How are people surviving

[Truthseeker456]

I don't get it. One income and I am on a what was a good wage 53,000. My mortgage is likely to double next year I have nursery fees and 3000 take home and always in my overdraft. How are people surviving, we don't hear anything in the media. Rents are also though the roof

Are you paying a mortgage? The issue people are discussing here, albeit in a roundabout way, is the increase in interest rates more than anything. That is having an impact on even the highest earners.

Do you want to know actually how we're surviving OP? Or do you want to find others in the same boat as you?

We have two salaries coming in and no childcare costs. We also have a small mortgage. It's fixed until June 2025, but if we are still at 6.99% interest then, that means monthly payments of only £750.

But yes, in your situation, I'd struggle too and it's shit for so many. DH is a subcontractor and his work could dry up at any point, so I'm thankful for our current situation while it lasts.

I'm on 33k, single, 6 year old. I am drowning tbh. My overdraft has been extended to the max, I've got a loan that's paying off some other things. To get my child a bloody paddling pool I had to pay for it in three installments and it was only 30 fucking quid. Just feel like a failure and never thought I'd be struggling to survive financially so much. Of course loads are worse off so I'm lucky to have a roof over my head.

It's soo hard to get accepted for PIP nowadays

So in your meal there were two different meats, Greek salad so presumably feta and olives, houmous - did you make that? That’s several extravagances in one meal. I’d have one treat but not lots of them. We’re also veggie so live on a lot of pulses which are just significantly cheaper.

Sorry posted that before I meant to! It wasn’t meant to sound judge, just that’s how I spend less on food ☺️

We had a few years of me not really working as we couldn't afford the childcare fees. I've gone back to work full time now and if I hadn't we couldn't have paid our mortgage which went up by 50% this year or the other bills. By doing so we have doubled our household income BUT I cry every day as my job is stressful, as his my husbands and I feel like I'm doing a rubbish job at parenting and rubbish at my job. And we are lucky, the extra income means we can pay our bills and we can finally buy a few extras like new clothes (not really bought very many at all for five years) but it doesn't feel like we are getting much for our money at all.

Being old! Single parent to two teens, earning 25-30k (self employed). Low outgoings, low mortgage. No childcare costs, energy costs are hopefully going down - but cost of food is the killer now.

I'm on less than the OP and dependent on UC but I still get what they are saying. The whole point in this col crisis is that it is impacting a diverse cross section of society. The OP isn't allowed to moan? Isn't allowed to struggle? She has to be on benefits using a food bank before she can come on a forum and just ask if anyone else is in the same boat? We should all support eachother not denigrate others because they don't have it quite as bad.

OP it's hard. When I speak to friends the only thing getting us through is knowing so many of us are in the same boat. Cut the things you can, batch cook etc but it's crap right now. Working to survive rather than enjoy life.

Should be eating less sugar anyway

Yes that would be it! Your mortgage is low

look at clothes in the shops, change my mind!
wouldnt buy fresh prawns,
frozen value prawns

budget meals,
looking at vegetables in supermarket, they are all small packets of asparagus/purple sprouting broccoli, cavolo nero - all expensive choices imo

Tesco and change meals each week depending on their Clubcard deals. Fresh fruit/veg/eggs from farm shops and the larder (like Olio which is an app where locals give away excess food for free) never branded items unless in a deal. Back up frozen veg (I get the fresh to frozen steam bags feel it's healthy as you can get). Left overs either get frozen for another meal or used in something else for next day lunch.

I don't think I eat blandly, I love making garlic mushrooms with steamed kale on toast, avocado and scrambled eggs in a baguette. Fresh fruit smoothies for breakfast or overnight oats (it's different flavours each week depending on what I scavenged or on deals)

It's 100-130 a week, but that's everything, nappies, laundry stuff, toiletries, cleaning stuff, all food ect. With a treat which is a box of cola cans for my partner and I 😂 we are a family of 3

@Nellodee I feed one adult, one teen on £50 a week. Chicken skewers in our house equals two chicken breasts (90p each), lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions, herbs from the greenhouse, wholemeal bread, and some bottled olives. Probably £2.20 total. It's one of our cheaper meals.
I work on £1.50 each per evening meal but it's getting harder to do. I grow as much salad as I can to help keep costs down.

We already jump between Asda, Farmfoods and Aldi to get the cheapest shittest food. I’ve just started a new job where I get 5% off Asda so that’s something I guess. Doesn’t make up for the 4k paycut though 😫

ergh
good - that was my dm response, are you her?
no judgement asked for btw regarding a spoonful of sugar in my tea

Do you have capacity to increase your income? I think that's what I'm going to have to go - I can't cut back much more.

Dh and I have always tried to make sure that our outgoings are covered by his wage, and therefore my wage is "fun" money

Not quite the case now when our mortgage has increased by over £300 a month, food shops have increased by about £200 a month, petrol has gone up by £40 a month etc. However the fact we've buffered against my wage means that we just don't have as much "fun" money as we did a year ago. But it's ok, we're in a lucky position.

PIP is evil 😂 my dad has terminal cancer and due to chemo they revoked his bus licence... PIP sent a rude letter saying he didn't qualify and should go back to driving a bus!!!

We are surviving because we are in our 50s. No childcare, no mortgage but supporting student children. That plus COL means we're not struggling but have a much lowered standard of living. No meals out, no new clothes, no weekends away. I feel like I work and sleep and fuck-all else.

Did you make the chicken skewers?

I have had to cut down on what ingredients I buy to make things - so use chicken thighs, add lentils to mince. Prawns would be a treat here - they are far too expensive for one person to have a whole bowl. We might get some to put in a stir fry for 4 of us.

Batch cooking a lasagne goes a long way. As does curry. Anything you can bulk out with veg and rice.

And yes a jacket potato one or two nights a week.

Oh and on a combined wage of £70k.

Wtf! Thats crazy!

And apparently food inflation is 'only' around 18%. I'd love to know how it's measured, there must be lots of random foods like baking powder. A lot of staples have increased way more than 18%.

I haven't judged. I'm just saying of all the things to have to cut back on sugar isn't that big a deal. Now coffee and tea is a different matter!