surrender values. Not a lot, but it's shifted my sluggish mentality!

FMN68 xx

Verbatim

Glad you're feeling more positive and that the trip went well.

Good luck with the job hunting.

Forgetmenot68

Ooooh, well we had a letter today from the Halifax saying they accepted our temporary £1/month offer and will cut the interest to 12% and cancel all charges. Only for three months, but I'm glad it didn't have to turn nasty. I hope the others will be as nice. But, I NEED A JOB!! ...so we can start paying back something more meaningful.

FMN xx

Forgetmenot68

2 agencies left messages today, so will start by calling them in the morning...

How is everyone else?

Forgetmenot68

I took the children to the beach today, the first day of the holidays.. and have burnt my shoulders chest and knees - what a very hot, but lovely day, and how much fun can children have with sand and water?!

rubydoiwannabee

Hi FMN
It was a gorgeous day wasn't it, my DD finished school for the summer today (end of her reception year) and my DS finishes tomorrow, he is end of year 8.
I have been surfing most of this evening for cheap and cheerful things to do over the next six weeks but haven't found many. Last year our local pool offered free swimming for all children up to age 16, so I must ring them tomorrow to see if they are doing that. The other thing OH and I decided to do tonight, was a map of our city and challenge the children to visit and rate every park... not sure what my 13 year old will think but I might give it a go.

I wish you every success with the job hunt and keep posting.

Fidget21

Hi FMN

What sort of job are you looking for? Could you go temping rather than something permanent initially? It tends to pay more and sometimes can turn into a permanent role. Could you do merchandising work as that can be quite flexible? Or could you try the local supermarket as they tend to offer hours you can fit around the kids?

Just some suggestions...I know from being out of work in the past that the job market can be quite a daunting thing to face!

Best of luck. xx