r/UKCostofLiving

It seems ridiculous to me that in the same time period that the threshold has remained fixed (£12,570 since April 2021), the minimum wage has risen from £8.36 to £12.71 per hour; an increase of 52%.

That means in 2021 the minimum wage was £16,051.20 per annum, leaving people paying tax on £3,481.20 - or giving back £696.24 from their "minimum" wage.

But now the minimum wage is  £23,386.40, but people are paying tax on £10,816.40, or giving back £2,163.28 from their so called "minimum" wage.

So although tax remains at 20%, the "net" minimum wage after tax has gone from £8.34 an hour to just £11.75.

Tax is still at 20%...but people on minimum wage have gone from paying are paying just £0.38 tax per hour to a whopping £1.18 per hour.

Does anyone else feel like they’re being financially waterboarded by life?

If it’s not the boiler, it’s the tap. If it’s not the tap, it’s the washing machine. At this point, I’m scared to turn anything on in my own house in case it costs me £400. Then I go to the supermarket and feel like I’ve been shot in the face when the total comes up. HOW is a small bag of shopping somehow £50?
Before anyone suggests budgeting, batch cooking or cutting out my daily £7 matcha latte, I ALREADY DO ALL OF THAT. I spend around £80 on food shopping for TWO PEOPLE. I’m out here cooking like we’re in a wartime rationing documentary. I budget, meal plan, compare prices and squeeze every last drop out of everything. There is no financial fat left to trim. I’ve trimmed it. I’m practically financially anorexic.

And yet, the second I dare to leave the house and do something remotely enjoyable, my brain opens a full financial investigation. Can I afford this? Should I be spending this? What if the boiler goes again? What if the washing machine develops a gambling addiction? What if I need that £20 in three weeks’ time?

Even when I save money, I can’t enjoy it because apparently my brain has decided that money is only there for emergencies and I’m never allowed to have a nice time ever again.

I have a FIRST-CLASS DEGREE from a Russell Group university. FIRST CLASS. And for what? So I can stand in Aldi calculating whether I can afford branded washing-up liquid? Someone could have just given me a certificate in financial suffering and saved me three years. This country is COOKED.

I genuinely feel like I’m being financially punished for existing. You work hard, get an education, try to do everything right, and somehow end up one broken appliance away from a nervous breakdown.
Meanwhile, it feels like everyone else is buying houses, having babies, going on holidays and living their lives. I’m over here treating a takeaway like a mortgage application.

And before anyone says social media isn’t real life, I KNOW. But sometimes it feels like everyone else has received a handbook on how to afford adulthood or has family money and mine got lost in the post.

The worst part is the mental exhaustion. I’m ALWAYS that friend worrying about money, calculating what everything costs and wondering whether I can afford to join in. Even when I do something nice, there’s a little accountant in my head tapping me on the shoulder asking if I’ve considered the financial implications.

I’m tired. I cba. I want to buy some shopping, fix a broken tap and go for a meal without needing a financial recovery plan afterwards.

Does anyone else feel like this, or am I just being slowly financially waterboarded by the British economy?

Because I feel like I’m drowning, come up for three seconds of air, see a direct debit come out, and get shoved straight back under again. 😭

Hi all,

Sorry if this is the wrong sub to put under!

This is my first time living in accommodation where I had to figure out bills separately and not use a company that joined them all together with a fixed payment each month.

I set up with EON and the first month my meter reading was 04425 in which I was charged £62.65. Now this month the reading was 04907 and I’ve been charged £112.64?

I live in a 1 bed flat with my boyfriend in Salford. All electric based (stove, oven, boiler). We have not turned the heating on since moving in - the one thing is that we do a lot of clothes washing.

I don’t quite understand how I’ve been charged so much just for one month, but even if it’s correct, I would like to change this.. how do I reduce this bill?

Thank you!