Hi, my name is yetiboo53! Struggling with cost of living.

yetiboo53

My husband and I are just about hanging on for dear life. As soon as the money comes in it goes straight out on bills mortgage and food. The increase in the cost of food and energy prices has hit us hard. I don’t have a huge appetite and I am going through the menopause which helps keep the gas and food bills down but even so, we are struggling. Ian on contributed ESA and PIP. My husband works for the council. We don’t have a huge budget but we’ve been better off than a lot of people. We are now having to ask out parents for help and they are pensioners in their 80s and 90s.

Sandy_123

Hi @yetiboo53 welcome to the forum 
It is a struggle with all the living costs lately. 
Hopefully things start to get cheaper soon

Cher_Alumni

Hi @yetiboo53 and welcome to our online community, thanks for telling us some of your story and I'm so sorry things are this hard right now. I know many on our community will be able to relate to the struggle you're going through.

I've just shared these links to some Scope advice pages with another member, and I hope they help:

• Free food and food banks
• Budgeting tips

While, Scope also have a free Disability Energy Support service who might be able to help cut down costs a little further.

I've amended the title of your thread and moved it to our Cost of Living category - if you want to take a nosey in there, there is lots of advice during these difficult times.

Take care and wishing you all the best.

MW123

Hello yetiboo53

I truly understand how challenging and stressful it is to navigate tough financial times. It's important to remember that you are not alone in this situation. Many individuals and households are facing similar struggles, where meeting basic financial needs has become a constant battle, and there's very little room to comfortably make ends meet.

Living on a tight budget with limited financial flexibility leaves little or no space for unexpected expenses, making it even harder to manage day-to-day expenses. It's disheartening to see that even after making sacrifices and stretching your income as far as possible, there is very little or no disposable income left at all.

I am so grateful  that my family are grown up, as it does alleviate some of the financial pressures. I have lived through recessions before with mortgage interest rates at 17%  although money was tight back then, we were still able to afford necessities like food and heating. 

Though it's hard to predict when exactly this cost of living crisis will end  it is important to hold onto the hope that change is coming, even if it's not visible at the moment. I understand how difficult it must be for you to ask for help from your parents, especially when they are pensioners. It is completely normal to feel a sense of unease about relying on them. However, it's important to keep in mind that parents always want to support and protect their children, even when they are adults.  

Take care MW123

 

2oldcodgers

We receive Pension Credit, a means tested benefit, from the DWP. This along with our pensions takes our income up to a level that they, DWP/government, say we need to be able to exist on.
We have no problems in affording what we need and even manage to save something every month. We have always ensured that we never have borrowed money or used credit or any sort of credit card. So thankfully have never been in debt and don't owe anybody anything.
Maybe your budget needs to be looked at again and make sure that you do not spend no more than the income you receive. 

Alex_Alumni

Thanks for sharing your own experience of managing costs @2oldcodgers, everyone's experiences are different, and I'm sure you can appreciate that there are many factors which can contribute to someone struggling with the cost of living at the moment.

I can see Cher has helpfully shared some budgeting tips and other useful resources with you @yetiboo53, how have things been this week? Please let us know if we can help further