It's getting tough out there. Feeling the pinch?

Brambling

Florenceem said:

Been to have my yearly eye test and buying 2 pairs of cheap glasses. While there - a woman was paying £400+ for one pair of glasses. She said to the assistant - the cost isn't an issue.

Unfortunately I have to pay that for glasses and my eyes mean I'm unable to buy cheap online glasses and lenses. It's not the frames but the lenses which cost the big money,  even before ii needed varifocals it was expensive for me.  Previously i joked that the car service had been cheaper and i had needed two new tyres and she took off £50!

I was watching something on TV last week and a charity worker said the problem was that younger people (ie under 40) had never experienced a proper recession and didn't know how to live through one, it seems we have lost those skills!  

My first mortgage was in 1990 and i remember Black Wednesday 1992 when we were sitting in cars at work listening to the mortgage rate go up for the 3rd time in one day, I'm not sure now if it reached 18% but it was definitely over 17%.  I had a hole in the bottom of my summer shoes hoping the Indian summer would go so i could go into winter clothes    I was lucky i had a lovely manager and he would order a cheese board for the training lunches we did two days a week and not only were we invited to share the lunches but i would be given the cheese which was never really eaten to take home.  It took a lot of years to eat macaroni or cauliflower cheese again

YorksLass

I mentioned in my last post that we can't have a water meter fitted but have an assessed bill instead.  Our DD is £37 pm (two people, 3 bed flat, Yorks Water).  I don't know what the full rate is now but before we went on the assessed bill we were paying £56.30 pm - that was in 2016, so it will be more than that now.  I'm sure if we could go on a meter we would pay even less than the £37 pm. 

marycanary

Tahlullah.H said:

Luckily, I am not on a water meter and this conversation has convinced me to never accept one when offered!

Before I got a water meter I spent £38 every month on water, since getting the meter I spend £18 per month. I haven't really changed my water use and don't use bath water for flushing the loo or watering the garden. I was told I could change back any time I wanted during the first two years but the savings are so great I didn't want to do so.

Floss

London_1 said:

Auntycaz said:

@London1 the problem for your grandson is the fact that he is house sharing with 3 other people so even if he is really frugal with energy etc he can't guarantee the others will do the same. Would it be possible for your grandson to do his Masters degree remotely while living at home?

No sadly, he would have to be at his Uni and its just not viable at the moment His next brother down Mikey, starts his Uni course this September 

I would suggest he looks around and thoroughly investigates his options - my son did his Masters in London while living mostly in Blackpool. His lectures were Tuesday & Thursday afternoons & evenings so he travelled on Tuesday, sofa-surfed for 2 nights & caught the last train home on Thursday. 

Spendless

Just having a catch up. I'm continuing with my cupboard sort outs (still not done) and found not only 2 rolls of foil but also a turkey foil lurking that I didn't know we had. They are going to be useful for wrapping. Think it will be a while before I need more.

Re clothes - I have a teenage daughter, 19 today, maybe I only have a year left where she becomes less teen and more adult hahaha. If I end up sorting out her clothes I put most back away in her wardrobe and only wash the ones that are either smelly or stained - she's yet to notice! The talk of PJs though has made me realise why she was asking me for leisure wear when she was living in student digs, she needed 'more' than nightwear to use the shared facilities or nip down to the bin, but at the same time didn't always want to get fully dressed on a weekend.

Spendless

@London_1 - That was incredibly thoughtful of you to help your Grandson out.

I have had a Uni student offspring since 2018 and this past academic year 2 of them studying. I have been grateful that throughout this time the rent we've paid has always been inclusive of the bills. DS has already used this term's student loan. He does a little paid on-line work. He rang me this week to say his wisdom teeth coming through were hurting. I told him to get painkillers, but only the following day did he ask me for money to buy them! I sent it but also told him to go and ask at his Uni which runs a dentistry course if they could have a quick look for him (he hasn't registered with a dentist since moving away) and do it whilst he's still a student because he finishes in around 6 weeks time. Which fetches me to another suggestion if you have any work or education related perks then make sure you use them. 

Rosa_Damascena

Floss said:

London_1 said:

Auntycaz said:

@London1 the problem for your grandson is the fact that he is house sharing with 3 other people so even if he is really frugal with energy etc he can't guarantee the others will do the same. Would it be possible for your grandson to do his Masters degree remotely while living at home?

No sadly, he would have to be at his Uni and its just not viable at the moment His next brother down Mikey, starts his Uni course this September 

I would suggest he looks around and thoroughly investigates his options - my son did his Masters in London while living mostly in Blackpool. His lectures were Tuesday & Thursday afternoons & evenings so he travelled on Tuesday, sofa-surfed for 2 nights & caught the last train home on Thursday. 

I couldn't do that now. Well I suppose I could, but I really wouldn't want to!

Slinky

My OH had a load of money off Waitrose vouchers come through today. Six £10 off a £50 spend. I've shredded the whole lot before he saw them. Last year our average monthly grocery spend was £380. This year so far it's under £300 per month. I know him, he'll go wild with 'saving 20%' which will mainly be spent on beer and wine, and we have plenty of wine (more than 20 bottles) still in stock from previous Waitrose visits and I can get him cheaper beers from Mr T. I'm convinced that the Waitrose money off vouchers were responsible for a large amount of overspend on groceries.

Wicked_Lady

My W*rose vouchers were worse: £11 off a £70 shop!
No way will I be spending that much in any supermarket

EssexHebridean

My T3sco vouchers came through at £6 or £4 off £40 and I even put those straight in the shredding pile! 😂