I do most of my food shopping at Tesco cos it's only down the road from me so it's handy, but after today's shop I might need to go elsewhere from now on. A pack of 6 eggs used to be 89p, now it's £1.15. 2 chicken fillets used to be £1.90, now they're £2.40. It's just not doable anymore. I barely got anything for £30 which used to get me a decent sized top up shop.
Discontent #8 food, energy, transport, cost of living, society etc
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I was chatting to a friend earlier and she was saying her mortgage has gone up by over 500 a month. Turns out she and her husband are on a moderate combined income (60k) yet their mortgage was for 300k, 5x their annual income. I find this crazy, technically yes they can afford it but there is so much "keeping up with the Jones" going on.
The thought of taking on that amount of debt terrifies me! Maybe I'm just very cautious but I've always thought just because you CAN take on a huge debt, doesn't mean you should. I live alone and have 60k left on my mortgage with an annual salary of 40k for reference, and the last few years I've certainly felt pressure from my social circle to upgrade. I don't have a flash detached home but it suits me just fine. It really seems like people don't want to live well within their means anymore.
The thought of taking on that amount of debt terrifies me! Maybe I'm just very cautious but I've always thought just because you CAN take on a huge debt, doesn't mean you should. I live alone and have 60k left on my mortgage with an annual salary of 40k for reference, and the last few years I've certainly felt pressure from my social circle to upgrade. I don't have a flash detached home but it suits me just fine. It really seems like people don't want to live well within their means anymore.
Their milk goes off too.
Chicken thighs are cheaper than breasts and also frozen chicken is sometimes cheaper.
The CoOp is a shop I go to if desperate these days, the selection they have is usually poor, I second the bread being hard and quick to go moldy, their bagged salad always looks wilted, and they charge a premium for biscuits, cereal etc.
Currently Sainsbury's is where I go and I get nectar discounts on the app on my most commonly bought items, but as every item has gone up by around what seems like 50p, the trolley is costing a lot more than this time last year. I'm coming away feeling like I've somehow failed at my budget. Thing is I am trying to buy ingredients and scratch cook, but still need things like household supplies and the essentials. I'm already buying the cheaper own brand things in most cases and having simple lunches and simple dinners. I've already decided not to bother buying much special extra Christmas food this year except a token box of biscuits and token chocolates. I'm not going to get swept up in buying all the festive food.
I was trying to explain that life will come crashing down shortly for a lot of people living on the never never with leased cars etc. She said it was the banks fault and I disagree, just because someone is offering to loan you the money doesn't mean you should take it. It's as if no one has learnt anything since the last crash.
absolutely!! Try telling some of my freinds and family this when it comes to us moving to a bigger house
all they think about is appearancesFor anyone that’s struggling with cooking or inspiration for healthy recipes on a budget I highly recommend the site beatthebudget.com. It’s £1 a week and they have so many recipes on there for meal preps all very healthy, nutritious and easy to make. Very reasonable meal prices to, quite a few are approx £1 a portion. (I know you need staples like spices etc but it’s a good place to start). I signed up a few months ago, took all the recipes I liked then cancelled my membership and I’m still using them now. Just a thought 
Edited to add I found this from Instagram, here’s the link if anyone is interested. https://instagram.com/beatthebudget?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
Edited to add I found this from Instagram, here’s the link if anyone is interested. https://instagram.com/beatthebudget?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
I agree. If you choose wisely, use your Sparks card offers and other vouchers (sometimes they give a £5 off £45 when you do your shopping) then you can buy a decent amount of food for a reasonable amount of money.
I've also noticed those expensive beauty advent calenders are still available and usually they sell out as soon as they come on sale!
Hello 
I joined this site to have a whinge about annoying influencers on my timeline and ended up getting engrossed reading this thread instead!
Ordered an Oodie for me and my partner from the recommendations on here and have not regretted the decision at all! The first night I out it on I immediately ordered my mum one too. Honestly, so snuglly and I've managed to not have the heating on yet, but I'm not totally convinced that's just down to the Oodie, the weather does feel still quite mild too.
I've got a boiler service tomorrow, wondering whether to ask the gasman to tinker with the flow temperature as every article I read says to do that... Has anyone done it and noticed a difference in bills? Does it affect your ability to get instant hot water etc?
I joined this site to have a whinge about annoying influencers on my timeline and ended up getting engrossed reading this thread instead! Ordered an Oodie for me and my partner from the recommendations on here and have not regretted the decision at all! The first night I out it on I immediately ordered my mum one too. Honestly, so snuglly and I've managed to not have the heating on yet, but I'm not totally convinced that's just down to the Oodie, the weather does feel still quite mild too.
I've got a boiler service tomorrow, wondering whether to ask the gasman to tinker with the flow temperature as every article I read says to do that... Has anyone done it and noticed a difference in bills? Does it affect your ability to get instant hot water etc?
300k wouldn’t even buy you a flat, let alone a house in my area in the SE. What are people supposed to do? Rent forever?
I’m glad you’ve said this, the problem is with the broken housing market and not ppl having lofty aspirations above their station with their 2 bed £350k flats. People have very little choice, sadly.
If I was close enough with someone to know how much they earn & their LTV I wouldn’t be slating them for it online
I suppose it depends on area. Where I live 300k would be a flex unless you had about 6 kids. In London it would probs get you a bedsit.
If you live in an area with high property values, you really are stuck between a rock and a hard place unless you want to turn your life upside down and move to a cheaper area.
If you live in an area with high property values, you really are stuck between a rock and a hard place unless you want to turn your life upside down and move to a cheaper area.
I’m loving the thought of £60k a year being a ‘moderate’ income. You’d be rich beyond rubies with that sort of wonga up here in t’frozen north…,
Where I live, 300k gets you a small starter two bed house. It’s what my fiancé and I will have to spend on a first house. it’s incredibly depressing.I suppose it depends on area. Where I live 300k would be a flex unless you had about 6 kids. In London it would probs get you a bedsit.
If you live in an area with high property values, you really are stuck between a rock and a hard place unless you want to turn your life upside down and move to a cheaper area.
this is crazy for me, 60k is very average where I live
Sorry but I think comments like this do the north a massive disservice. There are a ton of fabulous employers up here & plenty of opportunities to earn well. Even in the decade I’ve been working post uni the opportunities up north / perception of living there has changed massively for the better in that time which is brilliant as the quality of life up here is so much better, especially with/for a child. There are areas that are in line if not more expensive than London property prices, I’m not even from here have only recently moved up but feel uncomfortable with the idea that no one up here is earning like what, below the UK median wage? That’s just not true?
The average full time salary in the UK is 31k. So for a dual income household both working full time 60k is 'average'
Can't really speak for the situation in the SE as I don't live there. However in the case of my friend, she lives in Scotland and money does go further there. But it is just her and her husband and no kids - they chose to buy a 4 bed house which they mortgaged up to the max. That's what I mean when I say just because you can afford it, doesn't mean you necessarily need it. She could have got a 3 bed house in a decent area for 100k less, but she said herself it was all about the postcode
Absolutely agreed, I changed jobs this year and my employer has a base in Manchester and Newcastle, as do a lot of similar sized employers in the same industry. It has taken a long time to get here, and the industry is still very London centric, but they are starting to realise there's life outside of the M25
With my past experience of the housing market I would say try not to get disillusioned (like I did when house prices doubled and I spent my deposit savings on cheering myself up).
Get yourself as ready as you can until things swing in your favour then you can pounce on the opportunity.
House prices are forecast to crash next year which may work in your favour if you're ready for it.
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