to be think that the cost of living is going up much faster than salaries?

[DancesWithWoolsEnPointe]

I remember seeing some other poster be annihilated for a similar post a while back (and hey, we all know you are taking your life in your hands on AIBU anyway), but I am greatly destressed that I am still panicking about money each month at almost 37. DH and I are both well qualified, well experienced and employed, yet we seem to be permanently broke. I am sure that by my age my parents were coping, where as I am STILL in the situation whereby I have to put back the nice responsibly farmed meat and buy the cheaper options, walk past 70% of the high street shops as I can't afford to sneeze in them and goodness know we won't be going on a holiday anytime soon. My car is 10 years old and falling apart but there is zero opportunity to replace it etc etc etc. In the last 3 years my grocery bill has gone from £400 a month to £600/700, and petrol has gone up about 40p a litre. Has everyone else had inflation-based increases? Are DH and I just being stupid?

This is a bit of a directionless rant ramble. I suppose what I'm asking is, is it just me or has the cost of living gone up much faster than salaries and as a result family finances seem to be going backwards?

I've had to change jobs because I could no longer afford the commute. The petrol costs were killing me and the trains cost far more. Luckily I work in a field where there are plenty of jobs for those with experience so I managed to drop my salary slightly (£50 a month) and offset it with the savings in fuel (£150 per month) and it works out i'm technically bringing home more now i'm not spending on fuel!

However we are like you, our cars are old, DP's has just died its final death and we can't afford to replace it, the carpet needs replacing and, again, we don't have the spare cash. We don't have a mortgage or rent but the money disappears on childcare, household bills, fuel costs (or that was where mine was going) food - don't get me started on the price of food - and repairs on the house which is very very run down.

Sucks doesn't it.

Im starting to get a bit scared as if I dont hit our target this month I will seriously have to look at cutting back my hours to get rid if of the childcare
46 and struggling to pay bills is totally sucksville ;0(

Same here. We used to have a small amount of disposable income and also be able to save for a few camping trips - this has all been eaten into now, and we are living at the same standard.

I am pregnant and have recently potty trained dd, but despite not buying nappies or wine, my supermarket bill hasn't gone down. We rarely buy clothes, and I haven't had a haircut for a year. H is higher rate taxpayer and I am SAHM, so not poor by a long shot.

I do wonder how the economy will ever recover with living costs so high - people simply do not have money to spend.

No I am feeling is massively - being a spoiled public sector worker I haven't had a pay raise for 4 years, and not had one in line with inflation for 8 years ...petrol is a killer as is the weekly shop - I am finding it hard to balance the books every month

I'm with you completely fruit salad - we are not poor, and I know there are people struggling to feed their families at all, and here I am whinging that I can't buy free-range chicken. But at the same time I studied at University for a very long time, as did DH, and we work our arses off all week, and yet I also can't afford to go to the hair dressers or buy myself a new coat as my old one is 5 sizes too big (on a positive note).

And you are right - fruit salad IS NOT pudding, bring on the cake...

YANBU. Another public sector worker here too, I have NEVER had a pay rise in line with inflation in my working life (but I am only just about to nudge 30 so havn't been working all that long). We're struggling big time, broken down old car that is too small for us but can't afford to upscale, house falling to bits, crippled by food prices (these seem to have gone up a lot lately), petrol and train fares. Scrimping for every penny right now. I made £7 on Ebay this week and it made me deliriously happy

It is utility bills that seem to have gone up no end, a couple of years back our winter gas bill was approx £170 and now it is double that. They just keep putting up prices, somrthing need to be done as we will have to sit in the cold soon..

We don't struggle as such, but the money we have left after bills doesn't leave much for luxuries.
Our 'spending money' i.e money not required for rent and utility bills pretty much all goes on food and petrol but we do get to treat ourselves every month to a takeaway or a new item of clothing.

We have friends who can't afford to eat properly by the end of the month and we also have friends who never struggle and have no concept of money worries.

Whilst I'd like more money I'm lucky to have a job and as we're not on our arses just yet we're grateful.

Lower fuel and food prices would help enormously though!

YANBU, salaries seem to be the only costs that companies can keep down at the moment as everything else is increasing. I still buy the same sort of food as when I was a student but it costs twice as much now.
I have had payrises but not very high, we're talking 2-3% which is in no way keeping pace with inflation and once student loan repayments, tax and NI come off it's like £10 a month.

YANBU

cost of living is very high, petrol and public transport costs take so much out each month

600 a week on groceries? Or did I read that wrong? How many kids?

I read yesterday about someone who hid away a fiver each day for 2 yrs and had 12 grand by the end. I like this idea.

I also think Tesco etc just think of a number re their pricing

products that were one price last week are now this week 50p more etc and they werent even on sale last week

I get paranoid that the big companies are shafting us all financially, but maybe thats my inner hippy talking

Lol at Pink - £600 a month - if I was £600 a week and I was still moaning I'd need a good kick in the jacksie

We are self employed in the private sector and the recession started to bite on our income in 2009 so we have had 3 years of it already and probably another 2 or 3 to come. i am older than the OP and remember the last deep recession being like this too. stuff costing more rising at a greater rate than income thats what a recession is. so have tried to economise where i can - no sky tv, no phone contracts, older car with third party insurance, sharing journeys for the kids with friends, growing some basics ourselves over the past 3 years and just generally using the freezer more to batch cook or stock up when it is bogof time. also car boot what you dont use you will be amazed what old dvd's sell for as do kids clothes shoes and wellies. sorry cant be any more help than this. just bad timing for our generation.

I think if you shop cleverly you can still eat well for a reasonable cost, however utilities are a different matter entirely. I am paying almost double what I paid for most of my utilities approx 10 years ago and my wages definitely havn't doubled to compensate in that time!

thanks Dances! I know I know I'm sleep deprived (that's my excuse!)

I agree about utility bills. Ours are a fortune, they really make a difference.

thing is, how many of us are cutting back so much yet exposing our families to more risk:

more cheaper white bread= less digestive health
more days out without taking the purse = what happens if an emergency happens when out?
no heating on at home=more colds/flu?
cooler water temps when doing laundry=bugs/bacteria not killed properly in the wash?

or am I slowly going bonkers?

same with utility companies, end up paying more by direct debit over the year, or the other option is for them to think of a number basically with the bill

then so much more stress to haggle with them by phone to sort it out

it's a racket

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/credit_crunch/1515222-Feed-your-family-for-90-a-month

this OP has a good plan, £90 a month

just found it

Absolutely.
It makes me fume.
Utilities one of the worst offenders.

Could also go off on a major rant.
I had a look at old supermarket receipts and things have rocketed in the last 5 yrs.
Have our wages gone up much?
Not even close to the rise in the cost of living.

here is her monthly meal plan if anyone needs it

The menu plan I'm following is a 4 week plan, Mon-Fri as follows:

Mondays:
1 - pasta bolognese (same as spag bol, just my toddlers manage pasta with a little less mess!)
2 - chilli con carne with rice
3 - lasagne
4 - sausages and champ (mashed potato with spring onions)

Tuesdays:
1 - salad with wheaten bread
2 - quiche with green veg
3 - omelettes (various fillings)
4 - pizza and garlic bread

Wednesdays (soup day!), all served with a French baguette:
1 - veg and barley soup
2 - chicken and veg soup
3 - bacon and leek soup
4 - chicken and tarragon soup

Thursdays:
1 - fry (soda bread, potato bread, sausages, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, beans)
2 - Tuna and pasta bake
3 - bacon butties
4 - bacon and onion pasta bake

Fridays:
1,2,3 and 4! - fish and chips!

(sorry slight hijack)

as you were

No, OP, it isn't you. Prices have been rising for 3-4 years and rising much higher than inflation.

The "government's preferred measure" of inflation, CPI, is in my view a hopeless way to calculate inflation. But, it's the one the EU use, so we have to use it, even if it bears no resemblance to real world inflation.

My guesstimate would be around 10% inflation for the last 3 years for essentials such as food and drink.

Producers and retailers have become innovative at keeping the apparent price identical. Products are now smaller than they were for the same price. Retailers have squeezed producers, cutting margins. That means that the actual impact of that inflation hasn't completely fed through to the consumer. However there's not much more that you can cut from the producer or they won't be able to turn a profit.

As as someone works in IT, I can tell you that the public sector had it good compared to my sector, which has seen a real-terms fall in earnings since 2001 (unless you're in a specialist field).

Also, official inflation measures never include costs of housing. Whichi is stupid, because it is something everyone has to pay, and the crazy inflation there is a big part of why everyone is skint to buggery

YANBU
It is ridiculous that you can't support a family on one full time professional salary without government support, let alone on a minimum wage salary.

BUT - £600-700 a month on groceries? Honestly? Are you a family of 12? Because if not, you are spending far too much. Do you waste a lot of food?