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?

Oh and insurance Miajk, my friend with terminal cancer can’t claim on hers because she’s “not ill enough” so check the terms on yours.

People go on about savings. If you are on UC, anymore than £6k sees you getting reduced payments (tapered), and you have to show what you bought too, to show you are not depriving yourself of assets to gain benefit. It is a shit way to live.

Crab buckets.
Almost everyone on this thread is an illustration of Terry Pratchett's crab buckets.

House that most of us could only dream of!?! A council house? Yeah everyone dreams of that and camping holidays! Wtaf!

I'm so sorry for the amount of ridiculously judgmental posts on here. I don't think a lot of people appreciate what it's like to live with a disability. You are clearly an intelligent woman, people shaming the OP for not having a higher income or expecting her partner to work more, read the post properly!

'So the few can amass huge amounts of wealth instead, so the Rishis of the world can buy yachts and multiple homes whilst us plebs are grateful for beef once a week and a few nights in skeggy. Na, there is enough out there for us all to have a decent quality of life, if we stop voting the bloody Tories in'

Exactly this. Stop.Voting.Tory.
**

This poor soul has poured her heart out about the rising cost of living and how angry and upset she is about feeding 7 adults and a baby with just 6 chicken thighs and all you took from that was their wages??? 😒.

@Acidburn

I know you truly belief what you are saying. It makes sense to you. There will always be people who are worse off than you. My son has type 1 diabetes. One person said to me "You are so lucky you don't have to pay for his insulin". I look at stories of people dying because they can't afford insulin, I've read that if he had been diagnosed over a 100 years before then his life expectancy would have been around a year, We can appreciate if he hadn't been diagnosed in the place or time that he had been, life for both of us would have been harder. But he is not lucky to have type one diabetes.

You are right, we are all faced with different challenges, and we all react differently to circumstances. Some people choose to take their experience, their misconceptions that have been challenged in their own life and use that as a basis that maybe they have work to do with regards to how they view other peoples challenges. It opened my eyes, I NEVER say "It could have been worse" I say "What is like for you?", and if I can't understand then I walk away. I don't tell them how I think they should be feeling. Because I refuse to be that person. I have standards for myself.

Telling people they are lucky because it isn't as bad as it could be is probably a defining comment of invalidation. Invalidation is toxic and destructive. You have work to do.

@doodlywoodlydingdong this post has touched me so much.
Quite honestly I despise all the comments along the lines of ‘you’ve been so lucky’, ‘get some work’, ‘wish I had so much’. If any of these had read your actual follow up posts it’s obvious you cannot go out and work or get a lodger and when you managed to have a week camping abroad it was done as cheaply as any holiday can be. I’m sorry but I’m going to say it, people who have been negative on this thread probably vote Tory and cannot have an ounce of thought for anyone else.
It makes me rage the state of this country and yes it is down to politics.
I’m sorry I cannot give you anything but sympathy OP, I pray this is just a winter blip and you manage to come through the other side and things get better again. Please try and stay strong and take care x

Wow this really did blow up. Sorry I haven't been posted on this, I've been intentionally avoiding this thread as you know what? I'm only human. My mental health is already fragile and I have had a few really dark days after seeing some of the comments. I just glad I'm so resilient.... that happens when you have multiple life changing diagnosis, a wheel chair and a shortened life expectancy. But hey, I'm doing the best I can. I wasn't ever, at any point bragging about my income or my council house (complete with indoor water features when it rains) or trying to make anybody feel crap for living with less. I wasn't. If anybody took that from my post then that's on you and you really want to take a long hard look at yourself. I bet you clapped for the NHS and posted on social media during lockdown about your neighbour going for two walks a day didn't you? And for those of you frothing at the mouth about my life of absolute luxury, i hope it really pains you to know that I owe student loans an absolute fortune and I won't even be able to pay it back. And I hope that chokes you.

To all the people that actually understand what I was saying and were judgement free, thank you. People like you are what we need more of in the world. I wasn't bemoaning my circumstances, I was simply shocked at how quickly things have changed and concerned for other people that are in a worse situation. It's going to be very bleak indeed.

@doodlywoodlydingdong You've done nothing wrong. Some people just love attacking others on the internet. Sad lives they must have!

@Janus absolutely! I will give it to the Tory's - they are masters of creating disharmony and a ginormous race to the bottom . Austerity? Yep absolutely vital- except when it came to Brexit they suddenly found £400bilion under the bed to spaff away on it - covid? Yep we are more than happy to give billions of pounds worth of contracts to Tory donors/mates completely untendered for with no proof of competence or delivery.

We end up with everyone apart from the rich (who can now offshore to their hearts content ) being fearful and turning inward and being resentful of anyone else who seems to be getting more out the system than they are- when you start picking on the severely disabled then you need to give yourself a good shake- there but for the grace of god and all that

I don't give a monkeys if the OP has a 5 bed council house , goes to Majorca every few years and eats smoked salmon till it comes out her ears- your life is still pretty shit with a lot of disability , difficulty getting about or difficulty working. OP says working is difficult - so I will have to take her word for that.

Well said! People keep choosing the wrong targets for their angry. You’ve had a rotten time on here, OP, which you didn’t deserve at all. I’m sorry.

Where am I going wrong when looking?! I had a look for holidays next year for 2 adults 2 children on eurocamp website and was coming up minimum £2k and that’s without ferry?! Looks like no holidays abroad anytime soon for us

I am taking my sonto Paris for 4 nights. Plane and hotel (3 star in Montmartre) comes to £600, which I think is pretty good. We are going early Sep when prices have dropped a bit.

@Amber9083 Are you looking school summer hols- if so that's your answer . I was gobsmacked at Gatwick in early July how many school age kids were around and I don't think they were private school kids either .

This 👍👍👍

This ⬆️⬆️⬆️

Bloody well said @Crikeyalmighty 👏🏻

The great reset !
I see this as another ' conspiracy theory' but today's announcements and the last few years have made me think there may be something behind it. Who knows ?
It's all shit which ever way you look at it

I hope you're okay, OP. I haven't read the whole thread but from your last post I can tell there have been some ablest ignorant arseholes posting. There seems to be a lot of them on Mumsnet.

@UnboxedThoughts most of the shareholders in large companies are pensioners (via pension funds) - do you really want pensioners to tighten their belts?

No they’re not. It’s pension funds, not pensioners who own those shares and most of the fund members are people currently working and paying in now. Our private pensions are index linked to our previous salaries so we won’t have to tighten our belts any more than anyone else. I can see absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t share the pain.

It's almost as if being capable of holding yourself together for a 1 week enjoyable holiday and powering through 5 days a week of work 50 weeks a year are different things..

@Cyw2018

I'm not sure if you are aware of airport passenger assistance but I get escorted through the airport with my electric chair. Then I go into a manual chair and have to be scissor lifted to the plane. Where ( shock horror) I do even more sitting. Then the same thing happens in reverse. Then I'm sat in my electric chair. It makes very very little difference to me exactly WHERE I sit as long as I am in my chair. I really don't grasp what you are struggling with when it comes to understanding why it's actually not a big thing? I can sit anywhere in the world. I'm in pain regardless. Some countries I can't travel to though, as they won't allow me to take certain prescribed medication in. Most notable my opiate based pain killers. These same pain killers mean that I can't work as I lose hours of time on them. Is basically legal heroin and I'm pretty sure some posters will complain that I don't even have to pay for that . I'm sooooo lucky 🍀