AIBU to be totally fed up with no money

[Superleo837]

So we came back from holiday 10 days ago. We knew it’d be tight when we came back as we’d spent more on fuel travelling back. OH also stupidly used a French pay at pump machine twice which didn’t work but they ‘ring fenced’ £280 which Natwest we’ll get back in the next few days- should be Monday. I also had a huge bill to pay when we got back for my sons school next term which I’ve paid as it was a week overdue but it’s left us with zero in the bank. We don’t have credit cards and savings are locked away. I did a very cheap shop but it’s starting to run out. AIBU to be ridiculously fed up? I’m 32 weeks pregnant and my 8 year old is fed up too. Luckily my mum has been taking him out but I’ve not told her. I have no motivation to do anything. I’ve got no diesel in the car. So I’m trapped - live in a tiny village. My OH is wondering why I’m so fed up when I’ve been staring at 4 walls. He’s at work all day. Said I should groom the dog or sort a cupboard. It does make sense to do those things but I feel very fed up. I was sorting through our finances (lesson learnt re current situation) thought I’d make a new budget folder but then the printer ink ran out, obviously can’t replace. Thought I’d go through nursery items but got upset that I couldn’t finish any of it - curtain rail needs bits etc. Thought I’d do a big batch of cooking for freezer but we’ve got no freezer bags or Tupperware. Etc etc I’m normally really good at the whole pulling my socks up and making the best of a bad situation but this has drained the life out of me!

Good time to clear out cupboards of unwanted household items and do a car boot sale. It'll lift your mood, earn you a bit of cash and rid your house of clutter. In the mean time, go through all utilities and see if you can swap to cheaper deals and cut down on unnecessary expenditures. Being broke occasionally can be a good wake up call.

I think being 32 weeks pregnant gives her a free pass to complain. When I was pregnant, small things that didn't use to bother me would annoy me all of a sudden for no reason. It's hormones and we don't control them.
OP I would take some 'me time'. Have a binge TV session or a long bath, you might feel better afterwards.

Is this the first time in your life this has happened? You reaction is very OTT. You are alone at home without a child to take care of. Enjoy yourself. Read a book, watch some TV, do so gardening/put stuff you've been meaning to get rid of on eBay etc. I recently spent a week in an empty house with no furniture, no Internet, nothing. I had a wonderful time unpacking, doing some knitting (can't do this with toddlers around), reading etc.

Why don't you and your ds go for a walk, collect some rocks, then paint them and hide them through the village. Alternatively get him in the garden and get him to help you with the gardening etc.

It's annoying being skint, but as you mentioned after the weekend you will have additional funds. Some people don't even have £100 left after bills paid.

My heart bleeds.

We haven't had a holiday as a family, ever. We have been using food banks and every spare penny has gone on funding my electric wheelchair so I can move around again. We haven't bought clothes or shoes for four years. Everything we own is falling apart but we get on with it because we have to.

Get a grip. A massive one.

@GoatwithaCoat

"This isn’t a race to the bottom"

no, I can't abide race to the bottom.

it's just a bit odd considering the title and the moan, that's all.

suspect OP was just in a bad mood and tapped out something on the keyboard that she didn't really mean.

@GoatWithACoat it’s not a race to the bottom but the op honestly has nothing g to worry about. She’s had a few days stuck at home with plenty of food on the cupboards. I assume it’s just pregnancy hormones.

Savings, school fees, holiday? Try again OP.

Just to say the petrol thing happened to us in France last year. It took 3 weeks to return to my account.
I was because we were also totally skint!!!

P s, I'm also with Natwest and they kept saying it was going to come back into my account but then they admitted it was 15 working days!!

And yes we were totally skint because we live paycheque to paycheque and save money for a holiday!! I hadn't budgeted for £360 to be missing from my account!!
Luckily we had plenty to get home with and I didn't realise it had gone until a few days back at home.

I can’t afford a passport and have no savings.
When my money is gone, it’s gone.

For fucks sake, there are always people worse off than us. Everyone is still allowed to moan.

Maybe we should make a rule that only people in dire poverty who haven't eaten for a week are allowed to moan or is that bad enough? A month?

It's ok for someone to feel a bit shit about their current situation, I'm sure being told that everyone else is so badly worse off will make the OP feel so much better.

You do sound a little pathetic to be honest. You just had a holiday, you have savings, it sounds like your child is in private school otherwise why would you have bills? You're having another child, if you're this hard done by why did you get pregnant again? You're not you're just having a bad day. Put a film on, chill out, and forget about it.

It sounds like you didn't have a cash flow problem before you overspend on holiday. Don't you have anything in your cupboards and freezer that can keep you going for a few days? It's only a few days. Out of your Tesco vouchers go and buy some bread, spuds, rice and chicken and whatever else you can get to make up the total value of the vouchers.

I'm sure most people have tins in their cupboard. You have £15 in vouchers. It's not the end of the world. Trip's to the park, forests, woods etc don't cost anything. Sounds like your a little depressed. Some fresh air will make you feel a bit better.

In what way are your savings "locked away" - if by that you mean they are in fixed term or notice accounts - with interest rates being so low at the moment unless it's a huge amount of money you probably won't lose much by accessing the money early/closing the account. If you are getting 1 or 2% that's only £10 or £20 per year on every £1000 saved. Depends on the terms obviously, but usually you just lose the interest if you close early, so divide the amount into two parts - put one into a fixed term or notice account for the higher interest and put the other amount into an instant access account for emergencies. This is basic budgeting for those who can afford to save and as others point out you do at least have savings.

You can also get high interest on some regular savings account, eg Nationwide has one which pays 5% so you could drip feed some money from your instant access account into something like that each month, very easy to set this up so it happens automatically and saving a small regular amount each month is a good habit to get into - soon adds up.

Check on moneyfacts website moneyfacts.co.uk/savings/best-savings-rates/ for best instant and notice account rates - anything paying less than the inflation rate (which applies to most accounts), you are losing money in real terms anyway.

Seems strange how the lack of freezer containers was what prevented you from batch cooking- when you had just written that you were running out of the food you’d bought!!

OP, you'll be thrown under the bus on here because unfortunately there are people on here who are genuinely skint and what you've described just sounds like a run of bad luck that'll be over soon. However, I know that in that moment it sucks and living life differently to the norm isn't always easy.

By mumsnet standards my husband and I should be rolling in cash, but even we know what it's like to be skint at the end of the month but we do have plenty of luxuries that so many people don't.

Just count the blessings you do have and grin and make do until the situation is resolved.