Cost of Living #7

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I just found out that some of the oldies pay $2 a week rent!!!!! Including all home maintenance. Some sort of elderly state grant covers the cottages. Water, electricity - the lot. The people in there used to have the older asbestos places that were falling to bits. They were never on the social housing list because they owned their own homes, they just couldn't maintain them in retirement. SO they got moved into brand new units and the younger people were sold the old asbestos homes to raise their kids in. No wonder the ladies up there can all afford the private agistment prices! Im happy they are being looked after in retirement, but also kinda mad at the inequality, as usual. Gotta run in the right circles to get the perks.

Got my gas hire bill today. Nothing changed but the price went from $10, to almost $70.

Bits of my roof tin are loose after that wind. Gotta be careful who I tell, or I will have 82 year old men trying to climb on my roof and fix it. I want a professional to do it because its too dangerous.

I found the foot pump for my car tyres and got a work out pumping them up this morning. I will try and do a bit more each day so I can get the car down to the coast. We have yet another scheduled power outage for the whole day, so I might as well try to go and run some errands before the school holidays hit.
 
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Joan the Vampire Slayer
My roof is metal too. Seems easier to maintain than shingle?
November said:
I found the foot pump for my car tyres and got a work out pumping them up this morning.
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I want to get one of these, or one that you plug in to the car.

I got paid, I did the sums and I can afford food! However its going to be a tight month, so I have to meal plan and make the food last.
 
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Soups and stews are your friend!
Stake fodder said:
Whatever social program they're in, get on the waiting list now!
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Thats the thing, they were never on the waitlist for social housing because they were homeowners. I was trying to figure out how they did it and the only thing I can come up with is that its some sort of grant for the elderly to move those who cant keep up with home repairs into managed places. One of the ladies had her horses at home and they moved them to private agistment for her too, and help with keeping her car roadworthy. One of the men had a place with an outdoor loo and no indoor plumbing, but he wasn't poor as he worked for the shire his whole life, as soon as he got into the cottages, he brought a brand new car! Now there is a family with very young kids in his old house. The cottages are for over 65's, but most are in their 80s and 90s. I'm really really hoping I dont live that long.

I have been on the homeswest waitlist for almost 20 years now and thats rent capped at 25% of income. I had never heard of $2 rent anywhere! But this is an incestuous town, who absolutely skew funding to support those in their families or loops.

Thats what I realised at the golf club the other night - these things arnt for the "community" they are for their own families but with the community title to get the state funding. The technically cant keep the community out, but they sure as hell make sure you don't feel welcome. I'm assuming this is the same reason the shire wont let me join the gym or hire the horse paddocks. But I cant know for sure. There have been so many millennials moving in to the region since covid, so change is on the horizon.
 
Stake fodder
Stake fodder
That seems corrupt, boo!
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Joan the Vampire Slayer
Wow. That’s crazy.
Taake said:
I also need to update my phone, I don’t want to. I don’t like new things!
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have to update mine as it isn't charging properly and I can't connect it to my computer to get stuff off it anymore... so the problem is how to get stuff off it without losing it... I'm working on getting some of the pictures moved to the sd card but they've made it very hard to just move it like you used to be able to do with the previous phone. The phone before that was just a phone and i had that for 17 years... i really miss it sometimes. bog simple. and it still worked when I gave it up, but sadly, the numbers had all rubbed off the phone and only i could use it b/c my mind knew where it was dialing... and of course, the phone company were stopping supporting it...

That's actually my cue to update now... when stuff won't work on the network. just have to figure out how to get 7000 photos of my life off this phone... and they're too big for the google drive because I usually shoot raw...
 
NotASlayer
NotASlayer
In theory, you could Bluetooth or WiFi the transfer. Bluetooth would take forever, though.
nightshade said:
Went to the zero waste stall, got a good free food haul today, 2 heinz smoking bacon ketchups, 5 pack of doughnuts, milk, eggs, tenderstem broccoli, sourdough bread, can of apple tango and some frozen possibly cheese sauce.

So it's time to sit down with a cuppa and eat doughnuts!
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Forgive me if I’ve already asked you this, but what is the zero waste stall? Like a food bank here in America? That’s a pretty good haul. Here, I can only visit the food bank once a month, but when I do I usually get a lot of good in season produce. I just wish they had more staple food like rice.

My struggle this month was getting the money together to pay my property taxes. Luckily, I received some money from a relative who passed, which helped. I was behind on my taxes, but just paid them for 2023. Originally they were $1000, but with the penalty and “service” fees it came out to $1400. Ouch. I still owe $1100 for 2024.

I’m sure it’s the same for many of you, but I am really struggling with the cost of living. I’m at the point where I just work, and just hang out at home. I can’t really afford to do much else. I’m trying to save to visit my mother for her birthday in May, but it’s hard.

A close friend is coming to visit next week, and I do want to do something fun, but it has to be on a budget. My ideas include a baseball game, which we both love, and maybe visit the zoo? I can get a discount on admission with my library card. Spring is the best season here, and the weather is perfect. He is older and mobility impaired, so too much activity is out of the question, or I’d take him hiking.

After my last nightmare with the roommate, I’m so paranoid to allow someone else to move in with again, but I really need one to help with expenses.
It is so experience being single and living in a single income household.
Also, has anyone noticed how expensive dog food is now? The brand my dog eats has gone up 40 percent. I’m about to just start making her own food at this point.
 
The zero waste stall is free for anyone able to go, it takes the surplus food from the supermarkets and gives it away. So it varies what's available and depending on how many people go they might limit how much you can have. There's usually always some kind of bread and fruit or veg, but it's open 6 days a week.

Baseball and zoo sound kinda costly to me, is there a cheap or free non league game you can watch or a free museum to go to? If the weather is good is there a nice place you can picnic?
 
As long as I dont think about the car and the medical stuff - I'm going fine with cost of living 😀

The energy credits have run out now and I dont see us getting any more now. Election is coming and they are not pandering to the poor haha.

I did find another program that gives interest free loans, but its been overwhelmed and is closed for application until May. I'm going to see if I can get one to fix the car and maybe get to the dentist if there is enough for both. I casually look online for second hand cars but I am just not car savvy, all I can find is cars as old as mine for $8000! I never in my life planned to spend more than $5000 on a car. If I wear a mask when driving then I dont end up with as bad a blood nose after, but my Dad teased the hell out of me for it. I'd rather be able to breathe than look cool when driving... I cant see any way that I could replace my car unless I get something on finance, which has always seemed like a bad deal to me.
 
Joan the Vampire Slayer said:
It is so experience being single and living in a single income household.
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So true! I can understand why people get into relationships just so that they can move in together and reduce their living expenses hugely if they have two households. This is not that great a solution if you do not want to live with anyone, though, and even if you do, it can still easily lead to more problems down the line.
 
Joan the Vampire Slayer said:
A close friend is coming to visit next week, and I do want to do something fun, but it has to be on a budget. My ideas include a baseball game, which we both love, and maybe visit the zoo? I can get a discount on admission with my library card. Spring is the best season here, and the weather is perfect. He is older and mobility impaired, so too much activity is out of the question, or I’d take him hiking.
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When I'm visiting someone, I love to go see local scenery or take drives, assuming your gas isn't too expensive.

I hope this tough time will pass for you soon!
 
I just got my annual water statement. The direct debit is going up to £34 a month from £23, which is a huge rise.

I was £19 in debit and water usage had gone up slightly, but an increase of a couple of pounds or so a month would have covered that, so costs look to have just plain increased.
 
NotASlayer said:
I just got my annual water statement. The direct debit is going up to £34 a month from £23, which is a huge rise.

I was £19 in debit and water usage had gone up slightly, but an increase of a couple of pounds or so a month would have covered that, so costs look to have just plain increased.
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Yep mine went up £9 too. They got to claw back those fines somehow.
 
NotASlayer
NotASlayer
How nice of them to pass them onto us.
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