How do you survive on £404 Universal Credit? When rent alone cost around £1000 pounds per month in London? What about rest of living cost such as utilities, food, travel and other bills. How do people manage to survive off £400 per month?

I (28m) have been out of work for the past month. I've been applying for an avarage of 5 "office" jobs per day and have received many calls and some interviews, so it could definitely be going worse.

I worked construction with my dad for many years (21-28) and the deal was £80 per day cash in hand, nothing more and nothing less. The reason I left was because my life was going nowhere on cash in hand pay and I didn't want to be 30+ before deciding to leave.

Because I'm out of work, my dad has asked if I want to go back, I do appreciate the offer but I also know what I'm getting myself back into.

He's been self employed for 30 years and really thinks you can find a job at the drop of a hat, it's becoming a hassle to keep explaining that's not how it works.

I'm not a useless layabout as I still pay bored and do most of the housework while my parents are at work, aswell as applying and keeping on top of new job listings.

I know money is important (obviously), but is so finding a job that has official pay and benefits such as potential promotions and an option of a pension etc.

I know it's mostly a joke, but how true is the saying "I wouldn't get out of bed for that?"

Cheers.

(I’m in the north west uk for reference)

One of my friends had a court date with potential sentencing a couple weeks ago and I haven’t seen her since which means she’s been sent down. I don’t have her personal details or where she’s gone but I really want to visit her. How can I find out where she is? Her sons are both in too (it was a big deal what happened) so I can’t collar one of them to ask.. Please help, I want to speak to her 🙏🏼

Edit: It doesn’t matter why I don’t know her personal details or why the entire family was involved. I’m asking a question I need an answer to. Respectfully.

Genuine question. I've started walking home from the station after 11pm a couple of nights a week and I'm trying to build better habits. So far I share my live location with my partner, keep one earbud out and stick to the main road even though the park is quicker. What do you do that actually makes a difference, and what turned out to be pointless?

Intrigued to know if there are parts of the nation that just prefer something else as their staple, or if the cheese-besides-cheddar purchases are as part of broader cheese curation to go alongside cheddar in the collection.

My husband got me a 10-million-year-old megalodon tooth and a 50-million-year-old fly trapped in amber for my birthday this year 😍🦈🪰 (He knows me 😂). Got me wondering what other cool, weird and wonderfully niche things people own. Show me your oddities! 👀
(Also, Jurassic Park 7 opens in 2027. Tickets non-refundable 🤣🦖)
Edit: 8, damnit

I genuinely don’t want anything for Christmas, I don’t need any new clothes etc but feel I have to have an answer to what I want?
I would love a new iPad but I feel bad asking for that? The wife is determined to get an answer from me but I genuinely can’t think of anything 🤦🏼‍♂️

I came home tonight with a bag of fresh tumeric, 2 pouches of baccy, and 6 blocks of Cathedral City (I know where everything came from except the Cathedral City, but it was given to me so please don't judge).

My old man used to tell me loads of great stories about acquisitions from the pub. What's our greatest ones?

NO TEDIOUS GRAMMAR PEEVES! Ahem. But yeah, everything from making the perfect cup of tea to loading the dishwasher efficiently, driving, eating, whatever. We all have stuff that we know we do just much better than all those other fools. 🤌

I ask this as someone who's an avid train enthusiast (as you can see from my username 😂) and always has been. I'm curious what the average person in my country thinks of them. I just love how neat the motion of trains is; the way they're guided by the rails. It's much more satisfying than that of cars, buses or planes in my opinion. Also trains often just have cool colour/design schemes on the outside (the proper word for the external colour/design scheme a train, bus or plane has is its 'livery'). The UK in particular has a large variety of liveries on trains due to the fact that railways here are privatised, so there's different train companies for each region of the UK, each having their own livery for their trains (that'll obviously change in the future with nationalisation, but for now we still have the variety). Additionally trains can make really cool sounds.

I regularly do train-focused trips (i.e. trips which are largely or solely for the fun of riding trains/getting off at stations I haven't been to yet).

And just to clarify, with this question, I'm not asking about whether you rate trains' punctuality or cost or other things in this country, I'm just talking more about trains as objects and whether you have a fascination with them and to what degree.

But yeah, what do you think of them?

Since being widowed, my mum has fallen for three phone scams. Luckily, her bank is on the ball, so she hasn't lost any money and each time it's happened, I've drilled into her that people cold-calling are generally not doing it as a favour to her.

I've just got off the phone and it's happened again today - someone called her offering a 'free' damp survey. She had them round this afternoon, and sure enough, they've diagnosed 'damp' throughout the house and quoted £3k to repair it.

Her house isn't damp, that's a fact, but she's now scared that it's going to fall down.

I'm fuming but also at my wits end. How do I manage this? I live and work local so could have been there when the guy arrived, but she never called me so I didn't know.

There's a POA in place but it's not 'active' yet. Is now the time for me to take control?

Note - she's otherwise OK, fit and healthy. She's just lonely and gullible and an easy target for this kind of thing.

I feel like a lot of their products are fair trade, they give community vibes, the products are usually very good quality. All whilst I don't feel the prices are too much higher than other supermarkets.

Are they ethic washing or are they genuinely good? I shop here daily

I’m curious, not mocking in any way. If you saw it on holiday, would you say “yeah that captures it”?

I'm from Swindon myself and so very biased towards my town with a greater population than Oxford (a city) and Reading (another good contender for a city). But what UK town would you like to upgrade? Given our system is completely arbitrary anyway you too can choose a completely arbitrary reason for what should be the UK's next city!

My wife asks why are women’s clothes meaning dresses and trousers so long nowadays she’s medium height 5 foot 5 inches so nearly every thing she buys has to be taken up

Just wondering how much anyone is paying to fit a kitchen at the moment? Sourced an ikea kitchen for 8000 including appliances which I thought is very reasonable but they cant fit it until february, and Im being quoted 5000-6000 from tradesmen to fit it instead. Is this the going rate at the moment? The kitchen is probably on the mid-smaller size.

What jobs are actually being lost due to AI, specifically what sectors. Assuming IT sector is a big one but any more where job lossess are prominent due to AI takeover.

Relative to what’s ‘later’ in life feel free to answer regardless of whether you’re 60 or 20 years old haha, but basically is there something that was just never in your wheelhouse - like gardening, or classical music - that you suddenly got into?

And what I’m curious about is where do you start? I gave those two examples of gardening and classical music because they’re things I find myself dabbling in but to actually go in properly for them seems so dense and intimidating. Like I try to watch an episode of Gardener’s World and feel like I need the version for dummies about 3 levels below that haha

For me Philip Madoc as the U-Boat captain in Dad’s Army “The Deadly Attachment”. I don’t think an actor has added more to a show by his presence in just one episode.

His character seems to suddenly justify everything Captain Mainwaring had been saying all series and is arguably the single best point of the show.

I mostly wfh at a desk (between 7-10hours). My job is demanding in terms of work load so I often find myself fixed to the desk for hours and hours.

I try and get a 30min walk in during the day (on my break) but feel bleugh because I know this is nowhere near enough physical activity.

Does anyone have any tips of what they do to maintain physical health / activity for desk based jobs?

I do have a stationary bike at home I try and do 30min casual on. I also have a walking pad but can’t currently use that. I did try and do things like get up every hour and walk around the house, but I end up not being bothered!

What else do other people do?

Due to a physical health condition (heart related), I can’t currently do much cardio. Looking for home based activities.

Do you think your life would be the same if you had attended a state school?

What do you do for work?

Growing up, I didn't understand why my school friends were going on expensive ski trips or flying abroad, while my family's annual holiday was a week in Weymouth—which, ironically, is now more expensive than a flight to Europe. It took me a long time to grasp the hidden advantages others had: private tutoring, parents with powerful connections, and a deep understanding of how to 'play the game of life.' While other families were setting up their kids for long-term success, mine was focused on the day-to-day survival of putting food on the table and paying the bills on time.

The real impact didn't hit until my teens and twenties. I was passionate about learning and had natural talent, but talent needs investment. My parents couldn't afford to nurture it, and having not studied beyond O-Levels, they didn't know how to guide me through further and higher education either. I grew up with a near-zero understanding of personal development, career strategy, or how to cultivate my potential.

Coming into adulthood, it felt like everyone else had been given a handbook for life while I was left guessing. You carry that lingering frustration of untapped potential and the constant effort of teaching yourself what others were handed naturally.
On the plus side, I somehow came away with a decidedly 'posh' voice—so I suppose at least I sound like I know what I'm doing, even when I'm figuring it out as I go.

I collect coins both loose and sets, I also have a decent vinyl collection.

If you have a room in an HMO, what do you think is a reasonable time at night to expect people not to play loud music such that you can hear it in your room?

I call it “Aggressive Hospitality”.

This “eat, eat, EAT, I SAID EAT!!!” behavior filling up your plate when you’re so full from 2 platefuls. We have an Indian cleaning lady who works for our family who insisted I not leave the house without having her homemade samosas and chai and I absolutely MUST COME INSIDE to say hello to my cousin even though I kept saying that I had to leave for an appointment. That old woman was literally blocking me by standing between my car and the front gate. I couldn’t even reverse out. I eventually managed to get her to let me go by saying I’d stop by on my way back (I never did).

Fatima you’re sweet and mean well, BUT PEOPLE HAVE TO LEAVE SOMETIMES.