To be so sick of being broke?

[PrincessC0nsuelaBananaHammock]

This is pretty much just a moan really. I'm already doing everything I can to try and improve our situation financially. Although nothing's working atm. 😑

Both DH and I work full-time, on minimum wage. Me 45 hours per week, him between 40-50 depending on the week. And we still can't make ends meet. I'm talking having about £50 left in the bank 2 days after payday because all the bills have come out.

Not entitled to any benefits as earn too much for UC (on MW? 😐). Kids are grown up (22 and 18) but still living at home. DD1 is in college and on UC and waiting to see if she's entitled to PIP for her autism. DD2 is starting uni next month and works part-time herself.

I'm just so fucking sick of the cost of everything. To the point I'm questioning whether I can afford to buy a £6 pack of Benadryl for my fucking hayfever! 😡

Applying for multiple better-paying jobs every week and getting bloody nowhere! Urgh.

We are a 4 adult household and our food bill is nowhere near that! I'm on Mounjaro too, so plenty of fresh food, protein etc.

It’s tough OP, and for that I have sympathy.

But for reference; we take home 5.5k and phone contracts are banned in this house. I have had a ‘new’ second hand iPhone in the drawer which I bought off a contract friend. It’s been in there over a year because I am still using my smashed screen phone. There’s no need to upgrade at all until it dies IMO.

DPs Benadryl was also part of the cull. He fought for a GP appointment. You can do it. This will also help your mounjaro as if you tell them about your debts and stress there’s every chance you might be allowed it on prescription. It’s worth a shot.

I agree DPs gym is worth keeping. But you need to cut something so I suggest the foodshop. Download cherrypick free trial and challenge yourself to one week. Really see how minimal you can get it. Go into the baskets and tweak each item for cost efficiency. Food shop doing very weird things atm. It’s cheaper to buy two small packs of mince than a same size larger one. Then once you succeed at that then make that the challenge target for every week. You can and will get it down and it will have no difference in quality of life.

Save the buffer from the food shop. Put it into an easy access savings in something like monzo and then use that to pay off the debt once you have a small buffer saved up (say £500).

Goodluck

@PrincessC0nsuelaBananaHammock i can empathise- cost of living has increased so much. I used to fritter away money, on gardening and days out, nice things. Now I have two coffees a month out and maybe one pub lunch a month when I meet adult dc. They’re my treat times. No money to fritter as the bill increases this year vastly outstripped my v v small wage increase.

I thin my wage increase was about £50 a month and the bills went up £160 so that just comes out of my excess, which has gotten much smaller over the last three years. And I’m on a decent wage.

Keep plugging away at the debt and it’ll seem much better all of a sudden (I get that it makes you fed up in the mean time though).

The thing is though she’s spending so much on non essentials that they won’t (or shouldn’t) consider writing off the debt. There are people genuinely struggling and having to rely on food banks etc…….thus woman is spending £850 of groceries for 4 people (2 of whom are not contributing to the household at all) plus luxuries such as Netflix and gym membership and WLD

For your daughter, did you get support with completing the PIP form? They aren't easy, and they look for very specific information. I only knew how to do it from a social worker I work with helping me, maybe try to get some help from a local charity?

@Bushmillsbabe I didn't get support when filling in the form (although did go through a lot of helpful websites) but I do work for the DWP (albeit via a private company) so I have gained a lot of knowledge about the processes that I didn't know when applying the first time.

I earn 120k and I can't afford weightloss drugs or gym membership atm our food bill is about 600 for a family of four. Our rent (4k for a 4 bed semi) and council tax is much much higher due to where we live. We arent having a holiday this year as I can't afford it. DH makes 40k a year.
I am budgeting really strictly. Prjces have gone up so much it is hard but we have cut back massively.

Can you give me an example? Must have acrivastine as the active ingredient.

Massive drip feed...

Gluten free is pretty much everywhere now.

This is getting into the realms of absurdity. You're spending a hundred pounds a month on weight loss injections, which drastically reduces your appetite.

But your food bill is so large because of the food for you... for gluten free bread. How many loaves you eating a month for £825 and is your weight loss injection, not working if your gluten free bread is the cause of the high food bill.

2 loaves a week would be £25 a month or so. Not £825.

This is getting absurd now.

It is so hard when you have no money. It ends up being all you think about. I do think people expect a better quality of life than they used to in the past, and feel that some things are essentials. The problem is, all those things cost. To me, the overriding thing would be to live within my means and to clear my debts, as to have that worry hanging over me becomes all-consuming and would make me so worried. That would mean I would tighten my belt in the short term. For me, that would be so worth it, and would put me back in control of my life.
If it was me, I would cut back the phones as soon as I could, and ditch subscriptions. (Even now my phone and the kid's phones cost less than a tenner a month - we bought them second hand so they were never on contract.) We only have Freeview (frankly I don't have time to watch a shed-load of TV anyway). I am not a gym person, but I would count anything extra I have to pay for beyond food, housing and utilities as a luxury that I would cut in the short term. We effectively have 5 adults in our household and don't spend that much on food, but we do cook everything from scratch (probably why I don't have much time to watch TV!).
I do hope the OP manages to raise her head above water, as it is a horrid place to be.

One of my kids is GF. Aldi sell it, though not in every store. Tesco own brand is less than £2.00 a loaf.

I do get the Netflix thing - when you’re fed up and money is tight, a small subscription like Netflix means you can have movie nights or spend time as a family with a few snacks watching a series. It’s a lot cheaper than having a sky subscription.

In your original post you said the kids working capacity would be considered which I thought you meant to be UC looking at whether the kids can work and contribute.
I see now that you meant their earnings would be considered so apologies for my misunderstanding.
If op and her dh had a UC claim and were claiming help with rent ( sorry can't be bothered to trawl back to see if they are renting) then once the kids are over 21 there is the non dependent deduction on the rent element. Not sure if the eldest would be exempt from this I think she would be if she gets PIP. You are correct the non dependent deduction is about £92 a month.
I think the issue is though they really aren't going to get UC unless dropped hours a lot. which won't help in the long run. They'd have no kids on the claim as they aren't dependents any more and if no kids on the claim they wouldn't have a work allowance etc so I think the chances are very slim.

There are other weight loss drugs that you can get on NHS for at lower BMI. Orlistat requires 30 BMI, others 35.

Sadly, I remember the days of 2 black & white TV channels

We used to listen to the radio more

We used to read lots more

We used to do crafts more

Analogue phone used for emergencies only

However, the Internet is here to stay

You're right, clearly I should divorce the lazy bastard as working permanent nights and doing unpaid work up to 50 hours per week clearly isn't enough! I'll get on to Women's Aid immediately about the abuse he's put me through.

That's fantastic @PrincessC0nsuelaBananaHammock . Another year, to go then. My friend has had the band it's hard work mentally to stay on course.

Gluten free is more expensive, but not nearly a grand a month on food expensive when this person is also on weight loss medication.

The aldi GF bread is £1.69.

Thank you!

I earn a lot more than you, but I still shop around.

VPN = Private Internet Access @ £1.67 p/m (£65 for three years).

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/order?plan=36m&product=ZyJAsHQYEwHNCgU31I3A9Egma6SGM8X1Q-yFlbYwM9fVy8DUrnakLJkOmmOiV3bc&X=

Broadband = symmetrical 1Gbps fibre @ £18 p/m.

https://communityfibre.co.uk/

Mobile phone = Vodafone 120GB data @ £5.50 p/m

https://www.mobiles.co.uk/sim-only?sort=monthly_cost_asc&filter_network_multiselect%5B%5D=vodafone&filter_tariff_data_sim_only%5B%5D=%3E%3D100000%2C-1#point1

Have you tried Orlistat? I have! Shitting out fat uncontrollably is something I can do without thanks.

I wonder if you can look at that food and household bill. You’re using mounjaro so your appetite should be lower. You’ve said you have pets, so I’m taking that into account.

However, I feed - 3 adults, a toddler (nappies etc) 6 cats and 3 dogs on £500 a month. I know everything has gone up so easier said than done.

I also WFH and am on video calls or downloading huge data files. I pay £35 a month for FTTP (fibre to prem) and I actually haven’t noticed any loss in service considering it’s half the speed supposedly as my last supplier.

Wow, £5k in council tax debt. That's tax payers money!! Yes, absolutely give up your VPN, (I dont even know what a VPN is so it's safe to say it's not essential!). And get rid of Netflix, reduce your food bill, reduce every single cost you can to repay your debt.You should absolutely be looking to save every penny! On the one hand your complaining about tax payer funded disability benefits on the other you're screwing over the tax payers whilst you enjoy Netflix. Your morals are on the floor.

There is really no need for such crudeness.

My friend is on mount jaro and can't stand the nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea.

You might get all of that with higher doses

I pay less than £5 a month for my mobile usage

It is a few years old, bought out right

Did you see my post on the legality of this situation Op? Do you feel able to get advice on trying to tackle it?
I know it will seem scary to rock the boat but if you are both effectively working for less than MW, you are never going to escape the poverty trap