To feel fed up of being poor.

[laptopba]

Just that really. Feeling rubbish about how my life has turned out in relation to finances. Its bloody shit.

@upintnorth that's a lovely offer, thank you DD has decided she has some bunny ears from Easter a few years back and a red cap, she's going as the rabbit from I want my hat back. But thank you so much all the same for thinking of me x

Ops pressed in the bath!

The power of positive thinking.
If you're down, the only way is up so look at positive ways you can improve your life a bit at a time. Are your health issues stopping you getting a job or have workplaces given you health issues?
See your GP to get help with those issues and contact one of the many free 'back to work' programmes offered to those who want to raise their living standards.
POOR, can mean different things to different people. If you have Sky/Netflix/iPhones/a car etc then you are not poor.
If you can feed your family whether Lidl or Waitrose, you are not poor.
It all depends on your outlook. If your determined to better your situation, you will find a way rather than wallow in self pity which will rub off on your children.

@HonestwithHope1

LetHimHaveIt

So right! Educated HAHAHA. I have a degree because I was told. Get a degree. Get good money. Retrain. Retrained. Volunteer. Volun....f...terred. Did everything right.

I'm soon to be on 23100 (prev 22905) which i suppose is good for up north (don't believe average 31k bs) ... Work 37 hours. I work for CS .... I currently have a 34 people caseload, all vulnerable people, many chaotic. It's 9:50pm and I'm sat stressing over everything i need to do tomorrow, and calculating the inevitable added extra this week when X person doesn't show up to appointment or Z person has a crisis involving an hour screaming/crying phonecall with me on the other end trying to both reassure and get them off the phone because there's not enough time and I'll inevitably be told off 🤷‍♀️

People are leaving in droves. While technically you don't need qualifications, you need experience working with vulnerable people ect ... We are understaffed, soooo sooo sooo undertrained for the complex work we need to do, and entirely underpaid. Take home being around 1500 (on 22905) .....

Who can seriously live on 1500. And by live I mean, good food, savings, rent (what's a mortgage?) and some leisure, you know, that mythical life 90% of everywhere in the country, age 60+ have and had enjoyed! And all for LESS fecking work.

As a burnt out mid 20s woman. I am done. I can't win working. I can't win on benefits. What is the point of it all.

As you found out, what degree you get does matter. Expect to have low wages with these degrees. Schools are parents really should be realistic with students.

Counselling
Social Work
Ecology
Pharmacy
Nursing
Social Sciences
Criminology
Art
English Language

You want to make decent money,study one of these.

Software Engineering
Computer Science
Finance
Electronic Engineering
Engineering

*you're

@Libraryghost

I said I was poor growing up but it seems different today. I don't remember anyone being cold or going hungry in the 70s and 80s, maybe that's just me but there does seem to be more people who can't even afford the basic necessities in life. I agree with what other posters have said about poverty being expensive. You are trapped into higher interest rates, gas and electric meters, not being able to afford bulk buys etc. i extend my sympathy to anyone struggling and I won't dish out advice because having been in that situation I know you will have already thought of it. The only thing I will say is try not to make a bad situation worse by taking credit out. Not always easy I know but the less debt you have the easier it is to climb out of it.

There were people cold and hungry back then as well. It depends what you mean by poor.

Another thing that holds you back when you are poor is the ability to take risks,to take a chance on something new that might work If you are in poverty and you have children the fuck it lets try it and see mentality goes right out of the window cos if it goes wrong and they depend on you it is not only you that takes the fall,they do too, It goes so much deeper than some people can understand. I could wing it and take chances before I had kids now i would be so hesitant to rock the boat so it keeps you stuck, You lack choices through fear of making a bad situation worse if it werent to work out

My ds is well aware what degrees will lead him to a good paying job

He also thinks it’s sad that careers that are good for society (like mine) do not pay well

He is torn but I think he will go for the money

Interesting what the poster above said about children and not being able to afford school trips. It isn't just the poverty of not having enough to eat and keep warm, and provide school uniform, it's the cultural poverty as well. What I mean is the trips to the cinema, or the ice rink, meals out, and all those other things you can't afford. It's bloody awful for some people in the UK at the moment. It was better under a labour government, I have not seen poverty increase like this since we got rid of Thatcher.

In our area we have a community fridge where shops give fresh produce that is out of date but still usable. If this type of thing exists in your area it's a good source of free food.

People who are struggling should be using their local food bank, especially if you have children and foodbanks are aware of how difficult it is to feed children during the holidays, when they aren't getting school meals. Also make sure you are signed up to the warm home scheme, claiming single person council tax discount, and there are some charities around who will help with large purchases like beds, washing machines etc, particularly if there is a disabled person in the household. The retail trust exists to help people who have been shopworkers but they do have quite a strict criteria now, but worth looking at. The CAB or caseworkers can help with applying to these type of charities.
Don't forget if you are struggling with rent, discretionary housing payments are available for the short term, so if someone has had their hours cut or similar, they may make an award.
I'm sure everyone who can, is on a sim only deal, mine is only £12 per month.

Most people are probably already aware of these things but some may not be.

Slagging off someone for being ‘rich’ for saving £50 is a bit shit in my opinion. They were only trying to give support and advice

I agree. I don’t think the poster who put forward saving as a suggestion has come back, which isn’t surprising given the response to their comment. I think it came across as a genuine tip tbh, no need for the pile on
My local area has a FB page called Xxxx Acts Of Kindness - people can offer things on there for free and people can request things too. Works really well - perhaps there’s something like that near you, OP?

@x2boys
You asked how to pay for it.

Free level 3 training. There are courses in computers, finance, engineering.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/find-a-free-level-3-qualification/list-of-free-level-3-qualifications-available-to-eligible-adults

Student loans where you don't have to repay until you make over £27,295

Bursies, scholarships, grants.

I, for one, could manage fine on 1500 pm and not just buy the basics or shop own brand at Lidl/Morrisons etc (never been in either shop anyway as none near me)
I live well on a basic pension.

Oh do shove a sock in it

You would be the first to fecking moan if i didn't work in the area I work in!!!!!! If i didn't work in my area. We would be like the purge.

OH and another f thing.

I have an NHS degree. Turns out. No one wants to hire band 5s AHP SPECIFICALLY BAND 5S! 2 years of unemployment and now my registration has lapsed. My uni tutor, every interview I attended with clinical lead. They all said similar

Tough competition
You were in the top 2/3
If it were up to me I'd hire all ten of you that applied
I've been doing this job 25 years, I've never had as many applicants as this post

And my classic fav from my old tutor who gave me a reference for current job.

I'm not surprised, we can't even get students on placement, it's become that difficult in trusts.

So kindly. Go run and jump.

If you work. You should be able to afford a good lifestyle (everything I previously said). Hell even on benefits you should be able to afford the basics of life.

If nearly 2 generations (my grandparents and aunties/uncles) could definitely achieve a good high quality of living, up north, unskilled as well!. Then why the ever loving hell can't the vast majority of under 50s... And 99% of under 30s.

People like you really piss me off. No i don't give a s... about going into IT or finance or whatever other bollocks you think are deserving of being paid actual money.

I remember being poor as a kid, our electricity was regularly cut off, there were times when there was very little food in the house. Please ask for help from food banks, clothing allowances, book schemes everything that’s available please use it if only to give yourself a breather and a chance to build some sort of back up funds. It’s really shit to be poor and somehow feels even worse when you’re trying your best to be independent

I'm looking for a new job at the moment but not having much luck despite many years of experience. I think it also get harder as you get older. I am mid fifties and it feels like my brain has turned to mush and I get so stressed with the interviews.

I know just how you feel. I'm 62 and just can't get a job, despite over 40 years of admin work. Like you I feel my brain has turned to mush, and I'm starting to feel I am incapable of doing anything. I have a bit of money in reserve, but constantly worry that it is going to disappear before I reach retirement age (which is hardly going to be a luxury retirement!). I've just had to move flats - which costs quite a bit - and yesterday had to take my cat to the vet. I'm not in as dire straits as some people, but could well end up that way, and it scares me silly.

Hugs to you OP and others, and I hope things will improve for you all.

@RantyAunty. My comment is in reply to you, on mobile and it didn't quote you properly but ...

Have a nice night lording your entitlement and clearly superior education over others :)

@TollgateDebs Those links are really practical and useful, thank you.

We're managing - just - at the moment, but that hasn't always been the case. It's only a couple of years ago that I thought we were going to end up on the street and we came within a cat's whisker of it happening; both of us are those stupid mugs (according to some posters on here) who work for organisations/in professions that involve caring and/or education.

I can't help laughing darkly at some of the advice on here from people who evidently don't realise what poor really means. They seem to be wilfully ignoring the social divide that has been getting worse in the UK since 2008 at least and certainly 2010, and which is now at levels that would have long ago caused a revolution somewhere like France...I've been really poor as an adult and I've had times when I've been okay; but illness and family situations have regularly chucked a spanner in the works.When we are in a position in this household to help those who are still in a rubbish position, we do, in whatever way we can. I know that's not a popular view with many of those in power and their devoted supporters/enablers who seem to hold the views that those poor people should just shuffle off into the gutter where they belong, it's their own stupid fault for being poor. (You see it on posts on here all the time, often from people who think £50 is a breakfast, not shopping for as many days as you can make it last.)

If you've never been really poor, you also can't possibly understand the sense of being ground down, day after day after day - you're always having to buy the cheapest food, the nastiest clothes (if you can afford them at all), mend and make do, put up with rotten accommodation, electricity meters etc, and then also put up with constant sneering from the mainstream media in particular.

I'm also amused by those who think that a degree is automatically a passport to a golden well-paid 6 figure future, even if it's in one of the "miracle" professions like computer science. The picture is a lot more complex than that - geography and connections definitely play a part, among so many other factors.

I only got to uni as we were poor, really poor, when I was a kid, and full maintenance grants still existed. These days you need a minimum of £27K for the most basic of degrees, and that's just the tuition, let alone actual eating, accommodation and clothing. If you're from a poor background that amount of money is like barking at the moon, there's no way you'd want to start your working life with that amount of debt round your neck. Forget expensive degrees like medicine or some types of engineering.

Life doesn't move in a straight line; for most of us, poverty is closer than we might like to think. That obviously doesn't apply to the mumsnet "Oh, I'm so terribly poor on my £100k a week for 15 hours job that I work so VERY hard in, dontcha know" brigade.

I've been really poor as an adult and I've had times when I've been okay; but illness and family situations have regularly chucked a spanner in the works.

As others have said, being poor is expensive - anyone who doubts that might like to look up Sam Vimes...

@LoisLane66 how much rent or mortgage do you pay?
If you mean £1500 to pay bills and food for you then most people would be fine living on that.

@LoisLane66

I, for one, could manage fine on 1500 pm and not just buy the basics or shop own brand at Lidl/Morrisons etc (never been in either shop anyway as none near me) I live well on a basic pension.

May I be as bold to enquire ..do you have a mortgage? Or £800 rent to pay? £300 heating bills? A car to run? Children to raise,uniforms to buy? Debt? Perscription costs?Dentists?Optitians? rail cards for work? £1500 a month is hard work for a family with the best will in the world. I dont mean to be rude but your post seemed quite flippant.

I could live on my £1500 a month quite easily if I didnt have a mortgage to pay, no kids to feed, could just heat the room I am in instead of the whole house in order to keep the kids warm, had a bus pass and didnt need a car for work........

As it is, I am down to pennies until I get paid on Friday and after everything has gone out, will be the same again next month. Thank god I work in a supermarket and get a good discount which includes everything that is reduced so our food bill is a lot less than it would other wise be.

Saving £50 a month?! I would struggle to save £5 a month at the moment.

Prices are rising on nearly everything at the moment.

Some people would consider 20k a low income household

Well it is - the median is just shy of £30k net of income tax, NI and council tax. So I guess would be more like £37k net. So it’s not surprising to hear people on that income struggling.

to everyone having a tough time

I think I could manage on £1500 a month if I lived alone. My mortgage is £377 a month as house cost us £95k 10 years ago and that's in one of Britain's worst cities to live apparently. If I factor in a car of £200 a month and insurance of £100 I calculate it'd get me to around £1400 a month after other bills. However that includes no debt, no credit cards, no other expenses except let's say internet, TV , food and fuel. So I guess I could live on that if I was frugal. But I have a family that eat me out of house and home and pets. I also couldn't afford to save much or buy new clothes when I needed to.

£37k gross, that should say^

@LoisLane66

The power of positive thinking. If you're down, the only way is up so look at positive ways you can improve your life a bit at a time. Are your health issues stopping you getting a job or have workplaces given you health issues? See your GP to get help with those issues and contact one of the many free 'back to work' programmes offered to those who want to raise their living standards. POOR, can mean different things to different people. If you have Sky/Netflix/iPhones/a car etc then you are not poor. If you can feed your family whether Lidl or Waitrose, you are not poor. It all depends on your outlook. If your determined to better your situation, you will find a way rather than wallow in self pity which will rub off on your children.

Someone absolutely can have those things and be poor. Someone can be locked into a sky package but unable to come off it as the exit fee is so high so have to suck it up while spiralling further into debt and unable to cut any costs elsewhere. Netflix is cheaper than a TV licence and if you don't watch live TV then it's a good alternative for low income people, families can also share an account across different households and split the cost so even cheaper! The latest iphones are expensive, but you can get a cheap refurb of an older model even on finance so definitely an option for someone poor and without the money up front, it could also be a contract someone is locked into similar to the Sky TV example I gave which isn't affordable with a change of circumstances. If you're poor but already did lessons, passed your test, got insured as a new driver and got a car years back when you could afford it (because you know, people's circumstances change as well as living costs go up), then yes even someone poor can still drive. Granted, it would probably feel really expensive for them to run, but they could be in a position where if they give it up that's their job gone and then they'd be plunged into poverty.

Or are you one of those that thinks poor people should only be able to afford two beans to rub together and anything more is a luxury?