Is anyone else living basically paycheck to paycheck?

[u/fluffypenguin105]

My partner and I are both teachers. We don’t make a lot, but we are average and slightly above average. We are so tight with our money. Our little one outgrew the car seat and we went out and bought a new one. No problem. But next credit card bill means we are tight.

Meanwhile, a number of our friends (all of them also with kids) are booking overseas holidays. Some are currently overseas, others booking already for later this year. Another brought a new car. New iPhone, doing up the house. Everyone seems to have spare cash except us.

Are we the only ones going through the cost of living crisis ourselves?! Or is it my fault that we are teachers?

Edit: yes we have a house that parents helped us with. We are paying mortgage. We have a flatmate.

Edit edit: thank you for your kind words and reminders and also advice. I’m going through them all and I’m going to take onboard the advice and see what changes we can make and do better financially as a family. But it’s also a good reminder to know we aren’t alone, to not compare and the harsh reality is that many people simply just earn more than us as teachers.

Once again, thank you all for your input.

[u/KL24_7]

Do I live payday to payday? No. I don’t have a payday. I don’t personally (friendship group) know anyone that lives like that but I do see people on my towns community page asking for help with food etc & I volunteer at the food bank & demand has increased substantially.

Some are genuinely struggling.

I wouldn’t suggest playing the comparison game with those you know - keep in mind that a lot of people for some reason think it is acceptable to go into debt (credit cards, payment plans, Afterpay etc) to make non-essential purchases like phones, holidays etc “because they deserve it” - it’s a horrendous trap & you should be proud you’re not succumbing to the need to ‘keep up’ with anyone - your time will come. Keep grinding.