anyone else fed up being poor ?

[Lonelybunny]

Can't believe we work full time ok minimum wage jobs well just over say 8-10 per hour but we just so skint. I'm on maternity leave , just had to walk the kids a mile and a half to school , which won't do them any harm as we walk home everyday but that's because I can't afford to put more petrol in the car , we have cut down on food shopping , can't go any lower , we cook fresh and but economy meat , make up big pasta dishes etc ! Now I'm about to cut the feet out my daughters baby grows cause I can't afford to buy more . But we are not on the lowest wages ? How to people do it ? I just don't understand y in 2013 we are living like this ?

[Lonelybunny]

Oh and we have no childcare to pay either , so where the hell does all the money go ?!

[manicbmc]

Extortionate rents, rising energy costs, increased cost of living whilst wages remain the same.

What was 'comfortable' last year is now a struggle because of the above.

[honeytea]

Meat is really expensive, even cheap meat, could you cut down on the meat you eat and only have it once a week?

I'm not sure if you use facebook but you could maybe do a post along the lines of "does anyone have any old 3-6 month (or whatever size tge baby needs) clothes we could buy cheaply dc is growing so fast it is hard to keep up!" I put a post up saying my. 6 week ds had already grown out of his 0-3 month clothes and I got 3 different people offering me 3-6 month clothes which was really touching even though we have enough of tge next size up. A similar thing happened when I put a post up before he was born asking advice as to if we should buy newborn sizes, we were given 2 big bags of clothes. People are so kind.

[manicbmc]

Look at freecycle for clothes.

[trustissues75]

If you're able to hit the supermarkets at around 6:30 and be prepared to hang around a bit....Tescos on a Thursday night I have found to be best. I've gotten UNBELIEVABLE deals on meat/bread/vegetables around that time.

Do you have Sky TV - I called mine up and haggled...got 25 knocked off my monthly bill.

turn your heating down 1 degree.

Only use cold cycle wash.

Aldi are amazing - I took my receipt into Asda yesterday and checked off what I'd bought against Asda's own brand (not named brands which is a greater saving) - on average it was a saving of around 25%.

Have you visited moneysavingexpert? The forums there are very supportive with some great ideas on budgeting and getting bargains.

Times are tough..a national minimum wage of full time work is £12,000 - it's a joke.

Are you sure you're getting all the benefits you're entitled to? Make yourself an appointment at Citizens Advice and don't be worried about taking handouts...you're entitled to them if you're not already claiming them.

[Lonelybunny]

Thank you everyone, we have chicken one day and minced beef another , the rest is meat free pasta, jacket pots etc. our selling Facebook site have things snapped up in seconds, I've managed to clothe her so far off of there and eBay but the sleepsuits I've found on eBay are like £4 postage thanks to Royal Mail . We are getting tax credits and child benefit. I don't want to claim housing benefit as we are a room over and then be subject to bedroom tax. I don't have heating on day time. It's just so hard. We don't have an Aldi or lidl here , our nearest large store which is tesco or asda is a 3 mile car ride so we have to drive really as getting it back on the busy will be hard and even the bus would cost £4 ! I don't know why we can't put the wages up its so unfair that we work and really horrible hours - hubby 5 am start me 4pm start (when I go back) yet we can't afford to even buy my daughter some pj's . Well we could but it would mean going without something else which if course she is priority but why should we live like this ?

[cozietoesie]

Lonelybunny

Have you tried online shopping? You can't get 'reduceds' that way but you'd save the hassle and the petrol. Also Tesco do vouchers for first shops so you'd save the delivery charge at first. (I use Sainsbury's and go for their free delivery.)

[honeytea]

Do you have a friend with a younger or older baby? Me and my friend pool baby equipment her dd is using our door jumper whilst our ds is using her swaddle blankets and mobile. You could maybe do a similar thing with clothes.

My mum never bought us pyjamas, we just had an old t shirt and if twas cold old leggings to wear in bed. We never ate meat and if the meal had protine in we were not allowed to put cheese on it.

Having grown up in a family with very little money it didn't matter because we still did lots of fun free things :)

[Lonelybunny]

Yes I kno the kids don't really notice , we go to the park and watch DVDs at home and go for walks etc but I just can't understand how in a world of technology and in. 2013 people can't live comfortable and. By that I mean maybe be able to save £100 a month or something or have £100 pm to do what you want with

[Boomerwang]

Yes I hate feeling poor all the time too. However, if you have the time you can usually get some bargains on the internet. You really have to look for it, though.

I agree that postage prices are getting a bit silly. Sometimes I won't buy something that's pretty cheap because the postage cost is too high, making it near enough the same price as in the shops but less convenient.

[Shinyshoes1]

Theres a thread on here . Can't link as I'm on iPhone but it something along the lines of

I have X if anyone is interested .

Maybe a kind mnetter has some babygros they don't want anymore and would be willing to give

[aldiwhore]

YANBU.

My DH works full time, me part time (all I cold get, I am literally waiting for my job share partner to retire!), we don't get any tax credits... our rent has rocketed, but so has everyone's, food bills are soaring I could go on forever.

I don't know how WE cope let alone single parent families, the disabled, those who've been made redundant and simply cannot find work.

There IS always someone out there worse than yourself, that is a truth, but right now it seems crap for everyone in some measure, everyone except the really wealthy (not the people who are comfortable).

I feel your pain.

I walk around most days with a feeling of impending doom, and I am a natural optimist that's braved bad weather with a smile... it is very hard to do that at the moment.

[whenitrainsitpours]

Totally agree! Times sucks. Everything is so expensive. My DH works full time around 15k and I worked pt 12hw at amw. We get tax credit and child benefit. Have two children 3 and 6. So one in morning nursery. We manage to pay all bills and live comfortably but no holidays or nothing expensive. The only way to improve lifestyle would be to work more hours. When my 3year old starts reception in September planning to go back to work full time and make a decent wage. Only had given up my full time job to raise my two children at home. Childcare would have been more expensive then working full time and my choice to want to be home to raise them.
As for clothing on young ones, have always got bundles of ebay or from friends and done the same for them. Swapping clothes when possible. What age is your little one might be able to help?

[SomeBear]

YANBU. We both work full-time doing split shifts, so no childcare costs but no family time either yet we are sinking deeper into debt. The family car is 13 years old, we already shop at Aldi and I can't remember the last time we got for fish & chips - never mind a meal out! It's the endless grind of robbing Peter to pay Paul that is wearing me down with the threat of being made redundant or one of us being too ill to work at the back of my mind - as aldiwhore says, a feeling of impending doom is exactly how I've described it. Our wages haven't increased in real terms but the outgoings have increased same as everyone.

I need an urgent rethink of my job situation and find something with better prospects. Just not sure what I'm good at any more.

[JamNan]

Shop in charity shops for clothes, toys, baby stuff etc. Also Freecycle and Ebay. Pass on/swap clothes, toys round friends and family or sell on eBay.

Meal plan.

Are you claiming your full entitlement to top up benefits? You may be eligible for Council tax rebate, Housing Benefit, Working tax credit. There is a website where you can check entitlement but I don't know what it is. Perhaps someone knows it and could post it here.

Make you own bread. Get a secondhand bread maker through local paper.

YANBU. You have my sympathy. Being the working poor is energy sucking and relentless with the constant worry that something will go wrong and you can't afford to fix it ie car, computer, household appliance. I am fed up with it too.

[McNewPants2013]

Marius are you paying alot of late fees, as I would go to the CAB and get some advice because that is a lot of money to waste.

Op hope things improve soon

[SoftKittyWarmKitty]

I'm a single parent and where I was ok and getting by three years ago, now everything seems to be a struggle. The main reason is that all prices have risen but wages have not. I haven't had a pay rise since 2007. I claim WTCs and get a bit of housing benefit but I don't get maintenance as my ex is completely non-compliant - if I got that, I'd be so much better off.

I've been cutting down everywhere I can, only buying essentials and selling as much as I can on eBay. I've made about £100 on there in the last two weeks. I'm going to run out of stuff to list soon though .

[BrittaPerry]

Claim housing benefit - if you are privately renting the bedroom tax doesn't apply, and even if you are in a HA property you won't end up worse off, it is just reduced by a percentage.

Look on //www.entitledto.co.uk to see what you can claim.

If you get HB you will also get a reduction in your council tax bill.

[Tortoiseonthehalfshell]

Guys, the OP isn't asking for tips! She's saying that even with two of them working, and unsociable hours, and no childcare, they struggle to clothe their baby, can't afford anything but the cheapest cuts of meat and that twice a week, and never have anything left over at the end of the week despite being careful.

A few more babygros isn't the issue.

[SoftKittyWarmKitty]

Britta I'm in private rented accommodation and my housing benefit is reduced because I have three bedrooms but only need two, so my HB is paid at the two bedroom rate not the three bedroom rate which is higher. So there is a slight reduction if you have more bedrooms than you need in private rented accommodation, however getting something is better than getting nothing, so I agree that you should put a claim in. Even £20 a week would help, surely?

[SoftKittyWarmKitty]

What's wrong with giving and getting tips?