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?

Yanbu. When I started work back in 1995 I got a job as a trainee banking rep for 8.5kpa. The same job pays roughly the same now, possibly less. Petrol for my first car bought that year was 54.9ppl it's now double that. House prices have doubled, fuel prices doubled, food prices not far off doubled, and yet wages are the same. No wonder people can't afford to live!

I don't know - I agree that inflation has gone up faster than wages, but I think that we've also had a major change in our lifestyle expectations.

I heard an old guy on the radio last night, a guy who'd been a factory worker in the 50s to 70s, at a time when his industry was booming. He said that he'd had 'a fantasy life', and he clearly meant it. His 'fantasy life' was owning a small house, a car, and going on holiday abroad a couple of times. Compared to his parents, that was an absolute fantasy. Nowadays, we'd probably see that as a lifestyle on a tight budget

Yanbu
I used to put £10 of diesel in my car, and it would last a lot longer than it does now.

We pay gas and electric by dd every month, they have just put it up by £35 a month! I went on to a few money saving websites to find a cheaper supplier, and the best quote I got was only £4 cheaper than our new amount.
We couldn't afford a holiday abroad this year because the flights/taxes are so expensive now.
we are eating a lot more cheap processed food these days, because we just can't afford to buy decent chicken breasts, meat etc
It's depressing and things won't improve for us until DD starts school and I can start working again.

Your grocery bill is off the scale

Perhaps you could set a budget for the month, draw that in cash and spend only that - I've done this before and it really makes you think about what you're buying/throwing away. Depending on how old the DCs are you could maybe get them involved? you might have to bribe them Price check the supermarkets online and shop around if you can (mind you this does take time so if you're working full time you might not want to do this). Drop down to Tesco own or Tesco value ranges. Meal plan ruthlessly. It can be done, but it does take a bit of work.

Having said that, YANBU, the cost of living is outrageous.

Personally I don't think OP's shopping bill is that bad - did you see the bit about her and her husband both working at home? That's more meals right there.

That 90 a month menu is a little misleading, it's only one meal a day and to do it at that price for an average family of four you'd be looking at tiny portions and/or "dodgy cuts".

I don't think that £90 menu seems very healthy, not many vegetables and a lot of processed meat. We manage to do the weekly shop for £320-400 pcm, not many treats though, no alcohol and no red meat. We cook about 50% from scratch. I keep dreaming of the day when I can eat just what I like. It's the one thing I miss, in fact life is bland without good food.