To be so sick of being broke?

Massive drip feed...

Gluten free is pretty much everywhere now.

This is getting into the realms of absurdity. You're spending a hundred pounds a month on weight loss injections, which drastically reduces your appetite.

But your food bill is so large because of the food for you... for gluten free bread. How many loaves you eating a month for £825 and is your weight loss injection, not working if your gluten free bread is the cause of the high food bill.

2 loaves a week would be £25 a month or so. Not £825.

This is getting absurd now.

Can you give me an example? Must have acrivastine as the active ingredient.

I earn 120k and I can't afford weightloss drugs or gym membership atm our food bill is about 600 for a family of four. Our rent (4k for a 4 bed semi) and council tax is much much higher due to where we live. We arent having a holiday this year as I can't afford it. DH makes 40k a year.
I am budgeting really strictly. Prjces have gone up so much it is hard but we have cut back massively.

The thing is though she’s spending so much on non essentials that they won’t (or shouldn’t) consider writing off the debt. There are people genuinely struggling and having to rely on food banks etc…….thus woman is spending £850 of groceries for 4 people (2 of whom are not contributing to the household at all) plus luxuries such as Netflix and gym membership and WLD

@PrincessC0nsuelaBananaHammock i can empathise- cost of living has increased so much. I used to fritter away money, on gardening and days out, nice things. Now I have two coffees a month out and maybe one pub lunch a month when I meet adult dc. They’re my treat times. No money to fritter as the bill increases this year vastly outstripped my v v small wage increase.

I thin my wage increase was about £50 a month and the bills went up £160 so that just comes out of my excess, which has gotten much smaller over the last three years. And I’m on a decent wage.

Keep plugging away at the debt and it’ll seem much better all of a sudden (I get that it makes you fed up in the mean time though).

It’s tough OP, and for that I have sympathy.

But for reference; we take home 5.5k and phone contracts are banned in this house. I have had a ‘new’ second hand iPhone in the drawer which I bought off a contract friend. It’s been in there over a year because I am still using my smashed screen phone. There’s no need to upgrade at all until it dies IMO.

DPs Benadryl was also part of the cull. He fought for a GP appointment. You can do it. This will also help your mounjaro as if you tell them about your debts and stress there’s every chance you might be allowed it on prescription. It’s worth a shot.

I agree DPs gym is worth keeping. But you need to cut something so I suggest the foodshop. Download cherrypick free trial and challenge yourself to one week. Really see how minimal you can get it. Go into the baskets and tweak each item for cost efficiency. Food shop doing very weird things atm. It’s cheaper to buy two small packs of mince than a same size larger one. Then once you succeed at that then make that the challenge target for every week. You can and will get it down and it will have no difference in quality of life.

Save the buffer from the food shop. Put it into an easy access savings in something like monzo and then use that to pay off the debt once you have a small buffer saved up (say £500).

Goodluck

We are a 4 adult household and our food bill is nowhere near that! I'm on Mounjaro too, so plenty of fresh food, protein etc.

How did you rack up that much debt. Were you just not paying the council tax for months or years?

What the heck is a VPN and why would one need it. Im not that great with technology.

I understand, it’s the only thing that works for my DS. Some things can’t be scrimped on.

It’s awful having no money, so many of my friends say they have no money but are then off on holiday constantly atm. I can’t even afford days out with the children, people say, take them to museums and art galleries but I can’t afford to take them to the nearest city to do that. So life is like Covid, just lots of time at home doing things that are of known cost. Anyway, I didn’t want to steal your post, just say I empathise.

You can have your treat without paying for these overpriced subscription. Just torrent the shows and movies you want to watch. They come without ads and you won't need a VPN anymore.

If you do want a VPN, you could try ProtonVPN or OpenVPN. They are free and reliable providers.

And for those who are aghast that I am advocating for piracy, I have this to say:
If buying isn't owning, piracy is not stealing.

I would also recommend you look at your yearly subscriptions, such as Adobe and Microsoft. These add up as well and are often overlooked since most bills are monthly, but they could really trip you up at the start of the year.

I feel your pain . It can be overwhelming & gets u down but I got ahead & got out of debt by following Dave Ramsay on YouTube , I worked full time then took another job in the evening. It was exhausting but I knew it wasn’t long term . I did it for 3 years & I was left with no debt & built up savings 2 . I worked in a restaurant in the evening so I was getting fed good food & didn’t have to buy food for myself 2 !

Be told to stop buying avocado on toast and people will laugh at you for the vat charge on private schools.

You'll get no sympathy.

You're spending £800 a month on debt and £825 on food and toiletries. The food bill is pretty obscene and I'd look to make changes there. What on earth are you all eating for that sum of money.

Food bill does seem high, although i agree food costs have gone up. We spend approx £600 a month for 4, and all but me need specialist items- 2 coeliac and 1 dairy free, so a small loaf of bread is £3.50, a pack of gf cornflakes £3 etc. Does everyone take packing up for lunch to school/college?

I know it doesn't help now, but when phone contracts end look at cheaper options, and young adults should be contributing to household budget - covering their food, mobiles etc.

It is tough now though, we have what I always thought of as a reasonable income - both work for nhs dh full time and me part time as that's all my disability will allow - but we used to have a bit left over for holidays/saves, but it now all goes on bills

For your daughter, did you get support with completing the PIP form? They aren't easy, and they look for very specific information. I only knew how to do it from a social worker I work with helping me, maybe try to get some help from a local charity?

They're adults, they need to contribute to the home they live in, not expect everything for free. Even your disabled DD can pay for her phone bill and contribute towards the internet and Netflix.

Exactly

OP, I notice you didn’t answer my question about BMI.

Does that mean you’re not in medical need of losing weight but are taking these private drugs for vanity reasons?

OP, I get it. Things are tight for so many people. I can see why you’re taking the weight loss jabs and the gym membership is hardly excessive.

I’m not going to criticise your spending - I will say focus on the day all your debts are paid off. You will have more money then and be able to breathe a little.

For now, I think you just keep doing your best.

There are the same tablets just a different name