Page 33 | To wonder how people are coping?

Heebeebee · 23/09/2025 12:27

We have a combined income of 60k. DH also pays £500 a month child maintenance, and our mortgage is £1157. We still have Disney+. 170k would be like winning the lottery!

ItsAWonderfulLifeforMe · 23/09/2025 14:09

CobbleWobble · 18/09/2025 15:07

We are very lucky, I know this.

We are "Mumsnet rich" both have professional jobs with good salaries (£170k household income) and yet this last 12 months:

removed children from private school
changed how we do the weekly shop to reduce costs
cut subscriptions (like Disney+ etc)
reduced what I bought in the back to school shop
decided against a holiday in October half term
concerned about our usual Christmas food order

What is going on? I just don't understand why or how prices are rising as they are or how people on less than us are coping!

I'm extremely grateful we have the things to cut that we have but we've also had to remortgage this year which has doubled our mortgage payments and then our utilities have increased and the food shop has just got insane.

We have other things we can cut - a holiday in the UK, Netflix, the monthly takeaway but its just miserable to think we may need to do that just not to be living.

Happy to post spending particulars if people are finding it hard to see where I'm coming from.

So AIBU to think that as a country we cannot go on with prices rising like this? How are others coping?

OP the votes are in and you have completely divided opinion here, with 51% in your favour!

celticnations · 23/09/2025 18:45

Earning around £30K +/- 2K quite common in NE Scotland. And energy costs more here than in London & the SE.

NavyTurtle · 26/09/2025 13:48

CobbleWobble · 18/09/2025 15:07

We are very lucky, I know this.

We are "Mumsnet rich" both have professional jobs with good salaries (£170k household income) and yet this last 12 months:

removed children from private school
changed how we do the weekly shop to reduce costs
cut subscriptions (like Disney+ etc)
reduced what I bought in the back to school shop
decided against a holiday in October half term
concerned about our usual Christmas food order

What is going on? I just don't understand why or how prices are rising as they are or how people on less than us are coping!

I'm extremely grateful we have the things to cut that we have but we've also had to remortgage this year which has doubled our mortgage payments and then our utilities have increased and the food shop has just got insane.

We have other things we can cut - a holiday in the UK, Netflix, the monthly takeaway but its just miserable to think we may need to do that just not to be living.

Happy to post spending particulars if people are finding it hard to see where I'm coming from.

So AIBU to think that as a country we cannot go on with prices rising like this? How are others coping?

Is the 170,000 Gross or net? If it is net, and you cannot live on 14,000 per month. You are either very bad with money or have a very large house and a big mortgage, so you are living way over your means. You could downsize the house, but I get the feeling you like the big house. How much is your mortgage?

llizzie · 11/10/2025 02:14

Roobarbtwo · 19/09/2025 18:53

People don't need to have stew pans and stew pots to cook cheaply. I've had a slow cooker for over a decade. And even when I didn't I bought yellow stickers. Used community tables. No one has to resort to fast food - it's a choice.

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Did I say it was fast food? Slow cookers have been around a very long time, but some people don't have one.

Stews and potage are no different to slow cookers or having the oven on all day. Some people, including teachers and HMOs don't always have an oven, and microwaves do not feed a family and take longer to cook fresh food. With a hob, you can still produce nourishing stews (casseroles in ovens) and keep them going.

Bjorkdidit · 11/10/2025 04:50

Slow cookers are probably one of the most accessible ways of feeding yourself cheaply.

Mine cost £7 a few years ago and the same one is still on sale in Asda for £10 now. They cost very little to run, can be plugged in anywhere and are designed to be left unattended. So you can prep the food in the morning (or the night before) and leave them running on low all day while out at work etc and come home to a ready to eat hot and healthy meal.

So no-one needs to 'get out the stew pans' after work and a slow cooker would probably pay for itself in no time. Plus if people don't know what to buy and cook, they have the internet at their fingertips, including videos on how to make it.

Gall10 · 11/10/2025 08:49

llizzie · 11/10/2025 02:14

Did I say it was fast food? Slow cookers have been around a very long time, but some people don't have one.

Stews and potage are no different to slow cookers or having the oven on all day. Some people, including teachers and HMOs don't always have an oven, and microwaves do not feed a family and take longer to cook fresh food. With a hob, you can still produce nourishing stews (casseroles in ovens) and keep them going.

Show quote history

Cooking a casserole in the oven a few times in one week would probably cost the same in electricity as it would be to buy a slow cooker…I'm team slow cooker every time!

birling16 · 11/10/2025 09:17

I've been using a slow cooker for ever. Advantages are it's very cheap to run, cheap ingredients can make a good result. Disadvantages, a very samey texture and a smelly house!

childofthe607080s · 11/10/2025 12:39

Used aroud 40p worth of electric when we did a lot of baking last week at a high temperature for about an hour ( thanks octopus app)

typical slow cooker 1.6kwh for an 8 hour cook that’s about 35 to 40p

so the cost difference isn’t that great is it?

especially as with the oven I will have 3 loaves of bread in at the same time and then pizzas or flans or roast or whatever for tea - if you fill the oven it’s probably quite cost effective

Roobarbtwo · 11/10/2025 13:41

llizzie · 11/10/2025 02:14

Did I say it was fast food? Slow cookers have been around a very long time, but some people don't have one.

Stews and potage are no different to slow cookers or having the oven on all day. Some people, including teachers and HMOs don't always have an oven, and microwaves do not feed a family and take longer to cook fresh food. With a hob, you can still produce nourishing stews (casseroles in ovens) and keep them going.

Show quote history

As someone else has said - slow cookers are cheaper. I've had one for years. Until very recently I've not been able to afford to put my oven on. I'm also going to get an air fryer. I use my microwave much more than I use my cooker. It was you who made the reference to fast food in the first instance. You also don't have to live on the same meals daily if you have a slow cooker.

I personally wouldn't eat stew - I don't eat meat.

Roobarbtwo · 11/10/2025 13:53

childofthe607080s · 11/10/2025 12:39

Used aroud 40p worth of electric when we did a lot of baking last week at a high temperature for about an hour ( thanks octopus app)

typical slow cooker 1.6kwh for an 8 hour cook that’s about 35 to 40p

so the cost difference isn’t that great is it?

especially as with the oven I will have 3 loaves of bread in at the same time and then pizzas or flans or roast or whatever for tea - if you fill the oven it’s probably quite cost effective

Not really so easy to do if you live alone. Filling the oven for me would mean having to eat things cold (which is OK depending on what you are cooking) or re-heating things. If I make a slow cooker meal I can re heat it in the move

childofthe607080s · 11/10/2025 13:55

I fill any space in the oven with bread that I freeze so that works ( if you have the energy to make bread !)

Roobarbtwo · 11/10/2025 14:02

childofthe607080s · 11/10/2025 13:55

I fill any space in the oven with bread that I freeze so that works ( if you have the energy to make bread !)

I unfortunately don't have a freezer. My flat isn't big enough - my last one was (wasn't my choice to move). My last kitchen was four times the size of this one

childofthe607080s · 11/10/2025 14:13

just another small example of how with a bit more money you can save more easily

EatSleepDreamRepeat · 11/10/2025 16:18

BlueSuedePumps · 19/09/2025 20:55

That is a tiny mortgage by today's standards and depends on where you are in the UK.

I know of people in London paying £3K a month for rent for 2 bed flats.
And young grads sharing a house are paying £1K+ a month for a room.

The north-south divide is something a lot of posters are unaware of.

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Rent costs are crazy aren't they. I live in a Greater Manchester outlying town, one of the ones considered poorer and less desirable. We are not on the tram/Metro. My 3 bed semi bought 3 years ago with a 20% deposit was £190k so mortgage is reasonable. A 2 bed semi on the next street has just come up for rent at £1200 pcm. It was gone in a day. A 3 bed rental is about £1400. Nearly double my mortgage. I completely agree that rents make mortgages look cheap!

speakout · 13/10/2025 07:34

Young people have little chance. My daughter is single, has been flat sharing for a number of years, but wanted a place of her own. She ended up on the outskirts of the city in a tiny flat in not a good area- wouldn't put out her rubbish after dark type place. And with that distance came huge travel costs to work in the city. There seemed now way round it. Thankfully now one of her jobs has offered free accommodation right in the city centre. She moved yesterday. It is such a relief for her.