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.

I feel you OP. We were sold a lie that if we work hard we would have choices. Social media/media in general also gives us to much comparison making us feel like we are failing.

Her bills are paid, her family is fed, she’s doing what she can to lose weight, and has a couple of luxuries. How on earth is she not acting like an adult?

• £32 for 3 months
• £114 for 12 months

If you pay more than this for your prescriptions, it might be a tiny worthwhile saving- especially if you can get the shit doctors to prescribe for hay fever too!

Oh my god, you are hilarious. Champagne lifestyle!! Are you joking? Netflix and a medication to help lose weight. Peak mumsnet

OP (and others) are you not concerned that when people stop Mounjaro, hunger often snaps back — and for some, it comes back stronger than before starting treatment.

How is this right? The rest of us pay for Netflix and slimming jabs.

A student at College can only get it if they are disabled.

Adult children count as non-dependents and can claim UC in their own right.

If that’s the case and everything is hunky dory, why is the OP moaning?

Acting like an adult would be recognising that paying down the debt ASAP is the most important thing to do, and whilst you might get away with one item such as gym/netflix/ultrafast internet/mounjaro, paying for all of them and still complaining isn’t the best course of action.

Well she’s spending nearly a grand a month on groceries, so even if the hunger comes back, she should just about be able to manage 😂

Absolutely this!

Yup, being skint is utterly shit.

However, you've a roof over your head, enough to pay off your debts and put food on the table.

You could choose not to support two adults who have some income - and then you would have income to save for emergencies like the car dying or the washer going kaput.

However you've prioritised supporting your adult children, and skint is the result of that choice.

You can get moany and pissy about being skint, or you could focus on the fact you had enough income to make that choice in the first place.

Personally, in your shoes I'd be asking the adult kids for a suitable percentage of their income toward food/bills. And then save that toward emergencies.

I think asking kids to contribute would be really good. If they each contributed only £60 a month , that's your debt repayment accounted for (the £112 one)
It's also helpful for them to start to learn stuff like that. The other thing a friend had to do with her parents was, she was veggie, and they weren't, so she would buy her veggie alternatives every month as her contribution. It worked well as her mum was baffled by vegetarian stuff in the 1980s 🤣
I think there would be ways to make them financially responsible for something in the family and it would ease the wheels a bit

The bastards just don't want to pay for them. My surgery did the same when I asked for fexofenadine on prescription. I live in an affluent area but I'm not affluent. Ask a different gp and tell them you are struggling to afford them otherwise. Might be worth another try OP??

I think part of the problem with being skint is that every one has helpful suggestions that often are 'you could try this' and it feels just knackering to have another 10 things to try , to save scraps of money here and there

I didn’t realise that was the official definition of being an adult. Silly me.

Thid couple are working full time jobs, they have adult children that are still dependent on them because that’s just the way life is now, and they are doing their best to make ends meet. They have minimal extras, broadband - needed for job, gym and Mounjaro - important for health and mental health. And then they pay for Netflix. They are hardly living outside their means. Two adults working full time should be able to have a bit of flexibility. So to come on here bashing her because she’s not surviving on the bare minimum in life and saying she’s not an adult is rude and unnecessary. People are allowed to moan. Because it’s shit, two working adults can’t even have a few minimal ‘luxuries’ without money becoming really tight so yeah I think it’s fine to have a moan about it

https://www.weldricks.co.uk/products/almus-allergy-relief-acrivastine-8mg-capsules-pack-of-12

Generic Acrivastine is available

I've been getting acrivastine on prescription for decades. I think it's outrageous that OP's GP won't prescribe it.

My allergies are year round, not hay fever, so it would cost me a fortune if I had to buy it. Plus I'm old, and don't even have to pay for prescriptions.

I’m not in a minimum wage job but I also earn less than I did 20 years ago, even though I’m working in the same field. Blows my mind really to think about it when everything else has increased in price.

OP is not spending on cigarettes and booze so reasonable to have a tv package for downtime. And £25 gym membership is very cheap, definitely worth it if gym also has pool and use is made of it. I pay £50 for my gym membership and there are more expensive ones than that in my local area.

The average grocery bill for family of four is £120pw and OPs spend also includes dog food, care, toiletries and household essentials so not that far off.

The only advice I have OP is get on MSE threads for inspiration. Maybe make a couple hundred here and there by switching bank accounts. Sell unwanted / unused items / clothes online or car boot sales. Losing that much weight you will need a new wardrobe so sell your old clothes.

Good luck!

For some reason, I thought the brand name said "Anus" when I read it at a glance quickly - I wondered why you'd need anus cream for hay-fever! 😆🤧😅

This is £5 with a delivery charge as well. Meaning Benadryl in Tescos is cheaper

I agree with this actually. The daily grind of being skint, working (more than) full time and steering an autistic young adult and a teen through life is not something I’d do willingly and I can only imagine how a big debt v a small income seems like an impossible mountain to climb.
Saving a few quid here and there might not seem worth it amongst all that.
It IS worth it though. There’s been a lot of good advice in amongst the snide comments. Maybe pick that one thing to change (ideally the one that financially impacts the most) at a time. Every little step is one step nearer to freedom from those debts (cliched I know, but still true!)

I am a single parent who works PT, is a carer for her parents and relies on carers allowance and UC. I get what its like to have very little money.

But I dont spunk money on unneccessary things and then moan I cant afford the neccessities! I could cut your expenditure down by £300 straight away. Which chucked at your debt would make a big difference.

The simple fact is YOU CANNOT AFFORD THE THINGS YOU WANT. Neither can I! So you know what? I dont buy them! I do without. I dont like it and I wish things were different but they aint so I have to accept it.

I know loads of people have said similar things but you are paying over the necessary for phones and internet and food bills. I work from home full time and need high speed internet and mine is £25/month. I only get a new phone really every 5-6 years and I shop around for something affordable on contract and once it's paid off I switch to SIM only for under £8. If I was broke I'd be even more careful as there are cheaper deals.

I am not broke. Actually I earn a lot but I'm a single mum and I've lost my job before and ended up living on savings for a year. The only benefits I qualified for were job seekers and basic child benefit for 6 months. So I know what it is to have no income and also a lot and I'm telling you it's all about the little choices you make which save the day and you should always be thinking about saving and a long term plan.

I have earned under £30k in the past and at that time I was buying the discounted items in the super market and freezing them, I had barely any subscriptions, I found good things to do for free. I enjoyed my life still a lot. It wasn't always easy but I didn't feel hard done by and that was on one income, not 2.

On a side note if DD1 attends college, I'm assuming they went to school? Why were you a full time carer for 20 years?

I'm not saying they are not disabled but i know other parents with really quite disabled children too and the children go to specialist schools while they go to work. You should focus on gaining experience in your current role so you can progress and earn more. Cut back on unnecessary spending. Prioritise paying off the debts ASAP and once those are paid off you'll be much better off.

you can’t say that with any certainty without knowing where OP lives. Good luck paying for rent, council tax, £9 daily TFL charge, and everything else in London with £3800 per month.