Hi. My name is Claudia. I run an unscripted, zero budget RU-vid channel because I like real life, not Insta filters. I am also a sole proprietor of a very small business, but mostly a side hustler, frugal life styler and an introvert. I think I have something to say, which is why I started this channel. Join me if you wish. Happy to have you here. :)
You can donate to my RU-vid channel here via Kofi: ko-fi.com/falcieri Or here via Paypal: www.paypal.com/paypalme/falcieri Check out my business here via Shopify: www.falcieridesigns.uk You can buy my book here via Etsy: www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1696272038/venice-italy-history-biography-a-most
To all people already self employed or planning to start a business, a plea: When you become highly successful please remember it was a struggle and try not to judge others on benefits - not everyone can be self employed and few claimants are lazy, simply not fortunate enough to have your blend of qualities and skills. Peace and love ❤
You do sound p****d off my dear, unfortunately we have to pay rent, council tax, food, ect, things could be much worse for you, I have crap in my crappy flat, I have to go up & down six flights of stairs several times a day to let my dog out🐶, think yourself lucky it could be much worse 😮😊
I used to rent a little house that had a large pear tree covering most of the tiny gravel garden. The landlord warned me that for about a month a year it dropped pears constantly, and if I didn't clear them away I'd have an insect problem. I didn't clear them the first year, and sure enough, the house filled with wasps. The second year I put metal posts up under the tree and hung netting out so the falling pears didn't get damaged on the gravel. I'd collect them up each day after work, and make crumbles for myself, give them to neighbours, take them to family and friends, pretty much everyone I knew was given more pears than they could eat, then I prepped the rest, put them in vacuum seal bags, and half filled my chest freezer. The following year I still hadn't used them all from the freezer (And TBH, I was starting to hate the sight of pears. :D), so I had a chat with a guy just down the road from mums house. He had a little veg barrow on the end of his drive where he'd sell produce from his large garden vegetable plot. He was happy to swap carrier bags of pears for stuff off his barrow, so that year a lot of them went to him in exchange for tomatoes, cauliflowers, lettuces, carrots, potatoes, generally whatever he had an excess of. My food bills dropped a noticeable amount during that time, and that was all because I hate wasps in the house. :)
If whatever smartphone you get has an OTG equipped USB port (nearly all of them do), you can plug an adapter in and transfer your SD cards or pendrive that way.
It is the insecurity. This is a classic defense. Empty a room scrub it out wash the windows change the curtains. Put some furniture back. A van is a mistake. The mood will lift.
Been watching your content for ages then realised the other day I hadn't subscribed! I rectified that! I also have started watching your videos directly instead of on the feed in the hopes that you also get revenue from the ads. Single woman in my early 40's who was self employed...wishing you the best of luck for your tenancy renewal
Sounds like you're feeling a bit sorry for yourself today. Where does the jealously stem from? And perhaps set up a gofundme page to help you find somewhere else to live?????
Cone and lock ve near me, I would live to have you asa neighbour. There are flats in the almshouses near me in tbe south west for £260 a month although they might have gone now.
I blanche for a few minutes in boiling water. They say you should put them into ice water but I just use the coldest water out the table and producing that much ice isn't practical here.
I made the mistake of offering to help a housebound neighbour while she was having her hips done. She had one done, and then just kept putting off having the second one done. So a few months of unpaid shopping and gardening, turned into nearly 4 years of constantly being moaned at and treated like a servant.. Until I finally had to walk away.
Im glorified homeless and my rent is 300 per month. Serious drawbacks of course. If i was looking at a flat it would 650-750 minimum before bills. Would have to work 60 hours per week to manage that. Lol
Really none of my business, but if you did want to move back to be closer to your parents, is there any possibility that they could help you out with the rent? (you could perhaps call it an early inheritance perhaps?). Just a thought. Or could you work hard enough to build up your business again to cover the cost in the extra rent that you would need down South? xx
No. They wouldn't help with that. If I was homeless they would help but they wouldn't help pay for me to move closer. That's my problem. I get my inheritance when they are gone and they won't know how much they need until they are no longer here. If I chose to jack in everything and go back to full time work I could probably afford to pay a bit more rent - not enough for the south, but I also have to decide if I want to give up the work life balance I have worked so hard to put in place just to spend the next 20 years miserable.
Trading 212 pay 5.2% on any cash (going down to 5% after Sept 9) daily. Or you could have a S&S ISA on Trading 212 (free) and buy CSH2 ETF which depends on inter-bank rate and has been 5.4% but will probably be around 5.2% soon. Being an ISA it is tax free and T212 ISA is flexible so you can take money out and put back in within same year. £1200 gain in 1 yr on savings account means you may be taxed on £200. Use ISA and free broker like T212 or Invest Engine. May be an option for you?
Amazing. The U.K. imports a lot of food. Australia grows most of their own food. Your food prices, even at full price, is a fraction of the Oz food prices.
I know but before the conflict in the west, our food 2 years ago was way cheaper with bigger sizes, now it's more exspensive for less. I have seen AUSTRALIAN people on RU-vid complaining about the prices, you must be getting ripped off, we are too to some extent
Canada seems really terrible for food prices, going by what I see on social media. Might just be certain places and items that are expensive, not sure.
Yes we do grow a lot of our produce and it should be cheaper in Australia but our supermarkets make higher profits due to lack of competition and the farmers are squeezed - price gouging.
Hi thank you for this information, you explained it so well that its like I'm sitting opposite you. i have a question, maybe you have the answer: Do they count a cash gift count as income? So if my sister gives me £1000 gift would they reduce my UC for the month?
Hi. I'm glad you're finding it useful. I checked on Google for your question. Here's what I found - 'No. As long as the payments are truly voluntary gifts (not taxable, in return for work or spousal maintenance - for example) then they will not be classed as income and Universal Credit cannot take them into account.' So I think you would be okay there. :)
Seems like they have ended WTC, and migrated everyone to UC, because they know after the end of the migration year, no self-employed will be entitled to it anymore.
I think the migration will be done at the end of the year so there are still some people getting it at the moment. I think some will still be entitled because you can be self employed and working for someone else, but it can often be erratic and need occasional top ups. I don't think the system is very well geared up for the SE but the whole point of the system is to remove as many people from the system as possible, not help people so that'll be just fine for the DWP.
Check your rental agreement. Usually they can only put your rent up 10% annually. The flat below is going up by that much because when it becomes vacant, a landlord can put up the rent to whatever they want. I hope that this helps 🙂
Do you know where you got the information about a maximum increase being 10%. I haven't been able to find that online. It just says it has to be fair and in line with local rent prices.
@@workinprogresssince1974 Something like that should be more specific in a rental agreement. I advise that you contact the estate agent who deals with the rental and ask them about maximum rent increases
Keep positive Claudia, your doing well, inspiring a lot of us 👍 my UC ends in October , the protected year is helpful but there is going to an awful lots of people affected
I wonder how people who have finished their protected year are doing. I wonder how useful the system has been for them. I will try and find some information on that. :)
Thank you for your updates on UC. So far it's been awful. I've been left in total mess even though all old benefits and UC have had every possible bit of paperwork. I'm about to move my business into Feelance work so a change of direction for me although I'm keeping 3 online shops. UC sent me a job post 2 days ago to work for them as a work coach!! 😮 So do they have trouble with people staying in those jobs, I wonder 🤔
I got invited to be a work coach too. I looked at her like she'd just told me to become an astronaut. It's because the turn over of staff at the DWP is so high because it's such an awful job.
@@workinprogresssince1974 you bet. You've got this lovely gift of the gab, I must admit, but you'd be wasted at the office alright. Stay on RU-vid, at least we've got something to look for and watch 🙂
Hi Claudia what has happened to the money you put in and was supposed to get back ? Was it 16OO or something you said ? If it was round the other way and you owed them money they would make sure you paid it back after closing account ! I hope your going to be ok ❤
Do you mean the interest I declared? It's being proessed but they said it could take a long long time to be sorted. I will probably have forgotten all about it by the time they give me an answer. I expect no miracles......
Hi Claudia did you ever get anything resolved about getting your money back. Remember they kept cancelling your appointments ect . Hope so. On the plus side you don't have them breathing down your neck . Take care you can do it 💕 xx
@@sandylaws8648 and then in most cases the landlord issue's a section 21 or now possibly a section 8 people then move or get evicted then landlord let's it again at almost double sadly this is happening more and more 🥲
Yes i read around 300k didn't bother to migrate for whatever reason, lots were just claiming the housing benefit component, they also would have their bank statements checked with the new laws, fraud is detected more easily, lots wouldn't qualify or really needed the extra help. They definitely would of claimed if they were genuine claimants
Possibly. I think a lot of people who are genuine see the new system as overwhelming and with so much bad press about the DWP it's no surprise it's putting people off who do need the help.
There is pressure to meet the minimum earnings floor. I migrated approx 8 weeks ago and I have had weekly Jobcentre appointments and they will continue
Your UC videos have been a massive help as we are currently being migrated over. We have additional issues re chronic illness and disability so I had a really helpful web chat from CAB on Friday, they gave several links to look at before filling in the claim form plus proposed numbers based on our circumstances. You are one very resourceful person so I hope you manage to find ways of making up the shortfall that work best for you. Thanks for all of your videos Claudia they are much appreciated 💚
I'm so pleased this has helped you. It's why I decided to do these videos. When I looking for information on UC on RU-vid last year all you get is clinical info videos that make no sense. Best of luck with your claim. I hope it all works out for you.
Hey Claudia, As someone who has never claimed UC or any other benefit i simply dont have first hand experience of it. That being said i do know many many people who are on UC. You have been in a privileged position where you simply didn't need the money to survive on day to day like most people who receive it. It will be very interesting to see how you manage without that extra income come January. I believe if i'm correct that you can still receive UC if you meet the AET figures of working for a least 18hrs a week. Should you ever feel the need to up your working hrs either by paid work or side hustles you could still receive UC. This is what i'm told by people who claim it. Please keep us informed on how you are getting on with this. I always find your videos very fascinating on how strict you are with your budget and how organised you are in your everyday life. I think a lot of us wish we was better in handling our money better. Thanks again for the up date. Have you heard anything regarding your rent increase yet? Have a good Sunday Claudia.
I won't be allowed on UC after this month. I don't meet the criteria. I was on the protected year which has different rules and why I was entitled to it for that year. As for the money reduction in 2025, well I will have to work harder and cut back on spending to meet in the middle. I've been in far worse financial situations and survived. I realise I was lucky to get UC for one year from all different viewpoints and it has definitely been helpful in many ways.
It has been interesting following your journey. As I'm in Scotland the bedroom tax is abolished, but unbeknown to me, it was up to me to get that paid for by the local council once it had been applied by UC. I've just moved to a 1 bed bungalow so it doesn't apply to me now, but I cant get a refund for the couple of months I shouldn't have been paying it. The system is complicated and doesn't seem to have everything set up to make it all work hand in hand with all the other benefits like ctax rebates which I also had to figure out myself. Like you, I wont reach the new minimum income floor unless a miracle happens so by not earning enough Il be too poor to claim any of these things when my transitional period ends in April🙃
Because I know that every 6 months I need to have that money available or lose my home, I simply squirrel it away in a savings account until it is needed. This is why I lead a frugal life! :)
Oh i didn't know that, i know people used to be able to decide how many ads were put on their own channel,can you request? It isn't a good change like most of their changes, i would of thought more ads equals more revenue for them🤔@@workinprogresssince1974
It's been interesting watching your journey with this over the past year. Every now and again I lose my creativity and I've found that it's just not something one can force to come back or one does not make a good job or feel pleasure in. It does come back though. I'll take a break away from it all and then one day an image pops up in my head and I'm creating again with enthusiasm 😁
