Life Ain't Going To Be Easy...
I have found out until I come into Mum's savings I will receive what I always have but once I receive her money I have to use it and I will pay full rent and most of the Community Charge. The only thing that will not be touched is my Disability Living Allowance as long as I am awarded it.
They will only start to help me when the money drops by quite a sum and that won't take long. I can buy food etc...but they want me to keep utility bills, credit card bills/receipts if I buy anything on credit and certainly proof if I was to buy something like a mattress.
They are doing this because they think that many people pass money to friends and family to get help again from the benefits department. Believe me what Mum has will not last long and I don't have any friends or family to pass money to if I could.
My future really does look bleak and not much to look forward to. But I must try and stay positive and I have to believe that all will be well. Life in 21st century UK...fantastic! It won't take long to go through Mum's money...
I am wondering how I will manage but I don't know how others on here do it. Some may have the advantage that they actually live in their own property so the worry of finding rent isn't a problem. But I bet its still costly paying utility bills, paying the community charge and buying food. Repairing the property and savings will still dwindle.
As Anon said some comments ago...Welcome to the real world...now if only the politicians were seeing how hard it is for many. Its not just me, so its not me feeling sorry for myself.
I have now received 13 sympathy cards...
They will only start to help me when the money drops by quite a sum and that won't take long. I can buy food etc...but they want me to keep utility bills, credit card bills/receipts if I buy anything on credit and certainly proof if I was to buy something like a mattress.
They are doing this because they think that many people pass money to friends and family to get help again from the benefits department. Believe me what Mum has will not last long and I don't have any friends or family to pass money to if I could.
My future really does look bleak and not much to look forward to. But I must try and stay positive and I have to believe that all will be well. Life in 21st century UK...fantastic! It won't take long to go through Mum's money...
I am wondering how I will manage but I don't know how others on here do it. Some may have the advantage that they actually live in their own property so the worry of finding rent isn't a problem. But I bet its still costly paying utility bills, paying the community charge and buying food. Repairing the property and savings will still dwindle.
As Anon said some comments ago...Welcome to the real world...now if only the politicians were seeing how hard it is for many. Its not just me, so its not me feeling sorry for myself.
I have now received 13 sympathy cards...
posted by The Great Gildersleeve | 2:52 pm
11 Comments:
I manage by:
1. Wearing layers of warm clothing indoors when it's cold. Not putting the heating on unless it's really cold and then only for a shot time.
2. Shopping late in the day when some fresh foods are marked down. These can go in the freezer if not using them on that day.
3. Planning a week's meals in advance. That's really helpful.
4. If you have a market nearby, use it. Fruit and veg are so much cheaper there.
5. If you need clothing, look in your charity shop or on Ebay. There are great bargains to be had.
6. Contact AgeUK. They offer advice for the over 50s.
(Ask particularly about transport for people with disabilities - or the CAB might be able to help)
7. Finally, an old one I know, try to join a local club. Or see if there are 'University of the 3rd Age' classes locally. (Ask at the library).
I hope at least one of these will help. Anybody else got suggestions?
Don't panic Gildy, no one I know who lives on the Disability Allowance is starving in an unheated room , I promise you !
.....but he hasn't got DLA yet!
Well he has some sort of allowance .
Thanks for those ideas VQ!
What a way to live in a modern so called highly developed economy.
DLA is the one thing I have...for now! It's not means tested but it would not make a dent in the rent I have to pay nor the community charge.I will have to use Mum's savings and I think the way it works is that for every £250 you go under £16,000 they give you £1.
Generous eh?
Oh and I have been told to keep all utility bills to prove I spent the money where I should. If I want to buy a mattress I have to keep a receipt for that. If I pay for anything on the credit card I have keep the statements.
Its great having someone looking over your shoulder.
Their excuse(you know what's coming)that I may be trying to pass the money over to family and friends so I can deliberately get welfare.
Oh yes, I want to have only £6,000 in the bank and hope I will get benefit and live on a really tight budget, skrimp and save(save that's a laugh!)
Until Mum's money is freed via probate I continue to get all my entitlements(suspect we're talking weeks)
I bit the bullet and decided whilst I would like to take it out of Mum's estate it could be weeks, I still have a little money coming in...I bought my first TV license. It works out around 40p a day and I access to all the channels available on Freesat.
So that's quite a bit of entertainment. Even without Sky's pay channels.
What can I do for 40p a day? As long as the TV/sat box doesn't break down...
Because I have paid up front for my telephone line and have free Broadband for 6 months that comes in for this year at 50p a day so that together is 90p a day. What can you do for that kind of money...that's 24/7 entertainment.
Again I hope the PC doesn't go wrong(even that is a second hand PC)I may always have to look for a refurbished pc...if it plays my burned CD's and DVD's and music that's all I ask.
Next year if things are tighter I may have to think about dropping the TV license and find another internet deal. Or watch the TV on the net...But whereever I am at least I have entertainment.
Now can I afford the electric?
Also to be honest the TV downstairs is nearly 30 years and nearly fizzled out last year so I could do with a new TV and I could do with a new monitor.
Again, if I wait I probably get them from Mum's estate but I debating with myself as I have a few weeks where things haven't changed, I am thinking of getting two monitors(they can be used to watch Freeview too)but if you don't attach an aerial you do not need a license.
I spend most of my time upstairs
so one might do but the satellite receiver is downstairs.
They are Tesco's own brand but they are made by Samsung and 23" will be big enough for the PC and bedroom and to be honest though a larger one might be nice in a lounge it will probably be large enough, they are not badly priced either.
Could be on offer too. I hope that I may find a way to relay the satellite from downstairs.
I'll need a new stand or a piece of wood to go across the old TV stand to stand the new one on. If it isn't used much at least it could be used as a spare when one breaks down. Its a flat screen LCD model.
Our old TV is the old type where its very large at the back of it.
I'll have to make a decision soon...
Oh well, it's no hardship to keep receipts, bills, statements etc. I do that already, for my own records.
Just get some sort of folder so that you can keep them all together, then you'll always know where they are.
You're going to be fine, Gildy.
You don't have expensive tastes. You'll manage.
Look at the positives for a minute, and count your blessings.
You don't have to go out at 6 or 7 am to get to work in the freezing cold, you don't have to put up with a nagging boss telling you to work faster or do your job properly, like many out in the world do each day, and many of us have had to do in the past.
Your days are free now to do what you want with and nobody to bother you, if you can put up with being not flushed and just getting by, then just think positively about what you actually have got now and try to enjoy it.
If your cold in the night just take a look out the window and see the milkman or van driver out there in the freezing cold and just be happy that you can go back under the duvet.
I hope one day they'll stop watching all that I spend and I can afford an odd CD here and there.
We all need a treat now and again.
The best bargains are online and if I use a credit card "they" can see my buying habits.
I guess holidays will be out(maybe I can manage an odd day trip somewhere)so I don't see the same four walls and same streets.
I suppose many don't manage to go away. So I'll get used to it! We couldn't due to illness.
I'd love another trip to my old regular holiday resort for 40 years...Bournemouth it holds so many memories for me.
Anon, A lot of what you say is true...go back under the Duvet...yes, if you can get warm...I guess I'll have to put loads of blankets on the bed...
You know what as ill as I am, I think in time they will find a way for me to go out to work(even part time)there are too many stories of people who are already being forced out.
So I could very well be out in the cold and be doing something that I really should not be.
We'll just have to see how the future pans out. Take it a day at a time.
I am trying not to be negative...honest I am...
I don't think you are being negative Gildy, just realistic and honest about your fears for the future. A lot of us share them.
Things are so tight for me at the moment too. I had to get another car but it already needs something doing to it. Not sure how much it will cost.
Coming up I have,
Car tax
Dentist
I used to try and keep a balance of £500 in my bank account but it has been chipped away at for a while, what with car problems.
I am on a fairly low income compared to the national average and there is never any money left over. I lost a job recently due to them losing their job, so things are very insecure and I am really feeling the "squeeze" we are hearing about.
What bugs me is trying to eat fairly healthily. I am the kind of person who gains weight so easily, and I just cannot eat cheap filling food like pizza, bread and my favorite thing of all peanut butter.
You know if I was truly skint I would try and live on toast and peanut butter - I would have to, but for now, it is forbidden!
At least we are not alone.
I hope it all goes ok Gildy for you tomorrow. It will be tough but it has to be done and you can say goodbye to your dear Mum.
Cx
Carol,
To some extent as Mum was a pensioner, she was doing ok and was able to have a warm house and eat well and did not need much more. I know many pensioners do not.
It seems that if you are over 74 and manage to get into your 80's and older it can be possible to manage and they do give you more money(the truth is though)the state hopes that none of us reach that point and they don't have to pay towards our well being.
They'd like to see us pop off quite young.
Many of us are suffering and being in work is no guarentee that we are doing OK.
In many ways having a bank account is a necessity forced upon us but I can quite understand why banks are not trusted by many and even a small amount of money can cause problems.
But now if you keep some at home the worry is it becomes worthless or you cannot change it because Governments are obsessed about Money Laundering so you can get in to difficulty trying to change it into perhaps a newer designe when they take money out of circulation.
Most are genuine and not criminals.
Many are probably elderly...
Thanks for your good wishes for tomorrow.
I've said such a lot to Mum in The Chapel Of Rest, I know she's not there but it's as close as I can get to talking to Mum. And if she's watching she'll have heard me and knows that I kissed her and held her hand.
Not easy to give a kiss as I had to lean over the coffin because it was a little bit high with me being short.
I told you about the coincidences about dates when Mum and Dad married and when Mum went into the Nursing home and Dad passed away(numbers reversed etc...)
When we had our new wheelie bin delivered they changed how often they are collected and the day from a Thursday to a Friday. The first day this happens just happens to be the day of the funeral.
There is always a connection to something. Even its a very small connection. If they collect in the morning fine...but if it gets to near the funeral I'll let them be collected next time.
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