How are people affording things atm?

[locomum83]

Bear with me.... I work 12 hours a Week, the rest of the time I look after our 3 young kids, DH works full time.
We can afford nothing at the minute, food costing us at least £700 a month (more than I earn) we run 2 cars as we live rural, and can't car share due to work commitments, our mortgage isn't even that much.
I'm looking at other jobs but we don't have formal childcare, just our parents, all in their 70's so not ideal, and to work more could mean having to pay childcare, so the extra money would be eaten up with childcare so what's the point?
this summer we haven't even been able to have any sort of holiday or even short break organised, we simply have no money left after bills, and often we have to take money from savings to help.
All my mum friends are chatting about their holidays to Disney, turkey, Spain etc, and their new build houses, etc.
My question... how do people do it?? Seriously, and not even people with really excellent jobs, those just with regular run of the mill jobs. Everyone around me is spending money, big money! And I have no idea how they do it.
Are people in debt up to their eyes, what kind of jobs are people doing? Maybe I can do the same! Really deflated at the moment and feeling totally useless.

@locomum83 you’re doing the best for your family. I’m sure you’d work more than 12 hours if childcare wasn’t an issue. X

Haven’t read all the comments so apologies if someone has suggested this but I save all my Tesco points for a year then use them against family days out with the kids where the value of them is usually quadrupled!
I’ll book a cheap premier inn hotel room (shared with the kids) for a night and plan a day out each side of that with the vouchers - and tell the kids this is our holiday! We’ve had a some great weekends away!

I think the point to take is that the cost of living crisis is having a very uneven effect. There are people who are really screwed and people who are barely affected, and a lot of us it about how fortunate you are with your timing. On a wider level, in that being 60 plus now means you're much more likely to have paid off your mortgage or be in SH than the rest of the population, but also even within younger cohorts it's often a question of who fixed mortgage rates when.

Usborne books and Avon are both MLMs.

https://www.talentedladiesclub.com/articles/how-much-money-can-you-earn-with-mlm-usborne-books-at-home/

https://www.talentedladiesclub.com/articles/is-avon-really-a-better-mlm-or-is-it-a-pyramid-scheme/

Don't do Avon or usborne (or any kind of MLM /direct selling). Even a few years ago all the analysis showed most people in them spent more on products than they earnt. I don't know anyone who has tried one who hasn't lost money

And that was before the cost of living crisis kicked in meaning people have less money spare to spend on overpriced products

(Nb am gutted usborne use the MLM model as their books are good. But it's an awful model that exploits people)

They got rid of that now. Its only doubled.

I have negotiated an extra 3 hours a week now with my current job which I'm delighted about ! It's not much but certainly a start and it will help! Thanks for all comments

Definitely! Hope things keep improving for you.

Looking after friends kids during school hols ?

Boo! If you have no support it can be pretty hard to manage even more than twelve hours a week.

OP your Mum’s friends are most likely boomers the generation that got everything and then punched down on all the generations after. Don’t compare yourself.

every person with more than one kid and no support is struggling.

well done for securing the extra hours at work....
We are still doing ok, but both work full times, stuck to 1 kid, as we could only afford 1 (outskirts of London). I also have a Saturday job (which normally would pay for holidays but nowadays a bit harder as whether ferry / planes / car rentals everything has gone through the roof since Covid).
Some of the things I do is using cashback websites whenever I can; making sure I am on the best deals for internet / insurances ….shop around at renewal times.
Have a look on the £10 a day thread as there are lots of ideas there.
Since last year with food costs increasing, I have started to use the Olio app, which has enabled us to save up to £100 some months. Meal planning is also a good way to save money.
On the £10 / day thread, there are a few ideas. Some surveys sites are good, others not so good. I like Opinium, and prolific; with prolific you can get paid via paypal everytime you reach £5. I hadn't done for a while, but started back today, and managed already nearly £5 in a bit more than half an hour. It all adds up.
Best of luck.

Are you claiming DLA for your asd and adhd children? This would also allow you to either claim carers or bump up your UC entitlement and make you eligible for extra elements and bump up your entitlement so you get something.

Your choice to have 3 kids. Can’t complain about not being able to afford them now. Should have though about that before you had them.

Did that make you feel better? Didn't bother to read the thread?

Useful advice, well done 👏🏻

It’s your choice to be 🐄 , can’t really complaint about the replies you will be getting either

There is no magic formula Op. It's a combination of less children and/or higher income.

I have 3 children btw and am fully aware how expensive things can be - especially food. However our income allows for a comfortable life. Not wealthy but comfortable.

I’m on maternity leave at the moment (SMP) with second DC. Second is only 7 months but wow these last few months I have realised how good we had it financially with two full time wages and only one child. Now with only SMP and nursery costs coming up things are much tighter but what has helped for me is matched betting (a marmite topic I know…) I taught myself the basics in about April when things started to get tight and it has been such a massive help. In the first few weeks I made about £1000 but now it’s about £200/£300 a month not to be sniffed at! I’ll keep it up when I go back to work as all my salary (not an exaggeration) will be spent on bills and nursery.

Your life sounds fairly normal, think it’s all the wealthy people you mix with skewing your perspective. If you’ve got no debt and running 2 cars and spending £700 a month on food then your better off than a lot of people

Well if you listen to all the middle aged, middle class I worked hard and bought a house in the 90s types on here. You are lazy and you need to work harder! Oh and just having a British passport makes you privileged so go move somewhere were your jobs pay more... lol

Reality is the jobs market is tanking. Inflation is rampant and many of us are struggling. I would be proud you both have a job as thats an achievement at the moment.

As others have said. Shop the offers and use those point cards and vouchers. Do not buy things because you always do wait for them to be on offer as they come round eventually.

Good luck

I think you need to have a serious think about jobs. The way your husband works makes it impossible for you to take stuff on. If was to work fixed shifts you’d have clearer ideas of your availability.

Two kids under 5
One car
I work evenings and weekends husband works days
It's shite and we still haven't had a holiday in years 🤣