to envy people who are comfortably off?

[marrianneturpintine]

Was in the supermarket this morning and met a woman I was at high school with, we aren't especially friends but friendly if we bump into each other, she is closer friends with one of my cousins. I know her life has been totally different to mine she went to uni, married a guy she met there who is now a pretty high earner, she is freelance and works part time as far as I know. They live in a really nice part of town and even just meeting her today she looked so healthy and relaxed, her trolley was full of the fancy brands and lots of nice fresh ingredients, she also had quite a few sheet masks which I know are about £5 a pop as I'd just been looking at them before putting them back as I just couldn't justify it.

I am always skint these days and even just doing the shop is hard as I have to try and feed us all on such a tight budget and there is no money for anything nice.

I know I have no idea how happy anyone is and i know everyone had struggles in life no matter how it may appear but I do envy those who just don't have to worry about money and can within reason buy what they fancy without going into debt for it. It must make life so much easier not to have the pressure or trying to pay everything from an income that doesn't quite stretch while costs go up all the time.

It’s really hard at the moment, with the COL crisis. However, comparison is the thief of joy, and feeling envy will only make you unhappier if you start looking at people better off than you in this way.
Do you plan meals and shop with a list? Do you sign up for money-saving schemes? Do you account for bills and save for the next one as you go?
Try following some budgeting tips online and see if you can eke out enough to give yourself a treat now and then and you’ll feel better about your situation. Good luck!🍀🍀🍀

Sorry OP. You deserve a treat or £5 face mask now and then. I hope your circumstances change for the better soon.

@Anyotherdude Thanks, I do budget and make lists but so often you go to the supermarket thinking you can get everything for a certain price and its gone up again since last time so its a constant juggling act. Lots of ways to save money are buying more or stocking up when things are on offer but I often can't do that. I don't usually envy people but am just feeling a bit sorry for myself today! I will look into your other tips!

@Nots456 Thanks I appreciate that 🤗

Ahhh sorry to hear this. Times are hard. There's always people better off than you though. But there are always those working even more hours who are worse-off too. I try to just be thankful for what I have and try not to think of what I don't have. But see if you can treat yourself. A £5 sheet mask could be a nice mother's day treat?

I know EXACTLY how you feel. I’ve had to stop going on social media a lot as seeing constant amazing holidays and so on provided by wealthy DPs just started to upset me so much when I’m just wondering every day how to get out of debt.

@Blanketbaby7 Yes it would be nice to get one of those sheet masks for mother day I will suggest it to DH. However I think I need a mountain of them to help with my stressed out face!

@MaroonMidnight Thank you and yes, I already avoid social media now. I realise that people are not going to be on there posting their selfie that day they look crap or the final demand bills coming in but its still hard not feel crap about yourself and your own life when you see that endless feed of nice lives.

As you said, you never know what’s going on in other peoples lives. I’m relatively comfortably off as in I can buy nice food, I could buy a £5 sheet mask (if I knew what one was! But £5 is a doable treat for me whatever it is.), I can buy brands and fresh ingredients. That said, that’s partly because I am single with no kids/ dependents and no pets as I rent. I don’t spend on things like holidays or days out much because I have nobody to go with and those things are miserable on your own. I would rather have less money but have a family to be honest so being comfortable in terms of money definitely doesn’t always bring happiness.

It's all relative, OP. Maybe she feels she doesn't have enough compared to the next level up of richness. You would seem rich compared to people who can't afford basics like housing, clothes, food etc.

I once worked for a millionaire who was friends with a multi-millionaire, highly successful person, fairly famous. Consumed with jealousy because his friend's yacht was better than his and he couldn't afford a better one.

Those sheet masks are just the latest pile of wank, it's a piece of fibre soaked in 'serum' (which is just gunk as far as I can see) active ingredients things like hyularonic acid, vit c etc - you can get these from natural sources like oranges and soybeans etc. Make yourself a mask from things like oats and banana, it will be better than that overpackaged shit.

Evidence also shows that once you have financial security, money doesn't really make you happy. The more you have, the more you stand to lose. https://thehappinessindex.com/blog/can-money-make-you-happy/

I had to look up sheet mask, but yes I've seen them advertised.

I basically buy what I want when I go to the supermarket, and we don't earn that much, but I am low maintenance anyway!

@NoCloudsAllowed I do get that and while I don't think she is like that even if she was the thing is that she and others like her don't have to worry about putting food on the table, about paying the bills or the mortgage and that she can buy herself a stack of sheet masks even if they are a pile or wank. While others have to justify every penny spent, every time the turn on the heating.

I could have written this! But I try and let it wash over me. Life isn’t really fair and often down to luck and opportunities at the right time. Chin up. COL sucks.

ill admit it would be nice to have a bank account where anything i wanted i could just tap and the finances were all covered, that said i appricate my blessings and overall even if somehow i was minted eg £250,000 gbp then id still be buying reduced items etc.