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!

True! When I was a child it was rare for adults not to smoke. and my dad went to ‘see a man about a dog ‘ (the pub) most Saturday afternoons.

I popped into a supermarket for a few bits. Normally I do online groceries but there's a minimum spend of £40 and I estimated that I probably needed about £25 worth of stuff so went to the store instead. £75 later........

£74 per month just on meat?!?! 😲😲😲😲

That isn't a lot for four people? In fact it is pretty reasonable! I easily spend around £11 on one chicken alone, even in Aldi (I only buy free range though chicken though, so a lot more expensive).

That's about £2.50 a day, or 63p per person per day - assuming they eat meat everyday - that seems quite reasonable to me!

i actually think that is good going - good quality meat is not cheap

It's called the cost of living, but it should be called the cost of lining (other people's pockets). The cost of profit. The cost of greed.

I worked my entire career in hospitality and people not being able to go out for lunch or a drink or have a couple of nights away was the difference between me being able to pay my bills and feed my kids.

People forget the trickle down effect on the low paid, often zero hours contracted staff who work in the industries where people do their “unnecessary” spending.

Exactly! Don’t spend any money in the service industry isn’t quite the genius idea people make out.

I have started holding back on so called “luxuries” like getting my nails done and ordering take aways but it’s no fun for me and definitely no fun for the people who’s livelihoods depend on us all having a bit of disposable income.

Agreed. The last couple of times I've eaten out on a Friday night the previously busy restaurants are half empty with a couple of staff standing about doing nothing. I assume it won't be long until they no longer have a job. I have no idea what the answer is from a macro economic standpoint but it's definitely a huge worry.

@Blanketyre I'm also born in 1964, and I remember going for a coffee and cake whenever we went shopping. If it was Harrogate we'd go to Betty's as a treat! No way can I afford to do that as regularly as I did with my mum - I bought a few treats at Betty's the other week and it came to over £30 for six little cakes!

Yes it's so expensive now!

I'm glad I'm not alone...I used to regularly go out shopping for bits on a Saturday, nothing major, a new lipstick maybe, something nice for an easy dinner etc...then I'd treat myself to a cuppa and a cake at the local tea shop before going home, every other week I'd have my nails done. Now it's a different story, I've virtually given up meat and can't recall the last time I had dinner out, I try not to stay in the house too much as I live alone and don't want to become a recluse but I really have to watch what I spend, a drink and a bag of crisps in my local is over £8. I've stopped having the nails done and I just pay for a haircut now, my sister colours it for me. A bit pathetic I know but sadly no other option.

Try living in Scotland too.. alcohol has just went up again.. I bought 2 bottles of wine, four beers, a loaf and some snacks on Saturday in Tesco £48. Even on clubcard wine is now at least a tenner for a decent bottle. Got my hubbies fav, it's now £15 instead of £12. Used to buy wine and snacks etc on a Saturday for about £25. I find the only thing I have money for these days is bloody food and drink shopping.

£74 on meat for a month is cheap.
I buy turkey steaks, lean mince, large tray of chicken, 2 types of sausages minimum every week and exceed £74 easily a month.

£74 per month is decent, given it's averaging between £16-17 per week.

Buy some half-decent mince (500g) at £4.50, some chicken breasts (1kg) at £9 and some cheap sausages and you're already easily there. I probably spend more than that, given I buy cold meats for sandwiches and salads, too, and have just spent £7.50 on a duck that will last me 2-3 family meals.

It sounds a lot, but actually, meat, especially chicken, is really expensive - as it should be. It's just a shame most of this is feeding the buying and delivery chain rather than the farmers who rear the animals.