Need to economise…

If you have a credit card, think about switching it to a credit card with a 0% balance-transfer deal.
You could also have a sort out and sell anything unwanted i.e clothing / accessories - I did this last year!

Shelflife sorry I meant to add I agree with you.

We are another couple who have our own current and saving accounts, plus a joint one and it has worked very well for us o ver the years. And I must say I am able to buy my husband Christmas and birthday presents without him knowing or knowing how much they cost.

Shelflife

WonderfulLife, not everyone thinks like you - this post along with your previous ones are very opinionated.

What a alful thing to say. I have my own bank account, and so did my ex husband and my now partner of 16 years. If I needed help he would be the first to offer, please do not be so judgemental.
Also the OP said she did not want her partners help,her right. Advice was asked for, not an opinion on whether this couple have a joint bank account.

Judy54

Some couples have joint accounts others have separate accounts. There is no right or wrong way only their way and what best suits their needs.

Indeed.

Nothing at all strange to how others choose accounts.

Whatever suits.

Just to point out that to qualify for PIP ( cancer being the exception) you have to have had the condition for 3 months and expect it to last for at least another 9 months.

Hope l can give a little advice from my own experience. sorry if its repeated though as cant read all the comments at moment as l l ave photo phobia so can only read a little on here.
nearly 50 yrs ago i had to give up my full time career as l became very ill with M.E. It took over 10 yrs to get a dx from a famous M.E Specialist but because l was told by dr to ' go back to work' l ended up bedbound.
Im still 95 % bedbound still but it is possible to cope.
The first thing l did was get as folder and started to write down all the agencys ie help the aged etc , charities etc that may help when get disabled. as my drs at the time gave no advise we had to do all the research myself.
We found a local charity that came out as support worker and they helped me get disabled facilities( as im also losing sight with glaucoma and almost deaf) the blind society sent a support worker for help for my computor and also offered aids on loan. all these support workers helped to put in for grants from our council. because the charity worked on my behave The council listened to them as the councils didnt listen when l phoned ! It did take a few years to get the aids l needed.
nk in my folder we listed all our our money out goings and we looked to see what we could live on bare min. it was a drastic time as my husband also lost his job at this time for afew months, luckily he found work again. the do free fire safty check as well. They were marvelous.
l phoned the local fire brigade office as they have grants to put in fire alarms for free if disabled. l phone the gar and elctric people as they put disabled people on to priority call outs of needed. l thnk the the telephone provider have special services too availbe but we havent do that yet.
We decdied the best thing to do was to pay off our mortgage completely from our saving we had at the time and it was the best decision we could have made. it was a struggle as 6 yrs ago we sold up and moved to be near my daughter into a down sized bungalow that we paid for mortgage free.
keeping a folder handy with all the info at hand was incredibly useful as l had to make my pwn calls to different people when we needed help ie banks, utilites, council etc.
council grants, benifits, charities etc are rapidly declining on being able to help but l encouge anyone to make sure you are getting the help you need, unfortunaly it means doing all the research yourself as their is no one who can do this for you. nowadays, even citizen adviser ( l used to work for them ) are limited..
l hope this info is a little help , dont disphare, get yourself a plan of action set up and take one day at a time, you will manage.
l did read at the begin reply comments about having seprate bank account. Many people do do this, My daughter and her husband do this, They both work and they both pay for diff things concerning the household budget.... it works out fine for them and they have done this for over 20 yrs.

Just an idea - Worth talking to your mortgage lender to see whether they will grant you mortgage payment holiday while you are on half pay giving you a breather.

Some mortgage lender allows this, where you pay only the interest or nothing at all for a few months. You can then overpay your mortgage when you return to full pay.

We do not have joint bank accounts. Recently I did put my name on all my husband’s bank account. He is much older than me and if he needs care, at least half of his money will be considered as mine.

Some couples have joint accounts others have separate accounts. There is no right or wrong way only their way and what best suits their needs.

WonderfulLife

We always had a joint bank account and never saw our money as "his and hers", the money was "ours". My parents were the same. I am not judging at all but I do find it rather strange in marriage which is surely the ultimate partnership,

When I have wanted to economise I have found that cutting out major expenses is easier than cutting back on smaller ones. So doing without a holiday, but still using butter instead of margarine - that sort of thing. It's easier to come to terms with doing without a few things than to have a relentless reminder that you are hard up.

How you do that will depend on your personal lifestyle, but to use my example, not having a holiday will only inconvenience you for the couple of weeks you would have been away, but switching to margarine will be a pain in the proverbial every time you spread it on your toast, and the savings are so small it will take a lot of breakfasts to add up to the cost of a holiday.

Another good place to cut back is to go through your direct debits and standing orders, and be ruthless about subscriptions. Cancel as many as you can, live without the channels, magazines, deliveries or whatever for a couple of months, and then only restart the ones you've actually missed. It can be surprising.

I hope you're back to full strength soon.

I have kept house for the past 50yrs. Have separate bank accounts, and savings. However, DH informs me of all his financial business, he does not have to as I am happy to be independant. This works for us both, so it is nobody,s business what other people think. Hopefully you will be feeling better and on the road to recovery soon. Now just stick in and get better. I find it an enjoyable hobby!!!!!!!!!!! trying to economise in these present times.x

Roast lamb doesn’t have to mean a joint. Lamb chops or steaks will be just as tasty with the usual accompaniments. Same with pork. Swap a whole chicken for two breasts. You can still have a lovely roast for a fraction of the cost.

I don`t have any recurring payments but did check auto renew and did indeed have two that I cancelled this year

You are doing well in thinking this through Mamma66 and I hope the health improvement continues

Do you pay your streaming services monthly or yearly. If it’s monthly, cancel.
There are lots of other streaming services where you can get a month for free.
To save electricity cut down on the amount of times you use the m/c. Cut down on the temperature and washing time.
Water isn’t cheap. Save your run off for tea/coffee, cooking.

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

Yes definitely keep a note of what you are spending and where possible stick to essentials. If for example you have gym membership which you are not currently using, subscriptions to Sky, Netflix or anything else that you think is not relevant at the moment then cancel them for the time being. All good wishes for your return to better health.

I’m another one with separate bank accounts. We have a joint account to pay for bills , mortgage, when we had one , food and house stuff . Both of us are self employed, so need our own accounts. We also have separate savings accounts and isas , as well as a joint one . We’ve been married for 35 years and it works for us. I’ve always worked and like having my own accounts. And I’m better at dealing with money and finances than my DH .

I have altered our food shopping somewhat. Sadly Sunday roasts are a rarity these days, we both love lamb, but haven’t bought it for a year I’ll bet. I have also tried swapping down on branded / own brand products. Some make little difference, some do… every little bit helps I suppose.

I am with harrigran.We have been married for nearly 52 years and have always had separate accounts . It works well for us and needless to say we would always help each other out if necessary. What a strange thing for your mind to boggle about WonderfulLife

Jaxjacky

Check your bank account for standing orders or direct debits that aren’t for essentials.

This is a really good idea, I definitely have a couple of DDs for things I am not currently using such as the gym.

pascal30

I found that what helped methe most financially was gettingmy mortgage paid off.. then I had the knowledge that if I got into financial difficulty I always had the possibility of taking out equity release.. although I am widowed I also find it perplexing that you don't feel this is a joint and equal responsibility with your husband..

We are 3 years off paying the mortgage and that should make a big difference. It’s not that I don’t see it as a joint responsibility, the opposite is the issue. DH would take on extra work to make up any shortfall in my earnings and I don’t want him to do that. He would give me the shirt off his back, bless him.

Check your bank account for standing orders or direct debits that aren’t for essentials.

WonderfulLife

I m a bit confused when you say MY savings have reduced dramatically and you don't want to put pressure on your husband. Do you mean that you and your husband have seperate bank accounts.

I honestly find that awful, my late husband and I had joint accounts from the day we became engaged until the day he died. He was ill for eight years before he died and had to take early retirement, 5 years before his state pension was due and we were not allowed Attendance Allowance as they said my husband was not ill enough (but when we finally got it, my husband died three months later).

We used our joint savings to pay for everything, wheelchairs, urinals, walking sticks and frames, stair lifts and nebulisers because the NHS provided them at first but then wanted them back and because we had money in the bank we could not claim benefits.

Why can't your husband help you out, surely you are a partnership and should be supporting each other.

My mind boggles when I read about married couples having their own accounts.

We do have a joint bank account but to be honest we don’t use it. My DH is incredibly supportive and would give me anything, we both work full-time, he pays for some things, I pay for others. It seems pretty fair, we’re both happy with the arrangement and it works for us. He is better with money than I am and keeping things separate actually makes it easier for me to manage my finances, so no big deal as far as I am concerned.

Jane43

My daughter-in-law of 31 years was diagnosed with breast cancer in May last year, it is inoperable and has caused lymphedema in her right arm and hand. She has been unable to return to work as she cannot yet drive, write or use a computer. I persuaded her to ask McMillan if she is entitled to any benefits, she was resistant at first as she has worked since she was 16 but after her chemotherapy she did enquire and she found she could claim PIP which isn’t means tested; her claim was approved and she began receiving payments just before Christmas. I suggest you look into this as it could make a difference to your financial situation.

I did think of PIP, but fortunately I should make a full recovery and it takes so long for PIP applications to go through that I should be back to full mobility before the application was processed. I know that cancer related PIP applications are processed more quickly. Wishing the best for your daughter-in-law.