Decided to spend some time on the dear old site today, so any one who has the time can check my activity and follow my hard work around, lol! It actually took me almost all day to make all those posts because this old computer is having a 'slow day', and so I have to wait for it, but I had fun none the less :)
Now yesterday was rather a hard day. Not the way I would have willingly spent Valentines day, but any way I shall give you a brief history then tell you all about it.
Over the past month we have recieved some unexpected bills which we have been striving to gather the money together to pay (as many of you know, due to our circumstances we are not bringing in a lot of money each fortnight, and our spendage is closely monitored), and then the toilet broke.
Well, it didn't actually break, but it started dripping steadily and fast out the back onto the floor, AND running constantly into the bowl. Clean water yes, but this water had to be paid for, so the problem had to be fixed. So Michael outed tools and fixed it. It took him all day, and we spent money we couldn't afford, but we figured the spending worth it, and the problem is fixed.
This led to a new problem. No money to pay bills with!! Michael jumps on the phone and calls them all up, warning them we shall be making late payments, and so immediate catastrophy ellieviated.
Now we get down to pencil and paper and write out all the expenses we need to meet just in the next fortnight, and discover there is no money for food or petrol after the more desperate bills are paid (and the routine stuff is paid like mortgage, childcare, and swimlesson fees). Hmmmmm. Problem again.
This is where yesterday came in. I called the Salvation Army welfare line and told therm about our problem, and why it had occured. They made me an appointment and I popped over yesterday midday and they gave me three bags of food stuff and what not, some of which was VERY needed, and they made a later appointmnt for me on Friday to discuss the possible helpout of paying some or all these bills, and they said they would talk about our fridge too, whose door no longer seals (also a recent issue, darn the thing!!), and of getting some disposable nappies and stuff.
It was actually a really nice and helpful time except for two things. Firstly it was Valentines day, second I was ashamed to be there at all. They are very sympathetic, and tactful, and they were oh, so kind! I just have to deal with my pride quietly.
Today I distracted myself on Minti by sifting through my groups and posting on as many of them as I could think of something relevant to post, and this afternoon I popped over to Granny's house to fill up her green waste bin with, well, greenwaste (
)
and gather a bagfull of apples and pears from off her trees. Fun, but
one cannot live on apples alone. Especially when one has a baby inside
them who does not like you eating the afore mentioned apples in the
first place, lol! But every little bit counts, and we are not going to
starve. Nor are we going to have any amentities cut off. All it took was
some humble pie.May I just say I do not like humble pie!!! But my family comes first.
I am tired, but the sting has gone out
of the experience somewhat as the lovely ladies at the Salvo's were so
nice, and they paid our phone bill, and I've been given six bags of food
so far (!!!!!!) and I have another appointment on Tuesday to discuss
money for our water bill - I just learnt that Latrobe valley has the
highest water rates in the whole state because the water company wants
to build a bigger and better facility and rather than getting the
electricity companies pay for it, they are making us, the tax payers,
pay for it!!! How nice is that????? But thanks to all this help we are
slowly getting back on track - hey! You know we only had $200 to spend
on food this week (as opposed to the usual $450) and we have been given
so much that our fridge and cupboards weren't closing properly, so we
took the excess we didn't really need to church and spread it out on the
table with a sign that stated any one who needed could take, and the
table was polished off not ten minutes after the service was finished!
That gave me a glad ring in my heart!!
Michael is really smarting over the fact that I have chosen to go to the Salvo's at all, saying we would have been fine, but I pointed out to him that the bills couldn't be put back again and needed to be paid, and by the time we had done the necessary things there would be very, very little food money and no petrol money. I showed him on paper! We can't afford to have a black mark against our creditibility with the amenities people at this stage, because they raise the rates on you!!!
Michael is really smarting over the fact that I have chosen to go to the Salvo's at all, saying we would have been fine, but I pointed out to him that the bills couldn't be put back again and needed to be paid, and by the time we had done the necessary things there would be very, very little food money and no petrol money. I showed him on paper! We can't afford to have a black mark against our creditibility with the amenities people at this stage, because they raise the rates on you!!!
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