What can't you afford?

[Marleymerm]

Last week at work my colleague told me her recent eye test showed she needed glasses, but she couldn't afford them, she's known she's needed them for a couple of years but said she doesn't have the money. We both work full time in office jobs and neither of us have expensive hobbies or social lives, we're both pretty boring.
I realised this morning I haven't bought new shoes for months despite the ones I have coming apart, because I can't afford them. I've picked up pairs but put them back down when I've thought of what else I need instead.
When I asked this question to my friend about what she couldn't afford she told me her monthly prescription! She hasn't got it for 3 months.
It's a weird time we're living in so everyone's doing without something. But do you have any necessary things you need but can't afford?

Being short sighted isn't classed as a disability as it can be corrected with glasses. And having a disability doesn't entitle you to PIP. It's extremely unlikely that being short sighted would entitle you to PIP. It's not what you have, it's how you're affected. If you can do things like drive, you wouldn't get it. I even struggled to get it even though I've never been able to drive and never will do.

@purplepentagram ignore your neighbours, get what help you are entitled to. Have you had a benefits check? I hope things improve for you.

I'm lucky enough to have good NHS dentist. Went last week cos a filling had come out and my check up was due. That came to £65! I also wear glasses and have a complex prescription. I got the cheapest frames but it was still about £400! Clothes I just wear til they fall apart before I get anymore. My hairdresser only charges £45 for a cut and colour. Good job cos I have it short so needs doing every 6-8 weeks!.

Sorry, that's not quite right. Employers only have to pay towards a pair of glasses if they are a special prescription for DSE. Mine contributes £75 but because I need glasses or contact lenses for driving etc and they are suitable for DSE work. they won't pay towards them.

'Employers only have to pay for glasses for DSE work if the test shows an employee needs special glasses prescribed for the distance the screen is viewed at. If an ordinary prescription is suitable, employers do not have to pay for glasses.'

I haven't RTFT but I definitely can't afford this holiday being advertised on my FB news feed. It's probably showing up cos I fell down a bit of a rabbit hole a few months ago and asked DH to get a third job so he could take me to a £19k per night hotel in the Maldives. He declined.

Thank you

@Seymour5 were not entitled to anything else and if we swap over to universal credit we will be even worse off. Had numerous assessments only to be told we don’t meet the criteria for any additional help or support.
to top it all off now. Our landlord has just put our rent up by £50 a month to which takes it over our lha so now got that extra to find.
Also forgot to add that I need the dentist can’t afford that, hubby needs glasses can’t do that. Had to cancel numerous hospital appointments cause can’t afford to get there.

I cannot afford to heat my flat and any money I do have goes on my DC who have just started school.
Life feels pretty bleak right now, but as long as DC have everything they need, then I can just about feign positivity.

Have you tried Freecycle? My daughter needed a new mattress as her nearly new one wasn't helping her back problems. She advertised it and it soon went.

At the moment I cannot afford to retire.
I own my own house, no mortgage, but, due to being widowed 19 years ago, in an EU country, I have little or no pension.
As long as I keep working (and saving - so covid was actually quite good from that point of view) I can survive.
The moment the projects stop will be "difficult".

1.64???

a car service
just hope for the best

Thinner lenses could mean 1.5 but when you have a high prescription you really need 1.6 or 1.64. Once you get into those realms it gets expensive
Which is exactly what I got included in the price, but it's not my problem if you want to insist that Asda glasses can't possibly do. If you can afford the £600 or whatever it is, your choice, but I don't have much sympathy for those who say they can't afford something essential but are refusing to hear of other much cheaper alternatives.

It's worth a look for all sorts of things on Freecycle. When we moved here we came with our old fridge and freezer. There were already a fridge and a freezer here, we didn't need them, so we put them on freecycle. We did the same with a surplus radiator -it came scratched and the retailer sent a replacement and asked us to dispose of the scratched one- it was brand new and quite a big one. In fact, they did this twice, the other new one we gave to a local charity doing plumbing work for nothing for those currently struggling. There may be similar outfits doing plumbing in other parts of the country.

No it doesn’t. Because if they can’t afford £9.35, how go they come up with £10.81 a month?

I live in Dublin and just paid 180 euro for a filling! I wish a filling here were only 65 pounds.

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Those with high prescriptions - where do you get your glasses?

I'm not making it up!

PS I could cry reading this thread. What kind of a country are we, to let all this happen? Nobody should ever have to go without glasses or dentistry, or have to choose between feeding their kids or feeding themselves. People had better diets in WW2.

Glasses are really important and one size/prescription doesn't fit all especially with vari focals so I can see why people may go to specsavers or r Boots

Come the GE, there will be a reckoning and it is not going to be pretty

I agree with a comment up thread about small problems becoming bigger problems as preventative measures were not carried out

i have to choose between paying bills or heating as don’t qualify for any help at all

What has this country come to 😔😔😳

@woodhill, I have varifocals. The link I put is from 2018 with the vast majority of posters praising Asda despite more complex prescription.

Again, if people want to go to Boots, get the exact same lenses and pay three times more convinced these are better, their choice but ultimately that's poor budgeting.

I dont get any benefits as just above the living threshold, so we've had to cut back on lots of things. I buy my kids and everything I need I buy second hand like clothes, can't remember the last time I bought myself something new. I trim my own hair and haven't been to a dentist in 2 years, missing a crown so have a noticeable gap in my mouth as can't afford to see a dentist, I'm only glad I work were we still have to wear face masks :(

Just to add that I could afford the more expensive glasses, and indeed, I did have my first pair from Boots until I realised I could get exactly the same from Asda for much cheaper. I'd be very stupid to go with crap when I can afford much better but it really is not much different and it would just be wasted money.

Remember when we thought the future would be all meal pills, jetpacks and holidays on the moon? Now we can look forward to freezing in the dark, pulling out our own teeth and working till we drop. Still good to know some people are making the most of this shit show www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tory-donor-chris-rokos-makes-a-fortune-from-market-turmoil-crwvvq6nj

This happened to me during lockdown. I ended up going from a smallish filling needed to an abcess in my jawbone. Had be removed (& the root of the tooth which the NHS dentist had snapped off) by an NHS dental surgeon in a hospital. I now have a big gap in my mouth which I cant afford to fill. I have to eat on one side as its still sore after 6m. I STILL can't get on an NHS Dentist list (it was emergency treatment). I'm a Carer for two disabled young adults & disabled myself. I had to travel over 40miles by rural bus for each appointment (so it basically took a day). It cost me & the NHS loads of unnecessary time/£/stress.

Apart from not being able to afford the dentist, there is the heating & Xmas gifts.
My eldest is 18 & has never been abroad / on a plane. I was the same, grew up in poverty & no spare money for holidays. He will be ok obviously no one dies of not having a fancy holiday but I'd hoped to do better for him than my upbringing. But Carers allowance is £68 p/w so we 'cut our cloth'.

It's shameful in 2022 that so many hardworking people (& Carers work hard too) will be without / worried sick about basics (and for the next few years probably)