To be so sick of being broke?

Do people really need the OPs spending break down for gods sake? Clearly only the people who are out of touch.

We know how much minimum wage is, how expensive bills, food, housing and general living is. My husband and I are middle earners with 2 kids and literally have zero disposable income anymore. It’s so fucking depressing

Tell us what you are paying per month (divide by 12 if it's an annual expense) for

Rent/mortgage
Gas
Electricity
Water/sewerage
Contents insurance
Building insurance
Boiler cover
Life insurance
Broadband
Tv licence
Phones
Pet insurance
Pet treatments (flea/tick/worming)
Pet food
Christmas presents
Birthday presents
Professional memberships
Clubs and societies
Food
Cleaning products
Clothing Including clothes for work.
Footwear
Toiletries
School uniform
School trips
School meals
Car tax
Car insurance
Car servicing
Fuel for car
Window cleaning
Union membership
Public transport fares

These are the sort of information that CAB would ask for when helping someone in debt but the same questions apply when working out a budget.

If you want some practical help OP then post an honest income and expenditure.
If you just want a general moan about the COL then that's ok too - lots of prices are rising, and that in itself is draining.

Allacan is just Ceterizine. Not a helpful post. I’ve no doubt the OP would use Ceterizine if it worked for her, you can buy it in any chemist’s.

Acristavine is available from other companies - Benadryl is the brand name. You can purchase it cheaper than buying the brand Benadryl

You can buy generic versions

Benedryl in the UK contains active ingredient acrivistine...there is no generic form but you can get it cheaper on Amazon.
However it's a second generation anti histamine so equivalent to cetirizine which is available generically

It's also ok OP if you just want a moan rather than practical suggestions.

I get it, it's doable but joyless month to month and wears you down.

I hope your dc gets PIP, that will help.

It also sounds like dc will not be dependents living at home for ever, and it's great they're at college and uni meaning hopefully they can get well paid jobs in future.

I suspect the OP won't clarify what her incomings and outgoings are because it will show that they're not broke and either need to manage their money more effectively and/or ask their adult DC to contribute to their living costs. Or that they've been topping up their lifestyle with debt and they're at the point where the payments have become unaffordable.

Two people working an average of 90 hours pw at NMW and paying 5% into a pension will be bringing in around £3800 pm. Which should be sufficient to cover housing, bills, food, transport and some leisure without skimping too much. Unless we're using the MN definition of 'broke' which appears to mean that they can't buy what they want, when they want, without their money running out.

Your joint annual income is around 57k, what are your housing costs?

@PrincessC0nsuelaBananaHammock what is your income vs outgoings? Maybe we can help with a budget?

Jesus crist stop arguing about Benadryl, it's got nothing to do with the thread, it's 7.51 on a Sunday morning and you're already out for an argument!

No, it's not. Benadryl is acrivastine. Unless it has come off licence very recently, there are currently and very unusually no generics on the market.

Benadryl is a brand name covering a range of products. In many markets including US & Australia its diphenhydramine. The once a day version is cetirizine which you can get generic.

Have you both always worked? Did you have a long period as sahm?

Its relatively unusual to have worked for 20+ years and never managed to gain enough experience or training to progress up a bit through promotions etc.

What jobs are you in? Can you retrain in something better paid/access some qualifications?

look at your spending habits on your banking app its called insights on some. then grab a piece of paper and note it all down, do the same with your partner. look to see if there are any bills you can cut down, shopping budget to get more in hand with packed lunches and meal plans, cutting down on takeaways, subscriptions etc. also you can have a clear out in your house with things like vinted (keep that cash in a savings account for the months you struggle)

Totally with you, the cost of everything is sickening, it all just adds up so much. I never used to think about what to buy at the supermarket, just got whatever I fancied, but now shop at Aldi and still do the maths adding it all up and deciding whether or not we really need things or could do without. When my kids were tiny sometimes we’d go out to a coffee shop for a treat, but at £4 a coffee and £4 a cake now, just can’t justify it any more. As for family days out..! My earnings are about the same as 20 years ago (on an unpredictable zero hours contract) but life costs twice as much. Also failing to get a better job, feeling past it and invisible as a knackered middle-aged woman. It’s pretty depressing. It’s easy for people to say ‘just get a better job’ - not that easy in practice at the moment.

When I had hay fever I used to buy a six-month supply of a generic remedy for £6 on Amazon. They were called Allicon or something.

Surprising thread. When OPs post that they feel poor on £60k + posters run to agree with them. So of course someone on less than £24k is asked to review their spending.
For people without children, which means no benefit top-ups, financially things are tough, on lower wages.

Without knowing your outgoings and how much you spend on food etc it’s impossible to make suggestions. For example do you have 4 mobile phones that you pay for or are you all on SIM only? What do the kids contribute?

Depends where you live. This is true in Canada and the US, but not true in the UK (in the UK, the active ingredient is acrivastine or cetirizine).

Even on NMW you should have close to £4k pm coming in with those hours, you'd only get UC with dependent DC and higher rental costs.

Have you honestly reviewed your finances? Do you have debts?

Have a look at:

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/money-help/

Shaving a few quid off here and there should make things feel a bit easier.

On the hayfever tablets, does it have to be Benedryl - there are loads of alternatives that are much cheaper (not generic Benedryl, which doesn't exist, but a different medication, eg Piriton).

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/family/cheap-hayfever-remedies/

If you're paying for things like clothes, phones, more than basic toiletries for DDs, they need to start paying for their own, plus if they have an income, even if it's UC, they need to contribute towards food and other household expenses like utilities.

No, it's not. Benadryl is acrivastine. Unless it has come off licence very recently, there are currently and very unusually no generics on the market. I am sure Benadryl users will throw a collective party when generics can legally be made. But thanks for the rather condescending post telling me how I think.

As others have said we really need a breakdown but first things to cull are unnecessary subscriptions (Prime, Netflix etc) and a revisit of your bills to see if you can go cheaper if you shop around. I know they're the basics but we all have to start somewhere.

Also moving any credit card debt to 0% cards.

Can you post a breakdown of your expenses?

I think it might be helpful to post a rough breakdown of your outgoings.
A lot of people are on a lot less and manage. Do you have a big mortgage, or a lot of debt that you are repaying?