To be sick of sneezing and spending £20?

[ghicks]

Anyone else? I feel like everything costs more and more and I’d just like to moan about it. Every day it seems to be something else!

I took that literally OP!

My Hoover broke today and my kids spilt something on the carpet so I also needed to get new vax liquid. £200 later 😭😭😭😭. It’s ridiculous and something has got to give. I could have bought a cheaper Hoover but I wanted a good one! (My last one was a cheap one and lasted a year!)

even “not leaving the house” days are costing stupid money 😂😂😂

We tried to have a "no spend weekend" with the toddler this weekend, extra hard because it was raining but no spending on day out activities etc. Still spent £40 of snacks/ buying coffees to duck out of the rain while in town/ bottles of water and cheap meal deals while out etc. (can't stay in the house with toddler, it's chaos). It's so frustrating. If we'd also gone to soft play/ swimming/ cinema or whatever it'd have been much more!

The "No fun outside the essentials brigade" aside, even the essentials/basics are extremely expensive.

Government/NHS/Your nan are nagging us all to eat healthy and buy fresh and don't buy anything that would bring any joy, but fresh veggies (that, in fact, are shit quality at purchase go off the very next day next day) and "decent" meat cost an extortionate amount.

Despite everywhere making record profits.

General Strike 😂! Yes, the last one was such a rip roaring success. Back to work for less money.

Wish DD15 could grasp the value of money. She really needs to look for a job as she’s asking for stuff all the time. Even places like Maccies aren’t a cheap option anymore. And the cost of a takeaway is astronomical!

Yes it is infuriating. With all that fucking around, inaccurate prices, nectar prices, and just regular prices moving around so much, it's like a shit time consuming game that you never win. I've gone to customer service before and got them to honour the offer in circumstances where the entire shelf was stacked with something slightly different from what the offer ticket said, while there was not a single item that the offer related to.

We at least had the balls to try 😜

But ;est continue to sit here getting fucked from every possible angle instead huh? Looking forward to when we all get to retirement age and benefit from the amazing pensions.

Oh wait, we won't, because by the time we get there the older generation, who will be dead, will have made sure they fuck that up for us with their last breath, too.

I was literally going to quote George Orwell! The rich can live on brown bread and carrots to cut back, but if you're poor, you put the kettle on, you have cake. You need something to cheer you up!

I can tolerate the whole club card price thing but when your expected not to notice that you've not got your offers applied etc or be doing that much of a shop you forget the wraps were £1.50 not £2 as charged.

Tissues judging from the thread title!!

I used to guesstimate the cost of my groceries at the checkout by counting my items and saying on average £1 an item. This was about 10-15 years ago when I was a student/young professional.

Went to M&S earlier for bread, milk, butter. Also bought greek yoghurt, strawberries, raspberries and a few bananas. I decided to assign £2 an item. That'll be £14, I guessed.
It was more than £16!

Time was when DH and I used to shop in Waitrose, our nearest supermarket. Never really gave it much thought - yes, we were very fortunate to be in that position. Now it’s mainly Aldi and that’s fine. We pop into Waitrose from time to time if unavoidable but the prices are painful.

I also had the occasional coffee on my way to work when it was affordable but since Covid I haven’t been in the office so much, so that habit has largely faded away. But recently I just so desperately fancied a coffee after a frustrating day - went into a Pret and ordered a flat white and picked up a flapjack. £6.40 for two items. I nearly fell through the floor. Even asked incredulously how much they were as I couldn’t believe she hadn’t made a mistake 😦

PS I’ve just checked and their flat white has gone up again - to £4.05! Well, I guess it’s good I’ve got a thermos….

I earn a nice salary too and agree with ya until the cheap clothes bit. no I buy stuff to last and have reduced considerably want clothes I buy..buying less but better is my motto now. therfore then I can try and save for the takeaway or dinner out for us know instead. everything is getting more expensive now and need to learn to look at second hand look at our wardrobe or mend what we have

Actually I shopped in Waitrose for the first time last week as I was in a new city and in a hurry to get home. If you stick to the special offers and Essentials brand, it wasn't too bad. Easily comparable to Tescos.

I thought this was a CoL version of spend a penny… like a big wee every time you sneeze

The vouchers, take your own snacks etc yes I get that but it takes the fun out of it somewhat when you're counting the pennies all the time.

I don't really get this. I understand the ethos that it's not fun always having to think 'can we afford this' in the back of your head but I've never enjoyed a film less because I've seen it on a Wednesday rather than a Thursday, so can use meerkat for bogoff. The malteasers I snack on taste exactly the same whether they are from sainsburies at £1.35 for a multipack or the cinema for £2.95.

Just so far today. For context, I am at an all day event so not at home.

Takeaway coffee
Tube journey
Sandwich and protein bar at the station
Takeaway coffee (to keep me going!)
Takeaway tea (see above)

Still to come:
Tube journey up to Camden for a date
Dinner (he might pay, but he might not)
Drinks (see above)
Tube journey home.

I have accepted that I have to spend money pretty much every day to live my life. I have no idea when I am going to get round to meaningfully saving for the future...

YANBU. I said to DH just yesterday everyone I leave the house it’s 50 bloody quid.

Took my DF and DS to a cafe for coffee and cake today, not much change out of £20. Nipped into booths for a couple of bits £30 plus. So over £50 in bigger all. I know I didn’t HAVE to take my dad for a coffee but he’s in a nursing home and likes to get out and the weather is shite.

Everything is just so expensive.

You are not even safe indoors though. If you dare to put your heating on, just to check it still works, or to get a little warmth into your frozen purple fingers, through your gloves, just for ten minutes, five minutes ... you will soon find that you have no money left whatsoever.

Popped into Starbucks for the first time in months the other day, £5.50 for the small pumpkin spice latte. It wasn’t as nice as I remember and I won’t be returning. 🙈

dd is coeliac and the price of gluten free stuff is horrendous, £4.50 for a decent enough loaf of bread, £3.50 for 4x bagels.

We told Shell they can have £150 and get fucked for the rest. They can't cut you off, if you're paying something monthly. Something to consider x

@Wexone but my teen daughter doesn't want to buy and have one jumper to last her 5 years. She's not into labels or fashion but she does get bored with clothes after a couple of years, plus growing issues obvs.

@easylikeasundaymorn I do buy sweets etc outside the cinema but we like popcorn and that's awkward to bring in, plus it just feels a bit miserable to say "yes we can go but given me 45 mins to dick about on apps for an offer".

I went shopping mid week to buy some bits, wasn’t a big shop. I love Weetabix Minis with chocolate chips. A box of 12 servings was £5.50. It was under £4 just weeks ago. My laundry liquid had gone up by £1.50. I’m dreading this budget. I think we’re all doomed. I couldn’t justify purchasing anything but a pack of yoghurts on the whoops shelf.

We all have in the past few decades become accustomed to a certain level of unplanned spending, and that has become normal.
Sadly, the idea of 'what should be a comfortable income' is now wrong. The word 'should' is the catch here.
We have thought that £x thousand a year salary 'should' be enough for us to buy coffees and lunches and treats. The reality is now different.

Back in the 70's, my parents and grandparents were comfortably middle class, with my father and grandfather in good jobs (the women only earned 'pin' money). But we almost never went into cafes. Coffee or tea was carried in a flask on a day out, and we took packed lunches. That was normal for most people. Cafes were 'greasy spoons', restaurants were a once-in-a-blue-moon treat, and no-one bought coffee outside of the city centres (always to sit in, not take away).

Today's 'normal' has changed, and our expectations of 'should' have not caught up. We can expect a return to the economic conditions of previous decades.

And yes, lots of the leisure and food economy will go away forever.