Need to economise…

ESA has been replaced in most instances now with Universal Credit and that is based on household income. You might qualify for New Style ESA if you can apply and ask for Contribution based ESA, in your own right, based on your NI contributions across the last two years.

PS joint bank accounts are not normally frozen between spouses when one dies

In terms of bank accounts, we have both separate and joint accounts, as did my own parents, it works fine!

I think most of the advice here is absolutely sound, however, don’t be concerned about “burdening” your DH, if your worried or anxious about your finances, you’re a team, of course you should discuss with husband and “share” the burden.

Good luck with your recovery

We have always had separate bank accounts, I thought it was the norm. We also pay into a joint account for bills etc. It works perfectly.

Tanjamaltija

We do have a joint account - yet the bank advised us to have separate accounts too, because the joint account is frozen until the will is read.

When I was widowed the joint account was not frozen.

Batch cooking is a good way to keep to a budget. But please remember that you also need to build some treats into your life, otherwise it all seems to be about cost cutting. If you like baking making a nice fruit cake that lasts well is nice. We to like lamb and our lovely local butcher often has an offer for £20 - this may sound a lot but I always try to do what my mother used to and make the Sunday roast stretch over a few days - roast with a nice lot of vegetables and Yorkshire on Sunday, lamb curry on a Monday and then shepherds pie on a Tuesday. Obviously one wouldn’t have this every week but as a treat it does work out quite reasonable. This also applies to other cuts of meat. I hope you feel better soon.

ESA (employment support allowance) may help you here if your hours/pay is reduced and likely to remain so for a while.
But honestly why wouldn't your DH step and fill in where you can't regarding finances? I get that some relationships work that way but some flexibility would help immensely here.
When I was off long term 8 years ago with Breast cancer and all the treatment that went with it - once my sick pay dropped by half - it was my HR department that directed me to ESA and it was a massive help during a difficult time.

There’s a lot of good advice here, especially from people who have had similar situations to deal with.

As for joint bank accounts - there’s no right or wrong really is there? I have had a joint account with my husband for years and have never even looked at it. I have my own account and my husband has no idea how much I have in it. We’ve never had a single disagreement about money in the almost forty years we’ve been together, but we do usually discuss big expenditure items beforehand, with one notable exception: On holiday for my 60th birthday I ordered a bottle of champagne at dinner, when the waiter asked if it was a special occasion my husband was dumbfounded when, instead of saying it was my birthday, I said we were celebrating paying off our mortgage. He had no idea that I had the funds to do that and was stunned when I told him I’d already made an appointment with the solicitor.

Tanjamaltija,

Interested in your reply about joint finances. My husband managed our finances as he was an accountant. He insisted we had joint bank accounts as we were married and shared our lives. I was always more of a spender than he was. However, he also wanted each of us to be able to carry on easily financially if one of us died. He did die and from that day onward I had access to all our joint bank accounts and for the rest of our income I informed the companies where shares were held. I always recall being advised to get multiple copies of his death certificate as some companies who needed proof of death did not return the death certificate. I never forgot how gruelling it was to do all that. So I was glad we had joint bank accounts but I know everyone has different ways of living and they have different ways of sharing their lives. I think the OP is dealing with her disability very well. I wish you all the best Mamma66.

When I was made redundant at 64, and couldn’t find work, we had to cut back. First thing we did was to use savings to pay off the mortgage, which only had a few years left. We switched to online shopping, with a strict list, no random buys. We sold the second car, as I had no work to go to. We also ate our way through the freezer before we bought any meat or fish!

On bank accounts, we had a joint account for all bills, food, etc, but kept our own accounts. That way I could indulge my perfume habit and him his fishing tackle addiction without arguments! We each paid 2/3 of our salary into the joint account and kept 1/3 for ourselves. Worked well for 40 years!

WonderfulLife

Perhaps they are opinionated but those are my opinions on the subject.

Yes, but Mamma66 wasn’t really asking for people’s opinions on her and her husband’s financial dealings, she was looking for tips on how to economise.

Hi Mamma66, you are right about the length of time a PIP application takes, but if you get an award for the time you are /were eligible it would be paid retrospectively and would help you "catch up" financially even although you are back to work. The only thing you need to do is make sure that you tell DWP immediately you are fit again to prevent any PIP overpayment.

If you work from home you can get tax relief for your heating and lighting expenses.

Goodness - you are married! Why should DD not be under 'pressure'? 'For richer or poorer, in sickness and in health...' ???

ElaineElaine60

Wondefful Life.My 1st husband left taking all our savings. Did not pay mortgage gas in fact any bills and left me up to my eyes in debt.Took me 5 years 2 jobs to pay it off.
People who have separate Bank Accounts usually have a reason.

I'm really impressed by your resilience and courage Elaine

We do have a joint account - yet the bank advised us to have separate accounts too, because the joint account is frozen until the will is read.

My ex and I had separate accounts for 19 years of marriage, as a joint current account is more difficult to manage and risks accidental overdrawing. We opened a joint savings account as we had a small insurance payment cheque paid in joint names so had to have a joint account to bank it. When I found out he was having an affair and we split up, the first thing he did was empty the joint account! He left the account with 34p in it which remained for a few years. I got fed up with receiving statements saying 34p every few months so wanted to close the account but had to get his written permission to do so. The bank eventually sent me a cheque for 34p in my name!
Whatever works for you but I was glad to have my own accounts in the end.

Wondefful Life.My 1st husband left taking all our savings. Did not pay mortgage gas in fact any bills and left me up to my eyes in debt.Took me 5 years 2 jobs to pay it off.
People who have separate Bank Accounts usually have a reason.

The two things that help me the most to cut costs are meal planning and using cash rather than card when shopping also ask yourself do I want this or do I need it ??

I have a separate bank account to DH. We both earn similar. We both put same amount into our joint account and all bills and food comes out of that. If we go on holiday we both pay half for trip and spending money. What is in my bank account I can do with as I please, buying a gift for DH, being generous with my niece and helping her through uni paying her a standing order of £100 per month, lunches out etc. He has his own account and he prefers to save more than me. We each have our own savings too as well as joint savings. It suits me very well because I don't tell DH how much I've helped my niece out. I help her out because my sister can't. I think if it was all in a joint account I'd feel bad asking if we could help my niece and I don't think he'd agree to a monthly payment for 4 years. I've helped my sister out too by buying her a used car when her car engine blew up and she would not have been able to get to work. I mentioned it in passing to DH but did not mention how much. Again it's my sister and I wouldn't have wanted to ask him to help her. I like it our way better. It works well as we both have similar income. I get a bit more than DH but he gets a generous bonus so it evens out.

When I was married we had 2 accounts one was just for bills so we always made sure there was enough in there to cover everything so if we ran short of money we knew we were ok
The other account was general food etc.
Then I had my account which we used for holidays , Christmas presents etc
Worked well while we were still getting on

A simple thing to reduce costs is to write a meal plan every week and use a shopping list. Try to buy only what you need its surprising how much impulse buys add to the grocery spend.

They say ' downsizing ' your shopping can help. It means if you buy brands then go for the shop equivalent. If you already buy the shop one , try their economy version.
If you have any subscriptions cancel them or if available downsize them as well.
If you cook from scratch then eke out the ingredients and freeze the extra portions. For example mince , buy your usual quantity but add lentils , extra carrot cut finely and add to your mince make your recipe as per usual , use half , freeze half.
Works well for spag bol , cottage pie etc. If not already vegetarian , have a few meat free days even if its just an omelette or jacket potatoes/ baked beans.

Disability is one option to help, even if it takes months to get it it is backdated. but the PIP website does say "you expect the difficulties to last for at least 12 months from when they started".

Why are your company only paying you for the hours you work, surely they have an obligation to pay you full wages while you are off sick or on a phased return?

"A typical company sick pay scheme
Company sick pay schemes vary from employer to employer.

A typical sick pay scheme usually starts after a minimum period of service, for example, a three month probationary period. You would then receive your normal pay during any period that you are off work due to illness, up to a set number of weeks. After this, you're likely to receive half-pay for a further period before any sick leave you take becomes unpaid"

I would speak to a benefits advisor or my union rep if I was you.

Good luck.

When I was off work ill for over a year, I ran out of sick pay and had no wages, so our income was drastically reduced, We had to rely on DH's occupational pension. (We have joint bank accounts and personal savings pots, which although we have access to in case either of us dies, we would never dream of looking at them.)

However, I wasn't driving, so no petrol needed, I wasn't being asked to donate very week to leaving gifts, birthdays etc. I wasn't going on expensive staff nights out and we certainly couldn't go on holiday.
Initially, I worried about how we would manage, especially as I was the main earner, but it is amazing what you can do, when you decide to curtail your spending.

It did open my eyes as to how much I had previously spent on things I didn't really need.