The worst thing about having no money

[letsallmeetupinthehyear2000]

is after a hard week at work you look at your bank balance and not only have you no money but you are overdrawn you can't go out and enjoy yourself or even buy yourself a tiny treat or buy any food without worrying about being in debt, you don't know how you're going to pay the electricity bill and any bit of joy or creativity has been sapped out of you you feel anxious and overwhelmed most of the time and you are so tired so tired you can't get dressed and you can't stop crying at everything

Hi all,

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you should be offended that companies making billions would rather destroy stock or food than share it out or give with away or even sell at a discount (not a 10% off) to people who are hungry.

This. Also, with meat..those animals died for nothing.

Totally agree, its disgraceful.
Why dont they sell things off at the end of the day like the supermarkets do?
Say an hour before closing?

Presumably because it will devalue the original cost? Like Burberry burning their clothes and stuff. Otherwise people who pay the high prices would see through them?

Arent we talking about food though?
Typically things purchased and consumed the same day?
Bread, baked goods, sandwiches?
Supermarkets reduce food why not these types of places ?

The worst thing about having no money is not being able to leave your miserable spouse.

@Snoredoeurve image I imagine. Not agreeing with it tho.

Eating next to nothing for a week so your daughter can keep her swimming lessons 😭

@EwwSprouts that's a good website. Thanks for sharing.

i have £3 in my account till the 27th. Today is my 50th birthday and my lovely friends wanted me to go for a meal, for the first time ever I told them the reason I couldn’t go. This afternoon I had a knock at the door and did a very unmumsnet thing and answered. They were all there and bought food and drink. And as they were leaving they handed me a envelope and they had all put what they would of spent on the meal in there. I’m so grateful but also embarrassed. I work 2 jobs but have become a charity case. I would never tell them that’s how I feel but I wish I had never been honest

Just look at it as the lovely gesture it is.
I'm sure if the shoe was on the other foot ,you'd have done the same.

You absolutely are not a charity case. It was a gift. Everything that your friends did was a gift.

@7spanishangels Happy Birthday 🎂

What wonderful friends you have @7spanishangels please don't take it the wrong way. If I was your friend I'd have done the same, I would rather my money went to you then some corporation. Please don't feel embarrassed, this was your birthday gift from people who love you.

Happy birthday! 🎂

This is going to sound really ungrateful. I was a bit skint...honesty nothing like some of the stories on here but nevertheless, no spare cash and more days in the month than money! It was my birthday...a biggie with a zero in the end. I have a group of friends. They are all well off. On the day, they each sent me a bouquet of flowers. Some relatives did too. None of them cheap bunches. I'd say at least £40 each. I got no other gifts. I own one vase. I had eight bouquets of flowers in my kitchen...probably totalling over £500. I could have cried. A ten quid supermarket voucher would have been more useful than that.

That's not being grateful.

Thats just being pissed off and hurt none of your friends or relatives actually knew you well enough to think something more practical than flowers mught have been better.

Sorry meant ungrateful

Guessing that they would not make enough money of it. My son had a weekend job at a big supermarket, he showed me the shocking amounts of just fine meat he had to bin every day. He even emailed the big bosses about it (filmed the amounts whilst chucking it) but obviously never got a reply.

I've written quite a few replies to this that I've deleted because they were rambling and angry, but one thing they all had in common was the fact that as someone on a low income, you're devalued by the very people who rely on you for whatever job you do or role you play in society, and that the poorer you are, the more you're expected to be socially responsible (only have the bare essentials if that, justify your spending, get better jobs to contribute more money etc etc) for the good of society, and the more you exploit others to 'succeed' the more you're worshipped and credited by society as being an example of what hard work and inspiration can do - completely ignoring that it's usually the inspiration to use other people's hard work that they are succeeding on the back of.

I rarely find yellow stickered food a bargain...where I am, it's 20/30p max off a packet of meat. No actual good deals

I totally understand your pride is hurt and you feel embarrassed (or somehow a failure) but they are good friends - doing that from a good place - believe me that is rare. They know that it could be any of them tomorrow you just never know what could happen.
A lovely friend of mine took me out for a meal a couple of months ago and paid for the whole thing - I have never accepted help like that before but she insisted and you know what I had a really nice time - some people really want to help and you need to let them x

😭🤬

I am going to sound very naive here, but reading this post has made me cry as it is like reading about my life.
I work 4/5 shifts a week, single mum, 3 kids, 2 at school and 1 at nursery. Come September the youngest will get 30 free hours a week and I’m hoping it will make life easier.
I currently have 83p in the bank until payday. My ex put fuel in my car for me today, which is great, but means on payday I have to pay him back and put fuel in my car again.
My nan helpfully suggested that I get rid of unnecessary things, like the internet. Yes maybe it is a luxury but I have a 15 year old who needs do do her school work, most of which is online. She also thinks that the reason I struggle so much is because I don’t budget properly. As many other posters have said, I budget to the very last penny. I walk around the supermarket with my calculator and can’t even pick up an extra drink/chocolate bar/bag of pasta etc. I meal plan and absolutely hate having to tell my DC that they can’t eat anything out of the fridge as it’s needed for the week and I can’t afford to replace it.
My work provide free sanpro and last month I filled my pockets with tampons and prayed I wasn’t selected for a random search when I finished. I have also put toilet rolls in my bag when needed.
So many other things, I could be here all night listing them! Paying with coppers for milk and bread, digging around the back of the sofa for change, having to get my daughters dad to pick them up as if I drive to his I won’t have enough fuel for getting to work the next day.

I can’t get credit so have no overdraft etc as my credit rating is horrendous.

I was talking to a colleague and she said she’s struggling this month, I told her that I am too, she then said that she’d had to dip into her savings to get to the end of the month, I then realised we have very different definitions of being skint!

It’s fucking shit, and unless you’ve been there you don’t understand.

In my first sentence above I meant to say that I feel very naive as I didn’t realise so many people were living like I am and I just thought I was shit!