Is anyone else struggling at the moment?

[hugsandpugs]

Feeling so fed up of struggling week to week and trying to stretch money to cover all the things that need to be paid out.

We currently only have husbands income coming in as I’m out of work due to migraines.

On average our monthly income is around £2,200 including child benefit and though it may sound a lot we are currently dipping into the tiny bit of savings we have just to get by!

There is 5 of us - me,hubby and 3 children & the food shopping alone crucifies us! We are lucky that our mortgage cost is fairly low but the rise in everything else is meaning every month is a struggle.

Just want to know I’m not alone 😣

You are not alone. You do amazingly to manage on that budget. Our income is just over 3k a month, and we also have a small mortgage. We've had a few big bills with the house lately, and this year all we have booked for a holiday is four nights camping with friends. On Saturday we had a day out geocaching in a local nature reserve. I'd love to be able to splash out on things and be frivolous, and even though we both work and our income isn't tiny it goes!

I would try to get back to work despite the migraines tbh. 2200 for 5 people is very tight!

I wish I could! Really do. It depresses me that I’m currently not fit for work 😟😔 I want to work but the frequency & severity of my migraines means I’d be no good to anyone at the moment and would be off work sick all the time and end up losing the job anyway.

You must be entitled to something on that income?

Sorry you are struggling, are you getting specialist help with the migraines? My DH gets them and there are a lot of new medications now that have really helped, he's getting far fewer now than he used to. Don't be fobbed off by your GP. I hope things improve soon.

Good to know I’m not alone I’m just not sure what else I can do, I budget the best I can to try and cover everything but as you say it’s difficult. 😞

We get a bit of uc around £300 a month and then child benefit. Husbands wages are around £1600 a month

Do you not get help with rent or mortgage as well?

Does your husband work full time, if so £1600 is less than minimum wage isn’t it? Maybe I’m wrong.

Yes I am currently on preventative meds even though they don’t stop them and also imigran nasal spray. I am requesting that the GP up my dose of the Imigran as they occur so frequently.

What medication does your DH use if you don’t mind me asking? I can always ask my GP if there’s any alternatives I can try. I just want my life back they are so dehabiliting 😔

Would you be able to access a food bank at all? Or community pantry.

I'm not struggling at the moment but things, financially, have got a lot worse in the last year or two for me, and I'm starting to get very concerned about the future.

I've also had two below inflation pay rises in the last year but my tax bill has completely rocketed - I'm paying more in real terms than ever before.

I don't know how others around me who didn't have the safety net that I've had (ie inheritance a few years ago) are coping to be honest.

Yes he does 40 hours a week I think his wages are around £440 after tax and NI

No we don’t. UC don’t help with mortgages as far as I’m aware.

Have you tried any alternative stuff like chiropractor etc? I hear they can work wonders with migraines

I can try, I’m not sure where to access them though. We have to pay school dinners for one of the kids aswell so that’s easily £30 a week!

I haven’t but tbh I imagine they aren’t cheap so again it’s a finance issue

have you tried propnalol for your migraines?

If you owe money on water rates they usually have a hardship fund. They fix during the pandemic. Go on a meter too if you haven't already.

It’s really difficult isn’t it - the cost of everything has gone up but yet wages etc haven’t gone up enough to cope with the increase!

I meant to type they did during the pandemic.

We are on a meter as there was one already installed here when we bought the property. We currently pay a set monthly rate but they said it gets reviewed every 6 months and can go up or down depending how much our water usage is! I imagine it isn’t going to be low with 3 kids though! We mostly have showers rather than baths to save on water etc

Take home for 40 hours a week on minimum wage is £1880 per month. Is your DH able to get a promotion? Is there a reason he's in a minimum wage job?

I have - the GP had to take me off it though as I have a heart arrthymia and it was causing my heart rate to dip too low

He’s trained in plastering but no formal qualifications so he done that for years self employed. Currently works in a factory though as even though it’s less than the income he would probably get doing plastering work it’s still a guaranteed income every month I guess.