Are other full-time working families finding there is nothing left?

[fatface001]

Alarm went off at 5:30 this morning, then an hour stood on a packed train into London for the commute. We are a normal family: one child and two full-time jobs. I’ve always enjoyed working and have always worked hard, and I don’t mind that at all — but I do expect that full-time work should still mean there’s something left at the end of the month for a normal life.

But that really doesn’t feel like the case anymore.

There’s nothing left at the end of the month. Everything has been stripped back, all non-essentials have gone, and even basic things around the house are being put off or done ourselves because there isn’t spare money for trades. It’s just constant cutting back.

What’s hard is that we’re both working really long hours and doing everything we’re “supposed” to do, but it still feels like we’re going backwards rather than getting ahead.

When I hear talk about “those with the broadest shoulders” contributing more, I honestly don’t recognise it anymore in real life. It doesn’t feel like anyone in our position has anything left to give — it feels like the pressure is entirely on ordinary working households just to stand still.

I’m not looking for luxuries — just the sense that working still gives you a bit of breathing room. Right now it doesn’t feel like that at all.

Is anyone else feeling the same?

DH & I are what most ‘normal’ people would think of as having a high household income and we have always felt quite flush but this last 6-12 months has been quite a bit tighter.

We still have money left but do not appear to have a home and lifestyle that matches our income.

We aren’t ‘Mumsnet’ high though - that’s reserved for £200k plus according to some threads I reckon.

I just have to worry about the likes of Reform getting in and wondering what on earth they will do with people like me who they clearly think very little of.

The increases also don't really benefit considering everything else is also increasing.

Oh how terrible for them penalised by £4.35 per month because they’ve managed to have savings collecting money from the tax payer. It’s an absolute joke.

Being disabled is shit enough so shouldn't that poster be able to have some sort of enjoyment even if it is a cafe in a cafe or do you begrudge that?

A friend runs a cafe in a local attraction. A few summers ago, visitors would have bought tea/coffee, sandwich and cake. Then majority stopped buying sandwiches, next they cut back on cake to biscuits, and now most just have tea or coffee. It's an indication of how people with extra money are cutting back. She's had to reduce hours and offering and cut back on staff too.

This might also be the mounjaro effect!

If a higher earner is telling you they can’t afford x, y and z anymore, you can be concerned about the state of the nation’s economy or you can respond with a trite ‘well people on benefits can’t afford Pizza Express anyway so I’m sure you’ll cope’. It’s such a regressive pov.

I wasn’t a high earner when my dc were in nursery and my mortgage was pretty big at the time and we could still afford a holiday and a few meals out. Netflix wasn’t an unimaginable luxury. The cost of living has gone through the roof for everybody, it’s nothing like it was 5-10 years ago. Fixed costs you cannot budget out of are absolutely taking the piss.

I’m ’benefit People’ (to quote an earlier post)
lone parent, two jobs and still not enough to survive so receive a top up.
Have to rent and cannot afford to drive; I assure you we are not ‘winning’
The resentment that oozes towards those with considerably less is pathetic.

Oh for God's sake.

Leaving aside the fact that the savings might have accrued before the UC claim was made...

It is sensible to allow people on UC to have some sort of cushion for when the washing macine/boiler/car breaks down etc. It would be a really stupid and spiteful policy to not allow this.

As I said, your venom is misdirected.

Yes it's temporary, but another 3.5 years for us! Not exactly light at the end of the tunnel status yet. I'd like a holiday before 2030 if possible!

This is the deeper point of this thread. Not benefits, and who gets what; that’s irrelevant. Benefits exist to help the most vulnerable in society (yes a minority abuse them, but it’s a small fraction. Most absolutely need them and are entitled what they receive) The point the Op makes is that EVEN the well paid workers who are able to work and earn are being shafted as never before. They then can’t spend or buy any luxuries which will lead to hardship and job losses across the board. I think it’s a time bomb and we’re seeing it play out in real time.

Agree.
I’m also in the benefits category and receive PIP AND ESA. Reason? Cancer is kicking my arse. Am I “ winning “? Hell no!

We're mortgage free, which is incredibly lucky and I know we're fortunate to be in that position. So this isn't a 'poor me' at all, but we really don't have much left over either - certainly not able to save the equivalent to the mortgage which is what we planned, and not spending it all on luxuries and non-essentials either.

I don't think we're 'hard up' but we're certainly not as comfortable as I expected to be once we reached this age/ position.

One child - some wraparound care costs but not needed every day. Both work full time, middle-ish earners - not high by mumsnet standards but certainly what I would have considered 'doing alright for ourselves' before the last year or so.

Still feel very fortunate, but I'm not sure we'll ever be in a position of not having to budget fairly carefully - we had a child later in life so the thought of uni costs etc (if that's the path she goes down) weighs quite heavily now.

Just curious - I’m guessing you are a one income family?

You don’t say how much you earn and what your outgoings are.

I am a single parent with one income. I’m not broke at the end of the month. I’ve made choices: no large mortgage, instead I chose to stay in a flat, yes it’s not the house I’d love to have but it’s affordable. No unnecessary subscriptions, no car payment, no loans, no credit card debt. If I need something I save for it and I have enough in the bank for emergencies. No bank of mum and dad involved, no inheritance.

Holidays are planned for and budgeted for. Days out tend to be at National Trust places with packed lunch or anywhere else with no entry fees such as museums or the beach. Meals are planned each week and a shopping list is written and stuck to.

I can pay the bills and the essentials, I’m not entitled to anything else just because I work full time. Things are expensive at the moment, they’re expensive everywhere. It’s a period of time, you can moan and be resentful or you can get on and appreciate what you do have.

I have found my people here. We both work full time, 3 kids, 5 years ago were far better off than we are now, despite me upping my hours.

I think people who are on UC don't understand about the difference with people working FT is we are knackered at the end of day having worked probably more hours than we're paid, plus commuted and so you need to pay more for things that cost, eg a cleaner or takeaway etc.

If you're not working you have time to clean your house, cook meals for yourself. You can go out on a nice sunny day to the park for free, whereas if you're working you're looking out the window on those days then it's inevitably overcast and spitting by the time it's the weekend.

There has to feel like there is something more in return for working. If you work full time you should be able to afford some treats otherwise what's the point. Just cut your hours and go on UC as a top up.

If they have savings before applying they should use those before applying! Why is it everyone else’s job to give them money when they already have some.

And what do the rest of us have to do when the washing machine or the car breaks down - we have to pay for it ourselves! Which is sensible because why should other people pay for that? Do you honestly actually think it’s other people’s responsibility to pay for their life emergencies? It’s not and it shouldn’t be.

But you knew the costs involved in choosing to have a child. You may not be able to afford nursery fees and a holiday but so what? Families have been tightening their belts for generations. So what if you need to? It’s a period of time, get on with it.

Yep but if you complain you just get a load of ‘tiny violins’ because you were previously able to afford a coffee or a sale theatre ticket

Agree, the sense of entitlement on here is something else.

I think some of this comes down to expectations too, plenty of mumsnetters seem to expect that having 3 kids and 4 bed houses in nice areas on average incomes is a right and to be totally expected, even if they want to work part time etc. I’ve got friends up north and on midlands who think it’s the norm to have 5 sunny holidays abroad a year and have fairly cheap rents/housing ( absolutely their right to do this of course) but then bang on about how ‘the south’ gets everything ( we don’t) - the big facts are that house pricing ( be it rented or bought) in some more in demand parts of the country is bang out of control and due to the fact a lot of decent family social housing was sold off starting with That her more and more people have been forced into private rentals- with little security and no price controls at all. Same applies with privatised utilities- few controls and often owned by overseas conglomerates, just milking them for profit -then we have Brexit, so where areas were getting some investment before that stopped . Gvt are caught between a rock and a hard place, people don’t want/can’t pay more tax to fund services and yet incomes are stagnant due to less well paid jobs out there due to lack of any high paying jobs needing to be based here - it’s a viscious circle - The only people raking it in post Brexit are very well off who can still hide money away offshore or some tradesmen who have seen their sensibly priced EU competitors vanish out the UK and are back to the charging £200 call outs or £400 to send 4 hours sorting some plumbing etc and not always doing a great job either. Dont forget those of you who voted for this nonsense everything was going to be cheaper, sunlit uplands and all that - as people have discovered it was complete wankpish pushed by Telegraph reader types for their own ends and well enough off for it not to matter to them.

You do realise that many people who claim Universal Credit do work full time? Wages are just shockingly low in comparison to the cost of living. Of course people still have to worry about putting food on the table and council tax rises. What a staggeringly ignorant comment.

Where is it all going then, tell us?

Because we are north-west, and with childcare costs and mortgage, still live quite comfortably on £75k between us. We save a fair bit and go on holiday.

Are you eating caviar for breakfast, lunch and dinner???

Moaning that you have had to give up a cleaner or cut back on theatre trips is hardly on the breadline!
There are millions of families struggling to feed themselves or worry about putting the heating on!!

We claim UC. We have a mortgage. Our ceiling came down last week. Should we have no savings for these sort of emergencies and repairs? Everyone should be able to have savings.