Tantaraza vs the Frogs!

Hello, everyone! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disappear off the face of the earth.

Here’s a rather long update on what’s happening, sectioned off into categories. Feel free to skip the boring bits!

Health
I’m not sure if I mentioned it on the diary, but in mid-January, I had a nasty flare-up of back pain that was so debabilitating I made it round 2/3rds of a supermarket before breaking down in tears because walking was so painful. I’d estimated about a week to pack up, but having to move slowly and take more breaks due to the pain meant it took three weeks to pack. 95% of what I own is still in boxes because I’m having to restrict the heavy lifting I do. On the plus side, I’m having regular physio and (hopefully) off for an MRI so that the doctors can play detective. :T

I won my mandatory reconsideration four days after I moved :j but, despite updating PIP with my new address on the day I moved, the re-referral for my new assessment was sent to my old assessment provider. Apparently the person who updated my address didn’t realise it would trigger a change of assessment provider (because, you know, that tends to happen when you move to the other side of the country...) despite me asking this specific question and being assured that it wouldn’t. Therefore my claim ended up in limbo for five weeks. :mad:

House
The house is lovely, although when I moved in, I had no electric supply for two days and no gas supply for three days. :eek: The electric now has a shiny new smart meter and I got given £50 compensation, which I’m still using at the moment. The gas company still haven’t got my name correct, despite five attempts to get it amended. I am currently Mrs Tanrataza and I don’t know about you, but I’d like to know who I’m married to :rotfl:

One of the dogs has managed to part the wallpaper from the wall in one corner :eek: but I’m hoping I’ll be able to patch it up. There are a few issues that need fixing, and the landlord’s builder should have contacted me a couple of weeks ago. I really need to chase him up about that... :think:

Money
Because I am not currently in receipt of PIP, I am only entitled to the shared accommodation rate of housing. My health prevents me from being able to live in a shared house, and PIP claimants are exempt from the shared accommodation and entitled to the one-bedroom rate. As I am still waiting for PIP’s very, very delayed decision, I am currently being underpaid approximately £110 a month.

I’m repaying the UC advance that I lived off for the first five weeks, and had to take out a budgeting advance to cover the purchase of a sofa, a washing machine, and a gas cooker. After these deductions, I currently have £80 a month to live on.

Debt
Entirely out of the question at the moment. I should probably update the creditors with my new address, but part of me wants to put it off until my income is sorted out, because any income/expenditure forms will need to be redone in a month or two when PIP is sorted.

Current Priorities
The budgeting advance was £348. I’ve put it in a separate account to my income, and it currently stands at £280.02.

Expenses so far have been:

—£35 for a secondhand sofa (cheapest in the shop) and £5 delivery (sweet talked them to half price on the grounds I live a quarter-mile from the shop)
—£27.98 was part of the cost for Houdini’s emergency vet fees :mad: the rest were fortunately covered by the money I had at the time.

Things I need to purchase:
—a washing machine*
—a cooker
—a Gas Safe engineer’s time
—and I’m hoping that whatever is left over (if anything) can go towards the food.

*I’m cursed. I found one, arranged delivery, and they moved the machine to discover the bearings had gone. Was refunded, moved on to a well-known charity shop specialising in hearts, and they quoted £35 to deliver — it’s only five miles down the road! :eek:

Food
I have a microwave and that’s all I can use to cook. I do have a slow cooker but haven’t opened it yet (and am not confident in my cooking abilities!)

My mum has insisted on purchasing £100 of food for me to create a stock cupboard, which I have reservations about but I’m too poor to decline. I’m hoping to get the food shop done soon, but I need to make my purchases first so I know what I have to spare. I revisited my shopping basket and changed a few things, so now all cupboard food and (very necessary) cleaning products are currently £162.82, assuming I haven’t forgotten anything. I’d quite like some frozen food too, as I find that from a mental health perspective, chucking something quick in the oven is helpful in that it requires less effort and cleanup on a bad day while preventing the more expensive alternative of takeaways or ready meals.

I’m really worried about Brexit. I know that some of the newspapers have been scaremongering, but I’m also in a position where I can’t afford any sharp price increases or the option of buying the next brand up if the cheap option is unavailable (because I’m fairly confident that if there’s a shortage of ingredients, the Big Brands will take priority over the supermarket’s own-brand cheap products). Also, because my back prevents me walking to the supermarket and back, a food supply at home would reduce the costs of petrol to get there.

It’s been a long while since I did a food shop and I’ve been thinking about posting my shopping list on my diary to get feedback on whether there’s anything unrealistic or impractical (for example buying a large quantity of something normally short-dated) if there’s anyone who wouldn’t mind offering said feedback? I would appreciate it very much

Friends :grouphug:
So, putting aside all this doom and gloom... I’ve missed a lot of you, and this wonderful MSE community, and I’m looking forward to catching up on all your diaries. In the meantime, I’d love if you could share some great things that have happened to you recently (if there’s anyone still reading this monstrous post )

Thank you, all. Truly. :smileyhea