To wonder how people can afford to live

[Member869894]

I've just been to lidl and am amazed at how expensive food has become. How do people on low incomes with children manage? When I was a single mum 15 years ago with little money i could still buy salmon and treats for my DCs. I'd not be able to buy thise now and I earn more

I forsee a few health problems coming down the line for families,sadly. If we cannot afford a basic standard of nutrition for ourselves we are storing up a lot of trouble. Its a horrible position to be in for anyone

Isn't protein responsible for height?

I absolutely understand why people remain in awful relationships. Life is so expensive!

I know, but it's cheaper and tastier to buy the dry stuff. The texture is also miles better!
It's just a faff to do...

Me and my partner, baby in belly. We get £470 a month UC. We pay £100 a month electric and gas, £30 council tax, £40 water. Were left with £300 for the whole month, so each week we only have £75 for groceries to feed us. Nothing else, we can’t afford to replace clothes, pay off any previous debt, have a single date night. We are literally existing to survive, we have no enjoyment. We can’t afford Netflix, we can’t afford a single takeaway. It’s been tough, I miss working so much and wish I didn’t have to stop. My partner has just started working again; which will help us so much but we won’t get anything till the end of the month, so another month of this life. We are grateful for the roof over our heads, and the food in our belly. But our lives are so empty, and make us feel sad.

I shop in Aldi and I’d say my grocery bill has risen by £30 per week and I’m a very careful shopper. There’s only me and 1 young teen.

Yes, we eat a lot of beans and pulses - it all started because I worked with a lovely woman who grew up in India. We became good friends and she taught me to make dal- the whole family loved it. And Dd became vegetarian. I have recently switched to dried beans as it is cheaper but I always keep a few cans in the cupboard as well.

This. I think its an odd thing to assume people buy salmon so you've made wild assumptions. I buy fresh salmon I don't see it as living lavish by any means! Christ.

@AHBM2022 are you getting Healthy Start vitamins and vouchers for fruit, veg, milk etc? Please ask your midwife if not and have a Google. You are entitled to it if pregnant and on UC, both now and when little one comes. May help a little with the food shop

I’m not sure what the point of your post saying “we have two incomes, grown up kids, no mortgage and no car, and we have plenty thank you very much!” is other than to be a not-so-stealthy boast gloating at those who aren’t in your position!

@EastEndQueen we do, it’s £17 a month which helps us in a pinch; but doesn’t change our financial situation in the slightest sadly.

It's gone up a lot in Ireland too. My weekly lidl shop was rarely over €100, now its pretty difficult to get it under that, despite being a lot more careful.

I probably could go a lot cheaper, with more processed choices but for now I can absorb the difference and stay true to my aims of living as UPF free as we can. For now.
Hopefully we'll be doing more home growing in the coming year to offset the rises. We have space for growing veg unlike a lot of people though.

i think salmon expensive

and yet the advice is the diet in the war years was the healthiest

We are lucky we live in a cheap to buy area. The mortgage on our 4 bed detached house is £550 a month. Food costs are around £150 a week. Dh and I earn 85k jointly and have 300-500 to save a month.

I find Aldi at least £20 cheaper per week than Tesco.

What is interesting is that we have my mum staying with us this week. I’ve been making an effort to dish up at the table rather than shovel stuff on plates by the hob, and meals that previously just about did 4 of us are easily going 5 ways with leftovers, as I tend to put less on each plate if I’m dishing up at the table. No idea why!

You bought your property at the right time. You must have bought years ago or / and had a huge deposit. A 4 bed detached house in a cheap to buy area now costs £240K with monthly mortgage repayments of £1,215 over a thirty year period.

Bought it 8 years ago for 135k now worth around 230k Had a 10% deposit of 13.5k

Yes men make the cost of living expensive with demands for meat everyday. Mine does anyway!

Low income here, luckily mortgage paid

This is how we survive

Yellow sticker shop, and not always in the bigger supermarkets, the local vivo ( petrol station ) has the best bargains

Use the super five veg offers

Use frozen berries and frozen veg - not all but cauliflower, stew mix, spinach , peas, mixed veg all works well for us

Never throw food away, even if there is just enough left overs for one portion, in the freezer it goes, it will do a pack up or end of month freezer pot luck - we can all be sat eating different meals lol

Cook from scratch, I make soups with whatever veg I find reduced, or bottom of the fridge , I make our greek yoghurt using cheap UHT milk - 3 litres makes a couple of kilo. I use the pressure cooker and slow cooker to make cheaper cuts palatable - silverside in the slow cooker is as tender as any

Actually we do eat a lot of salmon, it's always being reduced in supermarkets, I snap it up. All the fish we eat is either reduced or from tins. Tinned fish is very economical

Red lentils are a staple - a couple of handfuls in the bolognese - they melt down lovely, bulk out the meat and add protein. I also make a lot of dahl. but add lots of veggies like sweet potatoes and aubergines , also might add some chicken if there's left overs - makes for a really filling meal which is healthy

Add chickpeas to curries, butterbeans to soups and stews - all added protein and fills the plates

I do spend a lot of time actually shopping - maybe 3 times a week - usually scouring the YS but also trawling the three big supermarkets for different offers. Ill even pop into M&S for their meal deal if its a good one - some clever picking and I can feed the 3 of us twice at least from the one deal

We dont spend much at all on snack foods - crisps , biscuits etc , nor cereals or bread, so little bread eaten that its stored in the freezer so it doesn't go mouldy before its eaten. Oats are cereal of choice , I make my own granola

Yes prices are high but its still possible to eat healthy without breaking the bank , with a bit of planning and time actually cooking

I got mine to share the cooking 50/50 for a few years (circumstances rather than malice! 😉). That included the shopping for meals.

He's now happy to eat whatever I dish up - as I quote: he hates shopping & cooking and it's soo difficult to make different meals each day within a certain budget!

Without jobs you cannot expect money.

@Trumpsgoneloco Good nutrition is required for growth but the hormone for growth is released when we sleep.

We are a basic food item house. An ingredients house as DS complains. If people are confident cooks then it’s easier and ultimatley cooking your own is cheaper. My parents ran a restaurant and taught me how to cook. People say they don’t have time but it you are used to cooking and especially in commercial kitchens then you can cook quickly. I got DS a job when in sixth form at a friends restaurant and started teaching him myself at 12.

@suki1964 that's pretty much what I do. I also bulk buy some of my pulses as cheaper... ok not for us as I go for organic/ fair trade. But I do pay similar to the supermarket bog standard stuff for mine! Where's I couldn't afford their premium ones of similar quality.

I think what many people are lucking is actually time and cooking skills. Add to that being strapped for cash then learning to cook from scratch (and getting things wrong) can look like an expensive venture.

I'd like to see a return of cooking class to school with some proper nutrition teaching! Not like DS who had the bring a pack of mince, an onion, jar of tomato sauce and pasta into school for cooking 🙄.

It amazes me that people in this situation go on to get pregnant. I had to plan my kids when I could afford them!