To have a thread for us poor folk?

[UsPoorFolk]

I'm really happy for people who have enough money for food/holidays/bills/savings etc...

But it sucks having nothing for anything extra in life, including increasing bill cost.

Anyone else.

Honestly, it is so awful taking other people's casts offs. Uttermet humiliation.

Nothing makes you feel worse, even with all the good intentions in the world.

Snap! I lost my job in July & I’ve taken on shifts in a cafe to get by, but tbh it’s not cutting it. I’ve applied for UC but they keep saying no even though both me & DH are skint & on a low wage. To put the boot in even further the car needs serviced & I’ve no idea where that money is going to come from.

I’ve started to apply for jobs when I knew my post was ending but I’ve only had one interview. Which I didn’t get.

Oh I love it! I don't mean people give .e anything for free out of pity, but if I can buy lovely furniture for say, £20 that they've paid £££s for or a pair of boots for a fiver they have worn once and only selling because they've simply changed their decor or changed their mind on the boots, then more fool them!

I grew up on hand me downs and second hand everything but in them days people didn't expect to buy brand new.

I've never felt like that. I have a lovely oak table, a few sets of curtains and a bookcase that I got years ago when I had no money at all. Now things are better I still have them, they're built to last .

What? No it feels great. Nice things for less money.

@UsPoorFolk

I flipping love a second hand bargain. I refuse to buy anything new unless I've trawled Marketplace, ebay and Vinted first. I tell people its because I'm concerned about the state of the world and want to reuse as much as possible but its really because I get a cheap thrill (lol) from saving money.

Older thinga are always better made. Ive just put the heating on a bit for ds coming in. Im sick of him being frozen. We're in Glasgow, its bloody cold and damp.

I love a bargain, I couldn't care less if it was 2nd hand!

The worst is when you think you've made a little gain and going to get a bit extra from now on, but its given in one hand and taken with the other.

I just finished paying off a loan at 350 per month, fucking great, you'd think, gonna have some spare, can stop penny picking ad much, no fucking chance, I'm changing jobs and going to be 400 worse off this month, then 'only' 200 down come January 😫😫😫

That shit could make me cry. Always fucking happens too. Always.

To add, we should have chosen our ExHs/DHs better, ie, earns 6 figures and does half of all the other parenting/housework.

Waited till our fertile years were almost over before having DCs, having spend that time somehow amassing a fortune that will cover all expenses for 12 months should DH leave, and cover all future expenses on our salary alone.

Better still, ensure we marry a man who will never, ever leave, but if they do, somehow find a way to still chase those career goals and promotions.

Don’t become disabled. Don’t have disabled DCs.

Those last two seem to be a particularly horrible repeating theme this week.

Great idea!

When I read some of the threads here on MN, I feel like an alien. I just can't relate to a lot of it.

My husband is much less wary of the cost of living crisis than I am. I'm feeling very anxious about our electricity bill. Seeing the prices of things we buy regularly in the shops going up & up is depressing.

I used to buy loads of clothes & accessories once upon a time but now I'm buying a lot less and trying to get better quality things in timeless styles that will last for years; I get quite a bit on eBay. I've been replacing clapped out shoes recently and new ones are proving really dear.

My mother grew up in grinding poverty and was very careful with money. I'm getting to be just like her.

@Shiningsilverargent your post really hit home to me about people’s attitude to “doing better “ and earning more etc … you are spot on . 👏

If everyone actually did that who would do the core ( key worker jobs - remember them - that actually kept the country fed and alive in lockdown ?) … who would actually do the core jobs that are essential but poorly paid ?

I am ever so grateful to those nurses, health care workers etc who do what they do for little reward or appreciation ( generalising of course but I am sure you get my drift )

I’m in the private sector and earn extremely well , I share a lot of my good fortune with family members who do work that really matters in the healthcare sector . ( my job is forgettable froth )

The balance is off in this county .

If it’s of any use to anyone, there’s a Facebook page called Feed Your Family For Around £20 a Week. She does meal plans based on (I think) a family of four and has been round all the various shops to price up the ingredients and work out what’s the cheapest way of doing it. She does use a lot of yellow sticker stuff, but her meal plans are all based on standard priced stuff, so you don’t have to rely on luck.

That's not even relevant is it.

Alas, no, I actually don't 🤣 currently logged in to my sister's Netflix so I can watch The Crown.
I have the free TV apps (well BBC isn't free but you know) and I'm not short of something to watch between the main ones.

@EscapeRoomToTheSun
I still have some bare floors and I moved in 5 years ago 🙈 it doesn't look pretty but I took my best sheets/blankets etc and tacked them up above the windows and then wrapped a pillowcase around them as a sort of tie so they kind of looked like a curtain, if you squinted, hard 🤣 made me feel a bit better though.
Also laid bath mats and anything else remotely feasible at strategic places to walk around on until I could get some carpets.

A charity helped me a lot, allied to my job, if you were or had worked in the sector in the last 5 years then your application would be considered, my DD was a fair bit younger then and they also sent us a few 'treats'. If you are/have been working fairly recently I'd suggest googling your industry/job + charity, there's a few different ones, care, hospitality and retail one I think. It's worth a try - hope it helps someone.

Although one advantage of the energy prices rising - I'm that obsessed with the smart meter that I'm watching it more than the not Sky ☺️ TV.

We're that skint I've pretty much stopped fretting about it. As long as the rent's paid, along with the council tax, and we have some food in, we'll manage. They can't take what we haven't got, after all. It's a shit life though, eating pasta, sandwiches or chips yet again before sitting in the cold under a blanket and wearing a million layers and not being able to do much or go anywhere.

I find doing food shopping online to be more economical for us - I know some will say Aldi/Lidl not online but their prices aren't much lower than the rest these days if at all. Going into a supermarket can be quite overwhelming with the constantly changing prices - at least online you can sort products by price, compare with what you bought the previous week, have your favourites saved etc.

The cynic in me says these people know how much these roles in society are relied upon, and there's an interest in making them out to be of little value so they stay poorly financially rewarded, and therefore costing less to those who use them and are able to then better themselves - I do wonder for example, how many people would be still out doing their better job if all the care assistants and nursery workers got all these mythical better jobs tomorrow and the services just stopped, reckon there'd be a fair few suddenly at home looking after their own family lamenting how unfair it all is and trying to survive on carers allowance.......

I disagree. It's how I survived when I had little and I still do it now I earn a lot. Hardly any of our furniture is new and I regularly accept hand me downs for my daughter and buy 2nd hand books /clothes for myself. It's far better for the planet for starters.

But the delivery charges! £4.99 now seems standard for sainsburies and Ocado?

This makes me so sad. People who are working hard and still can't enjoy life. I wish we had a government who cared. If I was a millionaire I'd help you all out. It's sad that people like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos could end world poverty but choose not to. How do they live with themselves. I just hope you have your health and family, it's cheesy but health is wealth. I guess try to find the joy in the little things. I donate to charity every month and am buying Xmas presents for local toy appeals but it's nothing in the grand scheme of things. I hope no one is going to bed hungry. I am very lucky that I can afford my bills, I'm a single mum but I have a good job and good support from ex partner. I empathise with those that are struggling x

I 'get' you because I, or we as a family, were very hard up when I was younger and it does suck. Of course there were some good times but a heck of a lot of worry. We were always up to our eyes in debt.

All I can say is it does get better. As a retired person I am comfortably off and was for some years before that.

What I ensure is that my offspring will never be on the bread line.

Delivery pass, around £6 a month. I live semi rural, don’t drive, no supermarkets, retail parks or bargain shops in walking distance. All of which I relied on when living in a City, I could swing by on my commute and grab stuff.

Now? 6 subs/no show items per order minimum, produce goes off really quickly, drives me bonkers.

My Grandparents (80s) have ensured the same for my father (60s). Unfortunately, he has spent his life pissing away his money (and theirs) on whoever his current wife is at the time (he’s had 4…), making disastrous financial decisions within months if not weeks of meeting them, and will no doubt piss away his inheritance, leaving fuck all for me and my siblings.

Name changed for this thread, shouldn't feel embarrassed, but I do.

Debt management plan anyone?
Hubby struggling when we met, turned out to be more of an issue than I'd realised, found out after marriage. He, and therefore we, are now paying stuff back and money is tight. Money had gone on living expenses and bad decisions to try and solve the issue.
We are where we are.

Money-saving tips are most welcome.

Same here after all my budget is allocated - mortgage, bills, car, savings I am left with no money for anything remotely fun. Thinking to opt out of pension scheme at work to have some extra cash for getting new clothes or going out for a meal etc. Because I save monthly for annual costs I do have money to use towards end of the month for Christmas present shopping at least.