To be sick of sneezing and spending £20?

Me three!

My husband usually does the food shop, but I did it yesterday. I can't believe the prices now. Everything seemed to be £3.50 and up, just normal things liked cooked meat for sandwiches, a packet of sausages.

I did too! I thought it was an ultra-efficient single complaint about two completely seperate problems!

I thought this was going to be about the increased price of cold and flu medication

Exactly. Shops and restaurants etc. are already closing down all over the place. It is really not good.

Coffee / lunch out (even supermarket meal deals) / big ticket items are few and far between these days.

Helps that I WFH so make something cheap and cheerful for lunch, don't particularly like coffee and we live in London so there is lots to do that is free or doesn't cost much.

In the summer we did most things with a packed lunch from home (but I'd take something "treaty" like a pack of biscuits or a multipack of crisps) and if kids wanted ice cream I'd try and find a supermarket so I could buy a 6 pack as opposed to visiting an expensive shop / van.

We still had treats but I made them the more affordable variety.

I rarely drop £4 on a coffee when I think that that's a week worth of "treats" for us all in the summer holidays.

Went our for lunch, just two of us and nothing at all extravagant. £64!

We don't go out much, no takeaways now as they are so expensive and I really resent the cost. Food shopping is so expensive. We eat a lot less meat. We are lucky to be OK financially and mortgage is paid off. but it still feels scary and I really feel for people with young kids and mortgage/rent to pay.

I buy coffees out about twice a year now. I'd rather have the heating on.

Cost of everything going up and growing children. Eldest has just gone into adult shoe sizes which means costs are even higher.

Not only is it very annoying to come on a thread like this and pretend things like a coffee from a coffee shop is a luxury reserved for the super rich but what do these PP think is going to happen to the economy when the average person can no longer afford a coffee out, a trip to the cinema, a takeaway pizza?

The economy needs us to spend on the “unnecessary” as much as we deserve to have a small bit of enjoyment in our short lives.

I agree with you OP, something needs to change.

This isn’t a thread about how to live on a low income. It’s about the frustration of not being able to afford fairly small treats on what should be a comfortable income. If we all decide that of course we shouldn’t ever eat out because it’s a luxury, then we bring the wider economy crashing, which helps no one.

We are similar. Shopping in Aldi, very few takeaways, buying clothes in Primark and charity shops. And if you knew what we did for work you’d think we would have no money worries. Younger me certainly would have done.

Think you've missed the point of the thread. Of course my children don't NEED candles for a carved pumpkin. No one's arguing that. But people are sick of not being able to afford even the smallest of indulgences - if you read the OP, you'll see the thread is supposed to be where people can find solace in a good whinge, and solidarity with others going through the same.

DH says 5p per litre rise on fuel duty is likely.
Thats 35p per gallon!
That puts the cost of everything up.
We’re not really struggling but the hall and downstairs toilet radiators are on frost free rather than heated.
Changed from my preferred toilet roll to a cheaper one.
One plus is I am drinking no wine at home and I used to drink every erm I mean some nights. I very rarely go out.
I think inflation will rise because it seemed prices rose then plateaued but everything seems to be going up again.

I agree with that. Also "needless spending" is exactly what people do when times are tough and everything feels like a slog. You get your small pleasures where you can or else you'd go crackers. George Orwell documented this - people spending the last of their money on sugar rather than virtuous but dull food. It is dispiriting to leave the supermarket £100 lighter and only have boring everyday things to show for the work that went in to earning that £100.

I think we recognise a lot of this is "needless". This isn't a thread about not being able to afford the very basics and I don't think anyone on here is ignorant of that. But when you've done it all "right" and are working 40 hour weeks, running a house and earning just too much to get any sort of help beyond CB its a bit galling to not be able to say yes to a day out with pizza and a film because it will cost £1-200 quid. Just standard cinema, pizza express, nothing flash. The vouchers, take your own snacks etc yes I get that but it takes the fun out of it somewhat when you're counting the pennies all the time.

We are going back to the days in which living is hard.
It's been a long time since graduates/tradespeople working full time had to ration basics like food and heat. Even work and training aren't routes out of poverty anymore.

Everything is dear now but to be honest a lot of these examples are just things that people don't seem to recognise they shouldn't be spending if money is tight.
No money.... shouldn't be buying coffee from coffee shops.
No money... shouldn't be eating out even if it's just a cafe snack.
No money... you don't need candles they're not essential.

Folk need to write down where they are frittering stuff away.

I agree going into shops and easily dropping 20quid on food etc and it is tough but a lot of these examples are needless spending.

We are going back to the days in which living is hard. It's both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it does boil down to less rubbish being bought, less landfill, more careful considerations, and maybe even a reduction in obesity in the long run. The curse, of course, is seeing the decline of our current quality of life, but that was never going to keep on increasing indefinitely.

I think it does hit harder because we are more aware now - of the lifestyle the previous generation has had (my parents are late boomers and their quality of life is very high, while as a late millenial I have struggled since the 2008 recession), as well as our exposure to social media showing us how the upper crust live on a daily basis.

Lots of things mentioned here are not essential. Going out for a quick coffee, a new pair of pyjamas for every child, holidays abroad. What we are missing are some essential skills, like far more careful planning (for example when going out), the ability to repair and mend rather than to throw out, the ability to cook hearty meals from whatever leftovers are still in the fridge and cupboard.

We are bearing the consequences of a huge population, more technology and climate change. None of the ridiculous price increases would be as steep if the three were removed as a factor. A company cannot fleece you of money if you have options, but our past and current lifestyles do come at that cost.

Less than £200!!

How much would you expect this to cost though? The process of getting all of those items to the store is endless; PJs - growing cotton, harvesting, processing, dyeing, cutting pattern, sewing . Same for groceries; prepping the field, planting the crop, harvesting, inspecting and categorising, transporting, packaging, selling

Omg, yes. So much yes. I’m sick of working my arse off and never being able to afford anything nice.

Fruit and veg box weekly - way too much food for just me and DH, the kids won’t eat a lot of it, or if they do it’s because I have spent hours cooking it into an unrecognisable state. No one has time for that

Milk, dairy, bread and eggs delivered twice a week. 😂😂😂 tried it, way too expensive for the amounts of milk and bread we get through!

Meat box once a month. - and store a months worth of meat where?

Fine ideas but ideas that most people with any sense already know exist.

You're paying for a lot of delivery charges there and assuming everyone has space to store bulk purchases.

Even if I manage to not spend loads of money when I leave the front door, I usually realise I need to fill up on petrol on the way home. Boom, there goes another £75.

Safer to stay home 🤦🏼‍♀️

£20? I can't remember the last time I left the house without spending £100 😬