living on a budget


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8 hours ago, Compo said:

Once had one child benefit payment too many - the boggers came calling and demanded it back.  It was only a couple of quid but at that time it was a lot of money to me.

 

Back in 1967, there was no child allowance for the first child - we had to wait till we had our second and third children

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She`ll go bleddy bonkers when she get home from work, recipe said put the casserole in 180 degrees, now its all over the bottom of the oven.

There was no real problem with obesity when I was a kid. My mum baked nearly every day - cakes, bread - the lot. By todays standards we should have been as fat as little pigs. But no. We cycled or

Yes but haven't you noticed although a certain faction of the "bad off" can't afford decent food etc they can afford fags, booze and sky tv on 60" 3D top of the range screens while their badly shod br

2 hours ago, Waddo said:

Yes Gem, but your frames are not made from "unobtainium" and the Len's made from crystal from Jupiter polished on the thighs of a Hawaiian virgin I bet, unlike NBL,s.

They may not be Waddo but they will do exactly the same thing, namely allow me to see better.

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31 minutes ago, catfan said:

Especially for people living on a budget, latest from Nottingham City Council, Council Tax increase of 5% on the way , all manor of cuts planned.

 

http://www.nottinghampost.com/news/nottingham-news/city-council-proposes-tax-rises-950419

 

Just as I'd come down from the ceiling after this years council tax hike - looks like the "roof" next year !!

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Its the lenses that cost the money, varifocal but twice thinned and then coated. My prescription is such that without the thinning they are like bottle bottoms and that heavy I have trouble keeping they on my nose. I can't wear aviator style specs for the same reason, frames are about £80 with a special bridge to help keep them in place.

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No worries Gem, I think the same as you mum, had to wear the things since I was 4 years old, what they used to an 'idle eye. Having lived through NHS wire frames, lenses like 'bottle bottoms' I am only to happy to pay for decent frames and thinned lenses at least I can still see, I'd be useless without me 'specy 4 eyes LOL.

 

I love your little fellow by the way, nice posture and attentive.

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Phil, there are still NHS dental practices in many areas. I appreciate that you still pay a nominal fee for chech ups, then any necessary treatment on top, which can up the price a bit, but it's not bad. As a senior citizen though, I think check ups should be free. 

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Never understood the 'thinning' of glasses - why not just make like that in the first place? In the age of computer controlled machines it should be easy.

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My husband has just had new lenses in both eyes, a similar operation to cataract surgery, but he didn’t have evidence of cataracts.  He had to go private because he hadn’t got cataracts, and it cost a lot of money but he was so fed up with wearing contact lenses (which he struggled to get in and out) and specs.  All seems to be good,  it’s 4 weeks since the second eye was done, and he’s happy with the outcome. 

 

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2 hours ago, NewBasfordlad said:

 

 

I love your little fellow by the way, nice posture and attentive.

8 months later he loves himself a real little attention hound, that was the first photo we took of Ben we will take one more to keep when he is ready to go.  We take pics over his time with us and send them away, we took one when he went to the cenotaph had hubbys medals and a poppy on his coat we sent that one to our son.

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I've had 'specs' since I was 5.  I had a spell of Contacts from around 69 -72 but had to stop wearing them due to a scar on my eye from a stray grinding spark that got past my goggles. I reckon I got my last two pairs of specs close to 20 years back.  Varifocals.   I can still see fine through them for driving and everything but very small print. However, the frames are now falling apart so I went to Specsavers for new ones last year.  In the end I took them back and got a refund.  The change in prescription was just too much for me and I couldn't get used to them.  They said I'd been warned of the possibility, but trust me, the optician may have recorded that, but definitely didn't say it.  I may be a bit hard of seeing, but I'm not deaf..

I've had a quick word in the local Boots and may go there to try again.  They said they could increase my lens prescription in stages if necessary.

 

I am very long sighted.. +6 at least.. with a bit of astigmatism thrown in.

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When we went to live in South Africa. Wages went from being paid weekly to monthly. We had two boys aged 3 and 5. We went out with £100 which was not a lot, and it soon went. by the 3rd week we did not have any money for food, so I took my husband's camera to the pawn shop (it seemed to be the in thing in SA) we got 5 rand which was abut £3 00 this had to last till hubby had his wages, the following month was the same we did not have any money left by the 3rd week, again visit to the pawn shop. This time I  got 5 rand, well we brought a loaf of bread and big tin of baked beans. The following month hubby decided to be bank manager and guess what wages were about 500/600 rand a month and after hubby worked it all out we had 300 rand left at the end of the month. The only problem was my neighbour Arnitki used to come round near the end of the month and say in a soft voice please, please can you let me have a rand till Quizzie gets paid. Of cause I would not let her starve.

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I always just have new lenses installed in my frames. I like the style, so why should I change them? Each lens costs me just over 40 pounds. Don't think the optician is too pleased that I don't purchase his overpriced frames from him.

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I keep a pair of cheap reading glasses in the car that I got from Wilkos ages ago. They often come in useful .

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I've used 'Redispecs' or worrever they call them. They used to have them in a local petrol station for a few quid a pair.  TBH, the frames were pretty decent quality. I'd happily get some more in an emergency.  But I'm not sure they're a good idea for long term use. As I recall they have the same lens for each eye and only correct for either long or short sight.  Most people have two different eyes, plus astigmatism etc.  I have some 'optical' swimming goggles, which I have to wear as soon as I put my proper specs in the locker at the baths.  It's the only way I can see well enough to fasten the wristband with the locker key...  I daren't swim without them as I used to have frequent collisons and 'near misses' in the pool before I got them. :)

 

Little story I've probably told before.  We used to go to Dollond and Aitchison and also took the kids there regularly.  We missed an appointment for the oldest girl and received a rather terse 'emotional blackmail' type letter from D&A almost accusing us of being bad parents.  In a huff, we took the oldest into the 'new fangled' Specsavers.  There, an optician immediately spotted a problem with her eyes and referred her to the hospital for further tests.  It transpired that she has Retinitis Pigmentosa, a serious and progressive degenerative disease of the retina. She is now registered blind, though she has some useful, but very 'narrow field' vision.  So much for the numerous previous visits to the stuck up lot at D&A.

 

Col

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14 hours ago, FLY2 said:

Phil, there are still NHS dental practices in many areas. I appreciate that you still pay a nominal fee for chech ups, then any necessary treatment on top, which can up the price a bit, but it's not bad. As a senior citizen though, I think check ups should be free. 

 

it seems that Scots NHS dentists are allowed to charge more-or-less what they like for the Czech up but have a fixed scale for repairs and extrractions.  My last NHS dentist charged £14 for the Czech but my latest charges £28.

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Since when did all of your dentists become Czechs?  Mine's African..

 

Col

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