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?

Are you allowed lodgers in a council house? I’ve no idea but I’d be surprised if you are?
OP is still hit by the same energy bill rises, fuel rises if she can keep her car, shopping rises as anyone else.

Did you actually read @Wowyourebitter’s post before you posted that pile of vitriol @Whyareyouasking? We’re talking about people with severe disabilities here that prevent them from living anything close to a normal life and you begrudge them a basic standard of living. And then accuse them of being tone deaf. I despair.

Thank you Crikey. What’s the saying “you’re only 3 pay checks away from losing everything” or similar, will believe me you can only be a minute away from disability and losing everything.

I’ve had to turn off tagging. The issue you have with following me all day and quoting me is bizzare.

You flatter yourself. If you post unpleasant, heartless vitriol I’ll call you out on it. Just like I would anyone else. 🤷‍♀️

People at 100k don't pay 70% of their income in tax. They pay a fair whack but not 70%. They could expect to be taking home about £5200 a month on 100k depending on pension arrangements, so that's paying more like 40% of their income on tax and NI.

Yes they do. It’s 62% income tax on 100k and then NI on top.

You are on here all day. Maybe that’s it, you’ve just too much time on your hands to pick on people.

Correct. Gross £8333, take home £5502.

This is exactly how I feel

if you’re rich - people want you skinned and essentially eating dust purely because you’re well off. Tax the rich tax the rich. Why would anyone want to do better for themselves in this country when as soon as you earn good money you got a load of people with pitchforks

if you’re “middle” - you have astronomical housing costs up and down the country. Get no help form anywhere. No tax credits no free school meals no help with anything. You’re on your own.

bit apparently if you’re poor (and on benefits) we just keep throwing money and all love each other whilst it’s happening.
OP has basically said: she has a massive house that many of us could only dream of, for less than 100 a week. She gets tax credits, PIP, a free car, her husbands income. Travels abroad twice a year. Doesn’t even use a floor in her house. Even one of her sons is on benefits too. And I’m supposed to be sympathetic because she has to eat chicken thighs rather than joints?she sounds better off than anyone I know - literally cannot think of a single family in a better financial position.
and if I say that’s really fucking unfair, which it is, then apparently I’m a bad person? Fair enough then

but don’t expert me to have sympathy because I don’t
she sounds tone deaf and more pissed off that she’s not eating her meat of choice

Agreed, that’s basically my position. There’s a lot of unfounded accusations on this thread…many claims of people attacking or punching down on OP when most actually haven’t.

They just pointed out she’s been doing very well indeed for the past several years and good on her - it can’t be easy having a disability that prevents you from working.

But pointing out that having to skip a year or two of holidays… or take one and not two per year is much less of a sacrifice than others have been having to make for years,
does not make one right wing or a Tory voter.

I know a couple who make a similar income and they haven’t been able to afford going abroad at all since their children were born ( since 2010) But then perhaps they spend more on other things.

As long as you can afford it it’s great but if you can’t now while YANBU to miss it or be angry at the high cost of things OP could just be mindful that in many ways your financial position is quite good all things considering.

Yes you are! You are not allowed to move out and sublet but you are allowed lodgers.

You know what people should do?

Consider the long term risks and responsibility of having 1,2,3,4 kids.

Your spouse might die. You might get sick. You might lose your job. Your child might be born disabled.

These are not some crazy unheard of scenarios, common sense would make people think "my circumstances right now might not be the same as in the future".

This mindset of I'll do what I want, cross my fingers & hope for the best and then hope people have sympathy for me as a result of choices I made is so silly.

It's not that hard to wait to have kids until you're in a secure position to do so, with some savings to fall back on. And to stop at 1 or 2.

Why does everyone need to have sympathy when we're all working hard and trying to get by, but instead of doing what we want were trying to be responsible. Then everyone gets a handout but the people working have to actually deal with more taxes and having zero help or support.

Where are people getting 70% tax from?
Isn't it 20% tax on 12500(ish) - 50k and 40% on 50-150k?

No, once you get to 100k you lose personal allowance which equates to a rough income tax rate of 62%which people don’t realise. There was an example in this thread when comparing a pay rise of 3k on 100k and a pay rise of £900 on 30k. The figures were completely out. What the poster forgot to mention was although there would be a £2.1k difference on paper, the former would lose so much in tax and ni that they would only see a few hundred more out of that over the year.That’s because the equivalent tax and ni rate once you hit 100k is about 70%

100%

So what rate of tax are you paying on the 12.5k to make the overall amount 62% ?
(Google and gov.uk think personal allowance goes down to 0 once you earn 125k)
I'm not an accountant so I stand to be corrected but as far as I can work out its not 62% as soon as you earn 100k. I'm in the standard tax bracket so I've never had to worry about it!

According to Money saving expert calculator, someone earning £100k per year, not making any pension contributions takes home £65867, so they loose 34% in Tax and NI. If they earn £200k they take home £115000, so loose 43% in tax &NI

Not sure where people are getting 60 or 70% from.

You lose personal tax allowance progressively from 100000, so actually if you’re bang on £100000 you don’t lose much more at all. Prob quite a bit more if you’re on £130000, but ithe high tax rates only apply to the income over a certain amount; you’re still taking home a fair whack before the really high rates kick in.

You lose the tax allowance. Crude figures are anything over 100k you’ll see 30% the rest goes to the treasury when tax and ni is calculated on it. So for example the bonus comparison. Someone getting 3% at 100k will see only a few hundred more than someone getting 3% at 30k. It’s quite the take and many people won’t go above 100k because of it. I know that’s really first world problems but it’s just not true that higher earners don’t pay their fair share. Go higher and you pay more tax again as you lose pension exemptions. The Torys have never taxed the “higher earners” so much. Once they get to 100k many will not work more or go for other positions as the tax take is so high as soon as you tip over.

Ps, I’m well aware of how much goes in tax once you hit the threshold because we pay it.

I remember the eighties yoghurt maker, a ski yoghurt was actually a rare treat ! We had very few clothes in the eighties. Mums didn't get their nails/ brows/ lashes/ fake tans done and £100 a time at the hairdressers. The world and it's consumerism has gone crazy.

We waited until we were financially secure to have kids.
We have ( had) large savings.
We planned for the future.
We we’re trying to be responsible.

My dh had an accident.
Because we were responsible we have paid 50k to make our home accessible for him to come back to his family.
We have lived off savings for over a year.
My job had to go as I have to care for him 24/7.
His job went as he cannot move on his own, at all.

I’m not asking for sympathy. I’m asking for some fucking compassion from a fellow human being.

Can people stop saying the OP is poor or hard up. They have an annual income of £34k along with subsidised housing. A house of that size in my area would set her back around £1k a month. That's a difference of £600 a month to what she pays. So over £7k a year.

What HMRC says

Income over £100,000

Your Personal Allowance goes down by £1 for every £2 that your adjusted net income is above £100,000. This means your allowance is zero if your income is £125,140 or above

Of course you can contribute £40k a year to your pension to mitigate that and then some.