We live in Channel Islands so fully aware we have lower tax (though our house prices equal London) but I am just constantly stressing about how expensive it is to live.
I know there have probably been countless threads on this subject but it just seems to have gone mental.
We don’t have Lidl, Aldi or the more reasonable supermarkets here and our food costs are much higher than in UK but I balk at how much we spend just to survive - we don’t eat out, we cook from scratch and grow a lot of our own veg/fruit and it’s still extortionate.
Wages obviously have not kept pace with inflation. Our social security (national insurance equivalent though we have no NHS so have to pay for doctors/ A&E) is increasing by 0.2% each year and is on all earnings. And don’t get me started on the utility prices due to the monopoly over here.
Sorry, just having a right moan!
I guess I just worry about retirement and our children. We’ve been told we are unlikely to get an old age pension as it will run out for anyone born post 1977!