no income

Don't blame you for sticking with them, Charleygirl5 - that's a great deal!

MamaCaz This was my agreement with Plusnet about 6-7 years ago and for very obvious reasons I do not want to move! I am not interested in Virgin and Sky thankfully. It was really the phone contract I wanted.

Charleygirl5
I have just checked I pay Plusnet £14.99 a month for internet and Tv and it also includes phone calls for an hour each time 24/7.

Blimey - how did you manage that? A few months ago, that same company put my mum's monthly bill up from approx £29 to approx £39 a month, for the same things you get.
Naturally, I instantly did some price comparisons, but the very cheapest like-for-like deal i could find was around £28 (which Plusnet then agreed to match).

Is broadband/phone like energy, where the prices vary from one area to another? (Only discovered that last year when i needed to do energy price comparisons for my mum at the same time as i was doing my own, and spotted that the unit prices we were offered were different).

I know that th the original post was about pension, but you are on a tight budget and I do wonder again whether you should look at the board that your sons contribute. Locally, one room in a house share is £450, including bills. Might be time to have a word.

Moggie the OP does get PIP She should get ESA if she is too ill to work.
Have you not claimed this LL?

I think this needs sorting out. you should be getting something.. go see "age uk..." and talk to them. maybe the money your sons pay to board should go to you ,as you are the one who manages the household. and your husband should be sharing his money with you as you are married. maybe a part-time job ?

I have just checked I pay Plusnet £14.99 a month for internet and Tv and it also includes phone calls for an hour each time 24/7.

By shopping around for everything you could save a fortune.

I don't begrudge anyone the lottery. I do it myself and Thunderball.
But when I hadn't enough for essentials I didn't. I thought that's what LL was saying. Perhaps I've got that wrong.

Go Compare lilylavender!
Or Martin Lewis.

My car insurance renewal seemed very high this year for my small car and I halved it by moving to another insurance company. They do take advantage of longstanding customers which never seems fair.

I won't begrudge you the lottery, although I rarely buy one DH does occasionally, but he rarely gets even one number! But someone has to win.

I, too am very surprised at the cost of your utilities and running your car. When did you last compare and swap?

the car insurance is about 4x what it should be ,even my 30 year old only pays £200 a year .Use your computer wisely and find alternative suppliers

Car insurance @ £912 per year?
Car tax @ £324 per year?
Internet no matter who actually pays for it at £1080 per year?



Strike a light Lilylavender get onto Money Savings Expert. You'll save yourself a fortune each month.

We live in a large 4 bedroomed Listed house built in 1467. We have done everything we can to insulate it. We have 12in of insulation in the loft, but we cannot have double glazing, although we have some secondary glazing and obviously have no cavities to fill, although we have installed some internal wall insulation.

Our annual fuel bills are around £1500, just less than £30 a week. We are with EDF.

Threads often do stray beyond the initial subject,*LL*so if you do not want your whole family finances to be an object of comment, the best thing is not to fuel the flames by revealing this information on the thread. I just 'walk away' from threads I start, when the subject moves on beyond my intitial post, or where I cnsider the enquiries about my life are too intrusive

I use gas and electricity as and when I want- I do not stint. I am with Octopus Energy. Why not google them and see what they would charge you? You will not be under any obligation. I really think what you are paying is too high.

Lottery per month for £10 is our only personal outlay. We dont deink smoke or go,out m£90 month is for all sport and other channels plus landline and broadbans better than sky who we were with before
One son pays for that anyway
Ours is an old car and a 2 litre which is whynits expensive thats the best wencould get from the £2000 from motability especially quickly mwe pay everything monthly tax and insurance as its easier
Not surw what else anyone expects us to do. The OP was about pension

Your insurance imo is expensive. We have a new Hyundai i30 and its only £230.
£90 high for broadband tv etc. We pay £30.
£10 lottery.

Well all good ideas but i cant afford another car vi got this one as when motability took my car back they gave me £2000 for another one as everyone gets. This had to cover an automatic car plus tax and insurance so this one was cheapest
I certainly know how to budget we barely buy a weeks shopping. I freeze unused food. I dont need any advice on debt management. Hmrc has said too late to appeal about tax credits not too.latenformthem to claw,it back after 9 years apparently

I sympathise with how you feel.
You need to look at ways to save money.
You could save ten pounds on the lottery.
And a smaller more economical car would be good. £800 a year for car insurance - you can't afford this.
I have a friend on ESA unable to work, fighting for PIP. She buys all her clothes in charity shops.
When I worked fulltime I also had a pt job for a while to make ends meet.
If you make some changes once debts are paid you will be better off.
You just need to sit down amd plan carefully.
Perhaps you could visit CAB for help with your problem regarding tax credits..

Its npower but this is for both electric and gas
I am a heavy user of both so. I could cut back a bit
Thats the amount they set due to.my consumption

lilylavender I agree with charley, that sounds too high; I reckon you might be able to shave as much as £50 off that. Who is your supplier?

Lilylavender I pay £67 a month for gas and electricity and I live in a 3 bedroom house. I do a "Go Compare" every year to find the best and cheapest for me. That weekly amount sounds too much.

Forgot to mention we have debts frommthe past oaying off at small amounts a week inc some child tax credits which i dont owe for my 25 year old son when he was an apprentice they have just demanded back. They told me to claim for him now they said he was not entited. Jsut because they pay me pip they want it back by whatever means possible

My husband gets carers on top of his pension which makes the £230 up sorry not £200. Expenses
£76 monthly car insurance
£27 monthly car tax
£37 weekly gas and electric taken directly fuel direct
£20 monthly husbands life insurance. I dont have one yet
£10 monthly postcode lottery. Sorry
£90 monthly virgin tv broadband phone ( son pays)

£20 weekly social fund loan we had for new washer
Basic shopping for 4 any ting from £60-100 weekly plus more during the week
Extra peteol for looking after grandaon and collecting from school. Son will pay if we ask
We have a 7 seater so petrol,is heavy could be £30 week
So you can see we sometimes have nothing left so if we want i like haircuts clothes etc we have to wait for my pip. I only just won it back after being denied after pip assessment and losing my long term dla and motability car.

All i meant baout having no money is I do not have any going into my bank account. I get pip after appealing and being without any. Long story. But if i did not have that would not have. My own money paid to me
My husband gets some in his pension for me but as i said is paid to him. No He does not deny me money thats not what i said. It would just be nice to have some paid weekly into my bank account like pension is.
As for costing you monsy for my children they are aged 20-37 and when young my husband worked 12-14 hour days and i worked when he didnt. How dare anyone assume we were on benefits. We got working tax credits as most people did even though he worked was on a lowish income as tax rates were horrendous. He is 70 and jsut had cance and still tries to do gardening to earn money for a holiday etc.
I think i ohrased everyrhing wrong tbh
All my children work or partners do as one has 3 children They have never been on the dole or claimed anything.
How many of you can say that of their families ?
If me or hubby need clothes we see if we can afford it first. When hubby gets pension first direct debits come out water electeic gas car tax and insurance life insurance etc. Then anything left of £200 we go shopping or hubby does as I cannot carry anything. Petrol as we have a large car costs the earth somif we do need clothes or anything we both have to weigh up if we can get them. Husband says get what you want but its me who refuses.
I have a daughter and grandson who live 200 miles away. She works and a single mum. Never been unemployed and her son is 11. Brought hom up on her own from 2 when her chap walked out on her. She gets to come up when she can and we try to drive down but the cost and stopping over is expensive in Devon. She cant put us up as not got any room but has tried on an airbed so before anyone jumps in on that one but i cannot get to the floor with my arthritis.
When i get my pip monthly i pay tv license and put some of the rest to saving for xmas and bdays as i have 6 grandchildren from 3 of my children. Is that ok?
Anything else you want tomonow please ask dont assume

PIP was previously DLA. If disabled you can receive both PIP and ESA. but not automatic. Separate assessments.

If you are over 65 you can only claim AA but it's only given for help with personal care, who apparently only need dressed fed and watered each day according to the government.

Carers allowance is means tested. Can't remember offhand how you qualify.

It's a very unfair out of date system- bearing in mind over 65s are often still working. But as I said, that's another topic.