What's it like to just buy what you need? Chronic skint person here.

[skintLine]

We live paycheck to paycheck every month. We get by and have to budget down to the penny so when we have a big emergency it kind of messes us up a bit. Its so shit.

Out kettle has broken and I can't afford to buy a new one yet. Stuff like this really makes me sad. I can't even buy basic stuff that needs replacing. I have to start thinking which budget I need to get it out of. It gets me so sad. I see people just buying X,y z on a whim or going on last minute holidays. And I can't bloody buy a kettle on a whim!

Any chronic skints like to join me in my pity party!

I'm also chronically skint. It's so rubbish isn't it!
My son desperately needs a new bed, and has for a while, but I can't afford it and I don't know when I will.
It's not just you op.
I also know many people who never struggle. It's frustrating.

I don't know as a normal non skint person but as a formerly skint person with a very poor childhood history it's weird. I still automatically mourn a little when something runs out or breaks before I remember that I CAN replace it

I also have a tendency to buy several of something when replacing so I feel secure enough that I definitely don't have to do without this thing, to make that stressful mourning go away. Things like toiletries to clothing... not the big ticket items obviously.

My dh is self employed so we go through periods of being ok & then one job doesn't pay & we're in the shit.

I tend to save every penny waiting for the next time.

I also stock pile. I got an iron on sale after Christmas for £20 just in case it breaks & I don't have money to replace it.

It's shit 😩

We're not always like this but definitely are at the moment. Our kettle also broke down a couple of weeks ago & I managed to get a new £12 one from Sainsbury's by a mixture of taking back some shirts that DH had been given & wouldn't wear (they were work shirts but he dresses casually for work), using Nectar points & taking some old clothes to cash4clothes. Then I found £1 on the floor which made my day!

It's really horrible atm, counting every penny, panicking every time a bill comes in & being ultra-careful with food so every scrap is used to the best effect, but at least I can see there's light at the end of our tunnel- DH has a few months' definite work coming up next month.

I feel for you OP

I've been on a ridiculously tight budget for the last year or so. It is really shit, down to silly things like not being able to buy new bras or little things throwing your budget out of kilter.

It's especially hard when you see the people around you being able to afford things like holidays or a load of christmas presents and then feeling inadequate.

I joined my local credit union and put a small amount away every week. They also offer low cost small loans, something which can be a lifesaver.

Same, I have ordered myself some new boots and a few clothes and feel terrible even though I can't obviously walk around naked. Christmas gives me stress dreams from about July, even though the children are generally fab and understanding.

We're not quite at that stage but not far off. DH is self employed so we have all the joy that comes with that and it's very much limping from one payment to the next and being at the mercy of other people, which I really hate. Would love to be able to buy whatever I fancied as and when.

I can relate to this too, and the self employed woes mentioned by pps.

I'm looking for full time work atm, I can't manage very well with clients who don't pay me for ages, it's so hard to budget.

I spend so much of my time calculating how much money I have, how much I need and when I might have it, it's horrible.

Same here utterly

I grew up in a household where every penny was budgeted for. We used my grandma’s old stove top kettle for years (until it developed a hole in the base). I still remember hoe decadent buying an electric kettle as its replacement seemed (this would’ve been around 1990).

These days I’m on a high salary and have significant savings. I still feel guilty about spending money - even on essential things like a new kettle. In fact, I think the more I earn the harder I find it to spend money. Especially spending money on me. I’m still feeling bad about spending £35 on a work dress in December. Even though I’m wearing it to work on a regular basis.

DH and I spent a lot of years like this. Pretty much every household thing we owned was either a hand-me-down or charity shop buys. I remember the iron broke and I basically spent a few weeks gathering change and was ecstatic when I found one in a charity shop which I could just afford.

It sucks OP. I'm assuming you've reviewed everything and there is no room for manoeuvre?