Things have changed so much , so quickly?!

[doodlywoodlydingdong]

I just had my grown up kids around for dinner, not unusual but it got me thinking how much things have changed in the last 3 years. We are a very typical family. I'm 45 , 4 kids aged 13-25. Between me and my DH we have an income of around £34k but very soon it's going to drop by £4k annually.

Three years ago I would go food shopping and buy pretty much whatever I wanted. If I fancied it, it went into the trolley. Full English breakfast every Saturday, big fat roast dinner with a nice joint every Sunday. Two v cheap foreign holidays a year. I enjoyed making our money stretch as far as it possibly could with holiday bargains etc. Christmas was always glorious with loads of food and some nice gifts. Lots of entertaining. fast forward 3 years.

Today I was stood in the kitchen picking the meat off 6 chicken thighs to feed seven adults and a baby. The roast dinner was totally packed out with veg and spuds. Barely any chicken compared to what I would have served 3-4 years ago. I can't stretch to a joint of pork anymore, a whole chicken is a rare treat. So thighs it is. My kids are eating more and more pasta /noodles based dishes with hot dogs as protein. I have to think twice about what is the most efficient method to cook whatever meal it is to save money on the electric. My dogs are now on the cheapest possible kibble I can find. I was actually relieved when my lovely old cat suddenly died (?!) as I wouldn't have to find the extra money for vets fees as she was knocking on a bit. Thats now £ 18 a month I'm saving on litter and food and I feel like a monster for even typing that.

I use the l local food waste project wherever I can, save every penny I can, but ultimately I'm going to have to give up my mobility car as the money would be much better in my pocket . The trade off is that I will then be house bound and that "freed up " money will be going straight to EON from October .

AIBU to have a feeling of almost grief over all of this? It's been very slow and gradual trickling of price increases etc but suddenly it's taken 6 chicken thighs to push me over the edge and be ridiculously angry and upset about how our money can purchase so much less these days?

Yes do make a claim for Universal Credit. On your dh's wages you would definitely qualify. You can make a claim online or call the Citizens advice help to claim team who will do you a calculation and help you to set up the claim. Just because you didn't have the NI contributions for a claim for JSA, does not mean you can't claim UC unless you have savings over 16k. i really hope you qualify for some help.

I don't think many are taking umbrage; rather suggesting ways to increase income (which based on OPs comments seems entirely viable) vs tighten belts.

Thank you ... but that is what the letter i have from them says but I call them again tomorrow first thing and ask for it to clarified .. I do so hope you are right

thank you again..

No I think it’s because she’s losing her child tax credits
but blame it on boris if that helps. Maybe he’ll buy her some adequate meat

I understand. I haven't had a raise for 3 years, and prices increased by 9% since January! I am fortunately frugal, but it's maddening to work hard and economize and still feel like I'm barely above water.

Oh you again. You love my posts don’t you. No it really isn’t missing the point. Their figures are off. Someone who gets a 3k pay rise at 100k will be paying 60% tax on that 3k as they lose personal allowance which they haven’t accounted for. Then they pay NI which means on paper the person on 100k getting a 3k pay rise only sees a few hundred more over the year than the person who gets a £900 pay rise. That’s just a fact and misrepresenting figures to suggest otherwise doesn’t prove anything. It just weakens the point to irrelevance.

If it proves anything is is that their flawed logic about freezes at the top means those people are paying less tax and people need that tax as they do they heavy lifting.

if you can screenshot your latest bill and post it people will prob be able to tell you where it has gone wrong. I fear you have inadvertently signed up for an expensive fixed tariff without realising what you are doing.

My dad gets high rate pip care and mobility and not a chance he'd manage all that. He'd be exhausted and in no fit state. I'm surprised people claiming high rate are able to do so much. If you see the questions they ask for you to qualify I don't see how they'd be able to.

OP don't expect any kindness on these sorts of threads. People love to tell you how lucky you are and how they've been licking tarmac for nutrition for the last 20 years.

FWIW, I'm with you - life is pretty rotten at the moment. Life in lockdown followed by a pretty major recession the likes of which we haven't experienced for at least a generation. I look back on pictures from 3 years ago and wish we were back there in easier times.

Part time often makes you worse off

I don’t want this to be a race to the bottom, however I was brought up in poverty so cannot imagine not considering the cost of things and just chucking it in the trolley
I’ve been a lone parent with disabilities who couldn’t work full time and have always had to scrimp and scrape to get by
Whilst appreciating that chicken thighs were your moment of despair I come across people every day who can’t afford their private rent - have no heating and need food banks to eat at all

Unfortunately I don't have the facility to do this .. no scanner and it is a physical letter not an email.. We had absolutely no choice in the tariff... this is the only one that Scottish power will provide .. which I was really angry about as we have been with them for over 20 years and never had any late payments/ arrears etc. I asked about other cheaper tariffs but the person wouldn't budge, said this was the only option available ..and it had to be by D/D whereas previously we had always received a monthly bill

Use the camera on your phone assuming you have one that is

So you don't have a smartphone with a camera?

Thank you... X

lol... no the phone I've got , I've had for about 15years certainly not a smart phone with a camera .. it just an old alcatel. Looks like a little red ladybird - ancient but it works and I love it

Or maybe she could give the underoccupied 5bedroom 97 a week properly back to tne council and ask to move to a small adaptable home?

she said she doesn’t even use a floor
like is this a joke? Do you know how many overcrowded families would love a 5 bedroom house FOR 97 A WEEK

Honestly it’s a joke

.........

This. A million times. This.

If it helps you any, DD's University has been asking her to go back to on-line marking in her area of expertise, which she did in the years following Uni. She doesn't have to be on site at all...

Is this something you can consider for yourself to work from home on, as per Uni testing timetables, to help bring in a few extra pounds?

(She isn't in the UK, but I am assuming this is something that would be quite normal for Universities).

Icantcope - Could you not have gone on to the variable rate when you moved as that would have had the price cap.

Many of us have suggested this too, it seems like a good option to explore. I don’t think OP has responded yet to the suggestion

S/Power didn't give us any choice.. only this green tariff on D/D for either a 1 or 2 year tie in... there wasn't even much difference in the price .. a £ or so.. so we took the one with the shortest tie in period in the hope that things would improve by then

I'm so sorry OP for some of the replies you're getting here. The arrogance of some who think they know how 'disabled people' as a homogenous mass are able to work. It must be true because a pp knows some people in a wheelchair who work.

The truth is of course disability comes in all sorts of different ways. I'm disabled and able to work part time from home usually but a nasty case of Covid has put my work on hold. Many people are far too sick to work at all. And of course sick and disabled people can go on holiday, they are not all at death's door and they are allowed to claim PIP and have a week in Majorca, probably with much of it spent resting rather than hiking the hills.

The arrogance and the ignorance on this thread is breathtaking. I'm sorry, OP.

I do earn over 37.5K however my employer is extremely demanding - sadly my contract requires me to opt out of the working time directive so in essence my employer can require me to work as many hours as they deem necessary but not pay me a penny more (yet childcare goes up...). I pay my rent, all my bills, travel costs, school dinners, childcare costs etc out of my net pay. Rent & childcare account for 70%+ of my net pay.. my rent for a tiny place, crappy area yet is exponentially more than the £400 a month OP pays... so sure call it poor budgeting, but for many it's the reality of not getting subsidized housing or handouts.

Thank you everyone for " listening" it's been such a relief to just write this all down... and a few of you have very kind, very helpful and I am very grateful for the advice.. I feel like I have a few things I can look at now to try to improve things... I think things were just getting on top of me and there seemed to be nowhere to turn... so thank you again.